Sustainable transport

Sustainable transport is a concept developed in reaction to things that have gone visibly wrong with transportation policy, practice and performance through much the world over the last half of the twentieth century. Urban transport systems based around the car have proved unsustainable, consuming excessive energy

The sustainable transport movement, part of the environmental movement, has gradually gained in force over the last decade and a half, and has in the process started to shift the emphasis in public spending and actions away from building and supply, to management and demand. The values of respect for the environment and prudent use of natural resources are central, with varying degrees of urgency expressed by different actors and interests. That said, it is still very much a minority movement and most actual expenditures in the sector are determined by criteria other than sustainability.

What is clear is that sustainable transportation mainly refers to human behavior, not to technology. In that sense, a behavioral approach considers not only a set of non-polluting and human scaled green transport choices, regardless of the means and technology used, but also a set of reinforcers both individual and social to promote these choices.

Contents

1 Concept and Definitions
2 The need for sustainable transport
3 Sustainable transport in action
4 Examples
5 See also
6 Synonyms and related terms
7 Bibliography
8 References
9 External links
- 9.1 Print sources
- 9.2 Related journals

Concept and Definitions

The term Sustainable transport, also commonly referred to as Sustainable Transportation or Sustainable Mobility, has no formal definition, but is a logical follow-on from the earlier term Sustainable Development whose origins in turn were the 1987 Our Common Future (1987, World Commission on Environment and Development of the United Nations). Thus it is often defined in words such as this: “Sustainable transportation is about meeting or helping meet the mobility needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”

The term is also used to describe all forms of transport which minimize fuel consumption and emissions of carbon dioxide and pollutants. It can refer to public transport, car sharing, walking and cycling as well as technology such as electric and hybrid cars and biodiesel and Personal Rapid Transit and other green transport. The term has been adopted by the British and Australian national and local governments, and both the phrase and the concepts have now spread around the world.

One early and often cited definition offered back in 1994 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) defined sustainable transport as: “Transportation that does not endanger public health or ecosystems and meets mobility needs consistent with (a) use of renewable resources at below their rates of regeneration and (b) use of non-renewable resources at below the rates of development of renewable substitutes”. This provided a conservative benchmark view of what sustainable transport is all about which is still often put forward in the public debate.

The Canadian Centre for Sustainable Transportation defines a sustainable transportation system as one that:

“Allows the basic access needs of individuals and societies to be met safely and in a manner consistent with human and ecosystem health, and with equity within and between generations.
Is affordable, operates efficiently, offers choice of transport mode, and supports a vibrant economy.
Limits emissions and waste within the planet’s ability to absorb them, minimizes consumption of non-renewable resources, limits consumption of renewable resources to the sustainable yield level, reuses and recycles its components, and minimizes the use of land and the production of noise.

The New Zealand Ministry for the Environment offers a practical definition of transport that is ‘more sustainable’ (but still falls short of being truly sustainable in the long term). This definition extends the scope of sustainable transport to include the layout of cities and the balance of transport investments, and defines it in terms which more accessible to business, communities and government:

“Sustainable transport is about finding ways to move people, goods and information in ways that reduce its impact on the environment, the economy, and society. Some options include:

Improving transport choice by increasing the quality of public transport, cycling and walking facilities, services and environments
Using cleaner fuels and technologies
Using telecommunications to reduce or replace physical travel, such as tele-working or tele-shopping
Planning the layout of our cities to bring people and their needs closer together, and to make cities more vibrant and walkable
Developing policies that allow and promote these options, such as the New Zealand Transport Strategy.”

A shorter definition by the Sustran network does a good job in one paragraph of summarizing the consensus view from the vantage of transport activists and many NGOs:

Sustainable transportation concerns systems, policies, and technologies. It aims for the efficient transit of goods and services, and sustainable freight and delivery systems. The design of vehicle-free city planning, along with pedestrian and bicycle friendly design of neighborhoods is a critical aspect for grassroots activities, as are telework and teleconferencing. It is more about accessibility and mobility, than about ‘transportation’.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development uses the term “sustainable mobility”, and defines this as “the ability to meet the needs of society to move freely, gain access, communicate, trade, and establish relationships without sacrificing other essential human or ecological values today or in the future.”

This definition encompasses the following dimensions:

Accessibility
Financial outlay required of users
Travel time
Reliability
Safety
Security

Greenhouse gas emissions
Impact on the environment and human well-being
Resource use
Equity implications
Impact on public revenues and expenditures
Prospective rate of return to private business

The automotive and energy industries increasingly use the term “Sustainable Mobility” to describe and promote their technology developments, primarily in the areas of new motive and engine technologies and advances. The impact of these advances, however, requires at least one or two decades to make a perceptible difference in terms of sustainability, and may not have benefits for the groups of people who benefit most from sustainable transportation policies.

In general the phrase is used to encourage more attention to green transport options such as improved provision for cycling, walking, public spaces, rail and other forms of public transport, together with measures to reduce car use, especially in central areas. It can also cover “movement substitutes” such as telework, telecommuting and smart growth redevelopments which improve the mix of activities and reduce the need for motorized transport.

Sustainable transport, with its focus on people, differs from Transportation Demand Management, which is a complementary effort to manage transportation systems in ways that reduce the impacts of single occupancy commuter travel and improve the provision of other transport choices.

The need for sustainable transport

Throughout much of the world, over most of the Twentieth Century, it was assumed that adequate transportation infrastructure needed to be built, since it provided an essential underpinning to growth and economic health. Accordingly the main concern of transport planners and policy makers was in the “supply” of transportation, and specifically in ensuring that supporting infrastructure was going to be adequate to support all projected requirements. The dominant approach was to “predict and provide” – forecast future traffic, then build to sufficient road capacity to provide for the projected level of use at acceptable levels of traffic congestion. Similarly, in public transportation planning, the supply and efficient operation of vehicles received the most attention.

Major cities – per capita petrol use vs. population density

Yet the cities that have invested most heavily in car-based physical transportation infrastructures are now experiencing the most unsustainable levels of traffic and resource use. This pattern is observable globally; an average U.S. urban dweller uses 24 times more energy annually for private transport as a Chinese urban resident, and around five times as much as a resident of a European city of equal economic prosperity.

Cities with overbuilt roadways have experienced unintended consequences, linked to radical drops in public transport, walking, and cycling. In many cases, streets became void of “life.” Stores, schools, government centers and libraries moved away from central cities, and residents who did not flee to the suburbs experienced a much reduced quality of public space and of public services. As schools were closed their mega-school replacements in outlying areas generated additional traffic; the number of cars on US roads between 7:15 and 8:15 a.m. increases 30% during the school year.

Yet another impact was an increase in sedentary lifestyles, causing and complicating a national epidemic of obesity, and accompanying dramatically increased health care costs

Sustainable transport in action

Historical origins

Many of the key concepts of sustainable transport were developed before the phrase was coined. The development of a car-based transport system in urban communities in the 1950′s and 1960′s met with opposition at the time. The writings of Jane Jacobs, in particular The Death and Life of Great American Cities provide a poignant reminder of what was lost in the transormation of American cities, and a record of community efforts to resist these changes. Donald Appleyard documented the consequences for communities of increasing car traffic in “The View from the Road” (1964) and in the UK, Mayer Hillman first published research into the impacts of traffic on child independent mobility in 1971. In Western Europe, cities continued to invest in public transport and car travel never reached the levels of dominance seen in North America and Australasia.

International policy and action

One of the first international organizations to have a closer look at the links between transport and sustainability from the vantage of government policy was a small international working group led by Peter Wiederkehr at the OECD in 1994, that agreed that a new policy approach is needed which places environmental criteria up front along with other policy goals. Recognizing this need, the OECD initiated in 1994 an international project to define and chart a path towards Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST). The overall objectives of the EST project are to provide an understanding of EST, its implications and requirements, and to develop methods and guidelines towards its realization. The core of the EST approach was to develop long-term scenarios and identify instruments and strategies capable of achieving it. To this end the OECD organized with the Government of Canada the 1996 International Conference: Towards Sustainable Transportation in Vancouver, Canada. One result of this were the 1996 Vancouver Principles towards Sustainable Transportation. (The OECD project shut down its operation in July 2004, though the members of the original working group continue to communicate and collaborate at the specific project and policy level under the leadership of the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Environment.)

National policies and actions

As governments increasingly recognise sustainability as a core guiding principle, the need for more sustainable transport systems has been officially recognised in the transport strategies of the United Kingdom

Cities and sustainable transport

Sustainable transport policies have their greatest impact at the city level. Outside Western Europe, cities which have consistently included sustainability as a key consideration in transport and land use planning include Curitiba, Brazil, Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Canada.

Many other cities throughout the world have recognised the need to link sustainability and transport policies, for example by joining Cities for Climate Protection.

Community and grassroots action

Sustainable transport is fundamentally a grassroots movement, albeit one which is now recognised as of citywide, national and international significance.

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. Many of the people exposed to the most vehicle noise, pollution and safety risk have been those who do not own, or cannot drive cars, and those for whom the cost of car ownership causes a severe financial burden.

Examples

The EU Directorate-General for Transport and Energy (DG-TREN) has launched a programme which focusses mostly on Urban Transport. Its main measures are:

Clean fuels and vehicles
- Biodiesel
- Biogas/CNG
- Fuelling Station
- Hybrid Vehicles
- Electric Vehicles
- LPG
- Procurement & tendering
- Waterway transport (in DG-TRENs SAVE/ALTENER programme LPG is removed and Ethanol and other biofuels are added)
Access restrictions
- Access management / Enforcement
- Car Restricted Zones /Living Streets
- Multifunctional areas
- Parking Management
- Pedestrian Areas
- Traffic calming / Speed reduction
Integrated pricing strategies
- City road pricing
- Integrated ticketing
- Parking Management
- Smart card

Collective passenger transport
- Accessibility
- Flexibel mobility services
- Intermodality
- Marketing
- Network development
- Park & Ride
- People with reduced mobility
- Public private co-operation
- Quality Corridors / lines
- Quality of service
- Security
- Ticketing and tarification
- Travel information
Less car intensive lifestyle
- Car pooling
- Car sharing
- Car/ driver licence exit strategies
- Clean and efficient fleets
- Cycling
- Bike sharing
- Mobility management
- Reducing private car use
Urban Goods Transport
- Clean vehicles / clean fleet
- Distribution scheme
- Fleet management & route planning
- Loading and uploading
- Loading Zone
- Public private co-operation
- Urban distribution center

Soft measures
- Child / school / student mobility
- Cycling
- Integrated policies /Integrated planning strategie
- Intermodal mobility services
- Mobility center
- Mobility management (for Events)
- Mobility management (for housing areas)
- Mobility management for companies and organisation
- Mobility marketing and awareness
- People with reduced mobility
- User/Citizen Participation
- Walking
Transport management
- Access management / Enforcement
- Guidance Systems

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Sustainable transport

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