00935326

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/1791-07

http://scholar.google.com...lton&publication_year=2002

Urban transport in most cities around the world is developing in an unsustainable fashion, as reflected by rapid growth in traffic congestion and air pollution driven by individual motorization. Strengthened bus systems, built on rapid bus corridors, and improved bus technologies could play an important role in putting cities on a more sustainable path. Results and some of the main messages are presented from a recent study at the International Energy Agency, Paris, which has assessed the situation in a number of the largest cities in the developing world, while also drawing on experience from several cities in the developed world. A principal finding is that buses tend to carry a large share of travelers but contribute only a small part of total traffic and pollution. Also, although bus ridership is declining in many cities, new types of bus systems are emerging that offer the potential to reverse these trends and have done so in several cities (e.g., Curitiba, Brazil and Bogota, Columbia). Advanced bus propulsion systems, that is, fuel cell and hybrid buses running on a variety of fuels, could eventually provide substantial relief from bus-related pollution problems. However, in developing countries, spending scarce funds for cleaning up the emissions from present technologies, along with developing improved bus systems that enhance traffic flow, would provide far more relief in the near-term than spending on a few advanced technology buses. Both paths must be followed, but the latter must not obscure the former. Conditions necessary for bus systems to prosper are discussed and, in conclusion, recent promising developments are highlighted.

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1791, Transit: Buses, Paratransit, Rural Public Buses, and Intercity Transit; New Transportation Systems and Technology; Capacity and Quality of Service.

English

p. 44-50

2002

Transportation Research Record

0309077176

Figures (3) ; References (18) ; Tables (1)

Air pollution; Bus transit operations; Developed countries; Developing countries; Emission control systems; Fuel cells; Hybrid vehicles; Improvements; Sustainable development; Traffic congestion; Urban transit

Energy; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Vehicles and Equipment

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 4 2003 12:00AM

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