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dontforgetpants t1_j07tkky wrote

Reply to comment by TA_faq43 in How transit affects emissions: A map of average household CO2 emissions, with Metrorail routes added by Golden_Kumquat

I would guess metro proximity correlates with wealth because being near metro is convenient and desirable and drives up the price of nearby housing, creating pockets of relative wealth.

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paulHarkonen t1_j09y620 wrote

They are arguing the reverse, high wealth folks in SFHs are higher emitters.

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orangeguy07 t1_j0bumee wrote

Exactly. The lower income areas seem to have lower emissions even when they are away for transit. It seems like there is definitely some correlation with transit availability, but that doesn't explain all of the variation. The West End of Alexandria (near the old Landmark Mall) is a lower income area with poor access to transit aside from buses. Then there is a pocket of wealthier residents in SFHs right next door that have some of the highest emissions in the area.

Simply saying that Metrorail access leads to lower carbon emissions is far too simplistic.

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paulHarkonen t1_j0bwlwm wrote

Wealth also doesn't correlate directly as you can see the pockets of low emissions high wealth areas around stations especially along the orange, silver and blue lines.

It's almost as if carbon emissions and addressing climate change is an incredibly complicated and multi-layered problem that doesn't have simple answers or silver bullets to combat it.

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