2003 Yale study of Automobile Externalities and Free Transit

...Since the abolishment of all transit fares for the entire urban area in July 1997, ridership has increased by more than 1,000 percent (City of Hasselt 2000). The reasoning behind the idea of fare free transit is the following: A considerable modal shift from car travel to public transportation makes the construction of new roads unnecessary, and existing roads can even be built back...

Academic study of US drop in vehicle miles

...the number of miles driven by the average American has been falling. Young Americans have  experienced the greatest changes: driving less; taking transit, biking and walking more; and seeking out places to live in cities and walkable communities where driving is an option, not a necessity.

link

The time lost paying fares

"Stillorgan QBC Dwell Time Analysis" by David O'Connor and Philip Kavanagh: " Pre-paid tickets are the most popular and fastest method of payment with 55% of those surveyed using this method. Pre-paid ticket users take on average 7 seconds to board. There is no time-saving for LEAP Card (e-purse) users, who take on average 10 seconds to board (being the same for cash payers). The findings present evidence to support the implementation of off-board ticket purchase and/or the removal of both cash and e-purse ticket transactions from services. Service planning improvements, such as the consolidation of stops, multi-door entry/exit systems and measures to improve performance at junctions, are also suggested."

Decoupling GDP Growth from Environmental Impact not Possible

PLOS ONE: "The simple model is compared to historical data and modelled projections to demonstrate that growth in GDP ultimately cannot be decoupled from growth in material and energy use. It is therefore misleading to develop growth-oriented policy around the expectation that decoupling is possible. We also note that GDP is increasingly seen as a poor proxy for societal wellbeing. GDP growth is therefore a questionable societal goal. Society can sustainably improve wellbeing, including the wellbeing of its natural assets, but only by discarding GDP growth as the goal in favor of more comprehensive measures of societal wellbeing."

Thorough paper on #peakoil. Good reference.

Recently added to our library of links.

http://alternativeenergy.procon.org/sourcefiles/PeakOilAnalysis_Wirth.pdf