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Boomerang for gmail reddit8/30/2023 In the past I’ve used those linkages to estimate reductions in CO2 and particulates from congestion pricing. By linking those emissions relationships with separate curves translating higher traffic volumes into lower vehicle speeds, the BTA is able to estimate how much emissions rise when extra vehicles are added to the traffic stream. The graph below depicts the tendency of emissions to rise as car speeds fall. For carbon dioxide, it employs empirical relationships between vehicle speeds and gas mileage derived by engineers at U-C Riverside’s Center for Environmental Research and Technology. For toxic pollutants, the BTA uses speed-emission equations developed by the California Air Resources Board. The building blocks to quantify the connections between lower speeds and higher emissions have been in my BTA spreadsheet (downloadable Excel file, see Emissions and Speed-CO2 tabs) for years. Quantifying pollution increases if EVs are exempted That means higher emissions of carbon dioxide, the main climate pollutant, as well as of “local,” toxic pollutants like fine particulates (PM2.5). Here I’m simply addressing the rise in tailpipe emissions from the combustion vehicles still on the road.Įxempting EVs will push up relative emissions because increases in vehicular volumes intensify stop-and-go driving - a condition that degrades engine efficiency. That’s without counting the “upstream” power plant emissions from generating electricity to recharge the batteries. (Wonky details here.)Īnd there’s this: granting electric vehicles toll exemptions or discounts will spawn upward bumps in emissions. Ditto the state gasoline and diesel excise tax. Electric car refueling doesn’t pay into New York’s Petroleum Business Tax, a wholesale-level, statewide fee on gasoline and diesel fuel that has helped fund the MTA for almost 40 years. Some downsides of exempting electric vehicles from New York’s congestion tolls are obvious: shriveled revenue pots for public transit lesser reductions in gridlock economically regressive outcomes, given that EV buyers skew affluent. Key to big-city sustainability is ensuring that the rush to electrify not lead to exempting EVs from congestion tolls and other road charges. The United Auto Workers are on board with EVs as well. GM is complaisant, judging by its promise last month to stop selling combustion cars after 2035. Net emissions decline as the power grid decarbonizes, pleasing climate and environmental advocates. Vehicle electrification has broad political appeal. Maintaining this paywall could be hard when congestion pricing gets rebooted.
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