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In New York City, congestion pricing leads to marked drop in pollution

(e360.yale.edu)
472 points Brajeshwar | 3 comments | 10 Dec 25 15:25 UTC | HN request time: 0.732s | source
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lkbm ◴[10 Dec 25 15:34 UTC] No.46218856[source]▶
> Particulates issued from tailpipes can aggravate asthma and heart disease and increase the risk of lung cancer and heart attack. Globally, they are a leading risk factor for premature death.

Minor nitpick, but tailpipes aren't the primary source of emissions. The study is about PM2.5[0]. which will chiefly be tires and brake pads. Modern gasoline engines are relatively clean, outside of CO2, though diesel engines spit out a bunch of bad stuff.

[0] https://www.nature.com/articles/s44407-025-00037-2

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biophysboy ◴[10 Dec 25 15:44 UTC] No.46219022[source]▶
Is that true for slower moving vehicles? I can't imagine there's a lot of brake dust generated by stopping & starting in the 0-10 mph range.
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nabla9 ◴[10 Dec 25 16:06 UTC] No.46219404[source]▶
Tires and brakes. With EV's this gets relatively worse because they are heavier.
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ceejayoz ◴[10 Dec 25 16:11 UTC] No.46219512[source]▶
But the tires are individually controlled - less slippage - and the brakes are regenerative. As a bonus, NYC is pretty much best-case scenario for the latter.
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1. entropicdrifter ◴[10 Dec 25 16:20 UTC] No.46219642[source]▶
While this is generally true, tire wear is known to be generally faster on EVs due to their weight and instantaneous torque when accelerating.

Which, as an EV owner, feels like an "oh no, my steak is too buttery" kind of problem to have.

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2. ceejayoz ◴[10 Dec 25 16:21 UTC] No.46219652[source]▶
The instant torque also comes with better control over it, though. I don't doubt it's a thing, but I do doubt it outweighs all the other environmental benefits.
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3. Aurornis ◴[10 Dec 25 16:22 UTC] No.46219668[source]▶
It’s the forces that accelerate the wear. Significant wheel speed is a rare occurrence in normal driving, but acceleration, cornering, and braking forces are ever present.