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Sustainability in Transportation Industry

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Traditional practices in the industry................................................................................................3
Sustainable practices in the industry................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................6
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Introduction

Sustainability has become a core concept in businesses today. More so, in the transport industry.

Sustainability in transportation refers to the ability to support the mobility needs of the society

with minimal damages to the environment and without jeopardising the mobility needs of future

generations (Evangelista, 2014). One of the crucial reasons for the need for sustainable

transportation is the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The transport system contributes

up to 20% of world energy consumption and carbon emission with 97% of these emissions

coming from fossil fuel combustion. The carbon emission from the transportation industry is

now increasing at a faster rate as compared to any other industry hence the need for improved

sustainability of the transport sector. Moreover, the improvement of living standards has led to

‘car dependency’ a situation where people desire private transportation as opposed to public

transport this creates a lot of congestion on the roads increasing the amount spent on transit (Noy

and Givoni, 2016). This report will thus evaluate the traditional practices in the transport sector

and reasons for their unsustainability and highlight trends that can be adapted in the transport

industry that are sustainable

Traditional practices in the industry

The transport system is the largest air pollutant and with the greatest greenhouse gas emission.

This sector consumes fossil fuels both directly and indirectly through vehicles burning gasoline

and the use of diesel fuel in internal combustion engines. When these fuels are burnt, they cause

global warming through carbon emissions as well as toxic emissions. Another unsustainable

practice is the need to own a passenger car. The use of passenger cars is the largest emitter of

carbon dioxide in the transport industry producing an estimate of 41% of the total emission by

the sector. This is caused by the need for the affluent in society to own vehicles as a symbol of
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prestige or as a show of lifestyle. The practice is unsustainable as it increases congestion on the

roads, increases the cost of transport through fuelling and other costs associated with owning a

personal car as well as contributing to the greenhouse emission per person (Van Wee, 2014).

More so, the owning of personal vehicles increases other chances of getting conditions such as
CO2 emissions in the transportation sector worldwide 2020

45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
r s g n es es s il
ge ck in tio us icl er Ra
en rt u pp ia el
s s y Sh
i
Av in
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Pa av m l -w
he nd ci a re
e
d er
an sa m Th
m se m o/
iu Bu t co Tw
ed gh
M Li

Emission
obesity due to lack of walking hence encouraging more healthy living.

Source: Statista (2021).

Sustainable practices in the industry

Sustainable transport practices include practices that help in cost minimisation, reasonable travel

and activities that enhance the travel experience with quality and not just time quantity (Banister

et al., 2016). Sustainable practices in the industry have been introduced with various intentions.

For instance, shared mobility technology comes to ease the transportation needs of people.

Shared mobility includes practices such as ride splitting, ride-hailing, carpooling, jitneys among

others. This practice helps transportation services and resources to be shared among users
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especially in the urban areas. As opposed to owning mobility assets which increase both

transport costs and road congestion, the mobility sharing technology reduces congestion as

people only use it when necessary (Noy and Givoni, 2018). Car sharing, for instance, has helped

see a majority of people forego car ownership and the fewer cars there are on the road the lesser

the emission hence increasing environmental sustainability as well as reduction of congestion on

the road.

Green vehicles is another sustainable practice adopted by the industry. Green vehicles are more

environmentally friendly than gasoline or diesel-powered. They are powered by electricity or

alternative fuel. These include solar cars, electric cars, hydrogen cars and hybrid cars (Logan et

al., 2020). These vehicles help save both on the cost of transportation through saving on the cost

of fuel and reducing the carbon emission to the environment (Krutilla and Graham, 2012).

Conclusion

Traditional transport practices have led to increased carbon emission, increased transportation

costs and time wastage due to congestion among other issues. Sustainability in the industry is

thus important to help ensure the current transportation needs and ensure the future generations

can still achieve the same. Current trends in the industry have increased sustainability including

mobility sharing and alternative fuel usage as a practice that reduces emission, help in cost-

saving and reduce time wastage in travelling.

The transport sector will continue to increase in sustainability especially in alternative oil usage

with a possibility of total elimination of fossil fuel usage in transportation. Mobility sharing has

the potential to reduce congestion through the reduction of the number of people owning

personal cars. However, increased mobility sharing may bring a challenge to the global economy
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as people reduce their overall transport and transport-related expenditure as well as undermine

public transport providers.

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References

Banister, D., Cornet, Y., Givoni, M. and Lyons, G., 2016, July. From minimum to reasonable

travel time. In Transportation Research Procedia, World Conference on Transport

Research (WCTR), Shanghai.

Evangelista, P., 2014. Environmental sustainability practices in the transport and logistics service

industry: An exploratory case study investigation. Research in Transportation Business

& Management, 12, pp.63-72.

Krutilla, K. and Graham, J.D., 2012. Are green vehicles worth the extra cost? The case of diesel‐

electric hybrid technology for urban delivery vehicles. Journal of Policy Analysis and

Management, 31(3), pp.501-532.

Logan, K.G., Nelson, J.D. and Hastings, A., 2020. Electric and hydrogen buses: Shifting from

conventionally fuelled cars in the UK. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and

Environment, 85, p.102350.

Noy, K. and Givoni, M., 2018. Is ‘smart mobility sustainable? Examining the views and beliefs

of transport’s technological entrepreneurs. Sustainability, 10(2), p.422.

Statista., 2021. Breakdown of CO2 emissions in the transportation sector worldwide 2020, by

subsector. Available https://www.statista.com/statistics/1185535/transport-carbon-

dioxide-emissions-breakdown/ [Date accessed October 28, 2021]

Van Wee, B., 2014. The unsustainability of car use. In Handbook of sustainable travel (pp. 69-

83). Springer, Dordrecht.