Tag: covid-19

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Less Driving During the Pandemic Has Had A Dramatic Effect On Air Pollution

After the Covid-19 pandemic is over will Americans will acknowledge that fewer motorized vehicles on the road had a great effect on the environment and human health?  Will we change behaviors and opt to drive smaller vehicles, and drive less?  It remains to be seen, but “… these preliminary numbers demonstrate that this global health disaster is an opportunity to assess – which aspects of modern life are absolutely necessary, and what positive changes might be possible if we change our habits on a global scale.”

Using the Tropomi instrument on the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, images taken from 1 January to 11 March 2020 showed nitrogen dioxide dropping dramatically. See the amazing video.

New Evidence Shows How COVID-19 Has Affected Global Air Pollution

JACINTA BOWLER 17 MARCH 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic is getting more overwhelming by the day, with increasing lockdowns, a death toll of more than 7,000 people across the world, and a direct hit to the global economy.

But if there’s a sliver of good news, it’s about how the spread of the new coronavirus has been decreasing air pollution, and possibly even saving lives in the process.

Back on March 8, Stanford University environmental resource economist Marshall Burke did some back-of-the-envelope calculations about the recent air pollution drop over parts of China and potential lives saved, posting it on a global food, environment and economic dynamics blog, G-FEED.

The situation has continued to unfold since then, so those numbers won’t stay current for long; but according to Burke, even conservatively, it’s very likely that the lives saved locally from the reduction in pollution exceed COVID-19 deaths in China.

“Given the huge amount of evidence that breathing dirty air contributes heavily to premature mortality, a natural – if admittedly strange – question is whether the lives saved from this reduction in pollution caused by economic disruption from COVID-19 exceeds the death toll from the virus itself,” Burke writes.

“Even under very conservative assumptions, I think the answer is a clear ‘yes’.”

Read about it:

https://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-what-covid-19-is-doing-to-our-pollution-levels

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Open Streets RIGHT NOW

We’ve been urging people to get out of their cars for years. Right now when our physical, emotional, and mental health are at risk it would be a great time to consider opening streets to walkers, bicycle riders, and any other modes of transportation that would enable people to get around and get fresh air and exercise.  We can walk, jog, roll around our towns with 6′ between us, smile and wave, and remain a community.  We can prioritize people over cars right now.  **This photo is of a dead bollard at the corner in front of my house. It’s an intersection that kids use every everyday for school, and now for breakfast and lunch. Someone ran over it, then later another driver ran over it again and dragged it down the block. Let’s make streets for people NOW.

Guest opinion: We should open up neighborhood streets for social distancing

Posted by Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor) on March 16th, 2020

**This article is by Sam Balto, a Weston Award Winner and Physical Education teacher at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in north Portland. We last heard from him when he launched a guerrilla safety campaign using red cups to protect bike lanes.**

During our time of social isolation, our community still needs physical activity and fresh air. Our network of neighborhood greenways should be carfree while we are in a State of Emergency. This would allow for ample open space for people not using cars. People could enjoy safe social distancing without the threat of being run over by drivers.

Read about it:

Guest opinion: We should open up neighborhood streets for social distancing

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A Strong Town Right Now

APCSC is a member and supporter of Strong Towns.

Strong Towns is an international movement that’s dedicated to making communities across the United States and Canada financially strong and resilient.

Throughout the past 5 years we’ve utilized tools and resources from Strong Towns. We’ve learned and shared ways to build a better, more equitable city for everyone. Now we’re facing the real, imminent challenges that face cities everywhere – it’s all about how to take care of one another.  Let’s be the best we can be right now “to make our systems more bottom-up and responsive. To make them more humane.”

We’re about to witness the best humans have to offer.


by Charles Marohn

“What you imagine as overwhelming or terrifying while at leisure becomes something you can cope with when you must-there is no time for fear.”

— Rebecca Solnit, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster

“I think we are about to witness the best humans have to offer each other.

That’s what Solnit documents in her book. During times of stability, society seems to accept the grinding decline of these failed systems. Yet, during times of distress, leaders – especially at the most adaptable local level – step forward and fill the gaps left by incompetence and inflexibility. We need to support these people because, despite the scariness of the unknown, this is an opportunity to reshape the direction of our entire country. To make our systems more bottom-up and responsive. To make them more humane.

Read more:

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/3/15/were-about-to-witness-the-best-humans-have-to-offer?utm_campaign=031620+Monday+Jab+-+General+List&utm_medium=email&utm_source=autopilot

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Getting Around During The COVID19 Outbreak

The outbreak of COVID-19, is one more strike against mass transit with public health agencies urging people to avoid public gatherings, and “social distancing. “It’s still early to know exactly how this will unfold, but without proper mitigation efforts from local governments, we could be feeling the effects of coronavirus on public transportation service for years to come.”

Mass transit has pretty much always had a bad reputation in popular culture – bus and subway riders in film are often depicted as poor and derelict at worst, and just short of miserable at best.

Ride share like Uber and  Lyft has chipped away at transit ridership, flooding streets with more cars, and undermining struggling transit systems. “The legacy of these companies amounts to a warning to the public and policymakers: If you do not provide people with good transportation options, they will take bad ones.”

One way for people to avoid exposure during the outbreak of COVID-19 is to ride bikes, but in some cities like NYC, with “cyclists are reporting huge increases in biking this week” the conditions for bicyclists are not optimal, and the administration isn’t currently planning to focus on better bike infrastructure, as seen in this film: Streetfilms: Biking is the Way to Beat Coronavirus.

As spring approaches in Asbury Park we can get around within this 1.4 mile sq. city on foot, on bikes, and we can utilize other micro-mobility options as they become available.  Supporters of Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition can continue to lobby for more and better infrastructure for walking and biking in the city, now and onward.

Tech by VICE

Coronavirus May Have a Lasting Impact on Public Transit Funding

Ridership is likely going to plummet, which will make it harder on local transit agencies

By Aaron Gordon Mar 10 2020
Coronavirus is beginning to upend American life. The stock market is crashing, universities are cancelling classes or moving them online, conferences are being canceled, and airlines are struggling. Unsurprisingly, public transportation is also going to be greatly impacted. It’s still early to know exactly how this will unfold, but without proper mitigation efforts from local governments, we could be feeling the effects of coronavirus on public transportation service for years to come.