Sustainable road policy The WritePass Journal

Sustainable road policyï » ¿ 1. Introduction Sustainable road policyï » ¿ ). According to Calle et al. (2012) the use of biofuels can impact negatively on the environment because it increases greenhouse emissions in other ways, such as non-carbon aircraft emissions and the feedstock production process. Furthermore, this could lead to a potential increase in the price of foodstuffs due to this process using a greater amount of land to produce biojetfuel (Tietenberg, 2000). 2.1.3. Vision Two This vision for walking and cycling concentrated on urban areas. The economic dimension is clearly addressed so that it considers the enhancement of mobility through improving mass transport, increasing freightage transport efficiency, and constructing separate routes for both bicycles and pedestrians. This also includes supporting and encouraging commercial markets to provide pedestrian electronic tools, and electric-powered bikes and vans. Despite the benefit to human’s health and fitness, walking and cycling causes a significant reduction in travel and congestion costs which leads to an increase in productivity by reducing wastage time. Additionally, a massive reduction in road accident costs can be noticed by allocating dedicated routes for pedestrian and bicycles, based on a reduction in conflict points between bicycles, pedestrians and cars; each conflict point is responsible of   the occurrence of a crash in any time and, thus, economic improvement (BCBC, 2009). Social sustainability is vastly addressed in this vision. These will be achieved by applying the equality principle, social consolidation enhancement, public health promotion, and providing high social insurance within that future city which is espoused by this vision. However, it provides the typical social environment inclusion of required needs such as a higher socialised, better communicated, polite and cooperative people which is associated with highest safety levels and health quality. This also suggests roads which have lower car use, dedicate more space for children, and supply all required facilities for walking and cycling. In addition to this is the use of advanced technology in traffic systems, such as automatic vehicle speed reduction system (Tight et al., 2011). This vision addresses the environment dimension by making a reduction in air pollution which leads to a reduction in CO2 emission as well as less transportation noise due to low car use and a greater dependence on walking and cycling. This also includes less land use, the use of eco-friendly cars and imposing strong car use restrictions. As well as this, the walking and cycling and other non-motorized modes are defined as environmental modes due to their compatibility with clean air and that they generate no noise pollution (COUNCIL, 2007). 2.2. Transport problems Area 2.2.1. Developing Countries According to Gwilliam (2003), developing countries differ from developed countries with respect to of transportation. These differences are characterised by faster population growth, fast urban growth, car ownership, traffic congestion, environmental problems, and road accident and security issues. Movement problems added to the lack of road network quality and traffic management make it very difficult to compare and examine. The Green Highway and Vision Two for walking and cycling were placed to the UK situation to address the majority of the above-mentioned issues with a high efficiency, although it cannot be applied in the developing countries with the same efficiency. However, the â€Å"holistic approach [to] improving overall transport† has appeared as a global vision and can address the mobility of urban areas in developing countries. In this vision, the cities are categorized to four kinds, for instance, for addressing finance issues it suggests the participating of bot h private and public sectors. 2.2.2 Climate Change The greenhouse emissions which are from transportation sectors are estimated about 24% globally, and it will increase 2.1% annually (Wright and Fulton, 2005). The CO2 emission was separately estimated to be about 22% in 2012 and was recognized as a main cause of climate change (IEA, 2012). However, addressing climate change can be seen in all three visions in different approaches, but vision two is the more effective because of its preference of the non-motorised modes such as walking, cycling and using eco-friendly mass transportation modes. The Green Highway vision aims to adopt the highway design code with the impacts of climate change instead of carbon cutting. Furthermore, the Mobility vision tends to reduce future greenhouse gas emission depending on the technology use with the presence of all transport modes. 2.2.3. Equity, social impacts and inclusion The equity is considered to be a significant aspect due to its extensive influence by any transportation planning decision. However, it can be more effectively addressed through vision two, rather than other visions, because it is focused on increasing the concept of social sustainability (BCDC, 2009). Moreover, public transport accessibility, cycling and walking is crucial to make society more active, but in the mobility vision the economic improvement is taken into consideration depending on the sophisticated transportation mode technology. In addition to this, the equity improvement can be achieved by providing equal mobility. 2.2.4.   Resource use, waste and global pollution Resource use is a potential option in vision two through low car use as well as greater dependence on walking and cycling. In turn this makes a significant reduction in the consumption and use of resources, such as car manufacturing or backup materials, and this leads to the reduction of waste resulting from scrap. However, the Green Highway vision addresses this issue through the high efficiency resources consumption and full attention to recycling concept application. Moreover, the Mobility vision encourages aircrafts and vehicles markets to depend on alternative fuel and observe that this may lead to an increase in resource consumption, such as compound materials which are used in the aircraft manufacturing. However, the potential for recycling carbon fibre has been was found (Job, 2010). Conversely, other modes need mass use of resources as well as the technological advancement, and ultimately, global pollution is inevitable. 2.2.5. Biodiversity The Green Highway vision concerns the addressing of biodiversity conservation through constructing of wild movement green bridges and tunnels, and water ponds. However, the Mobility vision has an adverse impact on biodiversity due to its dependence on using the largest land area to provide biojetfuel as an alternative future energy (Kojima and Johnson, 2006). Furthermore, biodiversity has not been influenced by the vision two for concentration on improving road network infrastructure in urban areas. 2.2.6. Energy Security According to DECC (2012), the transport sector contributed about 38% of total energy consumption in 2011. The Green Highway vision can impact positively in the reduction of energy consumption to some extent through focusing on road infrastructure improvement and implementing recycling materials interns to reduce energy consumption by implementing recycling and minimizing the road distance. However, in the Mobility vision, the energy security is addressed efficiently by introducing alternative fuels such as biofuel to replace fossil fuel which leads to energy security effectively (Kojima and Johnson, 2006). In the scope of foodstuffs and climate change, decreasing it seems not compatible and the increasing desire and the biofuel’s wide spread will pose a risk to food security and climate change (Field et al., 2008). Additionally, in vision two the focus on walking and cycling as well as lower car use plays a significant role in energy security; moreover, the aircraft and electr ic bicycle manufacturing require energy. 2.2.7.  Safety Safety is an issue that is directly related to public life. However, this issue has not been considered in the Green Highway vision. Nevertheless, the safety is addressed in vision two through the use of alternative biofuels which are characterised by low carbon emission as well as zero vision which address safety through reducing the accidents number to close to zero. Furthermore, safety is addressed more efficiently through the use of technology that reduces vehicle speed automatically and allocates segregated lanes for pedestrians and cyclists. 2.2.8.   Landscape and heritage The Green Highway vision damages landscape and heritage because of their adversely influence on the transportation infrastructure improvement process (Seiler, 2001). Though, in the Mobility vision the largest land use is to provide the requiring energy and may adversely impact the landscape. However, in vision two, improving the transportation infrastructure is based on the existing reality; therefore it does not impact on the landscape. 2.2.9. Noise The Green Highway vision addresses noise through the use of noise barriers and a defeatist road surface. However, the Mobility vision addresses noise reduction through the use electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles and aircraft with superior aerodynamics deployment. Furthermore, vision two contributes to the reduction of noise through low car use, walking and cycling and using electric modes. 2.2.10. Air pollution The Green Highway vision addresses air pollution to some degree, but not directly. However, the Mobility vision addresses this issue interactively through low carbon emission from transportation, using electric vehicles, hybrids, eco-friendly ships and aircrafts. In addition to this, it is significantly addressed by vision two through low car use, depending on walking and cycling. 2.2.11. Severance and pedestrian issues The Green Highway vision does not address severance and pedestrian safety. However, there is full attention given to public safety in the Mobility vision through pollution reduction and low carbon mobility. Moreover, vision two addresses this issue more effectively through improving pedestrian and cyclist’s mobility by allocating separate lanes for their movement and low car use. 2.3. Feasibility, global transportation issues, barriers 2.3.1. Green Highway Vision Undoubtedly, the Green Highway vision introduces an eco-design to be applied to enhance the transportation infrastructure, but it is not active to the high degree of addressing all sustainable dimensions. Good road quality brings more car use which causes environment deterioration. However, the role of advanced technology in the road performance improvement is also not considered in this vision. For example, using connected vehicles which provide the driver with all information about weather, traffic volume, road, and alerting in case the existence of problems as well as electric priority lane that charges moving vehicles automatically (Krick, 2011). In addition to this, a number of Green Highway projects with additional principles to the environmental aspect are applied in some countries such as Sweden and Norway. Consequently, until 2030 the effectiveness of this vision will expire and will not be feasible. 2.3.2 Mobility Vision Due to the presence of some features, this vision seems infeasible. However, it relies on incorporating advanced technology in transportation modes which causes a significant reduction in greenhouse emissions and requires a multi-energy source to improve the environment dimension. Moreover, the encouraging travel, car ownership, results in urbanisation, increasing congestion, increasing resource consumption and land take. Furthermore, greater battery energy consumption results in pollution in the stations and reduces the importance of eco-friendly car use. Nevertheless, technology is considered as a barrier in front of relevant authorities to decide on other dimensions (Banister, 2005). However biofuel seems inefficient due to its expected adverse impacts on the security of food and the hydrogen energy cost   is estimated to be four times as much as current fuel (ibid, 2005). Albeit, due to dealing with sustainability dimensions lopsidedly as well as developing countries drawbacks in terms of their understanding and point of view towards sustainability concept countries issues, this shows unfeasibility of the vision. 2.3.3. Vision Two There is an intensive relationship between urban transportation and its impacts on the environment due to it being directly related to life quality. The main target of vision two is life quality improvement through car use avoidance, in contrast to walking and cycling prominent. Currently, the car is a common travel mode, and the average distance travelled in a car has risen by 75% between 1980 and 2008 (DfT, 2009). Accordingly, to achieve a   reduction in car use is very difficult and there are a lot of barriers because it relates to the citizens’ freedoms. Therefore it is not easy to accept and to digest such a step and to give-up car ownership. However, the contradiction and non-cooperation between the institutions related to the case and difficulties in legal measures application would be another significant barrier (Banister, 2005). Moreover, causing scandalous damage to car manufacture would only serve to increase the rate of people without jobs as well as the walking and cycling leads to space strictures, and cities extension because of long distance and the lack of network quality, with harsh weather. Even though there is potential to dispose of these barriers by using technological means and strictly roads policies applying, this vision seems more efficient and applicable than others; foregoing the drawbacks, due to its compatibility to improve the tree mentioned sustainability dimensions in cities and towns. References Anair, D., Mahmassani, A. (2012) State of charge: electric vehicles’ global warming emissions and fuel-cost savings across the United States.  Union of Concerned Scientists Report. [Online] www. ucsusa. org/assets/ documents/clean_vehicles/electric-carglobal-warming-emissions-report. pdf. [Accessed November 22nd 2013] Banister, D. 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