Opportunities to reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Urban Passenger Transport Sector

Abstract

This paper sets out to appraise the body of literature which has investigated the potential role of a large number of strategies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in line with the objectives set under the Rio Convention. The paper discusses the role of (i) technological vs behavioural ‘fixes’, (ii) the changing spatial and temporal dimension of work activity, (iii) the jobshousing balance and land use, (iv) conventional and alternative fuels, and (v) pricing, charges and taxes. This review and assessment is part of an ongoing study funded by the Bureau of Transport and Communication Economics investigating the cost effectiveness of alternative ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in urban areas in Australia. We draw on a number of real experiments to illustrate the types of policies which are likely to have the greatest impact, given the cost implications.