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You don't realize it until you focus on it, but walking around a city, even a relatively clean one like Boston, how much of the air is full of exhaust. City bus
by seibelj 9y ago
You don't realize it until you focus on it, but walking around a city, even a relatively clean one like Boston, how much of the air is full of exhaust. City busses that don't run on natural gas spew huge amounts of black smoke, it's disgusting. I can't wait until electric cars take over, the air is going to be so much cleaner, even in dense urban environments.
- comicjk 9y agoGetting rid of combustion in urban areas is one of the biggest public health wins available, on the same scale as famous past examples like banning leaded gasoline. The only reason we haven't already done it is lack of alternatives.
- TeMPOraL 9y agoWe have electric cars now, and we had plenty of ways to make public transport electric in the past without significantly reducing its flexibility - this makes me think it's not about lack of alternatives, but something else. My first suspicion is that fossil fuel transportation is still cheaper. Hopefully this will change soon.
- akira2501 9y ago> but something else. The high cost of completely changing your fleet of vehicles, your driver and mechanics training and bringing in a whole new set of vendors and service professionals to tie it all together. > My first suspicion is that fossil fuel transportation is still cheaper. Yes, it's just about a lot more than the vehicles themselves.
- curun1r 9y agoEspecially now that we're seeing effects of air pollution that go beyond respiratory issues: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25310992 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25310992
- jartelt 9y agoPlus the noise! It can be hard to have a conversation with someone next to you while walking down a busy street. Switching to EVs will really help make cities quieter as well.
- Aron 9y agoI have a theory that people will treat gas cars like they treated smokers. There was a stretch of time where smoking was popular in restaurants but the common shtick was the table next to you would go 'ewww!' and wave their hands around their nose or faux-cough causing all kinds of conflict and pressure. Pedestrians at stop signs might do the same for ICEs, etc.
- dsfyu404ed 9y ago>Pedestrians at stop signs might do the same for ICEs, etc. Two groups of people will drive ICEs in that future. Poor people who are still driving 2023 Camrys and rich people driving higher end or enthusiast target ICE stuff. More than a few in the latter group will consider such an attempt at shaming them as an invitation to spin the tires all the way through the intersection when the light turns green. Tire smoke smells bad to most people.
- Aron 9y agoI don't think it'll be that simple. There will be plenty of people who hold on to ICEs for no good reason but habit. When prompted they will say head-scratching things like 'I like the way it sounds' or 'it's safer from hacking' or 'God put dead algae in the ground billions of years ago for a reason'.
- overcast 9y agoDifference here is that transportation is a daily requirement. Smoking is not. It's just a disgusting habit.