Transportation 101

This is another entry from my old (and soon to be expiring) website. I suspect that it's pretty much guaranteed to mess up my formatting since it begins with a large table (that fit fine on my old page, but I'm a little more *pushes out with each elbow* confined over here).
This post was originally made in the Winter of 2001 and some of the cartoons hold a bit more irony today than they probably did back then.

oh, and again, no promises on the links.

			Transportation 101 Transportation Approx. cost to traveler Approx. cost to government Approx. cost to society walking cost of shoes ($50) cost of paving sidewalk positive health benefits increased productivity biking cost of bike ($250) cost of paving bike lane medical costs of people who breath in (minimal) bike tire dust driving cost of car ($15,000) cost of gas cost of auto registration cost of drivers license cost of auto insurance cost of paving streets and highways cost of lights, stop signs, etc. cost of police to enforce speed limits cost of meter maids to enforce parking limits health costs that aren't covered by individuals items to address noise issues cost of legislators to develop laws regarding travel cost of clean up from spilled oil cost of department setup to oversee auto registrations, drivers' testing, etc. medical costs of people who breath in car tire dust medical costs of people who breath in car exhaust medical costs of people who live near auto factories medical costs of people who are affected by spilled oil (not to mention the loss of beauty as the earth gets paved over, etc.) driving + (SUV's, clunkers, etc.) lower mpg leads to greater gas costs ditto greater damage to environment leads to increased medical problems increased risk of a fatality in an accident (leads to lower productivity since the dead guy can no longer work) Medical Effects * Walkers have less incidence of cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other killer diseases. * smog can cause birth defects * living near auto factories creates a higher likelihood of children having cancer * more people are being killed by air pollution from traffic than from traffic crashes each year (and again) (and again) * auto exhaust can lead to respiratory ailments * tire dust can lead to rhinitis (runny nose), conjunctivitis (tearful eyes), to hives (urticaria), bronchial asthma, and occasionally even a life-threatening condition called anaphylactic shock (and again) * tire dust can build sensitivities to latex (and again) * auto traffic stirs up pollens and molds and may therefore worsen asthma and hay fever * ground level ozone can irritate the respiratory system, reduce lung function, aggravate asthma, and/or inflame and damage the lining of the lung (and again) * nationally there are approximately 18.1 auto-accident-related deaths per 100,000 people (and again) * Compared with other vehicle types, utility vehicles experienced the highest rollover rates: 37.8 percent in fatal crashes, 10.0 percent in injury crashes, and 2.5 percent in property-damage-only crashes. * healthier employees are often happier and more productive (and again) (and again) Environmental Effects (which often lead to Medical Effects) * oil spills and leaks destroy the environment and may be closer than you think (more) (still more) (and a little more) * air pollution is causing problems in national parks * auto manufacturing produces great quantities of pollutants * SUV's are allowed, by law, to produce more pollutants than passenger cars * SUV's get crappy gas mileage (compare the gas mileage for cars page to the best and worst of SUV's page)