Debunking the Myths: Part 2 – Emissions

Debunking the Myths:  Part 2 – Emissions

The myth:  Building rail transit will reduce emissions.

This is the thought that drives environmentalists everywhere.  Their lobby has become so powerful that rail transit is virtually the only kind of transportation project that the Federal government will approve.

The problem is that the thought is false.

Here are some basic operating numbers showing the energy consumed and the emissions generated by operating various modes of transportation:

Per Passenger Mile[1]         BTU                      Pounds CO2

Bus – metro Atlanta                   5,800                             1.02

Bus – GRTA region                    3,370                               0.54

Bus – Buckhead                         13,419                               2.37

Paratransit[2]                            17,848                               2.88

Rail                                                 1,697                               0.23

Auto                                               3,514                               0.55

Aha! The immediate conclusion is that rail is obviously lower in energy consumption and in emissions according to the data.  This begins to fall apart, however, when we examine the assumptions that underlie the data.

First, the data assume full occupancy, which only occurs during a short peak window.  The average transit bus in Georgia fills only 22 percent of its seats, and counting standing room they operate an average of about one-sixth full. The Atlanta rail system fills an average of 39 percent of its seats, but counting its ample standing-room capacity it operates only about one-eighth full.[3]

Second, these averages consider the operating costs only.  The conclusion of Randal O’Toole of the Cato Institute:

“Atlanta’s rail system is also energy efficient, though the numbers …. do not account for the huge energy costs required to build it. According to a life-cycle analysis by researchers at the University of California, the complete environmental costs of rail transit are about 155 percent greater than the operational costs, compared with only 63 percent greater for autos.  Those who want to save energy and reduce pollution would do better encouraging people to drive more fuel-efficient cars than encouraging cities to expand transit service.”[1]

Meanwhile, the building of rail transit takes huge amounts of money away from making the metro Atlanta roads more efficient.  We don’t have money for continuous-flow arteries or for other technology innovations that would make passenger car travel much more emissions-efficient.

During the 1980’s and 1990’s, when Atlanta was building out its beautiful subdivisions (“sprawl” in enviro-speak), our area became famous as the place no one would leave.  Large companies like IBM discovered that people they transferred into Atlanta would refuse promotions that required them to leave.  Others, myself included, gave up opportunities to move to Silicon Valley or Phoenix and make more money so that we could stay in Atlanta.  We are unlikely to voluntarily convert to the high-rise, high-density lifestyles specified in the “sustainable communities” envisioned in UN Agenda 21.  Atlanta has the nicest suburbs of any city in the country.  We should protect and promote them.

The entire HB277-specified approach to transportation planning is deeply flawed.  It imposes an enormous tax increase, it fails to yield professional transportation planning, and creates political mayhem across the region, with every mayor grabbing for the honey pot of new revenue for their pet projects.

The General Assembly should repeal the entire bill and start over by fixing the original problem:  a dysfunctional DOT.  We should elect our DOT representatives, we should mandate that all projects be designed to reduce congestion and we should establish and fund an entire department to do nothing but identify and evaluate innovations in transportation design and traffic management.  If they don’t repeal it, we strongly urge everyone to vote against the TSPLOST[2].