Energy and Transport: Strategies for Energy Conservation in Urban Passenger Transport

Before proceeding to explore potential strategies for energy conservation in urban passenger transport, this paper presents some evidence on energy efficiencies of various transport modes and on travel behaviour under energy constraints. Knowledge of the relative energy efficiencies of different modes of transport is evidently necessary for analysing and developing policies for fuel conservation. Although the automobile does appear to be significantly more energy-intensive than public transport modes, this does not automatically indicate that a policy to attract people to public transport would lead to the maximum possible fuel savings. Available evidence on travel behaviour under energy constraints indicates that the elasticity of travel demand is very small. Increasing prices, within the range expected, are not likely to result in satisfactory fuel savings, and it is therefore necessary to consider alternative strategies.

The strategies to be considered here may be outlined as follows: (1) improving fuel efficiency of automobiles by modifying driving habits, reducing speeds, improving traffic flows, and keeping vehicles properly maintained; (2) increasing efficiency of automobile travel by promoting higher occupancies; (3) attracting car travellers to public transport; (4) shifting to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, changing vehicle and engine designs such as to improve the inherent fuel efficiency of the automobile; (5) technological change: new propulsion systems, alternative fuels, and rapid personal transport; (6) reducing travel needs by changing land-use patterns and improving communications. These strategies are discussed in turn and, given the available information about travel patterns and behaviour, an attempt is made to assess their likely impact. Clearly those strategies should be selected which offer the maximum potential fuel savings and which can be introduced with minimum sacrifice.