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Emissions Calculator Shows How Drivers Impact Earth's Climate; Travel Matters Web Site Sponsored by the Transit Cooperative Research Program

Emissions Calculator Shows How Drivers Impact Earth's Climate; Travel Matters Web Site Sponsored by the Transit Cooperative Research Program

Published 05-27-04

Submitted by Transit Cooperative Research Program

WASHINGTON - If rising gasoline prices aren't enough reason to curtail automobile driving this summer, then a new Web site that shows how many pounds of carbon an individual traveler contributes to the earth's climate should make travelers take notice.

The environmental organization behind the interactive Web site hopes drivers will take the time to learn how their travel habits and transportation choices affect global change - perhaps using the heavily traveled Memorial Day weekend as a starting point - and consider alternate forms of transit such as public transportation.

The updated Web site - www.travelmatters.org - features a personal "emissions calculator" that shows how an individual's travel patterns translate to greenhouse gas emissions. Users enter the monthly distances traveled by mode of transportation - on foot, by bicycle, car, bus, train, plane or boat - and the calculator automatically provides a personalized "greenhouse gas accounting."

To put the resulting figure on a human scale, the calculator converts the each traveler's greenhouse gas emissions to pounds of carbon dioxide, depicting it in the form of 20-pound bags of charcoal briquettes. The bags reflect the equivalent volume of carbon that the user's travel activity introduces into the atmosphere every month. The calculator also shows how many mature trees - in this case, Sugar Maples - it would take to naturally remove the carbon emissions from the atmosphere over the course of a year.

The calculator also generates a personal profile that can be saved and later accessed to compare how greenhouse gas emissions change over time based on changes in the user's mode of travel. As a resource tool, the profile allows users to set goals for personal emissions reduction, and then to follow their progress.

For example, someone who commutes 45 miles between cities each day via a personal car will generate 2,258 pounds of carbon - or 31 standard 20-pound bags of charcoal briquettes - in a single month. Assuming one mature Sugar Maple sequesters 1.75 pounds of carbon per month, then it would take 352 mature Sugar Maples to sequester emissions from that month of travel.

Conversely, if the commuter makes the same trip via a combination of bus and commuter rail, the travel via public transportation would generate only 13 bags of charcoal briquettes and require only 150 Sugar Maples to handle the emissions.

"Greenhouse gas emissions are largely produced at the local level by individuals commuting daily in petroleum powered vehicles," said Rod Diridon, executive director of the San Jose State University Mineta Transportation Institute and chair of the research study panel that was the catalyst for the Web site. "One way to reduce global warming and air pollution in general is to personalize the solution by convincing people to use public transit whenever possible."

"We're hoping that individuals will use the emissions calculator to compare their current travel mode's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions to a public transportation option that will reduce emissions and help control global warming."

The Web site also serves as an educational resource. As a supplement to the emissions calculator, Travel Matters offers informative content for those who may want to learn more about the science behind climate change; the evolving local, national, and international policy response, or promising alternative fuels and technologies that might help reduce future emissions.

About TCRP
The Transit Cooperative Research Program is a cooperative effort of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA); the National Academies, acting through the Transportation Research Board (TRB); and the Transit Development Corporation, a nonprofit, educational and research organization established by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

TCRP provides free research tools for the transportation industry, bringing carefully researched, real-life solutions to address the technical and operations challenges facing the industry's service providers, consultants and suppliers. The information is accessible through print, CDs and via the Internet. For more information visit www.tcrponline.org.

About Travel Matters
Travel Matters is a project of the Center for Neighborhood Technology, a Chicago-based urban planning, environmental engineering and public policy organization that has researched and advocated for sustainable transportation and public investment policies for more than two decades. The Center's mission is to promote a sustainable future for urban communities of all incomes by inventing new tools and using them to create livable communities.

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