1998 Indicator Study

The city of DuPont has stated that two of its goals are to (1) maintain a small town feeling and (2) maintain the health of the natural environment. The number of cars being driven to places of employment has a direct relationship with the ability to have a small town feeling. Furthermore, the number of cars being driven in the watershed has a direct relationship with the health of the watershed. By encouraging and increasing alternative means of transportation in the watershed it helps decrease the amount of traffic, the amount of polluted surface runoff and emissions into the natural environment. Decreasing these factors increase the likelihood of DuPont meeting it goals.

Monitoring the number of people who are getting to work by means other than driving alone, is important for three reasons. First, it is an indication of the overall health of the environment. Cars are the single largest source of pollutants in the environment. The number of cars is directly related to air, water, and noise pollution. Roads with larger volumes of traffic also have larger amounts of litter along the roadside, which detracts from the natural beauty of a clean environment. Secondly, monitoring the percentage of people using alternative means of transportation to work can be an indication of a small town feeling, especially as DuPont plans to intentionally grow in size. There are many factors that can contribute to the feeling of a small town and almost all of them can be adversely affected by cars. For instance, small towns don’t have a lot of traffic, congestion and noise pollution that are caused by large amounts of cars. Furthermore small towns don’t have a lot of traffic lights. Care free children playing out in the streets can add to the feeling of a small town. Parents don’t encourage their children to play in the street when a lot of cars driving down the road is a common occurrence. Lastly, people who car-pool together; get to know one another and increasing the percentage of people car-pooling will increase the number of people who get to know one another more intimately, thus adding to a small town feeling.