Research on transportation issues

• Environmental effects of transportation

Transport generates a number of adverse environmental effects from both transport infrastructure and vehicles. The effects can be direct, indirect and cumulative. Indirect effects may have greater consequences than direct effects, but are not generally well understood.
Transport infrastructure and the operation of vehicles can affect rural and community character, and can sever communities. Discharges and road crashes have a significant impact on health, and the form of the transport system can be a deterrent to exercise by walking and cycling.
The development of car-dependent environments imposes higher average living costs on families and can also restrict mobility for the elderly, children, the poor, the disabled and those who do not wish to own a motor vehicle.
Congestion also imposes some significant costs on communities. These include:
environment costs through higher levels of air pollution
economic costs – Auckland’s congestion is estimated to cost the national economy more than $1 billion per year
social costs, for example, increased levels of stress and less time available for other activities.

Effects including Emissions, Byproducts,Expansion,Biosecurity,Noise.

• Transport:

Our high dependence on cars has some significant environmental impacts. Cars use energy less efficiently than other modes – walking uses 10 times less energy and cycling uses around 100 times less energy than a car… and food is a renewable resource......

• Sustainable transport

Sustainable transport is about finding ways to move people, goods and information in ways that reduce its impact on the environment, the economy, and society. Some options include:.....

• Benefits of using public transport

Public passenger transport offers an alternative means of transport for those who do not drive a car, because of age, disability, income or inclination.

• Vic commute

With more than 22,000 staff and students spread across 4 campuses, the VUW community generates a lot of public and private traffic. Vic Commute has been launched in partnership with Greater Wellington Regional Council to meet the needs of Victoria commuters by providing better transport options. Rather than simply investigating options to increase the number of carparks, Vic Commute will take a wider approach, looking at strategies to reduce the University's environmental footprint by encouraging the use of public transport - buses and trains - and walking and cycling. It will also consider what other facilities might be necessary to support any new initiatives...

Environmental Policy
In August 2006 the University approved the Environmental Policy. The policy directs the University to actively apply the concepts of sustainability and defines its environmental obligations. The key principles of the policy are that the University commits to:

The principles and implementation of sustainability and environmental awareness
Implementing sustainable and environmentally sound business practices
Organisational and personal ownership of the policy
Ensuring that the University’s environmental footprint is managed
Providing community leadership and environmental awareness
Implementing the University’s Treaty of Waitangi statute

• Environmental issues -Mar,2007

Good management of our region’s resources is crucial if we want to live in a sustainable environment. Greater Wellington is currently reviewing its Regional Policy Statement (RPS), which identifies ways of managing resources, such as water and ecosystems, and dealing with the things that affect our environment, such as waste and transportation.
Greater Wellington published Our region – their future last year as part of the review. The report outlined the successes and shortcomings of the current RPS and asked for feedback on how issues could be managed differently in the next RPS.
“We received a pleasing response with 92 comments on environmental problems that the submitters believed should be tackled,” says Greater Wellington’s Environment Committee Chair Cr Chris Turver.

Key issues included:

Waste management
Transport
Air quality
Energy use
Soil quality
Water use/conservation
Protection of native vegetation
Pollution of water
Climate change and hazards.

Cr Turver says he was interested to note that submitters were particularly concerned about issues concerning urban sustainability, such as waste and transport.
Greater Wellington will use this information to develop the next RPS, to be published for consultation later this year.
The public can also get updates on the progress of the review by subscribing to the RPS newsletter.
“The review is a chance for people to suggest better ways for us to manage our region’s resources, so I hope people will take the opportunity to have their say,” says Cr Turver.