Mathews points to research showing that trains emit the lowest of CO2 per passenger mile at 177 grams per passenger mile. Buses come in at 299 grams per mile, second-worst only to cars at 371 grams.
People Also Ask
Mathews points to research showing that trains emit the lowest of CO2 per passenger mile at 177 grams per passenger mile. Buses come in at 299 grams per mile, second-worst only to cars at 371 grams.
Key Details. The climate footprint of a diesel school bus is about 3.3 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per mile, more than double the per-mile footprint for a bus powered on the average U.S. electric grid, according to Argonne National Laboratory.
Avoid Short FlightsFor example, while a flight would emit around 109 pounds of CO2 per passenger on a 200-mile trip, that trip on a train or charter bus would emit just 26 and 19 pounds of CO2 per passenger, respectively.
The more passengers that are riding a bus or train, the lower the emissions per passenger mile. For in- stance, U.S. bus transit, which has about a quarter (28%) of its seats occupied on average, emits an es- timated 33% lower greenhouse gas emissions per passenger mile than the average U.S. single occu- pancy vehicle.
Mathews points to research showing that trains emit the lowest of CO2 per passenger mile at 177 grams per passenger mile. Buses come in at 299 grams per mile, second-worst only to cars at 371 grams.
Thomas Rubin, Marcy Lowe, Bengu Aytekin and Gary Gereffi Debate Public Transit Buses: A Green Choice Gets Greener. The American Public Transit Association claims that public transit saves an estimated 1.4 billion gallons of gas annually, which translates into about 14 million tons of CO2.
Transit buses are a LITTLE more fuel-efficient, but not as much as many people might think. A car (24.2 MPG) with the national-average of 1.5 passengers gets 36.3 PPMG (Passenger Miles per Gallon). A transit bus (3.3 MPG) with a national average load (9.1 passengers) gets 30 PPMG.
Car emissions are a major source of pollution. Cars and trucks emit twenty percent of all greenhouse gases emitted in the United States[1], which is the second largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world.
As a solo rider, driving a car wouldn't help lower your emissions — it would be higher than air travel, at 120 pounds of CO2. Though if you had four people in the car, the air pollution you'd emit would fall to just 30 pounds of CO2 per passenger.
Most buses today are diesel-powered, with a slow introduction of hybrid and electric-powered buses. For the most part, though, buses are powered by fossil fuels and still emit carbon dioxide emissions at a higher rate than vehicles do.
A single bus, if it is full (50 to 80 passengers), can carry as many people as 50 or 60 cars, which normally operate with fewer than 2 occupants. The bus requires less street space, equivalent to 2 or 3 automobiles, and, when it is full, it requires much less energy to move each person.
On average, cars emit almost one pound of carbon dioxide per passenger mile. Buses, which generally run at about 25 percent capacity, emit 0.64 pound of CO2 per passenger mile, according to data from the Department of Defense.