Also you have to replace tyres all the time, steel wheels last longer between services and are reconditioned on a lathe periodically instead of having to be continually replaced. It's one of several reasons why the longer term operating cost is way lower for trams than buses.
How many rubber wheel metros exist? I only know of a few -- Paris is one, but not all lines. Where do you live such you need to "avoid them like the plague"?
I wonder if there's every been a study if the air quality in the montreal metro vs comparable cities. Or even within Montreal... does the blue line use tires? (Edit, yes, for some reason I thought one line didn't have them, apparently they all do)
I was told the tires are to reduce noise but I wonder if part of it is to handle some of the steeper sections like Vendome up to Villa Maria.
To preempt accusations that the automotive endproduct isn't represented by this study, I'll concede it's next to impossible to have conclusive studies on specific forms of road pollution, that is, the best one can do is find a link between (rail)cars and cancer but nothing more specific than that :)
--Until they replace rubber in wheels with something else, I guess. Meanwhile, feel free to accept the reindustrialization
About OP: I swear, there is a HN "rule": When there is any opportunity to discuss health scare conspiracy theories, someone will pop into the convo (wearing a tin foil hat, naturally) to add their two cents. It is the perfect embodiment of Brandolini's law.
> The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it.
As a counterpoint to "avoiding rubber tyred metro lines like the plague": Does this person also avoid all road tunnels or expressways underground? Since there are frequently multiple lanes in each direction, that would mean much more fine rubber particulates from car & truck tyres compared to a metro with much less frequent trains and only one track in each direction.
