{"id":50053,"date":"2019-07-17T19:00:07","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T13:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?p=50053"},"modified":"2019-07-17T16:03:28","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T10:33:28","slug":"7-pm-the-wheels-to-a-low-carbon-transport-system-17th-july-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-the-wheels-to-a-low-carbon-transport-system-17th-july-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"7 PM | The wheels to a low-carbon transport system | 17th July, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Context:<\/strong> Low-carbon\ntransport system and sustainable development of economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What is the need for low-carbon transport system in\nIndia?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Urbanisation:<\/strong> Projections\nindicate that by 2026, 38% of Indians will live in cities and the urban\npopulation will grow to 534 million (\u201cPopulation Projections 2026,\u201d 2006), as\nagainst 31% and 377 million as per the 2011 census. With the exponential growth\nof the population, need for transportation arises, where present transportation\nis mostly relying on fossil fuels, so the need for low-carbon transportation is\nimminent.<\/li><li><strong>Economic growth:<\/strong> Cities\nare referred to as the \u201cengines of economic growth\u201d. Despite having only about\n30% of the total population, nearly 62-63%, of India\u2019s Gross Domestic Product\n(GDP) comes from the urban areas. With increasing growth in future, there is a\nneed for low-carbon growth.<\/li><li><strong>Pollution:<\/strong> As\nper a WHO study, fourteen out of the top fifteen most polluted cities in the\nworld belong to India. Polluted air significantly reduces the quality of life\nand increases the risk of diseases such as lung cancer, stroke, heart disease,\nand chronic bronchitis. As per the World Bank, India\u2019s welfare losses due to\nair pollution are currently estimated at 7.7% of GDP (PPP adjusted). By going\nlow carbon emission vehicles huge amount of expenditure will be saved on\npollution related health problems.&nbsp; <\/li><li><strong>Congestion:<\/strong> As\nper a WEF study, the number of Million-plus urban agglomerations has increased\nfrom 35 (2001) to 53 (2011). By 2030, the number is expected to grow to 87.\nMajor Indian cities are now consistently ranked amongst the world\u2019s most\ncongested cities. These high levels of congestion have huge cost in the form of\nreduced productivity, fuel waste, and accidents. The combined cost for four\ncities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru is over USD 22 billion annually.\nFor Delhi alone, the congestion was estimated to cost the city USD 10 billion\nannually. So present metropolitan cities and upcoming million cities should\nlaid down proper guidelines towards congestion free networks.<\/li><li><strong>Two-wheelers:<\/strong> The\ntwo-wheeler sales in India have grown at a CAGR of ~8% during FY14-18 period\nwith FY18 witnessing a 14.8% Year-on-Year growth. The faster growth in\ntwo-wheeler sales is mainly due to rising income levels, growing infrastructure\nin rural areas and rising trend of scooterization (especially among women\ncommuters). With increase in income people will buy electric vehicles also, so\nthat government and automobile industry can tap the demand of two-wheelers with\nintroduction of electric-vehicles. <\/li><li><strong>Discretionary\nspending:<\/strong>\nAs Indian economy continues to grow at fastest pace the disposable income in\nIndia is also witnessing rapid improvement, which in turn is leading to faster\nrise in discretionary spending. This led to increase in purchase of premium\nvehicles. Premium vehicles run on more fuel per kilometer, so there is need to\nimprove the fuel efficiency in this segment.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Transition\nchallenges to low-carbon transport system in India:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Transport\nplanning:<\/strong>\nTransport planning and markets in India are usually distorted with a strong\nbias towards increased usage of personalized modes. For example, motorists are\nrarely charged the full costs of congestion, road space, parking, and air\npollution. Public policies usually tend to favor personalized modes and the\nbulk of public expenditure in most cities has been on expanding roads and\nhighways infrastructure to cater to the needs of these personalized modes.<\/li><li><strong>performance:<\/strong>\nmajor reasons for the poor performance of the public sector transport are the\nhigh staff cost and loss on account of low user charges and concessions in\nfares provided to various special and vulnerable categories of commuters (such\nas students, freedom fighters, etc.), which are not compensated for by state or\ncentral governments. Furthermore, operation on economically unviable routes\ncoupled with high rates of taxation renders the public transport system in\nIndia financially unviable.<\/li><li><strong>Standards:<\/strong> With\nregard to emissions standards, while India\u2019s two-wheeler standards are stricter\nthan those in Europe, it lags behind Europe in respect of four-wheelers.\nFurthermore, the national roadmap for fuel quality and vehicle emission\nstandards is selective and focuses only on the larger cities and neglects the rapidly\nmotorizing medium and small towns.<\/li><li><strong>Distortions:<\/strong> The\nphase of rapid growth of the Indian economy, especially in the new millennium,\ncoupled with the policy of regulating retail prices of petrol and diesel to\ninsulate from international oil price fluctuations, has led to an unabated\nincrease in consumption of automobile fuel. High fuel prices send out signals\nto consumers that they need to take action to reduce consumption. Thus,\nremoving that signal also removes the incentive to invest in more fuel efficient\nvehicles and makes consumers vulnerable to future price increases.<\/li><li><strong>Absence of low carbon substitutes:<\/strong> The government has been encouraging the\nuse of bio-fuels and has set a target of blending 20 per cent ethanol with\ngasoline by 2017 under the National Bio-fuel Policy. However concerns related\nto the trade-off s that may arise with respect to availability of land,\nfood-crop production, land-use changes, and bio-diversity and above all,\navailability of feedstock, remain in order to rise the blending to the targeted\nlevel. In addition, the ability of bio-fuel to reduce greenhouse gases is still\ncontested by scientists around the world.<\/li><li><strong>Governance\nchallenges:<\/strong> The authorities and associated responsibilities\npertaining to transport planning and management are often fragmented and\ndivided between and within the state and city governments. Furthermore, these\nauthorities also lack the necessary power, resources, and capacity to address\nproblems of congestion, air pollution, and GHG emissions. A particular\nchallenge in institutional development for sustainable transport in developing\ncountries like India is posed by the large share of para-transit modes in\npublic transport.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Measures\nto transition towards low-carbon transport system in India:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Integration\nof land use and transport planning:<\/strong> Integrating\nland use planning with transport planning is key to reducing GHG emissions.\nTravel can be reduced when various forms of land use such as residential\nhouses, shops, public services, etc. are mixed and located in close proximity\nof one another. Therefore the city governments should frame the guidelines for\nintegration of land-use and transport planning.<\/li><li><strong>Use\nof alternatives to travel: <\/strong>Use of communication and information\ntechnologies can help avoid or reduce the need to travel. For instance,\nintroduction of the \u2018Easy Bill\u2019 facility in Delhi and the government of\nKarnataka have set up one stop facility for citizens of Bangalore to access\ninformation and pay all government and municipal bills.<\/li><li><strong>Regulatory\ninstruments:<\/strong> Regulatory instruments can be used to discourage\ntravel or deny access to certain traffic or vehicles. Some regulatory measures\nlike physical restraint, traffic management, regulation of parking, speed\nrestrictions and economic constraints like road pricing and congestion\ncharging, fuel taxation, vehicle taxation and information instruments include\nawareness campaigns, mobility management, and driver education and training &nbsp;will move people towards public transport\nsystem.<\/li><li><strong>Improve\nthe share of public transport and fuel efficiency:<\/strong> The expansion\nof public transport in the form of large capacity buses, light rail transit,\nand suburban rail or metro is a feasible option for transport sector. India\ntransport fuel standards are adopting the euro VI standards, but limited\nmetropolitan cities only, so the government should implement these norms to\nother tier-2 and tier-3 cities.<\/li><li><strong>Electric\nvehicles: electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV)<\/strong>\nshould be promoted in India on a priority basis as they are cleaner than diesel\nand gasoline powered vehicles despite the fact that electricity generation in\nIndia would take long to become less GHG intensive. In fact EVs are already\nbeing produced on a mass scale in India (FAME scheme) in the form of two-wheeled\nbikes and scooters and the four wheeled light duty vehicles are expected to\ncatch up soon.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Way\nforward:<\/strong>\nIt has become clear that massive urbanization and the transport problems it\npresents will be one of the most important challenges facing India in the\nfuture. Recognizing the importance of this issue, the Government of India has\ntaken important steps to meet the challenge through a variety of mechanisms\nprimarily through the adoption of a National Urban Transport Policy and the\nlaunch of the National Urban Renewal Mission. The way forward needs to\nemphasize a comprehensive and coordinated approach rather than a fancy for high\ncost facilities. It needs to emphasize governance structures that enable\ncomprehensive planning and coordinated implementation. It needs to work towards\ninnovative financing and alternative fuels. It needs to emphasize that good\nurban transport planning has to be \u201cPeople\u201d focused rather than \u201cEngineering\u201d\nfocused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/the-wheels-to-a-low-carbon-transport-system\/article28492992.ece\">https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/the-wheels-to-a-low-carbon-transport-system\/article28492992.ece<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context: Low-carbon transport system and sustainable development of economy. What is the need for low-carbon transport system in India? Urbanisation: Projections indicate that by 2026, 38% of Indians will live in cities and the urban population will grow to 534 million (\u201cPopulation Projections 2026,\u201d 2006), as against 31% and 377 million as per the 2011&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-the-wheels-to-a-low-carbon-transport-system-17th-july-2019\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">7 PM | The wheels to a low-carbon transport system | 17th July, 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":49370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-7-pm","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/7-PM.png?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704764913},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}