Cobenefits of Replacing Car Trips with Alternative Transportation: A Review of Evidence and Methodological Issues

Abstract

It has been reported that motor vehicle emissions contribute nearly a quarter of world energy-related greenhouse gases and cause nonnegligible air pollution primarily in urban areas. Reducing car use and increasing ecofriendly alternative transport, such as public and active transport, are efficient approaches to mitigate harmful environmental impacts caused by a large amount of vehicle use. Besides the environmental benefits of promoting alternative transport, it can also induce other health and economic benefits. At present, a number of studies have been conducted to evaluate cobenefits from greenhouse gas mitigation policies. However, relatively few have focused specifically on the transport sector. A comprehensive understanding of the multiple benefits of alternative transport could assist with policy making in the areas of transport, health, and environment. However, there is no straightforward method which could estimate cobenefits effect at one time. In this paper, the links between vehicle emissions and air quality, as well as the health and economic benefits from alternative transport use, are considered, and methodological issues relating to the modelling of these cobenefits are discussed.

Environmental, behavioral, and psychological predictors of transit ridership: Evidence from a community intervention

“…That is, place attachment--when it gives rise to the desire to use TRAX to venture downtown, explore areas around TRAX stations, and develop a sense that one likes one's city more--can encourage the pro-environmental behavior of using transit. The use of active transportation, in addition to aiding personal health, may allow individuals and society to benefit from reduced pollution and greenhouse gases (Xia, et al, 2013). We do not presume that people ride TRAX primarily to benefit the environment.…”

“…Public transit use is associated with more physical activity (Rissel, Curac, Greenaway, & Bauman, 2012), lower weight (Brown, Werner, Tribby, Miller, & Smith, 2015), less costly car congestion and pollution (Sallis, et al, 2015), and less sprawling development (Xia, Zhang, Crabb, & Shah, 2013), among other benefits (Litman, 2004). However, public transit is less popular than private automobile travel in the U.S., accounting for only 1.3% of trips in many urban areas (for populations 1 to 2.5 million; Santos, McGuckin, Nakamoto, Gray, & Liss, 2011).…”

Car free cities: Pathway to healthy urban living

“…Already almost half of car journeys are less than 5 km (Xia et al, 2013), and these could be feasibly substituted by active transport modes, which are both healthier and environmentally more friendly.…”

Air pollution as a risk factor in health impact assessments of a travel mode shift towards cycling

“…To date, very little work has been done in order to understand the different aspects of moving from motorized transport to bicycling. Even though different reviewers have investigated the health and economic benefits of active transportation [28–30], to the best of our knowledge there are only three systematic reviews investigating the health impacts of active transportation, one focusing on health risks and benefits [31] and two focusing on methodological issues [30,32]. Each of the aspects, or health pathways, listed above are important to consider in such HIAs, but these are quite complicated and can be dealt with in more or less sophisticated ways.…”