Transit
Table of Contents
Introduction
Transit makes up a 16.2% of our global GHGs. Taking the bus, train, or using person-powered modes of transit from walking to biking can all make a big impact not only on climate change, but in our personal health, and the air quality around our communities. A growing number of school districts around the world are now banning parents from driving their kids to school as it causes traffic jams and subsequent smog increases around the school grounds, something which is particularly dangerous for growing brains! New research is even finding that noise pollution from traffic around schools negatively affecting children's cognitive abilities.
Parents might fall prey to the illusion that being inside a vehicle like a car keeps their child safer, but studies have shown surprisingly high levels of tailpipe fumes ending up inside the seating area of cars, especially when stuck in traffic, while pedestrians who have access to fresh air only inhale a fraction of the pollutants being trapped in vehicles during the study.
Exercise and fresh air however have been shown to boost brain's health enough to improve a child's school performance. Kids are forced to sit for long periods at school, and may have limited access to playgrounds or sport opportunities, so walking or rolling to school under their own power can give children a great physical and cognitive advantage, vs what they lose by being strapped into a seat before and after school.
During the research done to create this page, one parent explained that their child's love of their family's bakfiets probably came from the fact that when children are strapped into a baby seat, with headrests taking up most of their view, they aren't properly stimulated because their view is boring, or even frustrating. By comparison, their child's literal front-row seat in the backfiets gave their child an exciting, first-person experience of their city. The child had learned their community layout (which will help prevent them from getting lost in the future), and has turned their once-boring, family commune into a fully-inclusive adventure every time they go anywhere.
According to the link below, transit accounts for 16.2% of our Emissions, making transport the 4th biggest sector of emissions behind industrial emissions; agriculture, forestry & land use emissions; and emissions from energy use in buildings.
Calls to Action
The levels listed here refer to levels of activism. The levels themselves are just in numerical order, not order of impact. However the suggestions in each list are arranged approximately from greatest impact to least.
Levels 1-2
Find Car-Free Transit Alternatives that suit your needs, locations, budget, and abilities.
Buy or Borrow Locally: Check our your local Farmers' Markets, CSAs, Libraries, Milkman Services and Zero-Waste shops to help reduce transport miles of basic necessities. These are often a good way to reduce your use of single use packaging too!
Avoid Single Use Products: this could involve changing some of your personal hygiene products or investing in washable nappies for your kids. If you want to reduce your impact on deforestation and transit miles while saving money, a bidet is a great investment. Switching to single-use items helps with long-term reduction of emissions in a few ways: reducing the number of times you need to replace things (no late night dashes to get TP before the shop shuts if you have a bidet!), and reducing factory to shop emissions as demand falls.
Start Cycling (More) or using other eco-friendly types of transit like walking or taking the bus.
Helpful Tip: If you aren't used to a certain mode of transit (maybe you having ridden a bike in a few years, or haven't navigated your local metro yet) then avoid letting your first car-free journey be for with your chosen method be for important or time-sensitive trips.
If you choose to bicycle for example: pick some days before your time-sensitive appointment and time yourself traveling to your destination.
If you are planning to travel far, then make sure your bike tires are properly inflated and try a few bike rides of increasing length on your free days before trying to get to the far away destination (perhaps work or school) on time before risking the trip on an actual work or school day.
Take the bus or train to a place near your doctor so you can make sure you'll have enough time to get there when you make your next appointment.
Precautions like these will reduce your stress, and reduce the chance of running into unexpected problems at the worst time.
Level 3
Find & Support Your Local Advocacy Group Bike advocacy groups are helping to make streets safer for all road users including pedestrians and people with disabilities. Groups like these not only raise awareness and provide education to people of every age, but they are also working working with governments to implement better laws and safer road designs.
Support Implementation of Safer Local Infrastructure for Bikes and Walking. Your community planning meetings, town/city councils, and other types of gathering are a great opportunity to bring these issues to light.
Perform a Street Safety Audit for your community. This is best done in groups. Try to bring along other concerned residents, community planners, and your local politicians to walk or cycle the route together.
Create a Safe to School Program for your students. This can be a great community project whether you are a teacher, parent, politician, or part of a school board.
Level 4
Vote for politicians who support a green transition to safer, cleaner transit.
Contact Your Representative to let them know you want them to provide cleaner, healthier, safer transit solutions.
Transit Options
These are ordered (more or less) from most efficient, cheap, healthy, eco-friendly, and affordable first. The Sweeb system for example is listed much lower than other transport options specifically because it would require a community's commitment to the installation and upkeep (much like a track or buss system). So while it is one of the most energy efficient options, and would be a viable transit mode for people with disabilities, affordability, planning, and implementation have more barriers than pedal power that comes with it's own wheels.
The modes of transport are divided into Active and Passive.
Active Transport being transport modes that require a person's effort. This is generally the healthiest, most affordable, and accessible mode of transport.
Passive Transport includes motorbikes and cars, busses, motor or sail boats, trains, planes. We don't have all of these listed yet, but are in the process of gathering info.
Please feel free to make suggestions!
Active Transport
This type of transportation requires human power. Active transport can include walking (with or without a baby stroller, walking stick, or other devices), bike riding, skate boarding, kayaking, and much more.
Active transport is generally much quieter than passive transport, allowing you to hear your surroundings including nature, instead of creating harmful noise pollution.
Click the Active Transit button to learn more, including devices and opportunities for people with disabilities, young children, and people who may need some assistance for barriers such as hills.
Safe Kids Worldwide® is a nonprofit organization working to help families and communities keep kids safe from injuries.
HealthyChildren.org is the only parenting website backed by 67,000 pediatricians committed to the attainment of optimal physical, mental, and social health and well-being for all infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.
Bakfiets
Pedicabs, Bicycle Sidecars, & Wheelchair Tandem Bikes
These are great options for a competent cyclist to transport children, elderly people, people with limited mobility, or those who otherwise might not be able to enjoy cycling.
bennyelee - DIY pedicab
Rinnovative Co. Channel - Bicycle Sidecar
Werner Frank - DUET Wheelchair Bicycle Tandem
Hybrid Transit
Shweeb the Human-Powered Monorail
Shweeb
4:07 minute video featuring the designer and images of how future shweeb infrastructure could change our urban streets.
Passive Transit
The following are listed approximately from most efficient, to least.
Rail
Click the Rail button to learn more about rail transit including some human-powered version.
Bus
Click the Buses button to learn more about the benefits of bus transit, how to improve systems, and check out our Bus Route/Company directory.
Trip Planning Tools
Transit Explorer helps compare train and bus routes with an interactive map. Check routes on different days, estimated travel times, number of stops, and each listing notes which items in the list are faster or cheaper.
Tips for Transit Planners
Investing in more buses for disadvantaged areas creates significant value compared to bigger projects like building new freeways which help people travel further away instead of spending money locally. As few as six riders per trip can recoup project costs by providing massive social and income benefits for users thanks to improved employment rates, social inclusion, not to mention access to resources such as education or medical access.
Electric buses cost more up front, but are much cheaper and more efficient to run over time. Repair costs are much lower, as no oil changes are needed, and electric vehicles generally need less maintenance work than fossil-powered vehicles.
Car & Trucks
While this is one of the least environmentally friendly ways to travel, not everyone has the luxury to avoid this method. This cycling guide includes tips for drivers to avoid harming other road users including cyclists and pedestrians. These tips are particularly important since 73% of cycling deaths in Canada are caused by car collisions. Car users don't just make roads more dangerous and polluted for people on the road, they also make them less inviting for the people near roads.
By driving carefully, responsibly, and with more vulnerable road users in mind, we can help create safer communities, where people aren't afraid to walk or role to school. When more people use alternate methods, this means less traffic, congestion, and pollution for ALL of us.
Tips to Reduce Impact
Car Pool - The more people being taken to a destination, the more efficient the use of energy. This does not mean you should pack extra kids into the car, if someone can take care of them at home, since additional weight makes any vehicle less efficient. You can make plans with your kid's friends, neighbors with kids who go to the same school, even create a rotating system where the adults take turns giving rides throughout the week.
"Stop & Drop" - Park somewhere away from the school, maybe a few streets away, or on the other side of a park, and walk or roll the rest of the way. This reduces congestion and pollution near the school itself, plus you get some benefits from fresh air, exercise, and more intimate time with you child. As kids get older, you can drop off and pick them up at a pre-designated spot, allowing them private time to walk or play with their friends before the drive home.
Clean out the vehicle to reduce excess weight.
Keep wheels properly filled and serviced to improve efficiency.
Type of Energy Matters - Electric or hybrid vehicles will produce the least emissions, plus they are more efficient and cheaper to run. One study found they even cost less in maintenance than ICE vehicles. Diesel causes the worst pollution in terms of small particle pollution, causing significant harm to children's lungs, hearts, and brains. Lead has been removed from petrol/gas, but the fumes are still a serious problem, even for unborn babies.
Treehugger, the only modern sustainability site that offers advice, clarity, and inspiration for both the eco-savvy and the green-living novice.
New Orleans 'Monster' expressway highlights national debate over highway removal | Nightline
11:13 minute video talking about how major highways destroy and disconnect communities, dumping toxic pollution on local residents, which raises their risk of illnesses including cancer. The activists talk about the history of their area and show their work engaging budding scientists with pollution-measuring fieldtrips.
Resources
Europe
UK
DeSmog’s Air Pollution Lobbying Database "find out about organisations opposing or seeking to weaken planned air quality measures in the UK’s most polluted cities, including Clean Air Zones and London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone."
North America
USA
Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) is a national clearinghouse for information about health and safety, engineering, advocacy, education, enforcement, access, and mobility for pedestrians (including transit users) and bicyclists. PBIC's mission is to improve the quality of life in communities through the increase of safe walking and bicycling as a viable means of transportation and physical activity. To accomplish that mission, the PBIC manages several websites, produces a variety of reports, guides and case studies, and offers training and technical assistance.
Tools & Calculators
North America
USA
Rewiring America: Track Your Local Pace of Progress "These projections from Rewiring America worked backwards from the emissions targets for 2050, and forward from current sales of machines for cooking, water heating, space heating, transportation, and rooftop solar to set a number of new clean electric machines that must be sold each year to reduce emissions from fossil-fueled machines. Type your city, county, or state into the search bar to get those numbers broken down for your area, by each machine category.
While creating this tool, one of things we found is that some individual communities and states are leading the way: their goals are bolder than the rest of the country and so don’t match the path laid out in our data. That’s a great problem to have. So our tool should not be considered the only source of its kind -- but one that reflects only one of the possible paths to decarbonization."
Education & Training Opportunities
North America
USA
Climate Tech LaunchPad program helps Black and Latinx innovators and owners of climate tech businesses to overcome the barriers that stand in their way of growing and scaling climate and cleantech solutions, especially in disadvantaged communities."
Organizations
International
TUMI "supports transport projects all around the world and enables policy makers to transform urban mobility. TUMI is based on three pilars: innovation, knowledge, investment. We support innovative pilot projects around the whole world. We share knowledge with planners about modern mobility concepts, in workshops and conferences. We invest in construction and modernisation of sustainable urban infrastructure."
Livable Cities "... has three operational approaches or pillars: Improve coverage, quality efficiency, and reliability of services in urban areas; strengthen urban planning and financial sustainability of cities; and improve urban environment, climate resilience and disaster management of cities.
With 65% of people in Asia and the Pacific set to live in cities by 2050, we have gathered stories and lessons that will ensure cities in Asia and the Pacific are inclusive, competitive, environmentally sustainable, and resilient."
Asia
Livable Cities "... has three operational approaches or pillars: Improve coverage, quality efficiency, and reliability of services in urban areas; strengthen urban planning and financial sustainability of cities; and improve urban environment, climate resilience and disaster management of cities.
With 65% of people in Asia and the Pacific set to live in cities by 2050, we have gathered stories and lessons that will ensure cities in Asia and the Pacific are inclusive, competitive, environmentally sustainable, and resilient."
North America
USA
National Complete Streets Coalition News of complete streets activities from around the country and proposed federal legislation plus resources including fact sheets and a PowerPoint presentation.
Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) is a national clearinghouse for information about health and safety, engineering, advocacy, education, enforcement, access, and mobility for pedestrians (including transit users) and bicyclists. PBIC's mission is to improve the quality of life in communities through the increase of safe walking and bicycling as a viable means of transportation and physical activity. To accomplish that mission, the PBIC manages several websites, produces a variety of reports, guides and case studies, and offers training and technical assistance.
Walk Friendly Communities is a national recognition program developed to encourage towns and cities across the U.S. to establish or recommit to a high priority for supporting safer walking environments. Communities are recognized for working to improve a wide range of conditions related to walking, including safety, mobility, access and comfort.
Maps
North America
USA
National Walkability Index "provides walkability scores based on a simple formula that ranks selected indicators from the Smart Location Database that have been demonstrated to affect the propensity of walk trips. The dataset covers every block group in the nation, providing a basis for comparing walkability from community to community. This dataset’s universal coverage at the block group level makes it easy to use as input into scenario planning, modeling, and other community analysis. The National Walkability Index dataset ranks each block group relative to all other block groups in the United States, but individuals can use downloadable data to construct an index for a smaller universe of block groups, like a state, metropolitan area, or city."
Smart Location Calculator "Measuring the environmental benefits of workplace location efficiency" Understanding travel efficiency of different locations can help businesses and leaders plan more efficiently. By reducing land use for parking lots and roadways, while also boosting greenways and public transport options we can drastically reduce heat islands as well as emissions produced by transit.
Grants & Funding
Asia
Livable Cities: Financing Partnership Facility "The urban operations of ADB benefits from the support of notable trust funds, which are collectively referred to as the Urban Financing Partnership Facility. Under this umbrella, strategic, long-term, multi-partner investments on innovative urban solutions are implemented. These investments help to achieve the vision of livable cities." These include:
Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund (UCCRTF) eligible countries include Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, and Vietnam.
North America
USA
The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) Program "provides $5 billion in grants to states, local governments, tribes, and territories to develop and implement ambitious plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollution. Authorized under Section 60114 of the Inflation Reduction Act, this two-phase program provides $250 million for noncompetitive planning grants, and approximately $4.6 billion for competitive implementation grants."
Power Forward Communities "is a coalition of some of the country’s most trusted housing, climate, and community investment groups dedicated to decarbonizing and transforming American housing. We’re saving homeowners and renters money, reinvesting in communities, and tackling the climate crisis."
Connecticut
The Connecticut Green Bank "is the nation’s first green bank"