Air Quality in the Triad

For the past three years the air quality in the Triad has been improving but the two pollutants of concern, ground level ozone and fine particle-pollution, will continue to be an issue.

Urban sprawl, our transportation habits, business and industry growth and traditional development practices aren’t going away. It is also important to remember that air pollution levels are very much weather related. During the past three summers we had weather conditions conducive to good air quality.

In addition to the help from Mother Nature, there are a number of state and local initiatives now in place which aid in reducing the emissions which contribute to air pollution. The Clean Smoke Stacks Bill, requires our coal fired power plants to reduce their emissions by 70%, the Early Action Compact signed by many counties and cities in the Triad support pollution reducing actions. The Forsyth County Environmental Affairs Department provides a daily air quality forecast so we know ahead of time what the air quality will be like. We also have PART, a growing regional transportation service that is helping to get cars off the road and people using public transportation.

How is PART helping to
improve air quality?

Up to 70% of air pollution in NC is caused by cars and trucks, so it just makes good sense for us to take a look at our transportation habits. What PART offers is a way to get to work, school and shopping without getting in your car. That means fewer cars on the road and better flowing traffic. Also, for every car we get off the road we reduce smog forming emissions by 40 pounds over the course of the year.

A single PART van can can hold up to 15 people. That means we have removed over 500 pounds of pollution that would have gone into the air with each van pool we form. Let’s not forget the monetary savings. A typical commuter, who switches from driving alone to using commuter alternatives, saves more than $800 a year in transportation expenses. I’m sure that figure has gone up with the gas prices. A PART bus with as few as 7 passengers is more fuel efficient, in terms of passenger miles per gallon, than the average single occupant vehicle used for commuting.

The fuel efficiency of a fully occupied bus is 6 times greater than that of the average single occupant auto. We need to start making some personal choices about transportation and PART makes it easy for us to save money AND do our part to keep the air breathable in the Triad.