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The other thing about public transport is that it is, generally speaking, more practical to switch to renewable power. Yes there's plenty of red tape to wade th

The other thing about public transport is that it is, generally speaking, more practical to switch to renewable power. Yes there's plenty of red tape to wade through to get any kind of infrastructure work done, but even factoring that in, a project like converting a commuter rail network to solar-powered electric is achievable on a dramatically shorter timetable than elimination of fossil-fueled cars and trucks. So while the impact of a public transport user is higher than someone staying at home, it's still smaller than that of someone driving to work each day and has greater potential for being shrunk in short order.

NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
Even renewable power isn't magical. When they switch buses or trains over to electric, they have to build a new vehicle... the processes of manufacturing them aren't 100% renewable. No one's exactly making renewable steel. When they have to repair a road for the buses to ride around on, that concrete puts CO2 in the air as well. If they need fewer because of WFH, they build fewer. WFH is a net win, if you care about this stuff. And, it turns out, it's a net win even if you don't. Might want to pull your money out of commercial real estate if you have any of that though.
- jwells89 3y ago
  Of course, it's part of why I'm a big proponent of WFH. There will always be some number of people who can't do that though, and so I think it's also important to shrink public transit footprints as much as practically possible.
- stuaxo 3y ago
  Trains generally either redeployed across the network, with the oldest least efficient ones coming off.
- ilyt 3y ago
  > When they switch buses or trains over to electric, they have to build a new vehicle... the processes of manufacturing them aren't 100% renewable. No one's exactly making renewable steel. When they have to repair a road for the buses to ride around on, that concrete puts CO2 in the air as well. Yeah, at least for busses that's annoying. Like sure, buy the ecological ones but don't just trash a perfectly good bus

NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago

Even renewable power isn't magical. When they switch buses or trains over to electric, they have to build a new vehicle... the processes of manufacturing them aren't 100% renewable. No one's exactly making renewable steel. When they have to repair a road for the buses to ride around on, that concrete puts CO2 in the air as well. If they need fewer because of WFH, they build fewer. WFH is a net win, if you care about this stuff. And, it turns out, it's a net win even if you don't. Might want to pull your money out of commercial real estate if you have any of that though.

jwells89 3y ago
Of course, it's part of why I'm a big proponent of WFH. There will always be some number of people who can't do that though, and so I think it's also important to shrink public transit footprints as much as practically possible.
stuaxo 3y ago
Trains generally either redeployed across the network, with the oldest least efficient ones coming off.
ilyt 3y ago
> When they switch buses or trains over to electric, they have to build a new vehicle... the processes of manufacturing them aren't 100% renewable. No one's exactly making renewable steel. When they have to repair a road for the buses to ride around on, that concrete puts CO2 in the air as well. Yeah, at least for busses that's annoying. Like sure, buy the ecological ones but don't just trash a perfectly good bus