Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Measuring the Carbon Dioxide Impacts of Urban Transport Projects

Lee Schipper, Maria Cordeiro, Wei-Shiuen NG
World Resources Institute
November 2007

All over the world, transportation projects are changing how people and goods move, with direct and indirect impacts on greenhouse gases emissions. Transport and environment officials, investors, and other stakeholders want to know how transport interventions will affect traffic, energy demand, and emissions. Estimating the impacts of projects involving fuel or technology switch is conceptually straightforward but still with its challenges regarding the reliability of available data and the capacity for data collection. Projects affecting modal share, load factors, origin and destination, number of passenger-kilometers driven, driving cycle and other parameters are a more complex proposition. Without reasonable measurement of results, decision makers hamper their ability to design effective control strategies and to monitor progress. This paper aims to present an overview of the challenges frequently encountered when estimating the impact of transport projects on carbon dioxide emissions; describes key approaches and methods commonly used; and provides examples from cities in Asia and Latin America. This paper is based on literature review, consultation with experts in the transportation, energy and emissions fields and on experience in developing emissions estimations for projects interventions in developing country cities.

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