Transportation and Sustainability in Los Angeles

LA Pollution

Transportation and Sustainability in Los Angeles

Increase utilization of green technology for vehicles

Funding

Tax incentives

Employment issues

The horrific traffic situation in Los Angeles is not only detrimental to society in the sense that its immense levels of congestion cost commuters millions of dollars in lost time daily, but also because it can cause physical harm. One study has identified several risk factors that are significantly increased by freeway pollution levels such as cardiovascular problems, respiratory disease, cancer, heart attacks and flat-out premature death (Cronan). It further finds that some brain cells in mice showed inflammation consistent with Alzheimer's disease when exposed to these pollutants.

It would be one thing if the levels of pollutants in the city were consistent with the levels found in other cities; however the levels of air pollution found in Los Angeles are among the highest in the country. In fact, Forbes rates LA in the top ten of the most toxic cities in the United States (Brennan). Another study conducted by the American Lung Association places Los Angeles at the very top of the list (American Lung Association). Thus, the exceptional amounts of pollution cannot simply be explained by mere population density. If this were the case then one would expect the level of air pollution to mirror the averages produced in areas of similar populations. Furthermore, where some other heavily polluted cities can attribute their dangerous levels of pollution to the manufacturing industry, Los Angeles' pollution is primarily due to vehicle exhaust and the lack of wind to push this pollution away (Grill).

Therefore, given this evidence, it is reasonable to suspect that any mitigation strategy should focus primarily of vehicle emissions. Though, it should also be noted that similar cities have alleviated there dirty air concerns with extensive public transportation options that are both user friendly as well as environmentally friendly. Most of these systems fully utilize the advantages that passenger rail offers commuters in other cities such as Chicago, New York, and even Hong Kong. In fact, the rail systems are so reliable and so extensive in Spain; many people can meet all their transport needs and extremely rarely even travel by automobile. Unfortunately for Los Angeles however, even though there are rail projects in the works, it requires a substantial investment in infrastructure as well as a lengthy duration in which the construction must be completed. Therefore, in the short-term, Los Angeles should focus on the technologies that are already available that can utilize the current infrastructure that is already in place and reduce the dangerous levels of air pollution.

This research project will focus primarily on the potential gains that can be achieved in the short-term with the knowledge that long-term projects that tackle infrastructure issues are also being pursued in separate channels. It has been deducted that while other projects are in the pipeline, it would be unwise to ignore the short-term benefits that could gained with a strict focus on efficiency in automobiles. This is especially true since the current pollutants have been rated as dangerous and can seriously threaten the livelihoods of senior citizens as well as children. Thus the following routes for investigation have been identified to comprise the scope of this project. These are as follows:

Increasing the availability of public transportation and cost effectiveness to the users

Improving the reach and utilization of public transportation systems

Increasing efficiency of public transportation in terms of their emissions

Part 1

Increase utilization of green technology for vehicles

While the amount of pollutant emission is proportional to the usage of vehicles, it is also affected by the fuel efficiency of the car. For instance, a hybrid car is 25-35% more efficient than a car that runs on fossil fuel. Hence, we believe if we were able to increase the utilization of green technology such as hybrid and electric powered vehicles, we could effectively reduce carbon emission, even with the same volume of traffic. We researched the feasibility of green technology in the following type of transportation:

Using hybrid technology to modernize bus fleet

Phasing into the era of hybrid/electrical cars

To compare conventional vehicles with hybrid and electrical cars, we must first understand how each engine operates. Conventional engines rely on the combustion of gasoline to provide energy to propel the car forward. However the transfer of energy is extremely inefficient in conventional engines. A gallon of gasoline contains about 115,000 British Thermal Units (Btu) worth of energy. One Btu contains the energy to raise the temperature of one cubic foot air to 55 degrees F. During the combustion of fuel, most of the energy is actually being converted to heat instead of motion. Even the most efficient gasoline engines available in the market provide only 30-35 efficiency during peak times. In addition, automatic transmissions are another energy consuming component of conventional cars. As a result, conventional cars are not very aerodynamic and their engines are inefficient in utilizing energy stored in fuel.

In comparison, electrical cars use electric motors instead of gasoline engines, which can be 90% more efficient at conserving energy. Electric motors are turned off during when they are idle and don't consume energy. They also use less energy during low speed driving. This means that during rush hour where vehicles need to make frequent stops amidst heavy traffic, electrical motors are much more efficient than gasoline engines. Since electric cars are completely gas-free, the average commute cost is $1.50 per day. Some hybrid vehicles use continuous variable transmission, which is much more efficient than automatic transmission and may even compare to the efficiency of manual transmission.