Cleaning Up Transportation
Driving freely around the country is so deeply imbedded in American culture that we forget about the consequences of driving an average of 25,000 miles every year. On average a car costs $9,520 a year to own and operate, and the transportation sector accounts for about a third of U.S. carbon emissions. Nobody wants to take away the freedom of the open road, but it’s critical that we increase fuel efficiency and public transportation by embracing a less traditional, car-centric transportation system.
Smart, Sustainable Transportation
The Sustainable Transportation Center at UC Davis advocates transportation that meets the needs of all segments of society while minimizing environmental, societal, and economic costs. Learn more.
Read the Sustainable Transportation Center essay: "A U-Turn on Transportation"
Endnotes & References
Our Energy-Free Transportation Future
Take the bus or walk a little bit every week
Why? If everyone used just public transportation one day of the week, we would save 10.4 billion gallons of gas. If everyone replaced 5 miles of driving a week with walking, we would save another 2.6 billion gallons of gas.
Q. What if every passenger vehicle in the U.S. got 100 miles per gallon like some concept cars?
A. The need to import foreign oil would be completely eliminated, and the pressure for U.S. production would also drop considerably.
Q. What if cities committed to reducing driving by closing off some congested areas and building more bike and walking paths?
A. The cities of Curitiba, Brazil and Bogota, Columbia took this approach and reduced car traffic by almost 30 percent, even as the cities saw population booms during the same time period.