TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE
TRANSPORTATIONOECD International Conference, Vancouver Canada
TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE
TRANSPORTATION
This paper introduces the latest state of the approach to sustainable transport in Japan, where sustainable transport has been discussed in relation to the protection of urban air quality, noise pollution and global climate change. Among these, the most urgent ones are air and noise pollution problems in big cities. While well established mass transit systems have played an important role for passenger transportation and contributed successfully to the sustainable transport in Japan, freight transport still depends greatly on the vehicles and has been the major reason of the problems outlined.
As an additional counter measure for these problems, Japan has enacted a law for total nitrogen oxides emission control of vehicles in specified areas in big cities, in addition to the conventional emission control standards for all types of vehicles throughout Japan. Another example of additional counter measures is the 1980 law for the improvement of road-side condition for traffic noise control.
On the issue of global warming, the Cabinet approved the "Action Plan to Arrest Global Warming" in 1990, which recommends formation of ecological transport systems with fewer emissions of carbon dioxide, to be achieved through the improvement of vehicle fuel consumption, introduction of electric vehicles, further use of mass transit systems, etc.
Kagu Onogawa, Setsuo Hirai