I think I recall a thread on here about eco-driving in cities. If not, can any of you add your 2 cents about driving efficiency in urban areas? I am living in NYC now and spend anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half in traffic in each direction every day.
I'm not a fan of driving or supporting the oil companies and filling my tank every week (as oppose to once every month to two in Ithaca) is depressing. Thanks, Rena On 6/29/08, Elan Shapiro <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > NY Times Op Ed 6/29/08 > By TOM VANDERBILT > June 29, 2008 > > DRIVING less - fewer miles or smaller vehicles - is the rational > response to higher fuel prices. But there's something else motorists > can do: drive smarter. > > What impact have high gas prices had on your life? > > In Europe, where gas prices are often more than twice what they are > here, eco-driving has become mandatory in the driving curriculums in > Germany, Sweden and, most recently, Britain. Beginning drivers are > taught to avoid idling, unnecessary braking and jackrabbit starts > at traffic lights, among other lessons that can bring fuel savings to > as high as 25 percent. > > Other fuel-saving tips include carefully timing one's approach to > slowing traffic or red signals and not accelerating toward a "stale > green," that is, a signal that's about to change. > > As the United States has no national driving standard, establishing a > similar curriculum here would be challenging. It may be even harder > to get people to forsake the temptations of hurry-up-and-wait driving. > > It would be better to provide drivers with accurate real-time fuel > consumption information - similar to the "energy monitor" on the > dashboard of a Toyota Prius. Studies show that feedback can change > energy consumption. > > Another approach is to change the traffic landscape. Roundabouts, > which favor slow coasting over starting and stopping and eliminate > the need to idle at red signals when an intersection is empty, can > cut fuel use 10 percent to 30 percent. > > The average speed of free-flowing traffic is also likely to drop in > response to high fuel prices, as it has already in Britain. It simply > costs more to go faster. One American trucking firm has announced > that its fleet will now travel a maximum of 60 miles per hour. > > Consider also driving less aggressively. An Australian study found > that an "aggressively" driven vehicle saved a mere five minutes over > a 94-minute course compared with a "smoothly" driven vehicle - but > the smooth car used 30 percent less fuel. > > There's two ways to ease the pain of higher gas prices: drive a > Prius, or drive like a Prius. > > - TOM VANDERBILT, the author of the forthcoming "Traffic: Why We > Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)" > > -- > Elan Shapiro > Sustainable Tompkins Community Partnership Coordinator > Sustainable Living Associates, Principal > Frog's Way B&B > 211 Rachel Carson Way > Ithaca, NY 14850 > 607-275-0249 607-592-8402 Cell > > "We must be the change we want to see in the world" > Mohandas Gandhi > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, > please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
