Students from around the world calculated their class mean and standard deviations for their footprints and posted them on our world map.
Do you see differences across the globe? If so, why do you think those differences exist?
Did you use the calculator to try to reduce your footprint down to the average from a citizen of another country? What changes would you have to make to lower your footprint in this way? Are you going to try and take some of these actions in your daily life?
Student Footprints >
Public Transportation Pros and Cons
Greetings!,
I am a student that lives in the Bay Area, where we are blessed to have a surplus of public transportation options. Each public transportation system has its own pros and cons. These pros can go under looked, while these cons can be deciding factors for people to not use public transportation. Here are a few of the Bay Area options, and their pros and cons.
BART-BART, or Bay Area Rapid Transportation, is practically a subway that serves the the Bay Area. One major advantage of BART that it serves the majority of cities in the Bay Area, including San Francisco, Oakland, Concord, and Pleasanton, with many others and San Jose supposedly coming soon. Another advantage of BART is that it is relatively affordable and reliable. BART saves many commuters from driving, helping the enviornment. According to BART's website, their daily commuters save nearly 140,000 gallons of gas and drastically reduce CO2 emissions by roughly 2.7 million pounds per weekday. There are some disadvantages of BART as well. The trains can often be outdated, dirty, or very crowded with co mmuters. The trains can be fowl-smelling or have homeless, a problem in the Bay Area. The stations have often been a target of violence, especially the Coliseum station, with several crimes being reported recently. 8/10
AC Transit-AC Transit is the Bay Area's bus system that serves Alameda County and San Francisco. AC Transit is my transportation mode to get to my school. Some major advantages of AC Transit are that it is pretty affordable and most buses are clean, but some are absolutely filthy. . Buses run pretty frequently and there are plenty of bus stops. The commuter buses for San Francisco are very modern, clean, and luxurious. However, AC Transit can be unreliable and show up late. Routes can also change without notice. There are also some rude bus drivers out there. 7.5/10
Other means of transportation in the Bay Area include Muni and Amtrak. Muni is for San Francisco only, while Amtrak has limited destination stops. There is also always Uber and Lyft. How is public transportation in your city?