Electric Scooters: An Efficient Transportation Alternative

You just returned home from work. After spending thirty minutes in traffic to go a measly eight miles, your patience is shot.

You have not been home for even an hour when you notice that you need to go to the store to get some necessities. Instead of jumping in your car, you decide to save some gas money, along with your last nerve and take in the sights. It’s only a mile or so to the store, so instead of dealing with traffic, you opt for an alternative mode of transportation and avoid the hassle.

Electric scooters have become increasingly popular due to their energy efficient, environmentally friendly makeup. Without the need for petroleum to power electric scooters, you are helping the environment with every ride. Instead burning fossil fuels and emitting more carbon into the atmosphere, you can do your part in saving our wonderful planet and have fun while you’re doing it.

Most electric scooters have the ability to fold down for easy storage or transport. With this added convenience, you can virtually take your electric scooter anywhere.

Electric scooters are perfect for that short trip. Instead of hopping into the car, burning the gas and dealing with traffic, hop on your electric scooter, turn the key and before you know it, you have arrived at your destination headache free.

Some electric scooters can reach a distance of twenty to thirty miles without needing a charge. If you take the average trip to the store two to three times a week, you will still have enough charge for more trips in between. When you take your automobile on several short distance runs, you are burning more gas with every acceleration. Every time you accelerate, you emit more pollutants into the environment and burn more gas than at a steady speed.

Electric Scooters are your cost effective alternative. Though the price range differs among the different types of electric scoters, it is safe to say that the average 250 watt electric scooter that has a range of about ten to twelve miles per charge will run about $150-$200. For a 350 watt electric scooter that range from twelve to up to twenty miles per charge can set you back a mere $180 to $250. And the bigger 500 watt electric scooters that can average twenty to a whopping 30 miles on a charge will hit you wallet for around $300 to $400. One thing to remember: This is a one time fee, and you don’t have to keep filling up the tank, thereby after a few charges your electric scooter has virtually paid for itself.

Overall, when you look at the cost, efficiency, and overall convenience; you will agree that electrics scooters are one more thing in our lives that are not just a matter of convenience, rather a matter of being practical, which makes us more efficient in the long run. You can’t go wrong. Do your part to save the planet, save some nerves and put that

Buses Named Most Fuel-efficient U.s. Transportation Mode

Nathan Associates, a consulting firm, announced that buses are the most fuel-efficient transportation mode in the United States. The report showed that motor coaches offered 148.4 passenger miles per gallon in 2004.

This figure shows that the mode of transportation is doing its share in the reduction of fuel consumption of the country. A bus capacity to accommodate a huge number of persons made them the most fuel-efficient mode of transportation.

The sector though is suffering from the declining number of passengers which is due to the advent of air travel which have become cheaper. This takes a lot of passengers fore this mode of transportation in the U.S. While there may be lesser passengers on today’s inter-city buses compared in the past, the sector still provides good fuel savings for the country.

According to the study, the second most fuel efficient sector is inter-city trains which provided 74.1 passenger miles per gallon. Air carriers meanwhile also offered 40.9 passenger miles per gallon. Automobiles only achieved 35.4 passenger miles per gallon for the same year.

The American Bus Association President, Peter J. Pantuso, has this to say about the result of the study: “As energy conservation and environmental issues take center stage in Congress and with the traveling public, the motor coach industry is proud to be the leader in transportation fuel efficiency. Motor coaches are striving to do their part to help the U.S. achieve energy security.”

This study shows that even as the auto industry is developing ways to increase fuel efficiency, other sectors are already providing good value for the amount of fuel that they consume. This also shows that every sector in the U.S. is doing its share to support the administration’s goal to reduce fuel dependence on other countries.

The sector will be a good help in making President Bush’s “Twenty in Ten” program. While most buses today are running on petroleum diesel, their switch to biodiesel is forthcoming. This means that the sector can increase their efficiency and at the same time take care of the environment. As the country strives to address the global warming issue, the sector is in a position to help out in the goal.

According to the study, “the motor coach transportation service industry is the number one people mover. In 2005 the industry carried 631,000,000 passengers in the United States and Canada alone. The motor coach transportation service industry carries one-fourth more passengers than the airline industry and twice more than Amtrak and commuter rail combined.” The buses employed by the industry are even more fuel efficient than automobiles equipped with performance enhancing aftermarket parts like Saturn cold air intake system.

John Woodrooffe of UMich’s Transportation Research Institute Discusses Truck Safety and Efficiency

RMI’s Transformational Trucking Charrette: John Woodrooffe of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute explains how we can optimize both safety and transport fuel efficiency, addresses the public’s role in shaping smart trucking policy, and describes his surprise at his trucking peers’ level of openness to trucking efficiency improvements.

The Effects of Fuel Prices on Transportation Companies

The Effects of Fuel Prices on Transportation Companies

As the price of fuel rises and falls, many transportation companies have felt the effects of extremely high prices at the pumps. Even though fuel prices have dramatically declined, many companies were not financially strong enough to weather the storm. To try to offset the extreme new highs in fuel prices, transportation companies have started charging higher fuel surcharge prices, but even that wasn’t enough.

The trucking industry was probably the hardest transportation method hit during the increase in fuel prices. As the price of diesel soared way over four dollars a gallon, many companies had to either change their policies, or fold like some of their competition did. Many trucking companies employ truck drivers who buy their own fuel, and get paid at a fixed amount per mile. This method works great if the fuel prices are low, but at over four dollars a gallon, this simply wasn’t enough.

From 1997 to 2007, truckers saw diesel prices jump over 100% from two dollars to over four dollars per gallon in ten years. This has caused the trucking industry to learn some new tricks when it came to increasing the mileage per gallon of their fleets. Some of these solutions were simple, such as slowing down on the highways, or checking tire pressure more often, but other technological advancements have been aimed at keeping these tractor trailers more fuel efficient. Advancements in aerodynamic engineering have been proven to reduce fuel consumption by twelve percent, or about two thousand gallons of fuel on a truck that travels an average of 130,000 miles a year. This has translated into a savings of almost $5,000 a year. In an industry where most rigs are owner-operated, this is a welcome advance in technology. For every one-penny increase in the price of diesel, the trucking industry spends approximately $391 million dollars. When rapid fluctuations in the price of fuel occur, you can see how this may become a major problem. One company, Con-Way, based in Michigan, estimates that the trucking industry spent nearly $120 billion dollars in fuel costs, a number that figures to drop dramatically as the price of fuel comes tumbling down from its over four dollar a gallon peak earlier this year.

So far in 2008, nearly one thousand smaller trucking companies had to file for bankruptcy, with an additional few large companies also having to “bite the bullet”. At the beginning of the year, with fuel prices almost at their peak, it was estimated that the trucking business already saw a twenty percent decline in business, leaving nearly 42,000 less trucks on the road. That is nearly two-and-a-half percent of the trucking fleet in the United States. This has not all been bad news for truckers, however. The foreign demand for tractor trailers in Russia and China have given owner-operators of tractor trailers a new opportunity. Some truckers have opted to sell their aging trucks in favor of newer, more aerodynamic trucks that will not only save money now, but also in the long run as fuel prices continue to drop dramatically. If the current trend of falling fuel prices continues, the trucking industry may become even more lucrative then it has been in the past. Although the price of diesel is a lot less, don’t expect many trucking companies to relax their prices.

Increasing profits isn’t always the only motivation behind technological advancements in the trucking industry. Reducing global warming and smog are also critical factors in the recent advancements of technology. Simple changes in driving habits have already started to take an effect on the amount of emissions that a truck releases into the atmosphere. By reducing the speed of tractor trailers from 75 miles per hour to 65 miles per hour, truckers estimate over one mile per gallon increase in fuel economy. It may not seem like much, but for trucks that average less than ten miles per gallon, the increase is huge. The corresponding amount of emissions is also reduced, as less fuel is being consumed. In California alone, these changes, along with technology such as heat-trapping emissions, and increased exhaust-filter technology, emissions have been reduced by 17 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. That is the equivalent of taking 2.5 million cars off the roads. The results are astonishing.

Even though it took a near economic depression to get trucking companies to change their ways, the recent advancements in technology will only make freight shipping cheaper in the long run. Exciting new advancements have also greatly reduced carbon dioxide emissions, another welcome advancement in the trucking industry. All-in-all, the companies and individuals that made it through this crisis will be better off in the long run, as will us, the consumers.

Are there any existing bills or programs involving ‘green’ transportation?

Such as encouraging the use of electricity-powered vehicles, hydrogen-fueled automobiles, pedicabs, bicycles, etc.

Hydrogen Fuel for Surface Transportation

Hybrid Car: a Responsible Way of Transportation

Hybrid cars are currently regarded as very beneficial to the conservation of the environment. This is because the price of fuel and the harm it contributes to our surroundings has become really uncontrolled. The rationality behind this is that hybrid cars don’t mainly rely on fuel for their power, but they also make the best use of electricity. That leads to lower quantity of fuel consumption and lower emission of air polluting gasses.

A hybrid car merges an electrical motor and petrol engine to supply adequate force to the vehicle with minimal fuel usage and less emissions. They’re also far more useful for day-to-day purpose than pure electric-powered automobiles and far more fuel-efficient than pure gasoline-powered automobiles. Fusing the two sources of power, a newly-created vehicle will be comparatively non-polluting and will result in less fuel intake. This entails that it produces plenty of power to deliver highway speeds without wasting too much fuel; plus it is likewise neat for the stop-and-go driving in traffic heavy areas.

The hybrid car was produced to satisfy the demand to keep the environment clean from pollutions and in order to rely less on fuel resources. It is not required to plug the hybrid into an electric wall socket to be able to recharge it. They continually re-charge themselves by using the power normally lost during cruising and braking and they could as well be charged by the vehicle’s gasoline engine.

Hybrids do tender more benefits than the regular cars with gasoline engines. Here is a brief list of some rewards hybrid cars extend.

1. Advanced pollution control.

One of the elements that lead to the greenhouse effect and its damages is the pollution in the air. It’s a reality that the nonstop harm to our ozone layer is caused by the dangerous chemicals like carbon dioxide, which are emitted by vehicles and transmitted into the atmosphere. The amount of carbon dioxide exhausted by a hybrid vehicle is primarily dependent on the amount of fuel it consumes; therefore the hybrid cars can be a leading factor in halting the progress of the global warming. As already stated, this is because hybrids don’t use just gas in order to operate – they also employ electricity, a power source that does not wreak any risk to the environment.

2. Efficiency and operation.

Because the power is received from 2 sources hybrid vehicles get smaller engines than the regular gas autos. The smaller engines are closer to the optimal power requirements for engines that will contribute to a more effective operation.

3. Better miles-per-gallon ratio.

The evident advantage of a hybrid vehicle is that it keeps the gas expenses low. With the utilization of a hybrid car, you are capable to save money. You don’t have to buy gas 2-3 times a week or afterwards each long trip because you can go a few hundred miles just on one tank.

4. Your investment acquires additional value

A hybrid vehicle may hold back a higher resale value. Whenever you need to trade in or sell a previously owned hybrid you can be certain that you will get a decent deal for it.

5. Hybrid automobiles can assist in lowering your taxes

Tax discounts are presented to hybrid car owners, so if you purchase a hybrid car you achieve additional savings through the extra tax withholding allowances. Please, always check with IRS on the latest rules.

In spite of numerous beneficial uses and advantages, there’s one matter to consider in viewing the hybrid cars. For some people they may not be yet affordable at the current market prices but you should remember that your investment will pay out ten-fold.

Gearing up for hydrogen: America’s road to sustainable transportation

Hydrogen and Its Future As a Transportation Fuel

Environmentally Friendly Transportation For Every Day

In this article we are not looking at environmentally friendly transportation for holidays or travel. We are going to look at your ways of transportation in your own neighborhood, when you go to work, school, do your shopping and so on. It is so easy to take the car but you should not get used to it and there are other, much more environmentally friendly, transportation types. And they are easy as well.

The least favorite

To keep it interesting for you I should probably start with a more popular type of transportation but because a lot of people out there have just forgotten about this perfect option we will start with the most unpopular way of getting yourself from A to B in America, walking. There is a big difference if you live in a big crowded city or your home is in the country or in the suburbs. City folks walk much more then other people, for them walking is cheaper, its easier and they keep in shape at the same time. But it seems that when people have more space and they live in an rural area they take the car for almost everything. If you are one of those people and you are interested in more environmentally friendly transportation types this article is great for you

Walk to everything you need to go to in a 15 to 20 minute radius.

Cycle to everything you need to go to that is further, and do that up to 45 minutes of cycling. After that you can use a vehicle. A vehicle is not the same as a car, a great cheap and easy type of transportation is a scooter. There are gas and electrical scooters and it’s up to you to make a choice. Electrical scooters are often more environmentally friendly. But what ever you choose a scooter is a great way to get from A to B, you have all freedom, you can drive around all traffic jams, no parking problems and parking costs.
When you need to drive further then 1 hour on your scooter you can take a look a motor scooter or at public transportation like subways, the train or bus. Because you ride with a lot of people it is often a more environmentally friendly transportation solution then driving your car.

Environmentally friendly transportation is cheaper

For example a scooter compared to car mileage example:

”Each mile in an SUV costs in gas PPG/MPG where PPG is the price per gallon and MPG is the mileage of your vehicle. If the price per gallon is $3.00 and your vehicle gets 12 miles per gallon, 3/12 = a cost of $0.25 per mile. Now we calculate cost/mile for a scooter at 85 MPG: 3/85 = about $0.035 – about three and a half cents a mile. With these figures, it is simple to see that each mile on a scooter costs $0.215 less than it would in an SUV. Thus, when it reaches 5000 miles, the scooter will have saved us 5000 * $0.215 or $1075.00! Just about the price of an inexpensive Motorscooter.” according to MotorScooterMuse .com

As you can see environmentally friendly transportation is fun, cheap and not just for green hippie type people at all. The benefits of environmentally friendly transportation are very big and it is wise in this time of financial and environmental crisis to look at our options.

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