The Denver Metro area residents and possibly all residents of Colorado will be facing some tough times in the near future as our air quality fell below federally acceptable levels too many times last summer and lawmakers are considering the adoption of California emissions restrictions on vehicles. Despite better quality fuels, the emissions inspection program, and ever improving emission control devices on vehicles, Denver's air quality has slipped. These restrictions, if imposed, will raise the cost of vehicles, reduce the number of vehicles available for purchase, and do nothing to encourage other options that could help reduce the ozone levels in the summer.

What is the solution? Well that has to come from many sources and there are other options that don't increase vehicle costs or reduce vehicle ownership choices. Vehicle manufactures, on their own, are continuing to introduce cleaner, greener, vehicle choices for consumers. The Air Care Colorado emissions program has probably had some positive impact but that assumption is disputed. The RapidScreen roadside screening process will now target high polluting vehicles rather than just identifying acceptable vehicles which should help air quality without undue burdens on the entire population. If our government leaders are worried about an undue burden on the poor by targeting older, high polluting vehicles then implement incentive programs that will help the poor upgrade their vehicles. The improvement of our air quality will have to come from many different sources and implementing California emission rules is not a silver bullet.

There is one more factor in the quality of our air that hasn't been discussed and that is the amount of time our vehicles spend on the road. We hear about the benefits of car pooling, tele-commuting, and public transportation as ways to reduce air pollution and all are valid options however that's not all there is. One more way to reduce air pollution is to reduce the amount of time our vehicles spend on the road by reducing the amount of time it takes us to get to and from our destinations in our own personal vehicles. It is time to get CDOT and the traffic engineering departments of the various Denver Metro municipalities involved in the improvement of our air quality.

What can they do? They can take an aggressive approach to traffic light timing, they can take a hard look at removing stop signs where possible, and they can do more to reduce the amount of red lights drivers encounter in their daily commutes and travels. There are numerous intersections where traffic lights turn red on a regular basis whether or not a vehicle is present to go on the green light for the cross street, green arrows for turn lanes that don't have a vehicle waiting to turn, an extraordinary amount of time for pedestrian crossing when no pedestrians are present. I remember years ago where "traffic calming" was the hot topic as a way to slow traffic down for the "safety" of pedestrians. Please don't get me wrong, I don't want to compromise safety, but just like political correctness we may have gone too far with "pedestrian safety" at the expense of our air quality. The enforcement of traffic laws would be vital to the success of moving traffic along a little faster and the police departments would need to do better job of enforcement at intersections in the way of ticketing people who block intersections. They would need to do a better job of enforcing the speed limits too. If the traffic lights are timed better, then speeding will not do you any good and people would learn this. With proper education pedestrians will remain safe, traffic will move along more efficiently and our air quality will improve or at the very least not get any worse.

In the end all of us need to take this air pollution problem to heart and know that there is not just one simple solution. Let's try to focus on those programs that cost us little or nothing or even improve gas mileage and maybe a little more serenity on our daily commutes before imposing draconian regulations.