Have you been to Europe lately? By Julie Peller Ph.D.

Green Junction

We recently had the opportunity to travel in Europe and experienced the benefits of high-speed rail. We moved at speeds up to 140 miles per hour, which were displayed in real-time on a train monitor. (Incredibly, one of the trains in Italy can travel up to 224 miles per hour.) The train easily outpaced the cars on a highway parallel to the railway and we arrived at our destination expeditiously. High-speed rail is a common means of travel in Europe. According to Statistica, “passengers traveled approximately 473 billion passenger kilometers on European railways (in 2021), making this region the third-largest market for rail passenger traffic in the world.”

The environmental benefits of train transport include a lower carbon footprint (lower CO₂ emissions), less land use, less traffic and less pollution. High-speed rail offers additional advantages, including passenger comfort, lower stress/anxiety, and more personal time. Driving in a car, on the other hand, has become increasingly difficult, more time-consuming and even unhealthy due to growing traffic. A 2024 report determined that Americans waste one week a year sitting in traffic congestion. Another study assigned a monetary value to this lifestyle and estimated an annual loss of $900. According to the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), traffic congestion on U.S. highways in 2022 cost the trucking industry a record-high $108.8 billion.

Several studies have concluded that individuals with long commutes tend to have poorer health, primarily due to reduced physical activity.  People with longer driving commutes to work were shown to have higher tendencies toward depression, anxiety, and social isolation, according to a study by researchers from the Cooper Institute in Dallas and the University School of Medicine in Saint Louis.

What are the solutions for annoying and stressful vehicular traffic congestion? Public health campaigns encourage people to reduce car usage and engage in walking and cycling when possible. Municipalities can invest in additional public transportation options, but these require society to pool resources (pay additional taxes). Another option is congestion pricing, which is a user fee for driving on city streets. Over time, this accrues financing for public transportation and simultaneously reduces vehicle traffic. Indeed, effective urban and rural planning is another means to reduce car traffic.

We also had the opportunity to visit Venice, Italy, which is free of cars in much of the city. 😊

Julie Peller, Ph.D., is an environmental chemist (Professor of Chemistry at Valparaiso University). She has been writing a weekly column called The Green Junction for the past seven years and is helping to move the call of Laudato Si to action forward. Her research interests include advanced oxidation for aqueous solutions, water quality analyses, emerging contaminants, air quality analyses, challenges along the Lake Michigan shoreline (such as Cladophora, water, and sediment contaminants), and student and citizen participation in environmental work.