Better buses?
Re “$138 million to buy L.A.’s first electric buses,” July 22
I would suggest these clean buses come with the caveat that any electricity used will be made by zero-emissions production, for example solar or wind. We will have then achieved true “zero emissions.”
Our city may be less polluted from the use of electric buses, but the air in nearby states, which house our huge coal-fired electrical plants, will not.
The increased need for electricity to run our “clean” buses will increase pollution of the air for many Native Americans who live downwind from these huge coal-fired generating plants. Peter Stern Culver City
In the story, electric buses are repeatedly referred to as “zero-emission” buses (along with mentions of eliminating emissions or “buses that don’t pollute at all”).
This is a misnomer: While electric buses may not spew pollution and carbon emissions directly from their tailpipes, the power plants that supply their electricity certainly do.
Electric vehicles that get their electricity from coal are marginally less polluting than gasoline vehicles, and while in California we do not use much coal, we do use natural gas — which can be just as bad because of fugitive methane emissions.
That is to say nothing of the pollution and emissions costs from mining and manufacturing batteries.
Zero-emission vehicles are as mythical as perpetual-motion machines or free lunches — the only true zero-emission vehicles are those that are never driven, which is something we should be aspiring to. Avilee Goodwin
Richmond, Calif.
How about an effective public transit system linking all So Cal communities to MTA lines and rail?
Silver Lake, Beverlywood and numerous other communities are public transit sinkholes.
The L.A. Department of Transportation, the L.A. City Council and our mayor need to champion transit with clean energy, regional carriers and — the missing link — local routes. Ann Bradley
Silver Lake
Except for rush hours, most buses I see are almost empty and take up precious road space on our streets.
Regardless of the mode of fuel, a considerable part of L.A.’s traffic congestion is due to large, lumbering almost-empty buses that block entire traffic lanes when they stop at curbside.
Metro should deploy more small 10- to 12-passenger vans, which are several car lengths shorter, and can more easily incorporate into traffic flow. Toby Horn
Miracle Mile