I was just on the blog of my neighbor Lewis (yes, he actually lives next door to me and is an has a bike advocacy blog…small world, I know) and came across the above graph. While, certainly, the Toyota Prius has some far more advanced technology than your average transit bus, the bus is the far more environmentally friendly option.

Unfortunately, as anyone who’s recently taken a cross-country bus will tell you, it’s not always the most comfortable experience. Planes are far faster, cars allow for more control, and busses might contain a different class of patron than most suited business travellers are used to. So busses are neglected entirely by environmental writers, it seems, in favor of promoting green options that are more comfrtable.

As the above graph shows, even a half-full bus uses less than half of the fuel per passanger as a plane. My environmental innovation for the day would be to posh up the bus system a bit, increase fares by a fraction, and make busses actually comfortable for long-distance travel while still having them be one of the greenest ways to travel.

As air travel becomes more and more inconvenient (and expensive) travelers are going to be looking for new and better ways to get from place to place.

Thanks to Lewis for his great work at ImagineNoCars.

By Hank Green

Found on the net by our Green News Bot.

Tags: B1 with Earth, Green News, Sustainablity

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