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Just saw a chart showing how much less carbon a single bus ride saves
Honestly, I was looking at a report from the city's transit site about their new electric buses. It said one full bus can take 40 cars off the road for a trip. That cuts about 1,500 pounds of CO2 for every 100 miles the bus runs compared to those cars driving alone. I found the numbers on their 'Clean Fleet' page. Tbh, I knew buses were better, but seeing the actual amount surprised me. Has anyone else seen stats from their own town that made things click?
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blake3026mo ago
That city report probably assumes every car on the road has a single driver. Where I live, most cars during rush hour are carpools or parents driving kids. A bus might only replace 15 of those actual vehicles. Also, those electric buses get their power from a grid that's still mostly gas and coal. Charging a huge battery overnight creates its own emissions that the report likely didn't count. The real carbon savings are way lower once you factor all that in.
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jenny5806mo ago
But even 15 cars is a big win, and the grid gets cleaner every year while a gas car stays dirty.
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calebw504mo ago
The city report I saw actually assumed 1.2 passengers per car during peak hours, not single drivers, so that bus is replacing closer to 18 vehicles in real traffic (though @blake302 has a point about the grid mix). Even with gas and coal powering the bus overnight, the EPA says electric fleets still emit 40% less CO2 over their lifetime compared to diesel, and that gap grows as renewables replace fossil plants (which is happening faster than most people realize). So the savings aren't tiny - they're real and getting bigger every year, even if the grid isn't perfectly clean yet.
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