Pollution Facts [4 of 6]

The removal of automobiles from the roads reduces congestion, thus improving travel times and vehicular fuel efficiencies. Public transit in Edmonton provides about 8% of daily trips overall; it makes up around 1%, perhaps at most during peak hours, 2% of all the traffic on the roads. If all automobile passengers transferred to bus, bus usage would have to increase to 100/8*2 or to about 25% of current traffic levels. This would create an overall reduction in vehicular traffic on our streets of about 75%. While such a scenario may be improbable, it does illustrate both the potential of transit to reduce vehicular congestion and its efficiency as a people mover.

Powering private automobiles with cleaner fuels like electricity has proven problematic in the past because of the limitations placed on range by battery technology. The much talked about hydrogen fuel cell cars are proving a difficult concept to implement. However, since public transit typically travels along significant transportation corridors and adheres to fixed routes, electricity has proven itself very effective for powering transit vehicles. This cleaner alternative is seen in Edmonton's trolleybuses and LRT, both of which produce no harmful emissions at street level, contributing to cleaner air for Edmontonians to breathe and an associated reduction in health costs.

Public transit offers excellent opportunities to reduce the toll that vehicular pollution takes on our health and our pocketbooks