I may not be as politically correct and green as I should be, but I have noticed the following....

Is it me, or has the air quality improved since the busses went on strike?

and all the kids and school staff have broken up, and many parents are now on holiday too :confused: :huh: :lol:

yes!
and the school kids are still breathing out carbon dioxide like the rest of us so whats the problem!
If daft parents stopped transporting their offspring to school in shoguns,x5's and cayennes then you'd still notice no difference.
The point is public transport was initially there to transport the public! in this day and age the majority of the public aspire to travel by private transport. To own your own transport is no longer the right of the middle classes, everday folk own cars and this is because they find fault with the public transport system and those who run it.
It's time to put public transport back into the hands of those who need and would use it most!

Originally posted by firsteuro
I may not be as politically correct and green as I should be, but I have noticed the following....

Is it me, or has the air quality improved since the busses went on strike?

Definitely. Much better air without those awful things churning out their smog.

Buses use diesel and diesel engines emit their very own form of particulate pollution - tiny particles of carbon carrying all sorts of crap.

The 'ten micron' particulate matter is especially bad from badly maintained diesel engines. Burning petrol produces one set of bad chemicals, diesels produce another.

Both produce carbon dioxide as well - well maintained petrol engines will produce next to no carbon monoxide and I think diesels are the same in that respect.

The ten micron particles are viewed with suspicion in a number of lung problems, as the particles are small enough o get lodged in the lungs, holding the crap they're carrying in contact with the lung walls.

As for the use of public transport - perhaps a place to start is to look at the network itself. Many buses travel 'light' at some times of the day - if the service was punctual and reliable it would make more sense to drop the odd departure and save money and fuel, with only a slight increase in loading on other journeys of the same service. This is only valid for very frequent services - 52, 60, etc. However, the remaining journeys would need to be punctual and reliable - i.e. at teh stop when they say they will be, and not when it suits. Admittedly some of these issues are due to congestion, but not all - and congestion is to be expected in peak traffic so why not plan that in the timetables?

Joe

Originally posted by JoePritchard
As for the use of public transport - perhaps a place to start is to look at the network itself. Many buses travel 'light' at some times of the day - if the service was punctual and reliable it would make more sense to drop the odd departure and save money and fuel, with only a slight increase in loading on other journeys of the same service. This is only valid for very frequent services - 52, 60, etc. However, the remaining journeys would need to be punctual and reliable - i.e. at teh stop when they say they will be, and not when it suits. Admittedly some of these issues are due to congestion, but not all - and congestion is to be expected in peak traffic so why not plan that in the timetables?

Joe
I think they need to look at the cost as well. It cost the same to park in town as it does for me to go and come back on the bus, and if 2 of us go then we are saving. The cost of bus fares is expensive. I have to say i hardly use them now as they dont go to Crosspool from Crookes, but many people have to rely on them for work, i used them when i worked at the Childrens.

Notice they didnt go on strike until after the secondary schools had closed??? The chaos that would have caused.

Originally posted by fuzzy
Notice they didnt go on strike until after the secondary schools had closed??? The chaos that would have caused.

Yea.. all those fit healthy kids having to walk, reducing pollution! Shock Horror ;)

Originally posted by JoePritchard
Buses use diesel and diesel engines emit their very own form of particulate pollution - tiny particles of carbon carrying all sorts of crap.

The 'ten micron' particulate matter is especially bad from badly maintained diesel engines. Burning petrol produces one set of bad chemicals, diesels produce another.

Both produce carbon dioxide as well - well maintained petrol engines will produce next to no carbon monoxide and I think diesels are the same in that respect.

The ten micron particles are viewed with suspicion in a number of lung problems, as the particles are small enough o get lodged in the lungs, holding the crap they're carrying in contact with the lung walls.




It's unlikely that the suspicions about the harmful effect of inhaling exhaust fumes will be fully invesigated as long as there exists the easy scapegoat of tobacco smoke to blame for all our respiratory and cardio-vascular problems. I did once see a graph of the incidence of childhood asthma against the increase in car ownership which was very telling.

Perhaps as well as an invitation to passengers to report suspected dishonesty on the part of their drivers, all buses should display a prominent notice urging passengers to report buses with smoky exhausts to whichever body is responsible for the regulation of such matters.

I believe that Sheffield has electronic monitors installed in the city to measure pollution from vehicles it might be interesting if somebody had access to the figures and could tell us all whether the argument from the anti bus persons that the city has clearer air since the buses haven't been running hold up or not.

www.airquality.co.uk will allow you to query the data from the 2 stations in Sheffield (Tinsley viaduct and Sheffield centre).

I don't think it's quite that simple though as how you you take into account the fact that we are now in the school holidays so there is less traffic as well as the buses being on strike.

No kids being driven to school plus many more people on holiday. The traffic is much lighter at the moment never mind the bus strike.

The pollution also depends upon weather conditions - Sheffield sits in a 'bowl' and it's possible to get pollution trapped below a temperature inversion in summer.

To do a compare and contrast excercise you'd need to find similar weather conditions to what we've been having to see if there has been a substantial decrease.

It's likely that the pollutants originating from petrol engines may have increased, with a decresae in the stuff from diesel engines.

One question that needs to be asked is 'do we NEED to travel as much as we do?' For example, those of us in desk jobs - can we telecommute? Can we work from home? For shopping trips - can we shop locally? School runs - can you walk the kids to school?

Joe

Originally posted by Hippy
www.airquality.co.uk will allow you to query the data from the 2 stations in Sheffield (Tinsley viaduct and Sheffield centre).

I don't think it's quite that simple though as how you you take into account the fact that we are now in the school holidays so there is less traffic as well as the buses being on strike.

No kids being driven to school plus many more people on holiday. The traffic is much lighter at the moment never mind the bus strike.

Though if you compare it to last years figures you would get an idea, as the kids break up every year, (though at different times) but if i remeber correctly it was around the 20th last year (definatly was a friday).

Figure are also weather dependant too.