Sustainable
Transportation or Sustainable Mobility, has no widely
accepted definition. Since it is a sector-specific sub-set
to the post- sustainable development movement, it is often
defined in words such as this Sustainable transportation is
about meeting or helping meet the mobility needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their needs. But this is only a starting
point.
The concept of
sustainable mobility is a reaction to things that have gone
radically and visibly wrong with current transportation
policy, practice and performance over the last half of the
twentieth century. In particular, unsustainable
transportation consumes excessive energy, creates pollution
and service levels decline despite increasing investments.
It delivers poor service for specific social and economic
groups.
Colloquially,
sustainable transport is used to describe all forms of
transport which minimize emissions of carbon dioxide and
pollutants. It can refer to public transport, car sharing,
walking and cycling as well as technology such as electric
and hybrid cars and biodiesel and Personal Rapid Transit and
other green transport. In particular the phrase has been
adopted by environmental campaign groups and the British and
Australian national and local governments, though both the
phrase and the concepts have now spread around the world.
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