SUVs Are Drinking All The Gas Fuel Efficient Cars Are Saving // Discuss

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

Fuel efficiency is great but we are lacking far more in the road and transport infrastructure department. There is waaaay too much traffic caused by too many cars on too little roads. We need better public transport, HOV lanes and to encourage carpooling to improve overall efficiency.

Taking an hour longer during rush hour traffic than it usually takes to the same destination is insane, especially on such a small island. Most cars only have the driver in it.

Will you use it (Carpooling and Public Transport) ?
In most discussions on this the current drivers want those things so it can clear up the roads for them to continue to drive but with less traffic than before.

Yes! I will use it if it is efficient, on time and safe. Public transport is the main way to travel in many developed cities around the world.

[Joshie23]

What about the person behind them in a normal car that can't see anything in front, and can't even see through their vehicle glass because it too high. It good for the SUV man, but suffers the others

Like kamakazi said, if you follow any vehicle too closely, you won't see anything. I understand your point, but it seems to be more a 'first world problem' than anything else..

Adnj's argument is a lot more comprehensive than the 'them vehicle too tall' plight

Car-based SUVs that are near the top of the line from Porsche, Honda, Toyota, GM, etc., can be rated very safe.
Nearly all pickups manufactured receive crash worthiness ratings of "marginal" or worse. The only exception is the Honda SUV-derivative Ridgeline pickup.

SUV and pickups facts:
Have a more commanding view of the road due to driver position and ride height.
Are more likely to cripple or kill pedestrians because of ride height.
Are more likely to be involved in collisions than passenger cars for drivers of the same age group.
Have drivers that are more often classified as "aggressive."
Heavier vehicles inflict more damage during collisions with lighter vehicles.
Heavier vehicles are subjected to greater forces during collisions with fixed barriers.
Pickups and SUVs are more prone to roll over and handling error.

[randolphinshan]

this topic cud hit 10 pages with ease but in d end nothing gonna change by d powers that be or by d public drivers\consumers ....

True from 10 to 15 a certain PM when money was flowing chose to ride helicopter while the public suffered like dogs.The Point Fortin to San Fernanfo highway was plagued by corruption in the tune of billions

[rspann]

I don't know if this applies to Trinidad. It's more like an American problem.The American SUVs are big, heavy gas guzzlers. Does the same apply to our suvs ? I find the SUVs here to be comparable to cars and generally give good gas mileage. The pickups are mostly diesel and give good mileage too.

[Dave]

Yup that's where the Japanese excelled. My wife's qashqai gives better km/l than my sentra and it was made to be more efficient than the qashqai.

[adnj]

I don't know if this applies to Trinidad. It's more like an American problem.The American SUVs are big, heavy gas guzzlers. Does the same apply to our suvs ? I find the SUVs here to be comparable to cars and generally give good gas mileage. The pickups are mostly diesel and give good mileage too.

A combination of larger vehicles, an older fleet of driven vehicles and a consumer shift toward truck-based vehicle platforms is negatively affecting fuel economy and air quality in many different countries. The countries most affected tend to have developing economies.

Just as in the United States, the mix of vehicles in Trinidad is changing to include more truck-based platforms which translates to a relative increase in fuel consumption for vehicles of similar age.

But because technological advances have increased both vehicle performance and fuel economy, the average age of vehicles is another issue to consider.

Many of today's vehicles are 30% more fuel efficient than similar vehicles from just 6 years ago, with the notable exception of pickup trucks.

Older vehicle populations occur in countries that are poorer or have lower fuel costs. For example, the US has a fleet age of about 12 years old while Japan's is 8.5 years.

Worldwide, the oldest vehicles in a country's fleet tend to be trucks.

[rspann]

Example?????

Truck based vehicles? Which major SUV bracket is truck based in Trinidad. You have a few Everest's, isuzus and Toyotas and the majority are diesel which cancels the economy argument. Sportages, xtrails and Tucsons are on par with the cars because they have the same engines. Correct me if I'm wrong .

[pugboy]

Soon we will be a nation of f150s lol

[rspann]

I knew it was a foreign discussion!

[pugboy]

I gave a sister who lives in Texas
The first time I went there in 90s
I could not believe the large number of this big pickups with v8 engines
You stop at. Traffic light and at least 2 of the 4 vehicles are big pickups.

We have reached that level except ours or the mid compact size in diesel

[ProtonPowder]

the absolute majority of SUVs in trinidad are really small to midsized crossovers with 1.5-2L engines, not anywhere near what you get in the US, where everything seems to be 2.4+

fuel economy would be just marginally worse than the equivalent sedans

[adnj]

I agreed with you in my earlier comment regarding SUVs but I also said that any truck introduces fuel economy reductions and higher emissions. The only current truck compromise being CNG/LPG fuel.

The bottom line is that newer car-based SUVs achieve nearly the same fuel economy as passenger cars in the same class but never as efficient because of weight and higher drag coefficients.

On the right side chart you can see fuel economy by vehicle type over the years.

[IMG]https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/styles/large/public/2019-03/trends-hl-3.png
[/IMG]

I don't know if this applies to Trinidad. It's more like an American problem.The American SUVs are big, heavy gas guzzlers. Does the same apply to our suvs ? I find the SUVs here to be comparable to cars and generally give good gas mileage. The pickups are mostly diesel and give good mileage too.

Example?????

Truck based vehicles? Which major SUV bracket is truck based in Trinidad. You have a few Everest's, isuzus and Toyotas and the majority are diesel which cancels the economy argument. Sportages, xtrails and Tucsons are on par with the cars because they have the same engines. Correct me if I'm wrong .

[foots]

BAck fill that entire area after sea lots and construct a Massive Transport hub that will service the entire POS area and environs, new overass so no more cars turning at lighthouse.
PArk and ride into the city or taxis, buses etc at this point. New road from Sealots before into transit and new exit out of redone existing city gate which will also be converted into parking.

ill do u one better; instead of major transport hub to bring people in, why not bring them and leave them there, never let them leave?
put the people who have to come from far, in housing close to the towns, so they save time, save money, u dont have to upgrade hundreds of kilometers of roads around the country, u dont need to get thousands of vehicles to shuttle them in, and back.

what u do, is u make varied hosusing options. not houses but high rise, high quality living spaces. from single bedroom to 4 bed room for families. u pup play parks with day cares/ early childhood centers, and primary schools, and health centers etc. just like hdc developments all over but with high rise buildings. sumting like edinghbourough 500. where u have mass transits like small maxis the major transport in and out, to the city. u dont put many car park spaces, cause the idea is, to keep using mass transits, at least to for the day to day movements.

i was thinking to get rid of beetham and lavantille to do that. but that woudl be expensive to move them and complicated as u would have to make places for them to move out TO. backfilling there might actually be simpler. and u could leave the beethamites to do their business.

but this whole thread was really to distract away from the bump of the pyramid thread. look how much establishment accounts jump out to prop it.

This sounds great to me. There is a guy that writes about this in the Newsday all the time. All of the housing developments I see now mandate owning a car, cuz you eh getting around easily without one atall. They aren't walking or biking distance from anything. That means you have to take the traffic jams that come with having to drive everywhere for every single thing.

https://newsday.co.tt/2019/04/11/walkability-in-real-estate-development/

[16 cycles]

you can bike if it was safe to do so - but that would require policy and infrastructure change to foster a mindset that cycling is a viable transport alternative and probably the 'most' green of all the other modes...

(+ health benefits / reduced cost of gov't healthcare for sedentary lifestyle diseases etc.)

[Sundar]

this topic cud hit 10 pages with ease but in d end nothing gonna change by d powers that be or by d public drivers\consumers ....

True from 10 to 15 a certain PM when money was flowing chose to ride helicopter while the public suffered like dogs.The Point Fortin to San Fernanfo highway was plagued by corruption in the tune of billions

[NarendZORCE]

Yes! I will use it if it is efficient, on time and safe. Public transport is the main way to travel in many developed cities around the world.

Agreed.

[rspann]

The thing is ,public transport will only place you so far. Are you willing to trek the rest of the distance ,especially due to security concerns?. The tri-rail works well in southern florida, but when you have to get off and go somewhere from there what are the options. If I was just going into POS fine, but say I want to go up Stanmore Ave ,will there be further transport ?

[NarendZORCE]

What do you all think? True or not true?

oh lord, post de link to de article nah

Here you go: https://jalopnik.com/suvs-are-gulping-a ... 1839060197

[Rovin]

some countries like china & india have very compact cars with 800-1000c & they use alot of bicycles & mini motor bikes to get around while other countries using cars with 4-5 as much cc capacity & less mpg ... so some trying to reduce carbon footprint while others using up fuels like come see never see

[NarendZORCE]

this topic cud hit 10 pages with ease but in d end nothing gonna change by d powers that be or by d public drivers\consumers ....

Bureau of Standards just hosted an Electric Vehicle Technical Workshop, things are moving into place for regulating charging infrastructure. So there may be more migration to full electric as well. UWI and UTT have been gathering data on electric buses etc.

[ProtonPowder]

The main difference between TnT and more developed countries is that it is safe to walk the difference between the bus stop and your destination.

Even if it had place to lock your bicycles, people would cut your lock with a bolt cutter and throw it in a navara tray.

In TnT, we dont have neat little school districts funded by your local property taxes, we have children from chaguanas where neighbours of the same age would choose to send their kids to either PoS or Sando convent.

The traffic and emissions problem is far deeper than just cars alone. Everybody needs a car to functionally operate in this country, I certainly not giving up mine for my 5km drive to work.

[sMASH]

Yes! I will use it if it is efficient, on time and safe. Public transport is the main way to travel in many developed cities around the world.

Agreed.

u will use to tell people to see them selves driving benz in a year time, so they will not have to use public transport, for a small fee every month.

[sMASH]

The thing is ,public transport will only place you so far. Are you willing to trek the rest of the distance ,especially due to security concerns?. The tri-rail works well in southern florida, but when you have to get off and go somewhere from there what are the options. If I was just going into POS fine, but say I want to go up Stanmore Ave ,will there be further transport ?

that is what is unique to PoS. it is so big, that there should be so much public transport that it will become its own little self sustaining ecology i.e. from the 'suburb' to PoS will hadda get every ting u need. u hadda put so much people in that place that it would be worth while to have 24/7 freelance transport.
what i have in mind, is towers like multiple One Woodbrook place tower blocks. so is realllll people. so taxi and maxi men will bong to get wuk.. like a short version of the PBR...
the only time someone should really need a car, is if they need to go somewhere past beetham. and they could always rent a vehicle or watsapp a trusted driver.

[adnj]

The main difference between TnT and more developed countries is that it is safe to walk the difference between the bus stop and your destination.

Even if it had place to lock your bicycles, people would cut your lock with a bolt cutter and throw it in a navara tray.

In TnT, we dont have neat little school districts funded by your local property taxes, we have children from chaguanas where neighbours of the same age would choose to send their kids to either PoS or Sando convent.

The traffic and emissions problem is far deeper than just cars alone. Everybody needs a car to functionally operate in this country, I certainly not giving up mine for my 5km drive to work.

I agree with you but safety is not the main reason. Trinidad's services and infrastructure are not as well developed in some instances and not as well planned in others.

Trinidad has one of the most pervasive public transport systems in the world, i.e., the public can get nearly anywhere using H, PH, Maxi or private vehicles. That ease in transport helps to drive decentralization which results in suburban sprawl where people spend more time in heavy traffic and more money on transportation.

[rspann]

The thing is ,public transport will only place you so far. Are you willing to trek the rest of the distance ,especially due to security concerns?. The tri-rail works well in southern florida, but when you have to get off and go somewhere from there what are the options. If I was just going into POS fine, but say I want to go up Stanmore Ave ,will there be further transport ?

that is what is unique to PoS. it is so big, that there should be so much public transport that it will become its own little self sustaining ecology i.e. from the 'suburb' to PoS will hadda get every ting u need. u hadda put so much people in that place that it would be worth while to have 24/7 freelance transport.
what i have in mind, is towers like multiple One Woodbrook place tower blocks. so is realllll people. so taxi and maxi men will bong to get wuk.. like a short version of the PBR...
the only time someone should really need a car, is if they need to go somewhere past beetham. and they could always rent a vehicle or watsapp a trusted driver.

OHHO! Is vision 2230.

[sMASH]

The thing is ,public transport will only place you so far. Are you willing to trek the rest of the distance ,especially due to security concerns?. The tri-rail works well in southern florida, but when you have to get off and go somewhere from there what are the options. If I was just going into POS fine, but say I want to go up Stanmore Ave ,will there be further transport ?

that is what is unique to PoS. it is so big, that there should be so much public transport that it will become its own little self sustaining ecology i.e. from the 'suburb' to PoS will hadda get every ting u need. u hadda put so much people in that place that it would be worth while to have 24/7 freelance transport.
what i have in mind, is towers like multiple One Woodbrook place tower blocks. so is realllll people. so taxi and maxi men will bong to get wuk.. like a short version of the PBR...
the only time someone should really need a car, is if they need to go somewhere past beetham. and they could always rent a vehicle or watsapp a trusted driver.

OHHO! Is vision 2230.

im using the rapid tram as the yard stick. that that was a legitimate plan, then anything under it could also be legitimately considered.

[rspann]

Good plan, but with the governance we have here(especially as it looking like shitkickers here for a while) when you think this could happen and at what cost? We can't even buy a boat.

[De Dragon]

Good plan, but with the governance we have here(especially as it looking like shitkickers here for a while) when you think this could happen and at what cost? We can't even buy a boat.

For improvement in public transport to take place, the mentality has to change. I mean out with the corruption, small mindedness and self-serving agendas. We scorn taking the bus here, sometimes for good reason (breakdowns etc) but as someone said, when you go to the US and see the distances that you can safely and reliably reach with public transport, you wonder what, or who is holding us back from the same.

[ProtonPowder]

I wonder if it would ever take a turnaround like box lunch in school.

At the turn of the millennium, children would be holding their belly and crying that their belly hurting, they hungry but they not touching that stink box lunch.
Just a few years later every boy and girl, no matter if you walk to school or get drop off in a prado passing to pick up a box breakfast on the way to class.
Dont even talk about prayers food every other thursday, and the chicken burger with the chubby juice drink, or even the square pizza.

[adnj]

Good plan, but with the governance we have here(especially as it looking like shitkickers here for a while) when you think this could happen and at what cost? We can't even buy a boat.

For improvement in public transport to take place, the mentality has to change. I mean out with the corruption, small mindedness and self-serving agendas. We scorn taking the bus here, sometimes for good reason (breakdowns etc) but as someone said, when you go to the US and see the distances that you can safely and reliably reach with public transport, you wonder what, or who is holding us back from the same.

Where a person aspires to live is the mentality that would need to change first. The percentage of the population living in urban areas in Trinidad today is less than half of what it was 60 years ago. Today, people are spreading out and moving in patterns that make public mass transit unsustainable.

Population density shift is the most significant reason that it is highly unlikely that Trinidad will be able to support a publicly funded public transportation system in the foreseeable future.

In the United States, more than 70% of the population lives in urban areas. Cities that have safe and reliable public transportation all have similar qualities regarding wealth, population size and density: relatively high taxes, populations of about 1 million or more and a population density of about 5000 ppl/sq mile or greater.

By contrast, Trinidad has about a 10% urban population, relatively moderate taxes, a 1.3 million population and a population density of less than 700 ppl/sq mi.

Malfeasence plays a role but the real cause of Trinidad's heavy traffic and lack of quality public transportation is simply where people choose to live and to build.