VIEWS: Efficiency of a Summer Vacation
Friday, July 3, 2009;)
Dispatch from SSC Intern Crystal Kirsch
Every year my family travels from all parts of the U.S. to come together for a long weekend. This year I traveled from the DC area to Door County, Wisconsin for the family vacation. This trip required:
- driving a small car from College Park, MD to Arlington, VA,
- flying from DC to Chicago,
- driving from Chicago to Naperville, IL to meet family members,
- and finally driving a medium-sized SUV from Naperville, IL to Door County, Wisconsin (and repeating the whole process in reverse to get back to DC).
Looking at this process on paper, I wondered why I didn’t just fly straight to Wisconsin rather than having a long drive through another state. It seems so simple but the airlines seemed to disagree. No airlines would offer me a direct flight to my destination and I would be wasting far more energy flying to other locations just to end up a few hours above Chicago.
So I pose the following question: do you believe airlines have become more or less efficient by offering fewer direct flights so customers must make more connections over the recent years?
As for Carbon Footprint calculations of different travel/transportation methods you can visit Carbonfund.org.
Reader Comments (3)
This is a good example of how one sector's move to reduce it's impact (whether out of concern for the environment or due to financial hardship) doesn't really force people to consume less. This is why we need high speed rail powered by renewable energy so that we can still travel but do so in an environmentally friendly way!
I agree, America needs to invest in high speed rail systems throughout the country especially from high traffic areas. A newly proposed high speed railway will connect Las Vegas to Los Angeles which is a great project for that region. Also, a new rail corridor from Nashville TN to Harrisburg PA is being proposed which would take thousands of gas guzzling tractor trailers off the highways. The project is not gaining any momentum because many stakeholders in the state of Virginia are not excited about the idea of the rail line running through the Shenandoah Mountain range. I hope Virginia's politicians realize the large potential to reduce carbon emissions by shipping cargo on trains in lieu of tractor trailers. Could Virginia prove this reduction and sell it into one of the carbon offset markets?
As for commercial high speed trains, if they ever get implemented on a large scale, the US should take a note on pricing from Germany's example. Train tickets in Germany are so expensive, that many prefer to take the plane! Car pooling though, for traveling within the country, is also very popular among Germans which is a good thing :)