There’s a lot of attention being paid these days to EVs and solar power, but there are plenty of other ways to decarbonize human activity. Public transportation is one. I’m certainly no stranger to public transportation. I didn’t have a car in college, so when I visited my grandmother in Johnstown or my sister in Philadelphia, I took the Greyhound. When I visited my folks in Manhattan, I got around by subway. My wife and I didn’t have a car in grad school, we got annual bus passes to get around town. On a two-week vacation in France, we both got French rail passes. On a 10-day vacation in Spain, we traveled exclusively by train. For out last 15 years in St. Louis, my wife’s employer paid for annual metro passes, and she took the train to and from work
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Joel Eissenberg considers the following as important: climate change, politics, public transportation, US EConomics
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I’m certainly no stranger to public transportation. I didn’t have a car in college, so when I visited my grandmother in Johnstown or my sister in Philadelphia, I took the Greyhound. When I visited my folks in Manhattan, I got around by subway. My wife and I didn’t have a car in grad school, we got annual bus passes to get around town. On a two-week vacation in France, we both got French rail passes. On a 10-day vacation in Spain, we traveled exclusively by train. For out last 15 years in St. Louis, my wife’s employer paid for annual metro passes, and she took the train to and from work every day.
Back when I was a reviewer for the National Science Foundation, I was impressed by the Washington DC metro, although I understand it’s now fallen on hard times. Outside of a few metropolitan areas, public transportation in America is regarded as outré.
Here’s an article in the Boston Globe comparing the Boston T to the Paris Metro. The money quote:
“Not that I’m comparing this system to Boston’s, but my last trip from Braintree to State took 45 minutes. If Paul Revere had taken the T to Lexington, we’d still be His Majesty’s subjects.”
Gas prices are much higher in Europe. It’s gonna take another gas crisis here to change things, I’m afraid. Which is why carbon capture is essential.