If public transport is encouraged and private vehicles dissuaded, the city can see a staggering reduction in noxious gases by more than 84% in a little over a decade, shows a report on the transport sector by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.).
As part of the Indo-Norway project, “Climatrans”, IISc. along with institutes from Norway and India sought to model the way the city commutes, and consequently, pollution generated in the process.
As the vehicle population grows, and with little regulatory action (that is, continuing with “business as usual”), vehicles in the city will generate 1.89 million tonnes of carbon dioxide — one of the prime causes for global warming — annually by 2030.
However, the scenario will change drastically if a combination of policies are enforced, including increasing network coverage of public transport, creation of cycling and walking infrastructure, additional taxes on private vehicles, congestion pricing, and most importantly, encouraging buses and cars to be run entirely on electricity.
In such a scenario, the city will be emitting just 0.29 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
“Our modelling shows that there is slight but significant reductions even without all vehicles being electric vehicles. We can reduce emissions by up to 4.3% through increasing public transport and taxing private vehicles. But, by stressing for electric vehicles, we can reduce emissions by 84% in 2030 and even 90% by 2050,” said Ashish Verma, Assistant Professor from the Department of Civil Engineering, IISc., who is the principal investigator for the project.
