Alternative Transportation

The University of New Mexico is mainly a commuter campus in which a large amount of students live off campus and travel fair distances to get to class. This issue raises concerns for many people, mainly concerns having to do with the money it takes to fuel up cars and the impact of our traffic upon the environment. Fortunately many forms of alternative transportation exist that can help both financial and environmental issues, many of which are easy options.

Many of you may be asking, “Why should I be concerned?” Once gasoline and diesel fuels are burned through automobile use, the engines emit many pollutants. Three of the most harmful are nitrogen oxides, which make up 7.2% of the gases leading to global warming, carbon monoxide, which impairs human health, and carbon dioxide, which also is considered a greenhouse gas, leading to the depletion of the ozone. The combination of all these airborne pollutants has been creating serious problems for our environment as our use of fossil fuels increases and the toxins build up in our atmosphere. During the past few years, awareness for this problem has increased and scientists have been working to create solutions to repair the damage done as well as ways to diminish further destruction.

Now to begin with how to help, one of the easiest, cheapest, and simplest ways to solve these problems isn’t scientific at all. Using a bicycle to get to class and work is one of the best ways to cut down on gasoline use, and since bicycles are fairly inexpensive and require no gas at all, this mode of transportation is extremely cost effect and great for the environment. Since most UNM students live only a few miles from campus and their jobs, a quick bike ride is ideal for so many reasons.

If distance presents a problem, other options can eliminate this problem. Public transportation cuts down on exhaust my limiting the amount of exhaust dispersed into the air. Metros and buses are fairly inexpensive and quick, and are great for longer distanced commuters who need to cut down on automobile expenditures. Unfortunately in Albuquerque, not much public transportation is available outside of the bus system and the Rail Runner Express. Many big cities include both underground and above ground metros that quickly transport people across town, and are very effective with helping the environment. The ABQ RIDE is the bus transportation service available in Albuquerque, with the annual pass costing $132 for students. The Rail Runner is a new addition to Albuquerque’s public transportation, covering distance from downtown Bernalillo to Belen. Depending on how far the distance between stops is, an annual pass costs $175 to $325 annually. For more information on ABQ RIDE, check out http://www.cabq.gov/transit/, and for more information on the Rail Runner go to http://www.nmrailrunner.com/news.asp.

If one has the desire to invest more money into a form of transportation that overtime saves money and helps the environment tremendously, many hybrid cars are available. These cars are fuel-efficient, have lower operating costs, emit less CO2, improve air quality, and consume less oil all around, making them great for environmentally concerned citizens. Although so many benefits are available with these cars, oil companies continue to do their best to maintain their monopoly by limiting the amount of production of these cars, making these prices comparably higher than that of regular cars. Therefore, this option is not exactly ideal for college students. If money is accessible to invest in such a car, it is a great way to both save on gas and to help the environment.

Though many options exist to help save money or the environment, it isn’t always easy to perfectly adhere to using alternative forms of transportation. I myself live 20 miles away from both work and school, making both a bike and a bus ride not worth its while, but I’m still aware of my expenditures. I try my best to limit my across town trips to one a day, spending whatever time gaps I have doing homework or visiting friends instead of driving back, wasting my time and gas, all the while hurting the environment further. If at all possible, I also try to carpool with friends, seeing as I live close to so many and our schedules are so similar. While my wallet and my schedule may not allow for many forms of transportation that can help the environment or cut down on my gas budget, I’m still aware of what I can do to help.



Goals: The goal of this article is to raise awareness of the financial and environmental costs of UNM being a commuter campus and to give options of alternatives.
Audience: The audience of this blog is for UNM students that need to commute to class and work. This audience is primarily on a budget aware of gas costs and also the interested on impact of automobiles and ways to solve these problems.
How these goals are met: I meet these goals by describing the need of alternate modes of transportation due to UNM being a commuter campus, and to provide options for alternatives.