The nature of sustainable transport

Definition

With the development of society and the growth of population, the traffic problem has become one of the important challenges faced by modern cities.As an environmentally friendly, efficient and convenient mode of transportation, sustainable transportation has attracted more and more attention and favor. Through learning and practicing the concept of sustainable transportation, people begin to deeply realize its importance and    necessity in the development of modern cities.

Figure-1: Trams in Melbourne, Australia Diliff  2006

First of all, sustainable transportation is an environmentally friendly mode of transportation. With the continuous improvement of people’s environmental awareness, more and more people are beginning to realize the impact of traffic on the environment. The traditional mode of transportation often has problems such as high energy consumption and emission of pollutants, which brings great pressure to the environment. Sustainable transportation reduces the negative impact on the environment and contributes to the sustainable development of the city by adopting environmentally friendly energy sources and optimizing traffic layout.

Secondly, sustainable transportation is an efficient mode of transportation. In modern cities, traffic congestion has become a common problem. The traditional mode of transportation has some problems, such as unreasonable route planning and low transportation efficiency, which lead to a lot of time and resource waste. Through intelligent traffic management system and efficient public transportation network, sustainable transportation improves the transportation efficiency and reduces people’s travel time and cost.

Sustainable transportation is a convenient mode of transportation. With the acceleration of urbanization, people’s demand for travel is getting higher and higher. The traditional mode of transportation often has the problems of unreasonable station setting and low service quality, which brings a lot of inconvenience to people’s travel. Sustainable transportation improves people’s travel experience and makes travel more convenient and comfortable through humanized station design and high-quality services.

Figure-2: Clean Mobilty Instead Of Dirty Traffic    Bartz/Stockma  2020

Sustainable transport policy and management

Strengthen planning guidance: Formulate scientific sustainable transportation development plans, and clarify development goals, key tasks and safeguard measures.

Improve laws and regulations: Establish a sound legal and regulatory system for sustainable transportation to provide a strong guarantee for sustainable transportation development.

Strengthen policy support: Formulate a series of fiscal, taxation, land, financing and other policies to support sustainable transportation development.

Strengthen supervision: Establish and improve the sustainable transportation supervision system, strengthen the supervision of the transportation industry, and ensure that all policies and measures are implemented.

Promote scientific and technological innovation: strengthen scientific and technological innovation in sustainable transportation, promote the application of new technologies, new models and new business forms, and improve the scientific and technological level of the transportation industry.

Deepen international cooperation: Actively participate in global sustainable transportation cooperation, introduce international advanced concepts and experience, and enhance the international influence of China’s sustainable transportation.

Figure-3: Federation of Public Transport International (UITP) Urban transport databas   Travelplanner 2022

Criticize

Excessive development of private transportation: Although the development of private transportation has brought convenience to people, it has also brought great pressure to the urban environment, traffic congestion and energy consumption.

The lag of public transport: Compared with private transport, the development of public transport is relatively backward, which can not meet people’s travel needs, affecting the sustainable development of the city.

Lack of transportation fairness: the current transportation policy often gives priority to efficiency and ignores fairness, which makes the travel rights of some vulnerable groups such as the elderly and the disabled cannot be guaranteed.

Conflict between transportation and land: With the development of cities, land resources are becoming more and more strained, and the construction of transportation facilities often needs to occupy a large amount of land, which leads to the conflict between transportation and land.

Traffic noise and air pollution: The operation of transportation vehicles often produces a lot of noise and air pollution, which has a negative impact on the urban environment and residents’ lives.

Figure-4: Vehicle miles in the United States as of March 2009

US Federal Highways Administration  2009

Give priority to public transportation: minimize private car travel, choose public transportation such as subway, bus, etc., to reduce vehicle exhaust emissions.

Cycling or walking: Within the right distance, choose to ride or walk, which is healthy and environmentally friendly.

Rational use of private cars: try to avoid unnecessary driving trips, reasonable planning of trips, and reduce the empty rate of vehicles.

Support green travel: Encourage and support cities to develop green travel methods such as shared bicycles and electric vehicles, and make a contribution to the cause of environmental protection.

Participate in transportation planning suggestions: actively participate in urban transportation planning and suggestions, and contribute their wisdom and strength to the sustainable development of transportation.

Cultivate civilized traffic awareness: comply with traffic rules, do not stop at will, do not run red lights, etc., cultivate civilized traffic awareness, reduce the incidence of traffic accidents.

Energy saving and emission reduction: In daily life, pay attention to energy saving and emission reduction, reduce energy consumption and pollutant emissions, and do your part for the cause of environmental protection.

 Figure-5:Crude Oil Price(2014 USD per barrel)  Travelplanner  2014

Reference

• Schafer, A. (1998) “The global demand for motorized mobility.” Transportation Research A 32(6), 455-477.
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Mitigation of Climate Change, chapter 5, Transport and its Infrastructure (PDF). Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2007 [2009-05-26]. 
• National multipollutant emissions comparison by source sector in 2002. US Environmental Protection Agency. 2002 [2009-03-18]. 
• World Health Organisation, Europe. Health effects of transport. [2008-08-29]. 
• Todd Litman. Measuring Transportation: Traffic, Mobility and Accessibility (PDF). Victoria Transport Policy Institute. 1998 [2009-03-18]. 
• Todd Litman. Sustainable Transportation and TDM. Online TDM Encyclopedia. Victoria Transport Policy Institute. 2009 [2009-04-07]. 
• Walking benefits. Transport for London. [2009-05-16].