An Overview on Costs of Shifting to Sustainable ...
95
New technologies are improving the efficiency of existing transport methods and
will positively affect both passenger transport (public and private) and freight transport. Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs), for example, incorporate many
technologies to enable driverless, safe, and efficient transportation reducing traffic
congestion, crashes in roads, air pollutants and GHG emissions [21, 64, 65].
In addition, several initiatives have sought to develop the Battery Electric Vehicle
(BEV) and the fuel cell as alternatives to vehicles with internal combustion engines
and to establish fuels such as biofuels, natural gas, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG),
hydrogen, and electricity as options to replace conventional liquid fuels [31, 45, 61].
Non-technological measures to encourage the use of healthy means of transport, such as active transportation (walking and cycling) and better urban planning
based on resilient public transport systems with low emissions, can promote healthy
environments, facilitating healthy physical activity and, as benefit, many of these
strategies can save considerable health costs [95].
Some cities have focused on strategies to facilitate active mobility and nonmotorized transport, which clearly have emission implications. It could be an opportunity to retrofit the infrastructure of cities and move toward a low carbon transport.
The recent pandemic due Covid-19 brings a big debate on transportation, high population densities in cities and how it facilitates spread. This is demanding a very
rapidly growing of the peer-reviewed literature on cities and Covid-19 disease. It is
very important to consider sustainability issues as Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) when the development of responses policies and plans to Covid-19, as a
cross-cut strategy to enhance safe public transport and promote smart cities [44].
However, all these possible strategies to mitigate the impacts of the transport
sector on the environment and in the quality of life of society have a cost for their
implementation. Therefore, studies should be developed that seek to identify the
relationship between the cost necessary to achieve sustainable transport and the cobenefits derived from reducing these impacts, as well access for finance opportunities
and new governance tools and models.
Many countries are committed to pursuing limiting global warming to below 1.5
°C, as detailed in the 2015 Paris Agreement. However, the mitigation cost of achieving
GHG emissions in 2030 with 1.5 °C pathways has been projected to be at least 5–6
times higher than the cost of achieving the Nationally Determined Contributions
(NDCs) [105].
Thus, this chapter aims to identify, by means of a bibliographic review, the main
actions for mitigating the impacts of the road transportation on the environment, as
well as estimating the cost of shifting to road sustainable transport. We emphasize
that this study seeks to address a gap in the literature resulting from the low frequency
of research that seek to analyze the cost to achieve sustainable transport.
To achieve these objectives, in addition to this introductory section, this chapter
is structured as follows. Section 2 deals with the methodology. Section 3 deals with
the intrinsic relationship between the SDGs and road sustainable transport. Section 4
outlines some possible actions to mitigate impacts on road transportation and Sect. 5
presents and discusses the costs necessary to make it sustainable. Finally, Sect. 6
highlights the conclusions and presents recommendations for future works.
95
New technologies are improving the efficiency of existing transport methods and
will positively affect both passenger transport (public and private) and freight transport. Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs), for example, incorporate many
technologies to enable driverless, safe, and efficient transportation reducing traffic
congestion, crashes in roads, air pollutants and GHG emissions [21, 64, 65].
In addition, several initiatives have sought to develop the Battery Electric Vehicle
(BEV) and the fuel cell as alternatives to vehicles with internal combustion engines
and to establish fuels such as biofuels, natural gas, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG),
hydrogen, and electricity as options to replace conventional liquid fuels [31, 45, 61].
Non-technological measures to encourage the use of healthy means of transport, such as active transportation (walking and cycling) and better urban planning
based on resilient public transport systems with low emissions, can promote healthy
environments, facilitating healthy physical activity and, as benefit, many of these
strategies can save considerable health costs [95].
Some cities have focused on strategies to facilitate active mobility and nonmotorized transport, which clearly have emission implications. It could be an opportunity to retrofit the infrastructure of cities and move toward a low carbon transport.
The recent pandemic due Covid-19 brings a big debate on transportation, high population densities in cities and how it facilitates spread. This is demanding a very
rapidly growing of the peer-reviewed literature on cities and Covid-19 disease. It is
very important to consider sustainability issues as Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) when the development of responses policies and plans to Covid-19, as a
cross-cut strategy to enhance safe public transport and promote smart cities [44].
However, all these possible strategies to mitigate the impacts of the transport
sector on the environment and in the quality of life of society have a cost for their
implementation. Therefore, studies should be developed that seek to identify the
relationship between the cost necessary to achieve sustainable transport and the cobenefits derived from reducing these impacts, as well access for finance opportunities
and new governance tools and models.
Many countries are committed to pursuing limiting global warming to below 1.5
°C, as detailed in the 2015 Paris Agreement. However, the mitigation cost of achieving
GHG emissions in 2030 with 1.5 °C pathways has been projected to be at least 5–6
times higher than the cost of achieving the Nationally Determined Contributions
(NDCs) [105].
Thus, this chapter aims to identify, by means of a bibliographic review, the main
actions for mitigating the impacts of the road transportation on the environment, as
well as estimating the cost of shifting to road sustainable transport. We emphasize
that this study seeks to address a gap in the literature resulting from the low frequency
of research that seek to analyze the cost to achieve sustainable transport.
To achieve these objectives, in addition to this introductory section, this chapter
is structured as follows. Section 2 deals with the methodology. Section 3 deals with
the intrinsic relationship between the SDGs and road sustainable transport. Section 4
outlines some possible actions to mitigate impacts on road transportation and Sect. 5
presents and discusses the costs necessary to make it sustainable. Finally, Sect. 6
highlights the conclusions and presents recommendations for future works.