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Grand Canyon Sierra Club News Releases and Action Alerts FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 14, 2001 Sierra Club Gives Phoenix Area an "F" For Efforts to Clear the Air with TransitStudy Shows Investing in Public Transportation Clears the AirPhoenix, AZ, The Sierra Club gave the Phoenix area an "F" for its efforts to clear the air with transit spending. A Sierra Club report released Tuesday found a clear connection between cities‚ investments in public transportation and their success at cutting smog per person from cars and trucks. Although most of America‚s 50 largest cities failed in their performance at reducing car and truck smog, those that invested in public transportation suffered from less automobile pollution per person. „While the cities of Phoenix and Tempe have recently begun to fund more mass transit, the Phoenix-area is still way behind relative to its funding of roads,‰ said Sandy Bahr, conservation Outreach Director for the Sierra Club's Grand Canyon Chapter. „The Phoenix-area could improve its grade and improve air quality if it invests more in transit and creates a real regional system. Cities that have invested more in public transportation have reduced their car and truck smog. Although cars are polluting less per mile, our air quality is still poor, because suburban sprawl forces Americans to drive farther The report released on Tuesday is called "Clearing the Air with Transit Spending: Sierra Club Grades America‚s Fifty Largest Cities." More than 90% of the workforce in the Phoenix area drives to work and more than a third of the precursors for ozone come from automobiles and trucks. Phoenix received a D for the amount of smog from cars and trucks per person and got an F for the amount spent on public transit versus highways per person. In Phoenix, 70 pounds of smog from cars and trucks is created per person per year and about 36 percent of smog is from cars and trucks. To address this, in Arizona only $13.80 is spent per resident on transit for every $100 spent on highways per person. And now Governor Hull is proposing to cut transit funding further by reducing the Local Transportation Assistance Fund by $3.5 million. "Air quality in the Phoenix area depends upon automobile use, so investing in public transportation as an alternative makes sense for everyone who breathes our air", said Rob Smith, Southwest Director, Sierra Club. "Public transportation helps make our communities more healthful and safer for us all by reduced traffic and cleaner air." Cars today typically spew 70% to 90% less pollution per mile than their counterparts of the 1960s, yet smog is still a serious problem. One of the main reasons pollution levels are not decreasing as fast as desired (or in some cases are actually increasing) is more people are driving farther. The average American driver spends 443 hours per year - the equivalent of 55 eight-hour workdays (more than 10 workweeks) - behind the wheel. Residents of sprawling communities drive three to four times as much as those living in compact, well-planned, walkable areas. In Maricopa County overall, the population grew 44% from 1984 to 1995, but in the same time period, vehicle miles traveled increased 63%. Twenty percent of Americans live in areas where scientists say the air is not safe to breathe. Breathing smog has been implicated in a range of illnesses from asthma to pneumonia. We have long recognized smog as a public health problem. Noted researcher C Arden Pope estimates that living in the Phoenix area reducing life expectancy by about 1%. Despite the health implications, smog has actually increased in a number of regions in the last ten years. In fact, only ten to fourteen of 207 polluted cities (less than five to seven percent) saw a reduction in their air pollution in the 1990s. The Sierra Club recommends that the state and federal government increase the amount of money set aside for public transit and at least equalize funding between highways and public transportation. Government should also plan development wisely to shorten car trips and facilitate public transportation; and support public involvement in the transportation and land use planning process. The Sierra Club encourages people to let their local, state and federal leaders know they want transportation choices for cleaner air. For a copy of the complete report, please contact Sandy Bahr at 602-253-8633 or Rob Smith at 602-254-9330 or go to http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/report01/ Sandy Bahr
Page updated: 11/14/01 Return to News Releases and Action Alerts page Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter, 202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277, Phoenix, AZ 85004, (602) 253-8633 |