Environmental and quality of
life benefits to carpooling and vanpooling

The benefits to reducing the number of cars on the road are many. Driving affects a host of ecological systems ranging from global climate to local air quality . In addition, car accidents kill tens of thousands of people in the U.S. every year, many in the prime of their lives.

Global Climate Change: According to the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the 1990s were the hottest decade of the 20th century. The IPCC further predicts that the earth's average temperature will increase by as much as 10 degrees F during the next century, leading to record heat waves, droughts, an increase in frequency of severe storms, rising sea levels, and the migration of insect-borne tropical diseases like malaria. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the largest contributor to climate change, and the transportation sector is one of the largest sources of CO2. Cars and light trucks emit 20 percent of the nation's CO2 pollution. The U.S. transportation sector as a whole is responsible for almost nine percent of the world's total CO2 emissions!

Local air quality: Chemicals emitted from the tailpipes of vehicles are a primiary contributor to the creation of ground-level ozone. This type of ozone, in turn, has been linked to childhood asthma. During the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, scientists observed an 11-44% decrease in asthma-related visits among children to local clinics and emergency rooms. During this same period of time, peak morning rush hour traffic dropped 22%, resulting in a 28% drop in ozone levels. There were no decreases seen in other types of emergency room visits for children. (Visit the CDC for a summary of this study.) Children living in Maine have among the highest rates of childhood asthma in the nation.