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

(e360.yale.edu)
472 points Brajeshwar | 9 comments | 10 Dec 25 15:25 UTC | HN request time: 1.597s | source | bottom
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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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1. rconti ◴[10 Dec 25 17:41 UTC] No.46220784[source]▶
It always surprises me when people want stop signs in their neighborhood for traffic calming. The last thing I want is all of the noise and pollution of vehicles stopping and starting over and over again; surely various piece of road furniture like bulb-outs, roundabouts, etc, do a better job with fewer drawbacks. Other than cost, of course.
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2. cosmic_cheese ◴[10 Dec 25 17:57 UTC] No.46221007[source]▶
My assumption is that stop signs act somewhat as a way to enforce the lower speed limits in residential areas. There's several stretches without stops in my suburb where I've seen drivers whizzing by very obviously above the 25mph speed limit, which is bad enough on its own but becomes a serious hazard when combined with the massive blind spots that come from curbs on both directions being filled to the brim with parked cars.

A better solution would probably be radar-based speed signs with printed threats of fines, though.

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3. recursive ◴[10 Dec 25 18:03 UTC] No.46221098[source]▶
> A better solution would probably be radar-based speed signs with printed threats of fines, though.

I don't think people respond to those as much as they do to "traffic calming" like speed bumps, roundabouts, and narrow choke points.

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4. fullstop ◴[10 Dec 25 18:26 UTC] No.46221429[source]▶
They added a stop sign near me, and now I get to hear the engines rev as they accelerate.

The EVs passing by are nice, though!

There were a number of accidents which prompted the 4 way stop.

5. cosmic_cheese ◴[10 Dec 25 18:35 UTC] No.46221561{3}[source]▶
Probably true, but all of those are significantly more involved installations or modifications.

To be clear, I'm all in favor of reworking neighborhood roads to be more friendly to pedestrians, but I think things like signs have a significantly better chance of actually being implemented in most circumstances.

6. rconti ◴[11 Dec 25 04:40 UTC] No.46227740{3}[source]▶
Of course, drivers respond to speed bumps the same way they respond to other poor road surfaces: 3-ton SUVs.
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7. potato3732842 ◴[11 Dec 25 14:42 UTC] No.46231975[source]▶
>My assumption is that stop signs act somewhat as a way to enforce the lower speed limits in residential areas.

At the expense of basically training people to roll them.

8. potato3732842 ◴[11 Dec 25 14:48 UTC] No.46232036{4}[source]▶
They put one in front of my friend's house. It's a big plastic one almost as big as a speed table. The complainer Karens drive .03mph over it and get honked at or driven around. The trucks and vans, anything driven by an employee or a teenager just speeds right over and a small number of people go for air time. 11/10. Highly entertaining. And this is all in addition to having to listen to every vehicle accelerate after it of course.
9. recursive ◴[11 Dec 25 18:37 UTC] No.46235170{4}[source]▶
Good synergy with those "road-diet" narrow chokepoints then.