Driving Restrictions and Smog Control

In Bill Dawson’s December 9th article in the Houston Chronicle, he discusses several possible solutions to the smog problem here in Houston. One solution under consideration by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) is a driving restriction calling for a 25% reduction in “vehicle miles traveled.” Although a specific method has not yet been adopted, a possible interpretation could mean a ban on vehicle use every fourth day.
While this possible solution is ethically good, it is completely impractical. A 25% reduction in on-road vehicle use would eliminate 48.75 tons of smog-producing nitrogen oxides daily, which is only 15.65% of the 763 tons that need to be eliminated daily by 2007 in order to comply with the Clean Air Act of 1990. Combined with other solutions, a reduction in vehicle use could prove to be very useful in smog reduction, if only it could be enforced.
Take, for example, a similar situation in Mexico City in 1988: In one of the largest and mo...