- Introduction
- The properly factor
- Failures
- Health Issues
- Environment Issues
- Economical Issues
- Conclusions
As a commuter, I have a feeling that some of the often celebrated "improvements" on modern trains, buses, etc. are at best a waste of resources, if not altogether harmful: I'm talking of the air conditioning that seems to have become a basic requirement for civilized transports.
Of course, I understand that it's easier to add A/C and call it a great improvement, than adding trains on an overcrowded line, or having regular timed buses in areas of heavy traffic. I also understand that A/C allows blocked windows, that are needed on hi-speed trains, and I guess save millions in notices against "leaning out" on "can't go faster, anyway, the line is full"-speed trains.
I'll also specify that where I commute we have a temperate climate, with temperatures between the -5°C of early winter mornings (i.e. that time that would be properly called late night, unless you happen to be half asleep in a frozen station waiting for your train) and the +35°C of the hottest summer afternoons, something that the human body can be confortable with, in proper clothes. The whole country does not get much warmer, and it's only colder on higer altitudes.
I realize that in this climate, a properly set A/C can give a mild feeling of confort, expecially if you don't mind the associated smell, just like a properly heated space is something you look forward to when you're freezing in early morning, but I'm not sure that this confort is worth all of the disadvantages that result from ubicquos A/C.
The properly factor
The key in the sentence above is in the "properly"
word: levels of confort vary from person to person, but when consumed
commuters bring a not-so-light jacket in 35°C mid july because
you're going to need that on the train
and an A/C set to
"freeze" proves them right, you may have confort on the train,
but then it's disconfort dragging around an useless garment everywhere else.
This could be solved, with better balanced systems, or just by allowing some control on the settings to certain human beings, like the staff, if there is a will to do so.
Failures
Another issue is how failures in these systems tend to prove worse than their absence: an overcrowded train with blocked windows and out of order A/C is something that happens more than once in a summer, and both higher than outside temperatures and smell from other passengers' sweat does not suggest confort.
This too can be solved, by having cheap and low-tech backup systems such as proper windows that can be unblocked either by the public or the staff in case of failure (but not automatically, that would be calling aloud for a Murphy law double failure).
Also, disconforts can be tolerated, just like one tolerates to use designer's seats planned to fit perfectly – another body type than the one of most commuters – or as one tolerates waiting for a late train (i.e. tolerated while complaining to everybody that happens to be around during the trip, and the day); but I believe that there are other aspects of A/C than are actually more harmful than beneficial, to the health of passengers, to the environment and even to the economy.
Health Issues
I don't really believe that switching between frozen trains and the heat outside is good for one's health, at least it helps the typical ilnesses of winter, colds, sore throats, etc. Also, some people tend to get neck and bone aches, when directly exposed to the cold air.
I don't know whether there are other, more serious issues; if you have informations on the issues, maybe from scientific studies or the like, please let me know at my e-mail address.
Environment Issues
A/C requires a significative amount of energy, even more than heating, and thermodynamics tells that to cool down something you have to add heat to something else, so you're going to raise both temperature and pollution levels of urban areas, and possibly global ones as well.
On cars, autobuses etc., this energy comes from the same fossyl source that fules them, adding another damage to the environment.
Economical Issues
The same nontrivial energy used by A/C costs money, and I don't really believe that it helps increase the number of persons that uses public transportation and pays tickets, so it is dangerously close to the "wasted money" department.
Conclusion
There are more aspects that could probably be considered on this subject, and there are areas of this rant that need improvement; also, everything I've written is based on direct observation and common sense. If you have suggestions for improvements and ampliations, or you know scientific researches on the subject, I would appreciate if you wrote at my email address.