· Short trips and quick errands contribute more to the air pollution problem than longer or carefully planned trips. When you first start a car after it has been sitting for more than an hour, it pollutes up to 5 times more – and uses twice as much fuel as a warm engine. COMBINE SHORT CAR TRIPS!
· Cars and trucks are a major contributors to air pollution – they account for 25% of all air pollution nationwide. In 1996, on-road vehicles produced 60% of all carbon monoxide emissions, 31% of nitrogen oxide emissions and 29% of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions nationwide.9
· Locally, vehicle emissions create close to 50% of the nitrogen oxides (NOx) in our atmosphere, one of the main “ingredients” in the formation of ground-level ozone. Exposure to even low levels of ozone can cause a reduction in lung function, damaging the lining of our lungs.
Lung tissue is fragile and easily damaged by pollutants in the air, resulting in increased risk for asthma and allergies, chronic bronchitis, lung cancer and other respiratory diseases.
· Across NC, incidences of childhood asthma have increased dramatically in recent years – 55% between 1982 and 1996. Asthma is the number one disease for children statewide and the most expensive disease among children. In Western NC, children are suffering from asthma at greater rates than in the rest of NC.11
· One-fourth of all trips people in the U.S. make are one mile or less, but three-fourths of these trips are made by car. More than half of all trips are 3 miles or less.6
ý Why not walk or ride a bike for these short trips -- you’ll get some exercise and won’t be polluting the air.
· Only 19% of NC residents are getting the recommended amount of physical activity (30 minutes, most days of the week, recommended by the US Surgeon General). Almost one-third of North Carolinians skip physical activity all together.7
ý This lack of physical activity is resulting in an obesity epidemic – almost 50% of adults and 25% of children in the US are now considered overweight!8
· Transportation is the second largest household expense (first is housing). Almost 20 cents of each dollar goes towards transportation expenses and almost all of this pays for owning and operating an automobile.1
·
The
American Automobile Association (AAA) estimates that it costs about $7,300 a
year to own and operate a new car that’s driven 15,000 miles/year (that’s over
$600 per month)! This includes car and insurance payments, gas, maintenance and
registration. A used car even costs at least a few thousand dollars each year
to maintain and operate.2
· Our spread-out settlement patterns are causing us to drive more and are consuming our rural land at a rapid rate –
ý Between 1985 and 1994, NC population grew by 14.5% while vehicle miles traveled (VMT) increased by 44%.3
ý We are spreading out much faster than we are growing in population, consuming more land per person – between 1950 and 1990, Asheville’s urbanized area grew almost 5 times faster than its population.5
For more information:
· Local/Regional Transportation Options – www.gettingaround-wnc.com, 251-6622
· Bike and Pedestrian Facilities and Planning – www.ci.asheville.nc.us/engineer/pedbike.htm , Jeffrey Burns, 232-4528
· Asheville Transit System Schedules and Information – www.ashevilletransit.com, 253-5691
· Regional Transportation/Land Use Planning, Clean Air Campaign – www.landofsky.org , 251-6622
· Regional Air Quality Information – NC Division of Air Quality (daq.state.nc.us , 251-6208) or WNC Regional Air Quality Agency (www.wncair.org , 255-5655)
Sources:
1Surface Transportation Policy Project, Center for Neighborhood Technology, Driven to Spend: The Impact of Sprawl on Household Transportation Expenses. Washington, D.C., 2000. [www.transact.org].
2AAA, “Your Driving Costs,” Heathrow, FL, 2000. [www.aaa.com]
3NC Office of State Planning, “North Carolina Municipal Population 1998,” Raleigh, NC, 1999.
4USDA Natural Resource Conservation Center, Natural Resources Inventory, 1997. 2000. [www.nhq.nrcs.usda.gov/NRI/1997/]
5U.S. Census Bureau, 1950 through 1990 Census Publications [www.census.gov]
6U.S. Federal Highway Administration. Our Nation’s Highways: Selected Facts and Figures. FHWA-PL-98-015, 1998.
7NC Department of Health and Human Services, 1998.
8Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. KidsWalk-to-School. US Department of Health and Human Services, 2000.
9U.S. EPA, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. National Air Pollutant Emission Trends, 1900-1996. December 1997.
10American Lung Association, www.lungusa.org
11NC Division of Public Health, NC Department of Health and Human Services. “North Carolina School Asthma Survey,” Raleigh, NC, 2001.