14 DAY TRIAL // One of the most recent studies issued by New York's University at Buffalo reveals that expensive hybrid cars are not the only asset that can increase air quality by lowering the amount of greenhouse gas emissions.
Surprisingly, its seems that 'rerouting drivers' is the key to control air pollution. Experts have reached this conclusion after performing and analyzing computer simulations, Huffington Post informs.
Selecting surface streets instead of freeways appears to do the trick in this case, lowering the CO2 emissions by 27% without playing with the time and nerves of passengers, since they would lose only 11 minutes if they were to adopt this green re-routing strategy taken into consideration by researchers.
Re-routing does not mean all cars have to be taken off a specific road. It's enough to make one fifth of the car owners change their initial plans and follow another route to reduce emissions by up to 20%. This result was obtained after monitoring car traffic in upstate New York.
Researchers have a lot of confidence in their findings and hope that it will be used by GPS manufacturers to help drivers improve their conduct. If nowadays they depend on a GPS to find out which route helps them save time, a new generation of such gadgets could help them choose the most earth-friendly itinerary.
It seems that knowing the impact your driving has on the environment and making eco-conscious choices would count as a much more effective solution that fuel-efficiency innovations that take time and require a considerable amount of money.
The project developed by University at Buffalo was funded by the US Department of Transportation in an attempt to green up the transportation sector.
While some states, like California for example, have adopted stricter regulations to curb greenhouse gas emissions and boost the EV market, green routing seems to be a measure easy to implement, with visible benefits for the environment.