[sustran] Re: Clean Vehicles and Sustainable Transportation

Todd Alexander Litman litman at vtpi.org
Tue Mar 29 23:21:01 JST 2005


One problem with more efficient and alternative fuel vehicles is that they 
are cheaper to drive per kilometer, which leads to more total mileage, 
increasing mileage-related external costs such as congestion, facility 
costs, accidents, sprawl and some types of pollution. For discussion see my 
paper "Efficient Vehicles Versus Efficient Transportation: Comparing 
Transportation Energy Conservation Strategies" 
(file:http://www.vtpi.org/cafe.pdf), which is forthcoming in Transport Policy.


Best wishes,
-Todd Litman


At 09:34 AM 3/29/2005 +0200, Eric Britton wrote:

>Dear Colleagues,
>
>
>
>I have the job next week of chairing two sessions at EVS21 the 21st 
>Worldwide International Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle 
>Symposium which this year that are to address the announced theme for 
>2005: Act now for sustainable mobility . My job in both the Ministerial 
>Round Table: How Can We Promote Sustainable Mobility In Our Towns? And the 
>session on Best Practices In Cities is to do my best to act as an honest 
>broker between two rather different visions of how you go about making 
>more sustainable cities and transportation. (See 
><http://evs21.org/>http://evs21.org/ for details.)
>
>  To this end, I have prepared a short statement for the various speakers 
> in which I attempt to set out the changing ground rules in a few short 
> paragraphs, as follows.  My goal is to give the clean vehicle folks a 
> fair shot at getting on board the New Mobility Agenda, but also to sound 
> a warning that things may be a bit different in the future.
>
>I share this with you for your information and eventual comments.
>
>
>Eric Britton
>
>
>Opening statement of moderator:
>Clean Vehicles and Sustainable Transportation Planning and Policy
>
>In the past most EV (electric vehicle) and other clean vehicle deployments 
>in cities have been carried out as limited pilot or demonstration 
>projects, with the main sources of support in most cases coming from 
>national and other energy agencies. Behind these programs is a process of 
>reasoning which is opens with the understanding that we need badly to 
>reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions from our city transport 
>systems; that clean (or cleaner) technologies do exist to do the job; but 
>that the technologies behind cleaner vehicles are still too early in their 
>development and costly to make their way unassisted in the marketplace.
>
>Based on these premises, it is concluded that these technologies need to 
>be supported by publicly funded demonstration projects with the 
>justification that they can (a) bring some immediate environmental relief 
>to the city; (b) help all involved better understand and benefit both from 
>their potential contributions, as well as (c) improve our understanding of 
>what else is needed in order to bring these technologies to the market 
>place in more competitive ways.
>
>That said, these vehicles and the projects behind them have thus far not 
>been fully integrated into a larger and more complete framework of 
>integrated sustainable transportation strategies at the level of the 
>city  in most places -- not least because in most parts of the world such 
>strategies and planning structures simply do not yet exist in fully mature 
>and operational forms.
>
>Indeed to now instead of an integrated overall strategy as is clearly 
>needed, what we can see in those places where sustainability is at least 
>an announced goal, is a two step process:  The first step in this process 
>opens with more or less ambitious goal setting, most often stated in 
>general and qualitative terms, rather than strictly quantitative and 
>targeted with specific and explicit tests for success or failure.  These 
>are then rounded out by more or less long lists of projects, measures and 
>tools, each of which with its own stated environmental justifications and 
>which are to be brought on when possible.
>
>But a list is, of course, not quite a strategy, or at least an integrated 
>testable strategy.
>
>As more integrated, sophisticated and effective approaches to sustainable 
>transport policy and practice take hold, this is going to bring with it a 
>whole new series of performance and cost-effectiveness criteria, which is 
>going to provide the new framework for clean vehicle projects in the 
>future.  A rather different future which it will be best to start to take 
>into consideration now.
>
>================================================================
>SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, 
>equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries 
>(the 'Global South'). Because of the history of the list, the main focus 
>is on urban transport policy in Asia.


Sincerely,
Todd Litman, Director
Victoria Transport Policy Institute
"Efficiency - Equity - Clarity"
1250 Rudlin Street
Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, Canada
Phone & Fax: 250-360-1560
Email: litman at vtpi.org
Website: http://www.vtpi.org




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