8mo ago

Wealthy Kiwis are driving up transport emissions, study finds

phys.org Wealthy Kiwis are driving up transport emissions, study finds

The well off are contributing more than their fair share of greenhouse gas emissions from transport, driving more frequently and over longer distances, according to a new study. The work is published in the journal Travel Behaviour and Society.

The study of New Zealanders' travel habits found that total weekly travel emissions were 79% higher for people in affluent areas compared to those living in lower socio-economic areas.

4 comments

Ah yes, the rich socialising the cost of their lifestyle.
System working as designed.

I guess this is not that surprising. Globally, rich countries produce more emissions than poorer countries (per capita).
I did wonder whether EVs would have come into play here, but their 2015-2019 time period may be a little early for the increased EV adoption of the last 5 years or so.
Another factor is that there are a lot more people working from home now, and these jobs tend to be office jobs like IT that probably pay more. That should reduce a lot of transport emissions.
It would be interesting to see this study repeated.

I mean a souped up compensator Ford Ranger aint cheap is it!
- Nor is the petrol to run it...