Palm Beach Post reporter Chris Persaud broke down the 2023 U.S. Census Bureau data on commuting into an interesting snapshot of Palm Beach County. The time we spend getting to and from our jobs is an important quality of life issue. Yet, the environmental aspect of the data informs us in another important way that transportation in the county is very inefficient, and we pay dearly for it in more ways than one.
Cars inject 27% of all carbon emissions into our atmosphere. So, thank you to the 10% of our commuting population who carpool. You’re taking 72,000 cars off the road every workday and shrinking the commuting footprint by roughly 1,600 acres of asphalt.
Incredibly, 98% of the total cost of driving a car is paid for with our tax dollars. In other words, car owners get an enormous free ride on their commutes. To the 5% of workers in the “other” category who commute by walking, biking or mass transit, another nod of appreciation. You’re not only reducing air pollution, you’ve chosen a form of transportation that you alone mostly pay for – reducing the tax burden on the rest of us.
It is not discussed often enough that cars kill nearly as many Americans each year as guns do – north of 40,000. To the 15% of PBC workers who do their jobs from home, a tip of the hat to your wisdom. You’re having 3-times the positive impact on the environment as those in the “other” category are having and a 50% greater impact than those who carpool.
To the half-million of you that drive alone to and from work each day, please look at other options. I know Palm Beach County leadership has for decades built a cars-only place to live that has an estimated 100,000 acres of asphalt absorbing the sun’s warmth every day. So, many of you have no other reasonable choice. But just maybe there’s an alternative out there that will work for you.
Finally, to our PBC leaders, do better. Cars-only communities are expensive places to live and are a significant contributor to homelessness. Single use developments, as opposed to multi-use walkable developments, increase car dependency. Mass transit is long overdue, and our zoning code requires excessive parking requirements and often inhibits smarter development patterns that reduce automobile usage.
For those of you who are wondering, I’m in the “other” category. My wife and I began sharing a car 11-years ago and my commute to work is via bicycle. Join me Palm Beach County. We can do better.
Timothy Hullihan is an architect and freelance writer who lives in North Palm Beach.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Traffic gridlock imposes big costs on Palm Beach County. You can make it better. | Opinion
Reporting by Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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