J'FeiAMC

1
International Transport Systems (M10)

• Organisation of this unit

2
International Transport Systems (M10)

• Learning objectives
• Describe the various forms of environmental
  impacts that are caused by the major forms of
  transport
• Demonstrate the links between our modern
  lifestyle and the transport system
• Outline the measures already taken and their
  shortcomings in the fight against pollution
• Explain the concept of sustainable development
• Discuss the ways in which modern transport
  creates groups of people in society which are
  disadvantaged by the lack of access to transport
• Explain the relationship between the growth of
  urban centres and increased traffic
• Describe the degradation, environmental and
  social, of the quality of life for society in
  general and for particular groups.

3
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Current issues
• Environmental impacts of transport
• Main forms of environmental impacts
• Impacts of different transport modes
• Reducing negative impacts
• Social impacts of transport
• Inequities in transport
• Transport and quality of life
• Transport security

4
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Environmental impacts of transport
• Main forms of environmental impacts
• Energy/resource consumption
• From raw materials exploitation to products for
  the creating of infrastructure concrete,
  bitumen, road signs, light poles etc. fuel for
  mining equipment, for running machinery and
  plants, even for creating the equipment used to
  produce the materials for the road. These
  indirect forms of energy consumption add 50 to
  the road transport energy bill.

5
International Transport Systems (M11)
6
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Main forms of environmental impacts
• Loss of farmland, woodland, wildlife
• Land for construction of roadway, or
  infrastructure required for support of a road
  system, car parks etc.
• In large cities in the UK, up to 19 of the
  surface area is covered by roads.
• Vehicles have to park many different places. It
  is estimated that each vehicle requires a total
  of 7 parking spaces, at home, at work, at the
  supermarket and other places.
• Land lost or degraded as a result of mining for
  raw materials in the first place.

7
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Main forms of environmental impacts
• Air pollution exhaust fumes contain harmful
  substances releasing into the atmosphere. Main
  pollutants include
• Carbon dioxide (CO2), a colourless, odourless
  naturally occurring gas, is not strictly a
  pollutant, but concern arises because of its
  major contribution to global warming, principally
  through the burning of fossil fuels.
• Carbon monoxide (CO) can have detrimental health
  effects particularly in confined spaces and urban
  areas, but its major impact is its oxidisation to
  CO2. Transport produces 71 percent of the
  emissions in France and is the only source that
  is still increasing (Tolley Turton, p.270) .

8
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Main forms of environmental impacts
• Hydrocarbons (HC) including volatile organic
  compounds (VOCs) are compounds that result from
  the incomplete combustion of photo-chemical
  oxidants, such as ozone, which irritate eyes in
  smogs, damage plants and contribute to
  acidification and global warming. Moreover, some
  HC are toxic in their own right, such as benzene,
  a known human carcinogen causing leukeamia.
• Other pollutants. Lead compounds added to
  gasoline have known effects on IQ and behaviour,
  especially in children. Particulates, such as
  soot from diesel vehicles and asbestos from brake
  linings, are known to cause respiratory ailments.
  Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), responsible for the
  depletion of ozone layers in the stratosphere,
  commonly occur in materials used in vehicles,
  such as plastic foams (Tolley Turton, p.270).

9
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Main forms of environmental impacts
• Air pollution the consequences
• Global warming While scientists are not
  unanimous about the existence of global warming
  otherwise known as the greenhouse effect or
  convinced that carbon emissions are the only
  cause, the worst prognoses for the next century
  include
• a rise in the global mean temperature of 0.3C
  per decade, leading to a rise in the sea level
  because of thermal expansion of water and the
  melting of the ice caps
• a subsequent destruction of some coastal cities
  and of some arable land situated near coasts
• changes of climatic zones.

10
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Main forms of environmental impacts
• Air pollution the consequences
• Acid rain caused predominantly by the
  combination of emissions of nitrogen oxides and
  sulphur dioxide, is precisely what its name
  suggests and amongst its effects is the lowering
  of the pH levels of fresh water bodies so that
  there has been a substantial decline in the
  numbers of freshwater fish in Europe and North
  America. Based on research, the OECD suggests
  that acid rain has led to substantial damage to
  the West German forests.
• Respiratory ailments, cancers especially skin
  cancer as a result of exposure to high UV
  (Ultraviolet).

11
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Main forms of environmental impacts
• Noise and vibration
• Noise it is estimated that about 110 million
  people in the industrial world are exposed to
  road traffic noise above 65 decibels a level
  considered unacceptable in OECD countries. A
  truck has an output of around 90dB, a busy
  crossroads around 80dB, and an aircraft at
  takeoff 120dB.
• Exposure of national populations to transport
  noise (percentage) (OECD, 1991)

12
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Main forms of environmental impacts
• Noise and vibration
• Vibration caused by big and heavy vehicles and
  trains, will lead to structural damage to
  surrounding buildings.
• Traffic congestion the consequences are delays
  and waste of fuel and accidents.
• Delays lead to low productivity, in USA, 2002,
  the average annual delay per peak road travel in
  the 75 urban areas is 62 hours. It is estimated
  that by 2020, the average American motorist will
  spend almost 36 hours a year stuck in gridlocked
  traffic.
• Idle engines cause huge energy waste. In US,
  traffic congestion is responsible for 5.7 billion
  gallons of wasted motor fuel annually.
• Traffic congestion leads to accidents for
  pedestrians and cyclists.
• Idle engines produce more exhaust fumes to the
  air.
• The total cost of traffic congestion to the
  U.S. economy in lost productivity and wasted
  motor fuel is almost 68 billion, or 1,160 per
  traveller.

13
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Impacts of different transport modes
• Road
• High land use for roadways, car parks and other
  supporting infrastructures
• High energy consumption
• Severe pollution, especially in the urban areas
• Noise from road traffic and vibration from heavy
  vehicles
• Very severe congestion
• Rail
• Land use, but lower than road
• More efficient energy consumption
• Less pollution, especially those electrified
  trains
• High noise and vibration levels
• No congestion in most circumstances

14
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Impacts of different transport modes
• Air
• Land use only for terminals (including areas for
  maintenance etc.)
• Very high energy consumption
• Severe air pollution, its emissions are done at a
  far higher level in the upper atmosphere with
  devastating consequences for high level ozone and
  therefore global warming.
• Very high level of noise when takeoff and landing
• No congestion in most circumstances
• Waterway
• Land use only limited for terminals
• Very efficient on energy consumption
• Severe marine pollution 25 of the pollution
  caused at sea is through accidents such as
  collisions and groundings or mistakes in the
  handling of equipment that lead to a discharge
  into the water, while the other 75 is created by
  a deliberate and repeated operational procedure.
  Despite international regulations, vessels
  release about two million tons of oil annually
  into the marine environment through washing tanks
  and de-ballasting.
• Invasive marine species
• No congestion

15
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Impacts of different transport modes
• Pipeline
• Limited land occupation, especially when buried
  underground
• Very efficient energy consumption
• Negligible pollution
• No noise or vibration
• No congestion

16
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Impacts of different transport modes (summary)

17
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Reducing negative impacts
• Air pollution
• Regulations on emission control
• Innovation from manufacturers change engine size
  and efficiency, or alternative power, and lighter
  body weight
• Development of public transport
• Willingness of people to change their lifestyles
• Land use
• Revegetation of roadsides and railway verges
• Reduction of the length of runways by creating
  short take-off and landing airports
• Limitations on vehicle access to airports so that
  massive spaces are not devoted to car parking
  facilities
• Legislation to ensure that mining and quarrying
  companies restore sites by removing waste
  materials and replanting vegetation.

18
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Reducing negative impacts
• Reducing pollution at sea
• Enforcement of existing international
  regulations, conventions and codes, e.g. MARPOL
  (International Convention for the Prevention of
  Pollution from Ships)
• Technology development
• Monitoring
• Noise and vibration
• Reducing traffic by making more and better use of
  public transport
• Allowing people in appropriate occupations to
  work at home
• Encouraging people drive more sensibly
• Engine redesign
• Road surface
• screen plants alongside roads

19
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Reducing negative impacts
• Traffic congestion
• Encouraging use of public transport
• Improving traffic flows through different timings
  of traffic lights
• Creating bypasses around cities and town
• Use of information technology, such as
  Intelligent Transport System, to smooth traffic

20
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Social impacts of transport
• Catch 22 inequities in transport
• Catch 22 (fruit picking) anyone wealthy enough
  to own a reliable car and afford the costs of
  running it doesnt want the job. On the other
  hand, a person who wants the job is often unable
  to afford the means of having it. Access to
  transport follows social class and income, and
  each serves to perpetuate the other.
• Accessibility vs. mobility dispersion of
  shopping centres, medical facilities, and
  schools, along with inadequate public transport
  makes the lives of the poor even more difficult.

21
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Transport and quality of life
• Increased mobility for those who can afford
• Rapid transit of vast quantities of raw materials
  and finished products. Greater availability of
  products and services for those who can easily
  access
• Increasing transport accidents, not
  discriminating between the poor and the rich
• Worsening pollution, the rich produce, the poor
  help to pay the bill

22
International Transport Systems (M11)

• Transport security
• The issues
• Safety vs. security
• Terrorist attack
• Piracy
• Drug smuggling
• The road ahead
• State control
• Global cooperation
• Technology