Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher, PhDMar 21, 2024

Electric cars are not actually zero-emission vehicles. “Even if all our vehicles eventually become powered by electricity instead of fossil fuels, we will still have harmful pollution from vehicles because of tyre wear.”

It is important to reduce the amount we drive, not just swap in "green" technologies for our existing habits. EVs take enormous resources to produce, electricity may not always be green, tires release pollution, and people are still killed in crashes.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/23/health-impact-tyre-particles-increasing-concern-air-pollution

Health impact of tyre particles causing ‘increasing concern’, say scientists

Far more tiny particles now come from tyres than are emitted from exhausts but new tyre designs may help

The Guardian
Show thread😀🚲Mar 21, 2024
@mbonsma having personally swept the bits of disintegrating roadway out of 60-some miles of SW Portland's bike lanes in the past week, the asphalt dust is going to be there even if they come up with green tires. And the noise of stroads interferes with birds singing to each other for a large area on both sides. This model will never be green.
Show threadNeil E. Hodges

@enobacon @mbonsma If only someone came up with lighter vehicles that would damage roads less, and that could move people just as fast, maybe on two wheels instead of four and narrower so the existing travel lanes could have their capacity increased. 🤔

(Also, mass transit whenever possible.)

Mar 21, 2024 at 3:24pmWeb
Show thread😀🚲Mar 21, 2024
@tk @mbonsma as the owner of a high-occupancy bicycle myself, I would like to be paid what the govt would have spent if I had chosen to drive, especially if I have to elbow my way past lines of car traffic stopped at a red light.