After Gutenberg

World Changing contributor Faith Cable informs that IPCC plans to issue a new report, called the Global Energy Assessment, that will measure how much energy cities consume. The World Changing editorial board encourages “Reader Reports” — submissions from their global audience that are notes from conferences, workshops and other “World Changing happenings” in which they participate; and, Faith Cable attended a presentation by Uwe Brandes on a recent book published by the Urban Land Institute, entitled “Growing Cooler: Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change.”

No, that is not Faith, that is a picture of the current U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Mary E. Peters, as she promotes motorcycle safety after riding one of her Harley Davidson motorcycles.

This weblog repeatedly has noted transportation issues for urban settings. So, while the IPCC report will address a variety of climate-related challenges, which urban environments must face, this post focuses upon VMT (Vehicle Miles Traveled).

In the US, Vehicle Miles Traveled dropped 3.7% In May, which “may not sound like much, but that equates to 9.6 billion fewer miles driven during a month,” observes one Otto Motive industry pundit. While the decline is perceived as the result of high gas prices, “it’s being used as a rallying cry for alternative infrastructure funding: With less fuel usage, gas taxes alone won’t pay for desperately needed roadwork and bridge repair.”

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters noted that “this continues a seven-month trend that amounts to 40.5 billion fewer miles traveled between November 2007 and May 2008 than the same period a year before.”

Anyway, at the presentation by Uwe Brandes that Faith Cable attended, Brandes presented evidence that, “even with cleaner cars and cleaner fuel, transportation-related emissions will continue to exceed the target level for global climate stabilization if VMT continue to increase. But compact, dense, mixed-use development in urban environments could result in an estimated 20 to 40 percent reduction in VMT.” And, as many observers agree, VMT will be reduced if fuel prices continue to rise.

The results of VMT modeling suggests that such inter modal transportation development within urban settings in the United States could yield a 20 percent decrease in energy use. Less energy equates to less emissions. Less emission equates to better health.

While there is limited research about the quantified impact of modal shift in transportation (more people taking transit), it, nonetheless, would seem common sense that if you improve the sustainability of a city, you improve the quality of life of its inhabitants. (Editor’s comment: It may be self evident, yet still worth further research by those with an appreication for complexity.)

And, while some see economic benefit to such development, not everyone is convinced that it is a good thing to develop more mass transit and walkable communities. On the other hand, as a New York City inhabitant bluntly responded to merchant complaints against a limited initiative for car free streets…

You think it’s hard to sell furniture when people can’t drive up, try selling furniture when most of NYC is under water due to global warming. Try driving a cab when gasoline is 10 dollars a gallon, you think anyone is going to pay for that? We are WAY past the point when we could have made easy choices. Returning our cities to walking and biking is not only a good idea (health, oil costs, global warming, slower pace of life, happiness, etc…) it is a vital component in our fight against global warming.

Greater usage of mass transit, walking directions for Google Maps, bike sharing programs, and various interconnections, e.g., linking bicycle commuting with bus rapid transit, are examples of transportation changes. The accommodation of which, this blog previously has argued, would seem an excellent opportunity for further consideration of the 3E’s (Ecology, Economy, and Equity). And, a festival or two, three, four…