Alternative Fuel Vehicles: Why Care?

The interrelationship between transportation, air quality and land use is nothing new to city officials. Regulate one and ripple effects find their way to the other two. Driven in part by the need to meet state and federal clean air standards, all levels of government recognize the need to reduce air emissions by mobile sources: automobiles and trucks. One attractive mechanism for reducing mobile emissions is to invest in alternative fuel vehicles — that is, vehicles that do not rely on gasoline, use alternative fuels instead and emit less pollution. Options for such fuels include electricity and natural gas. Another benefit of alternative fuel vehicles is the reduced use of fossil fuels.