They had one of those here in Denver for several years on an offramp (Speer
& I-25) downtown.

It's a circular offramp, so you'd come around the circle and they had a
billboard right in front of you that told you on a big lighted display
(kinda like those speed monitor displays the police use) whether your car's
emissions were poor, fair, or good.

I don't know why they took it down or why the idea was scrapped.

----Original Message Follows----
From: Matthew Pollard <poll7356@UIDAHO.EDU>
Reply-To: Matthew Pollard <poll7356@UIDAHO.EDU>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Old Car Scrappage Bullshit Alert
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 11:17:38 -0800

there is a professor in the chem dept here that has a sizable EPA grant to
develope a fast (sub micro-second) means to measure tail-pipe emissions.
The idea is to measure the emmision on freeway on-ramps.

if you want more techincal details, pmail me.
-matthew

Matthew Pollard          "Racing with the wind and flirting with death
Dept. Of Chemistry        So have a cup of coffee and catch your breath"
University of Idaho
www.uidaho.edu/~poll7356

On Thu, 20 Dec 2001, Mike Finkbiner wrote:

 > I think that there would be a lot of value in taking some old junkers off
 > the road.  Car & Driver had an article on this a few months ago, and IIRC
 > they found that this would be a lot cheaper method of cleaning up the air
 > than any possible improvements to new cars, because of the huge amount of
 > tailpipe pollutants which are produced by poorly maintained older cars.
 >
 > The problem is how to do it in a reasonable manner.
 >
 > Car & Driver's recommendation was to institute mobile sniffer units, to
 > track down those vehicles which are producing a lot of pollution.  The
 > owners could be given the choice of bringing it up to the standard it had
 > when new, or turning it in for a scrapping fee.  They wouldn't be
cruising
 > the back roads in Idaho, but would be looking in the cities where the
 > problem is concentrated.
 >
 > It sounds like the government is going to take a simpler approach, which
is
 > typical, but will make it a lot harder on hobbyists.  If you are going to
 > write your congress critter about this, I would recommend proposing an
 > alternative, rather than just opposing the plan.
 >
 > Mike Finkbiner
 > '87 Westy
 >
 > >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
 > Rico Sapolich said -
 >
 > In a message dated 12/20/01 1:09:21 AM, goodolevolk@YAHOO.COM writes:
 >
 > <<  This section 803 scrappage funding is a misguided attempt to improve
the
 >   overall fuel economy of the country1s vehicle fleet and represents a
 >   significant threat to our hobby and industry. >>
 >
 > What odd convolutions those who worship the "invisible guiding hand" of a
 > free economy will use to validate government intervention into its
workings.
 > At least when such an invasion fattens the purses of those first in line
at
 > the feeding trough.  Under the guise of saving the environment, they have
 > found a way to help the progeny of Henry Ford and his fellow club members
 > sell more cars.
 >
 > Is less energy, because that is what we are really talking about here,
 > consumed to manufacture and use a new car or to restore and use an old
car?
 > <SNIP>
 >
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