Skyweb Express will help meet a significant sustainability challenge using technology commercially available today. Vehicle traffic is one of the human contributors to the continued growth of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), in urban regions. Vehicle traffic continues to expand.

Each gallon of gasoline burned adds nearly 20 pounds of CO2 to the atmosphere. In the United States, motorized vehicles are a major contributor to air pollution. These vehicles produce 63% of the key chemicals (carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, and hydrocarbons) that cause smog and health problems.

Skyweb Express uses commercially available technology. Building a Skyweb Express system in an urban setting has the potential to significantly reduce CO2 and other emissions in the environment. A recent transportation study for an urban area of 1.8 million people concluded that 24% of all vehicle trips – or 250 million vehicle trips per year – could be accommodated by Skyweb Express. This reduction is estimated at over 542 million gallons of gasoline per year and a reduction of over 10 billion pounds of CO2 emissions each year.

The Result:
80 million gallons of gasoline not used and a reduction of 1.5 billion pounds of CO2 per year.

Links:
www.apta.com/media/releases Public Transportation’s contribution to U.S. Greenhouse Gas Reduction – Fact Sheet, September 26, 2001

www.transact.org Transportation and Environmental Fact Sheet United States Department of Energy – Transportation Energy Data Book, Chapter 11 – Greenhouse Gas Emissions