A Buffalo Rising reader has proposed a solution to heavy truck emissions on the Peace Bridge, that are the source of many health-related issues in the neighboring community.
In Los Angeles, South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) is currently experimenting with an e-highway that essentially takes a short truck route and converts it into an electric highway. Specially converted trucks are able to hook up to an overhead electric source (similar to a trolley system), which then eliminates the need for the trucks to depend solely on diesel fuel. The trucks can then travel through communities without emitting hazardous emissions.
If the trucks waiting in line to cross the Peace Bridge, could be hooked up to this same system, that would mean that they would not be posing a threat to the community. You can read the entire article in CityLab.com (see here).
SCAQMD is collaborating with an electronics and engineering company called Siemens that has already been experimenting with a prototype in Germany. The technology would be introduced on a small scale, but could be leveraged over time.
I would think that the Peace Bridge might be the perfect place for just such an apparatus, considering that the entire bridge and connecting infrastructure are slated for an overhaul in years to come. This e-bridge could just be the type of peace offering that would get things back on track – a peace offering between the Public Bridge Authority and the community at large.
Lead image: Siemens