Transportation and Air Pollution
2 likes960 views
The document discusses transportation and air pollution issues related to urban development, emphasizing the importance of transit-oriented development (TOD) to create sustainable cities. It highlights statistics on vehicle miles traveled and the challenges of implementing transit in suburban areas due to low density. It also addresses the impact of transportation and housing costs on working families in Philadelphia.
Transportation and Air Pollution
- 1. Transportation and Air Pollution Growing Greener Cities Symposium Patrick Starr Vice President Pennsylvania Environmental Council
- 2. Live near your work Bring your work closer to you Jaime Lerner – Mayor, Curitiba, Brazil “Most Sustainable City in the World”
- 3. Decentralizing our region Remove trees from air quality cycle to create houses, businesses, shopping Rely on cars/cheap fuel to get everywhere we need to go THIS IS NOT SUSTAINABLE IN THE LONG TERM
- 4. What is Transit Oriented Development? Makes public transit, walking, biking convenient and easy. Brings things closer together -- mixed-use including homes, jobs and stores Philadelphia area is “mother of TOD” – Center City, Narberth, Ardmore, Swarthmore and Chestnut Hill.
- 5. Why is TOD important? Transportation trends About 20% increase in Vehicle Miles Traveled among SEPA counties expected from 1996-2007* Daily VMT per capita in the suburbs is about 50% higher than in urban areas, while VMT per capita in rural areas is about 150% higher than in the urban locations** *EPA figures ** 10,000 Friends of PA “Cost of Sprawl” report
- 6. Transit Difficult to implement because of density needed to support transit
- 7. Transit in Suburbia? 640 Acres per square mile 60% buildable area 384 housing units X 4 people per house = 1,536 people per square mile 5,000 or more needed to support modest bus service
- 8. Transportation and housing In Philadelphia, working families ($20-50,000 annual income)… 27% of household income is spent on housing 29% of household income is spent on transportation
- 9. Other facts Philadelphia is one of the most de-centralized areas in the nation Nearly 60% of the region’s employment is more than 10 miles outside the central business district* 70% of Center City Philadelphia workers commute to work via SETPA, PATCO and NJ Transit** * Brookings Institute Job Sprawl Report **Center City District State of Center City