Integrating Sustainability into the Transportation Planning Process (2005) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 39-58
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From page 41... ...
Another way of expressing these ideas would be to state that sustainable transport represents transport and mobility with nondeclining capital, where capital would include human, monetary, and natural capital (Pearce et al.
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From page 42... ...
limits emissions and waste within the planet's ability to absorb them, minimizes consumption of nonrenewable resources, reuses and recycles its components, and minimizes the use of land and the production of noise. Europeans tend to refer to this notion of sustainable transport as sustainable mobility.
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From page 43... ...
Diminishing Petroleum Reserves It is generally recognized that in the 100 or so years of motor vehicles using gasoline as a fuel, the world has consumed approximately 1 trillion barrels of petroleum for this and other purposes -- all of this at a time when only a small proportion of the population of that world had access to such vehicles or other uses for petroleum energy. The major question at this point is, what is the future demand for this fuel and will the Earth be able to supply it?
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Global Atmospheric Impacts Some researchers believe that humans are placing emissions into the atmosphere that will eventually have impacts on the global climate. Others believe these impacts have already begun with increasing global temperatures and a rise in sea level.
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Noise One major difference between sustainable transport in the United States and sustainable mobility in Europe is the latter's concern with noise. There is a wealth of literature suggesting that loud noise and continuous noise can be harmful to human health.
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Diminishing Petroleum Reserves Diminishing petroleum reserves are being addressed in several ways. These are not necessarily planning based, and I will return to that later.
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Biological Impacts Transport facilities and operations can affect animal and plant life. In some cases the impacts involve destruc4 1SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT: DEFINITIONS AND RESPONSES
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The primary reason is the host of definitions offered. For example, the Mobility 2001 definition includes the ability to communicate, and Transport Canada's 2003 definition includes the "highest possible standards for security." Both may be desirable, but they are not necessarily components of a sustainable transport system.
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1997. Sustainable Transport.
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Martin Wachs, University of California at Berkeley "Sustainability" has become one of the watchwordsgoverning policy deliberations and debates abouttransportation. The intensity with which sustainable transportation will be debated is likely to increase for decades to come.
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For example, in the late 1960s in the United States we were at the height of the national freeway building period that has now ended, and we were just starting to formulate a national program of capital investment in public transit. We tried at that time to find the right balance between mobility and environmental concerns, and the process was not at all easy.
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From page 52... ...
• Local governments that adopted a formal approach, with goals, deadlines, inventories, and forecasts, tended to be more effective than those that were well meaning but less focused. • Planning was more often undertaken where GHG reduction was seen by state leaders to contribute to other ongoing state plans and programs, such as economic development and smart growth.
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Local Regional State National * Governments FIGURE 1 Complexity of sustainable transportation.
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Fleet fuel economy has improved as well, though perhaps less dramatically, and improvement has been slowing in recent years. These technological changes, of course, are not independent of political decision making.
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Key questions concern whether market forces will be sufficient or whether they need to be coupled with federal and state regulations. In the past, the corporate average fuel economy regulations that were part of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act and the tailpipe emissions standards and National Ambient Air Quality Standards required by the Clean Air Act Amendments have been controversial because they have attempted to force technological change.
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From page 56... ...
Regional Planning In the United States regional transportation planning has long emphasized the construction of transportation capacity. As environmental, especially air quality, and social and economic impacts have become increasingly important concerns in regional planning, our long-range transportation plans become more sophisticated, but they continue to emphasize capital investments in facilities.
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Is basic planning reform feasible to the extent that regional planning can contribute to sustainable mobility? • Can American society, through education and marketing, achieve a sufficient shift to more sustainable modes of transportation, including walking, cycling, and public transit use, to warrant an increasing focus on such strategies in our approach to sustainability?
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From page 58... ...
2003. Can Sustainable Transport Be Made Acceptable?
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