Discussion on:

'Carmageddon' dramatically improved L.A.'s air quality

Ok, so my question is have there been similar studies on what the Furlow Fridays have done for the air quality?

I know that traffic is substantially lighter on the Fridays that government offices are shut down (what does this tell us about the number of government employees?)

I bet if we looked at it from this standpoint alone, we would realize that shrinking the size of government will reduce waste and pollution.

...since hopefully, those formerly working for the government would then be working in the private sector producing real goods and services. Air quality would be a wash.

Of course, if we were simply to pay them to stay home and not work, then you'd be right. But I'd hardly call that a good solution.

Light rail, sub ways, commuter trains, etc. Public transportation would help tremendously in cities all over the world... Los Angeles air quality sucks, if the public transportation was good enough, people would use it and everyone would benefit.

...air quality in Los Angeles today is an order of magnitude better than it was 40 years ago. And that is with over twice the population and automobiles. You can credit affluence and technology for that.

...people vote against affluence and technology.

We have every solution to COMPLETELY eliminate ALL pollution. Though it seems that the short-sighted governing-of-the-mental won't allow its SHEEPLE to have it.

The present-day gas guzzler is a technology designed by friendly fascism, and then endorsed and enforced by the PLEASE force.

Hit the rewind button, and we'll discover that PORSCHE, way back when around 1900 had a vehicle with an 'electric motor hub' for each wheel, It was powered by swappable NICKEL-IRON batteries. Easily charged up at the home front with solar thermal and wind power.

No oily, greasy engine, transmission, starter, alternator, water pump, radiator, gas tank is needed. What happens when all of these seeming necessities get taken away from the auto industry? They would stand to lose BILLIONS of dollars.

We never needed any of it to begin with!

We're in this s h i t pretty deep now, thanks to the short-sightedness and GREED of our great-grandparents. Yet, there is no need to remain asleep at the wheel.

Because, as an old Turkish proverb says, "No matter how far down the wrong road you have gone, you can always turn back." (remove spaces) ht tp:/ /tin yurl. com /98 nx57h

Yeah, cause that's a vehicle that would pass any sort of safety check.

It was huge and could crush your typical eco-car, and didn't go all that fast.

Your comment about short-sightedness and greed of our forefathers had me coughing up my morning cup of joe. Of all the grandparents (including "great grandparents") I've ever heard of, hardly would I categorize them as greedy one percenters. Most were part of the "huddled masses" trying to scrape out a living in the grimy American cities that existed around the turn of the last century. Ever read Upton Sinclair's The Jungle? It might turn your thinking on its head.

An old saying goes, "You shall know them by their fruits" and "You cannot get good fruit from a poison tree." The "huddled masses" interpretation of my post is incorrect, and I AM speaking of the "1%" back then, who built the car factories, and had the electric trollies dismantled in exchange for buses and autos, etc. Ever wonder why there is no "bottom" on our vehicles? Here's a children rhyme of mine about it to maybe read to your kids (remove all the spaces):
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Yes, the humans have forgotten to put the BOTTOM on every vehicle. It's quite the optical illusion when we look at a car. We never think that it DOES NOT HAVE A BOTTOM TO IT!

So, every little petroleum oil drip and drop, and glip and glop, eventually add up to one BIG drip and drop, and glip and glop.

For instance, boat owners must take responsibility for getting the oil out of the bilge water before pumping it out into open waters. Not so with land vehicles. NO RESPONSIBILITY to what is coming out of the bottom of our vehicles, and what are we contributing to in the destruction of the environment?

The 1% implement it all, the the 99% support it by VOTING WITH THEIR DOLLAR. Just go into NAPA auto parts, and try to buy something that supports self sufficiency and environmentalism. It's a given, people have to feed their families, go to work, pay the bills. So into these petro-farting metal dinosaurs we daily go.

Now, billions of tires later, and countless miles of earth-smothering asphalted roads, the railroad is actually looking pretty good again!

At least it is in my estimation.

Railroads allow the earth to breathe, and 'urban runoff' is eliminated. No more toxic tires either. Because, as we all know, the modern-day auto does not work without the tires and a road to roll upon.

Big-time road-resistance doing it this way with rubber tires.

How about a polished metal wheel on a polished metal rail? Rolling resistance is virtually nil this way. Now, put electric motors in the center hub of each wheel, with a swappable, home-made 'zinc-air battery' system powering it all. Google search this for more details.

...it's not possible to build railroads everywhere we need to go.

Come on, John. Use your imagination! Just picture a railroad corridor with five sets of tracks in each direction, plus switches, sidings, and junctions. If you're having trouble, just refer to the photo at the top of this article and mentally replace the asphalt with tracks.

...the nightmare!

If the government can't adequately maintain millions of miles of pavement, I really don't see how they're going to be able to maintain millions more of rail.

New York has a subway that gets you (at most) within a block or two of where you need to go... I used to work a job where I rode lightrail to and from work... It was AWESOME!!!! I parked my car at a station, hopped on an electric train and got to read and relax for 30 minutes before and after work. My stress levels decreased because I didn't have to deal with gridlocked traffic. I got to relax and enjoy the ride... And from the train, I walked a half a block to and from work.

Go to Europe, the rails all over Europe are impressive and effecient and clean and loved by the people. The only thing stopping that in the USA is ignorant people like you. I would love to be able to hop on a high speed train and go from California to NY overnight... I could sleep, read, visit a bar car, watch a movie, breath fresh air and not have to deal with Airports, TSA, stale acidic airplane air, cramped seats, air pressure changes, etc. I would love to be able to traverse a city via rail and do my christmas shopping and not have to deal with insane mall parking lots. I would love the advantages that those trains would inpart on shipping things around the country. Mail, freight, cargo, could all hitch rides along with the people and everyone wins...

The only things stopping this is ignorance... So please John, take a trip to Europe and ride a train and see it in action before you utter another word of your ignorance, buy a vowel and get a clue dude... Or do you think Americans are not as competent as Europeans?

Europe figured it out a long time ago, the answer to ending transportaion problems IS rail.

LA is not NY. LA is not Europe, either. I've been to all three. Have you?

And I love taking trains in Europe, and do so every chance I get. But it's always with the knowledge that 50% of the price of my ticket is paid for by hapless European taxpayers who have half the standard of living I do. I appreciate their sacrifice for my comfort and convenience. And BTW, most of those countries are bankrupt, just like California will soon be.

And what makes you think that the TSA would not make train travel just as miserable as plane travel? After all, it's called the "Transportation Security Administration", not the "Airport Security Administration" for a reason.

But please go ahead and keep going on about other people's ignorance as loudly as you possibly can.

Yeah, @i8thecat4-- you seem pretty ignorant of both the engineering challenges in the Los Angeles Basin (where the picture above was taken -- BTW, 4% grade right there at the pass between Mulholland and Sunset... not that great for rail), and the politics - read:public money deployment in California.

But feel free to comment more when you get some edumacation in these topic areas.

The asphalted roads are already here, so how best to utilize them is the question?

Because, if you slip and fall on the blacktop, it's your own asphalt.

I was thinking more like two sets of tracks, one going each way, and have it only in certain areas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_hub_motor shows companies that are making electric motor hub wheels.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_hub_motor is a patent pending on a 15 hp electric motor hub wheel retrofit onto a vehicle. Here's the inventor: Dr. Charles Perry http://green.autoblog.com/2009/07/05/former-ibm-engineer-wins-award-funding-for-hybrid-retrofit-kit/

Best of both worlds, electric motor/generator hub in a railroad wheel! We're talkin' a marriage made in heaven. The rolling resistance is practically non-existent. Ever wonder how a train could be up to one mile long?

Hey, I'm also with you, John, on the fact that this is only the preliminary to something else that is much more amazing. Just like Eckhart Tolle wrote about the flower being the enlightenment of the plant, and the bird being the enlightenment of the reptile, what is the 'enlightenment' of the auto? Well, for starters, environmentally-speaking, using the railroad could be looked at as being more enlightened than the blacktop.

What could be more enlightened than the rail? In my own estimation (drum roll)...the SOLAR SHIP!

Oh yes, floating, er I mean flying around has its own logistic problems, though none that are insurmountable. First of all, the 'friendly fascist' technology of high-tension powerlines would have to go away from many areas. You can't float, I mean, fly around with THAT in the way!

Float? Fly? What am I saying anyway? The SOLAR SHIP is two, two, two crafts in one! It is filled with a lifting gas to become neutral buoyancy. Then the propellers (not my idea of powering it) push it along, and it generates lift by its wing shape. It is basically a buoyant 'swept-wing'.

I've talked with the company at length with all my new ideas and changes, and NDA drawings, only to be turned down, stating that they have too much invested in the way that they're doing things now up in Toronto, Canada.

In my humble opinion, the Solar Ship IS the enlightenment of the auto...that is, if my design modifications were to be implemented. They are totally caught up in red tape to please their investors, and cannot think outside the box and shift gears to what I've proposed.

Fortunately, I got an NDA with them, so the unique concept that I propose could still be patented, for it is more than 40% different than theirs. But do I really want to patent my idea? Eh, probably not. Patents seem to hinder progress, and create monopolies with ideas and concepts, sometimes preventing very good environmental programs to be implemented.

Okay, here is their webpage, so you get an idea of what the SOLAR SHIP looks like in its present form. It is quite a feat of engineering in and of itself. Though it is crying-out to be updated and upgraded to something that could revolutionize transportation as we presently know it...

2001 Space Odyssey music...

i.e. 'FUEL-LESS FLIGHT'!

http://solarship.com/

Let me know if you're interested in seeing the drawing design modifications for the Solar Ship.