TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE
TRANSPORTATIONOECD International Conference, Vancouver Canada
TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE
TRANSPORTATION
The proliferation of motor vehicles in the world is creating exceptional stresses on physical environments, energy resource supply, and the financial resources of cities. Some argue that the mobility offered by cars also weakens the social fabric of urban societies by reducing the sense of community, but that debate is not resolved; the role of the auto in social deterioration is unclear. What is widely accepted is that auto use is underpriced in most urban (but not rural) areas of the world, resulting in "excess" driving.
It would certainly be desirable, economically and environmentally, to reduce car use in most urban areas. But is growing car use unsustainable!? The answer is yes, if we were to straightforwardly extrapolate all these adverse car-related trends into the future. But that's an alarmist and mistaken Malthusian scenario. As pressures on energy supply and the environment increase, government and the marketplace will respond. They already are.
The revolution in materials, electronic, and energy storage technologies is making much more environmentally benign vehicles possible. For instance, the cost of producing and operating a vehicle powered by a fuel cell supplied with hydrogen made with solar energy may cost less than 10% more than today's gasoline cars. Such a vehicle would have vastly reduced impact on the environment and use no fossil energy. Oil consumption, greenhouse gases, and pollution from motor vehicles would be essentially eliminated. The transportation system would be sustainable in an environmental and energy sense. Whether the proliferation of such vehicles would be desirable is a different (but important) question. In any case it is important to keep in mind that what is sustainable and desirable in one region (i.e. affluent OECD countries) may be sustainable and/or undesirable in other regions.