The battle in the cities

Diesel Progress North American Edition,  June, 2008  by Mike Osenga

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The engine emissions war is being fought in many places around the world. On highways, in farm fields, on job sites, at airports, in plants and on the water.

In the end, however, I think it will be cities, er, "major urban areas" where the hardest battles will be fought.

I have had a running debate with a friend in Brooklyn for many years, that owning, parking and driving a car in New York City makes absolutely no sense. My side of the argument, which was said mostly to irritate his East Coast urban sensibilities, goes that in a limited geographical area, like NYC, there are plenty of other forms of alternative transportation--buses, subways, taxis and what seems to be an inordinate number of stretch limos.

With parking slots auctioned off at over $1 million, why would anyone in NYC own a car? How does that make any economic or logistic sense?

I fully realize one of the major strands of American DNA is our vehicles. "Man, I go where I want, when I want! I ain't waiting around for no bus."

American culture is a car culture. The open road equals freedom. I get that. But underneath it all, is there the start of erosion? A future of $4.00 a gallon fuel, reliance on foreign oil and all the rest, gets people thinking.

Have you driven down The Strip in Las Vegas recently? You can walk from Caesar's to Mandalay Bay faster than you can drive it. Casino parking lots are often in the next county. How does having a car enhance the Vegas Experience?

Do you commute to work around a big city? How's that working out for you? Do you feel refreshed, alive and "free" after that daily trip?

While I realize that in some minds what happens overseas can damn well stay there, some of their things do have a habit of drifting this way.

London now has a Low Emissions Zone for "lorries and coaches." Likewise, Tokyo is looking at toll booth type things that would measure commercial vehicle emissions on the periphery of the city and if you're not in compliance you don't go into the city.

Our friends in Florence last year couldn't pick us up at our hotel because they didn't have the correct sticker to enter the central city.

I realize this isn't all because of emissions. Congestion, largely because of bad and/or not enough roads and too many vehicles, is the major driver. But congestion=bad air.

I know the argument is that European cities weren't designed for today's vehicular volume. No argument. But how many U.S. cities foresaw 2008 traffic volumes?

Smart cars and electric vehicles make no sense from Denver to LA. But from Central Park to Wall Street?

The emissions path at least for diesels is set in regulatory stone. The "hows" are still open to debate, but the numbers are on the scoreboard, everyone knows what the final score has to be.

Despite that, the clean air battle is still in many ways just starting.

And despite the indignant protests of my friend from Brooklyn, the hardest fought battles, and the biggest changes may be seen first not on the highways and byways, but on downtown city streets.

Mike Osenga

mosenga@dieselpub.com

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