In the City of Atlanta in Georgia, a huge world class sporting event was held in the summer of 1996. It was the Modern Olympics. It was a great time for the city as it hosted countless visitors and athletes from all over the world. The city officials realized that the city would be ‘choked’ and grind to a halt if everyone were allowed to drive on the streets of Downtown Atlanta. Many of the sporting venues were located in or close to Downtown Atlanta. The city was already dealing with the issue of congested and clogged streets because of so many motor vehicles.
Officials came up with a wonderful idea. They decided that during the Olympics, most personal motor vehicles would not be allowed to enter the downtown area of the City. Many more buses were provided to transport persons around the city.
A remarkable thing happened to the quality of the air during that time. It improved! Medical workers noticed that the number of children being treated at emergency rooms for asthma decreased by 42 percent. That is almost half!
The reason for this was that there were less motor vehicles on the road. This included cars, pickups, SUVs and so on. When a vehicle that runs on gasoline, it produces gases such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and other tiny particles. These are not good for human health and are one of the reasons why many persons become ill. So fewer cars on the roads would mean the air would be cleaner and healthier for all of us.
Now what do you call a situation where several vehicles are all moving slowly or not moving at all but their engines are on? If your answer is a traffic jam, you are correct! While traffic jams can be found on highways, we also see them regularly in cities.
In next parts, we will begin to look at the challenges we face as we try to reduce the number of motor vehicles on our roads. If we can achieve that goal, our cities can have cleaner air.
Is it possible to achieve this?