Sustainability in Transportation

Definitions

Sustainability is an attempt to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the indefinite future. It relates to the continuity of economic, social, institutional and environmental aspects of human society, as well as the non-human environment. It is intended to be a means of configuring civilization and human activity so that society, its members and its economies are able to meet their needs and express their greatest potential in the present, while preserving biodiversity and natural ecosystems, and planning and acting for the ability to maintain these ideals in a very long term. Sustainability affects every level of organization, from the local neighborhood to the entire planet.

Sustainability in Transportation

Also commonly referred to Sustainable Transport or Sustainable Mobility, there is no widely accepted definition of sustainable transportation by any of these names. Since it is a sector-specific sub-set to the post-1988 sustainable development movement, it is often defined in words such as this: “Sustainable transportation is about meeting or helping meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” But this is only a starting point.

The concept of sustainable transportation is a reaction to some of the things that have gone radically and visibly wrong with transportation policy, practice and performance over the last half of the twentieth century in particular (unsustainable resource take, energy profligacy, pollution, declining service levels despite increasing investments, poor service for specific social and economic groups). Over most of the century, it was assumed that adequate transportation structures needed to be built since they provide an essential underpinning to growth and economic health. Accordingly the main concern of transport planners and policy makers was in the " supply" of transportation, and specifically in ensuring that the supporting infrastructure was going to be adequate to support all projected requirements. The dominant approach was, therefore, to forecast and then build to meet. In public transport planning likewise it was the supply and efficient operation of vehicles that got the build of attention. As a result, it is claimed by many analysts and observers that most places have as a results heavily overbuilt their physical transportation infrastructures, which in fact has led to unsustainable levels of traffic and resource use.

The sustainable transportation movement, which has gradually gained in force over the last decade and a half, has in the process started to shift the emphasis in public spending and actions away from building and supply, to management and demand. In all cases the values of heightened respect of the environment and prudent use of natural resources are central, with varying degrees of urgency expressed by different actors and interests. That said, it is still very much a minority movement and most actual expenditures in the sector are determined by criteria other than sustainability.