Cycling, air pollution and climate change

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Cycling, air pollution and climate change

• Tom Godefrooij
• Interface for Cycling Expertise I-ce
• Bangkok, 10 November 2008

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What I will be talking about

• Understanding the role of cycling in the
  transport system
• Relevance for air quality management and climate
  change
• Potential and conditions
• Challenges

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Transport planning

• To meet transport needs
• Individuals society
• Maximising contribution of transport
• to social economic well being
• Minimising adverse effects
• Road safety
• Liveability
• Environment

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• Travel market (trips)
• Activity patterns
• Spatial distribution
• Spread in time

• Transport market (transport systems)
• Availability
• Effectiveness
• Efficiency
• Status
• Costs

• Traffic market (flows)
• Routes
• Speeds
• Manoeuvres
• Congestion
• Safety

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Market interventions

• Travel market
• Minimise need for travelling
• Transport market
• Promote optimal mode choice
• Priority for cycling and walking on short trips
• Public transport for longer trips
• Traffic market
• Adequate road design, including bicycle facilities

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Role of various modes

• Analysis of strengths and weaknesses
• Assess appropriateness modes / transport systems
  for types of trips
• i.e. utilise strengths
• Provide alternatives for problematic use
• Not fit for the trip
• Too many adverse effects for society

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The bicycle / cyclist

• Strengths
• Individual
• Flexible
• Impervious for congestion
• Easy to use
• Low cost
• Clean silent

• Weaknesses
• Radius of action
• Vulnerable
• Luggage capacity
• Exposure to weather
• Low status

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Looking for the optimal mix

• Cycling
• ( walking)
• Short distances
• Inner urban trips
• Limited luggage carrying

• Public transport
• Longer trips
• Mass transportation
• Feeder trips required

• Car
• Longer trips
• Thinly populated areas
• Less/not suitable for dense urban areas

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Relevance for air quality issues

• Prevention
• Slow down increase motorised traffic
• Cure
• Only if and in so far as
• cycling will substitute polluting modes
• But how substantive?
• Analyse the differences in use and potential

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Cycling inclusive

• Only relevant if impacts are substantial
• More than adding cycle facilities to the road
  system
• Change of entire traffic (and urban) system

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Potential

• Influenced by how the 3 markets are organised
• Enough destinations within cycling distance
• Cycling/bicycles a transport option
• (also as feeder mode)
• Safe and comfortable road environment
• The Netherlands as an example

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Mobility in the Netherlands

• Netherlands, highest car density/km2
• On average 3.2 trips per day
• 1 trip car driver
• 0.8 trip bicycle
• 0.6 trip walking
• 0.5 trip car passenger
• 0.2 trip public transport
• 0.1 trip other
• In Top-5 most road-safe

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Mobility in The Netherlands
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Modal split trips/distance
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Choice bicycle vs car
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street
Pedestrian boulevard
Cycletrack

• Example Bogotápriority for the majority
• Narrow unpaved road
• Cycle path and a wide paved pedestrian boulevard

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Challenges

• As long as cyclists and pedestrians are treated
  as second rate or even as non existent, cycling
  will continue to decrease
• Lack of status is only an obvious consequence of
  existing planning policies
• People will not start to cycle because of
  environmental awareness, but only if cycling is a
  safe and practical solution for their transport
  needs

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Co-benefits of cyling policies

• Giving cyclists fair share of road space
• Improving road safety
• Offering affordable transport options
• Improving quality public space
• Solving congestion
• Substitue car trips, traffic demand management
• Traffic management
• Air quality management
• Fighting climate change
• .

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Comprehensive approach

• Develop shared vision goals
• Include policies targeting
• Users
• Vehicles
• Roads
• Involve important stakeholders
• Impact on other transport modes
• Re-allocation of road space
• Re-allocation of budgets

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Its not about cycle tracks

• The urban road network allows safe cycling
  between all origins and destinations
• Ultimately it is about better cities
• Cities for people
• Not for vehicles

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All you need to understand

• Every time you increase the capacity for
  individual motorised transport (more roads, wider
  roads)?You are part of the problem
• Every time you take space occupied by cars or
  motorcycles and give it to more efficient and
  cleaner modes of transport (buslane, cycletrack,
  footpath, MRT, tram, etc. ? You are part of the
  solution!

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Concluding remarks

• Cycling planning transport planning
• Potential many short distances
• Many challenges
• Many benefits if succesful
• Go for a comprehensive approach