2.1 - Reducing Passenger Transport Energy Use in Cities: A Comparative Perspective on Private and Public Transport Energy Use in American, Canadian, Australian, European and Asian Cities

Abstract

Energy is the lifeblood of cities, and oil is the power that drives urban transport systems, with 98% of global transport still fossil-fuel based, and emissions from the transport sector set to double by mid-century. Combined with a predicted 2–3 billion more people living in cities by 2050, and other significant impacts of transport systems such as congestion, pollution, and the destruction of the public realm of cities by roads and car parks, the need to reform urban transport systems is urgent. Cities today are looking to a post-petroleum future because of the non-renewable nature of oil, and the global CO2 problem. This chapter provides detailed data on energy consumption patterns in private and public passenger transport in a global sample of 44 cities in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe; as well as Singapore and Hong Kong, as examples of two highly developed Asian cities. A selection of data collected in each city is provided for 1995 and 2005. The changes in per capita and per kilometer energy consumption rates for cars, buses, light rail/trams, metros, suburban rail, and ferry systems that occurred in these cities over this 10-year period are analyzed. Although there was a small overall decrease in both per capita energy use in private passenger transport and consumption per kilometer of travel, per capita private transport energy use remained over 20 times higher than public transport, and approximately 2.3 times higher per passenger kilometer. Some relationships between energy use in urban transport and other factors such as city densities, infrastructure, and mobility patterns are explored, and the policy implications of the data are discussed in terms of how best to reduce energy consumption in urban passenger transport systems. The huge untapped energy conservation potential of public transport in cities is revealed, and the energy efficiency benefits of urban rail modes is demonstrated.