Sustainable transport

[10] The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that each year 2.4 million premature deaths from outdoor air pollution could be avoided.

[11] Particularly hazardous for health are emissions of black carbon, a component of particulate matter, which is a known cause of respiratory and carcinogenic diseases and a significant contributor to global climate change.

[13] The social costs of transport include road crashes, air pollution, physical inactivity,[14] time taken away from the family while commuting and vulnerability to fuel price increases.

Transport systems are major emitters of greenhouse gases, responsible for 23% of world energy-related GHG emissions in 2004, with about three-quarters coming from road vehicles.

[25] Motorized transport also releases exhaust fumes that contain particulate matter which is hazardous to human health and a contributor to climate change.

[34] Lifecycle greenhouse gas emission reductions from BEVs are significant, even in countries with relatively high shares of coal in their electricity generation mix, such as China and India.

The City of Gumi in South Korea runs a 24 km roundtrip along which the bus will receive 100 kW (136 horsepower) electricity at an 85% maximum power transmission efficiency rate while maintaining a 17 cm air gap between the underbody of the vehicle and the road surface.

Internationally, first-generation biofuels are forecast to have little or no impact on greenhouse emissions, at significantly higher cost than energy efficiency measures.

Cities with overbuilt roadways have experienced unintended consequences, linked to radical drops in public transport, walking, and cycling.

[44] In developing countries such as Uganda, researchers have sought to determine factors that could possibly influence travelers to opt for bicycles as an alternative to motorcycle taxis (Bodaboda).

The findings suggest that generally, the age, gender, and ability of the individual to cycle in the first place are key determinants of their willingness to shift to a more sustainable mode.

In this "greater and better world of tomorrow", residential, commercial and industrial areas were separated, and skyscrapers loomed over a network of urban motorways.

The writings of Jane Jacobs, in particular The Death and Life of Great American Cities provide a poignant reminder of what was lost in this transformation, and a record of community efforts to resist these changes.

[51] Some cities outside Europe have also consistently linked transport to sustainability and to land-use planning, notably Curitiba, Brazil, Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Canada.

[52] The cities and nations that have invested most heavily in car-based transport systems are now the least environmentally sustainable, as measured by per capita fossil fuel use.

[53] It has been calculated that New York residents save $19 billion each year simply by owning fewer cars and driving less than the average American.

Companies like Zoom in India, eHi in China, and Carrot in Mexico, are bringing car-sharing to developing countries in an effort to reduce car-related pollution, ameliorate traffic, and expand the number of people who have access to cars.

Urban areas face today the challenge of making transport sustainable in environmental (CO2, air pollution, noise) and competitiveness (congestion) terms while at the same time addressing social concerns.

The federal government has to come up with some plans to reduce the total number of vehicle trips to lower greenhouse gases emission.

[73] In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed several cities to adopt a plan to drastically increase biking and walking; these included Milan, London, Brighton, and Dublin.

These plans were taken to facilitate social distancing by avoiding public transport and at the same time prevent a rise in traffic congestion and air pollution from increase in car use.

[77] The pandemic's impact on urban public transportation means revenue declines will put a strain on operators' finances and may cause creditworthiness to worsen.

Governments might be forced to subsidize operators with financial transfers, in turn reducing resources available for investment in greener transportation systems.

Whereas it started as a movement driven by environmental concerns, over these last years there has been increased emphasis on social equity and fairness issues, and in particular the need to ensure proper access and services for lower income groups and people with mobility limitations, including the fast-growing population of older citizens.

[81] An organization called Greenxc started in 2011 created a national awareness campaign in the United States encouraging people to carpool by ride-sharing cross country stopping over at various destinations along the way and documenting their travel through video footage, posts and photography.

[94] The term green transport is often used as a greenwash marketing technique for products which are not proven to make a positive contribution to environmental sustainability.

Most affluent countries and cities invested heavily in bigger and better-designed roads and motorways, which were considered essential to underpin growth and prosperity.

Public investment in transit, walking and cycling declined dramatically in the United States, Great Britain and Australia, although this did not occur to the same extent in Canada or mainland Europe.

In the introduction to the White Paper, Prime Minister Tony Blair stated thatWe recognise that we cannot simply build our way out of the problems we face.

A companion document to the White Paper called "Smarter Choices" researched the potential to scale up the small and scattered sustainable transport initiatives then occurring across Britain, and concluded that the comprehensive application of these techniques could reduce peak period car travel in urban areas by over 20%.

Possible scenario of clean mobility
Ekorent's electric car in Helsinki , Finland
The bus rapid transit of Metz uses a diesel-electric hybrid driving system, developed by Belgian Van Hool manufacturer. [ 23 ]
Electric Transmetro in Guatemala City
Comparative assessments of well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions per km driven for conventional and battery-electric vehicles, showing battery-electric vehicles performing best in four major jurisdictions including those that generate electricity from coal.
Even in countries where electricity is largely generated from coal, such as China and India, battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) have lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. The advantages of BEVs will further increase by 2030 as countries increasingly adopt clean electricity sources. [ 34 ]
Chart comparing lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions for various vehicle types
Battery electric vehicles have lower lifecycle emissions than other vehicle types. Abbreviations used in this chart: - ICE(V): internal combustion engine vehicle, CNG: compressed natural gas, HEV: hybrid electric vehicle, BEV: battery electric vehicle, PHEV: plugin hybrid electric vehicle, FCEV: fuel cell vehicle, STEPS:  IEA's Stated Policies Scenario , APS: IEA's Announced Pledges Scenario , NZE: IEA's Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario . [ 37 ]
A tram in Melbourne , Australia
Futurama , an exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair, was sponsored by General Motors and showed a vision of the City of Tomorrow.
Interstate 10 and Interstate 45 near downtown Houston , Texas
Greenhouse gas emissions from transport vary widely, even for cities of comparable wealth. Source: UITP , Mobility in Cities Database.
A bypass in the Old Town in Szczecin , Poland
Seven sustainable transportations in one photo ( Prague )
Carbon emissions per passenger
Overall GHG from transport
Share of firms in the EU and the US taking action on climate by including sustainable transport options.
Anthropogenic per capita emissions of greenhouse gases by country by the year 2000
Hermann Knoflacher has been criticising auto cities and car dependency for decades. With his walking gear , he caricatures the enormous spatial demands of motorised private transport (2007).