When you live in, or visit, a city you need to consider is how to get around. Popular options in most cities include taxis or Ubers, or in larger cities the subway or underground railway. From an environmental point of view there are many transport options that probably should be avoided. So what are the most eco-friendly city transport options?
The reason city transport is a topic well worth discussing…
“In 2019, in Greater London, the equivalent of between 3,600 to 4,100 deaths were estimated to be attributable to air pollution, considering that health effects exist even at very low levels. This calculation is for deaths from all causes including respiratory, lung cancer and cardiovascular deaths.” – Health burden of air pollution in London
Air pollution is a very real problem, especially in cities and large towns. There are many ways that air pollution levels can be improved from banning log burners in homes, reducing emissions from factories, planting more trees and by reducing the number of pollutant emitting vehicles on the roads. Emissions from cars and other vehicles is a big contributer to air pollution.
What are the Most Eco-Friendly City Transport Options?
Walking
It’s pretty obvious that walking to your destination is the most eco-friendly option. Some destinations however are just too far away to even considering walking. Some people are also not able to walk and that has to be taken into account. For those that are able, walking short distances is the preferable option and with many central city locations being pedestrianised it’s also often a very safe option.
Cycling
A bicycle will not emit any harmful pollutants and it will also improve your own health. More and more cities are providing cycle paths and safe cycle routes through busy town and city centres. As long as you have a safe place to store your bike, or a good bike lock, cycling is a great option. For tourists who can’t travel with their own bike, almost all large cities now seem to provide bikes that you can pick up in one location and drop off at another for a relatively small fee. If you live somewhere with a lot of hills it’s worth considering an electric bike (which I’ll go into in more detail below).
Scooters
I’m not talking about electric scooters here but the type normally associated with children. They’re cheaper than electric scooters and with just a little bit of effort you’ll be gliding down the road. A big advantage with kick scooters, is that they’re easy to carry around and you should even be able to bring it into your office to keep it safe. Many are foldable and come with carry straps as well.
Public Transport
Public transport is more often than not more eco-friendly than a private vehicle. For a start you’re reducing the number of vehicles on the road and public transport will not pollute the environment as much as SUV’s.
Bus
Individual buses can be very polluting, however when a bus is full instead of every person travelling in an individual car, a polluting bus is still the better option. These days buses are becoming more eco-friendly, especially in places like London.
“Since last year, all new double-deck buses will be hybrid, electric or hydrogen to focus on only buying the greenest, cleanest buses. In central London, all double-deck buses will be hybrid as of 2019 and all single-deck buses will emit zero exhaust emissions by 2020. By 2037 at the latest, all 9,200 buses across London will be zero emission.” – Cleaner buses
Train
If you can travel by electric train that’s better than a diesel one, but again a full train is much better for the environment than everyone travelling by car instead.
“Trains are the best way to travel and the most eco friendly mode of transportation too as a train releases ten times lesser greenhouse gases per passenger along the journey, when compared to an airplane” – Why travelling by train is eco-friendly
London Underground
Again improvements are being made to the London Underground to make it more sustainable. Things are slowly going in the right direction to reduce air pollution in Britains capital city.
“In a five-week period that began in late September, engineers have been testing a process at the Cloudesley Road station on Victoria Line trains that uses the force of a braking train to create power. As cars pull into the station, an inverter converts energy gathered from the force of the decreasing momentum and turns it into electricity, which is routed to the electrified rail and back into the Tube’s grid. The initial results were promising: After just one week of using the technology, Victoria Line trains recovered enough power to run Holborn, London’s smallest Tube station, for roughly two days per week.” – London’s Tube Begins Trial for Recycling Energy From Its Trains’ Brakes
Taxi (electric vehicle)
Personally I don’t believe taking a taxi is a particularly good option, however there are normally electric taxis available these days, so although you’re adding to the amount of traffic on the road, you’re not contributing to local air pollution. (Especially when renewable energy fully replaces fossil fuels).
Car-Pooling
Although many of the larger cities have good public transport options, or safe cycle paths, not everyone is close to a bus stop or train station. In these situations it’s worth talking to your work colleagues to see if carpooling would be an option. This is a good idea for the school run as well as for work. Not an option for tourists really.
Electric Vehicles
These days there are numerous options for electric vehicles (EV’s). I briefly mentioned electric bicycles and scooters but there’s more available than that! If you can’t walk long, or short, distances, or you live in a very hilly area, electric vehicles are a really good option to consider. There are electric vehicles available for a variety of budgets and needs.
Electric Bikes
There are so many different types of electric bike on the market these days that there will surely be one that suits your specific needs. If you work in the city you might want a lightweight foldable electric bike that you can carry into your office with you. Think about the distances you most often need to travel and the terrain. Battery life is also important. Check out the best electric bikes for speed, distance, budget and more.
Electric Scooters
Perfect for commuters, electric scooters are lightweight and small and convenient. They don’t go over around 15mph and as long as you follow the law they are perfectly safe to use. There’s a huge range of electric scooters available for all sorts of budgets.
Electric Mopeds
Mopeds have been popular for city dwellers for years. It’s much easier to get through traffic when you’re on a moped rather than in a car. To reduce air pollution and for an eco-friendly city transport option electric mopeds are definitely worth considering. This is especially true if you live on the opposite side of town to the place you work.
There are some great electric mopeds available. Delivery drivers can purchase electric delivery bikes specifically designed for them. Or you can buy a retro looking moped, I really like this particular retro style e-moped.
Electric Motorbikes
When purchasing any kind of electric vehicle you have to consider how far you need to travel. Generally the longer the battery life you require the more expensive the EV will be. This particularly applies to motorbikes, mopeds and cars. EV technology is constantly improving and batteries will allow you to travel further. If you just need to get to work and back hopefully you don’t have to travel huge distances each day. There are some pretty good electric motorbikes on the market these days with some reaching pretty good speeds.
Electric Unicycles
You might think I’m talking about a circus style unicycle (that’s what I imagined when I first saw the words ‘electric unicycle’) but I’m not! I’m not sure I would ever consider one of these as they look fairly hard to master, especially starting and stopping. The advantage of an electric unicycle is that they are small and once mastered a pretty good way to get around.
Electric Cars
Electric cars obviously reduce air pollution but don’t help to reduce the amount of traffic on the road. From an environmental point of view they’re much better than petrol or diesel cars. From a safety point of view, for pedestrians, they may not be the best option. This is because they can be so quiet that unsuspecting pedestrians can’t hear you coming to get out of the way. Read more about electric cars.
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