How many car + dog trips every year?

[todded...@gmail.com]

Hi,

In preparation for writing grant applications - and also more interest
in this project - I need some facts... and figures.

People want alternatives to taking their dogs in their cars for social
and environmental reasons.

For the "green" part of it, hard information or estimates based on
good research is critical. Otherwise you can just say "greener,
greener, greener" over and over until people agree.

Environmental benefits of dogs on transit can include less air and
noise emissions compared to automobile carriage, and even a reduction
of road deaths (which is also a social thing.).

This needs to be quantified.

So, here is the first question:

* How many times, on an annual basis, does the average dog in the USA
or Canada go somewhere by car? (I made some estimates about this in my
intro message but I am not sure I believe in them.)

If you don't do the dog + car thing yourself, ask some friends (as
many as possible). This is non-scientific, length does not matter, and
rough guesses are fine.

What will answers provide?

I updated an earlier estimate in a posting an NYC dog list I am on. I
said that if every dog in the USA goes in a car a little more than
once per month (about 15 times) then it equals about one billion trips
per year. (70 million dogs x 15). If 5% of these trips are replaced
with transit, it means 100 million transit trips (because we are
asking about round-trip car journeys and transit trips are counted per
leg). This compares to about 75 million passengers carried on
MetroNorth railway, a commuter rail which serves the NYC area. This is
just a small part of total annual transport in the USA, but it is
something which people can get their heads around. Also, dogs on
transit programs will be very inexpensive to implement, and in fact
should increase income for the transit provider, both from increased
rides of people with dogs and any fares collected for the dog itself.

In other words, Dogs on Board can create the equivalent of a commuter
railway in transit for car replacement trips, and it would make money.

Thanks!