There is indeed a need to decarbonize the transport system, and it is too fast. The clock is ticking, with the European Commission recently saying that transport emissions are required to fall by 84% by 2040. Taking into consideration the report from the Clean Cities Campaign, one looked at what could be needed and how the cities could very well get there.
The good news is that the (E)Mission Zero demonstrates that it is possible, and that one does not need any kind of new technology to get there. There have been 25 different policies that have been modeled around so as to see which happen to be the most effective, and it was found that if the city leaders happen to be ambitious and make use of these policies to their best effect, a 90% reduction of emissions is achievable across five European cities, namely, Madrid, Brussels, Warsaw, Milan, as well as Greater Manchester.
It has been found out that low- and zero-emission zones, and revolutionising urban logistics, electrifying public transport, and expanding cycling infrastructure happen to be the most effective policies when it comes to the city level. Low- and zero-emission zones happen to be quite effective since they go on to discourage travel because of the most polluting modes and can go on to encourage a shift to active travel as well as public transport. These measures have to be accompanied by steps to offer choices, and this is why the cycling infrastructure has become very important.
The fact is that it is not enough to just go ahead and stop people from doing specific activities; one has to also provide a suitable as well as a convenient alternative. It has been found that focusing when it comes to electrifying the fleet will decrease carbon emissions by almost two thirds by 2030 across all the cities that have been modeled, but this went on to demonstrate clearly that this particular policy is not enough on its own when it comes to reaching zero-emissions by way of urban transport.
It is well to be noted that the most significant challenge city leaders go on to face is executing the policies, which might as well become unpopular. When one talks of London, there happened to be a backlash against the introduction of the ultra-low emission zone- ULEZ, although the evidence was quite strong that the LEZs can go ahead in helping reduce harmful NO2 emissions by almost 20%.
Although it was also seen that the voices went on to oppose the introduction of numerous such policies and happen to be often much louder than those of the silent majority, who, by the way, do not voice their support publicly. Only because something happens to be in the media does not mean it is going to be an accurate reflection when it comes to how most people feel about issues. The lesson is to make sure that any of these kinds of policies are implemented carefully and, at the same time, in a socially just way. There has been a list of suggestions for how city leaders can go ahead and do this. There have to be exemptions coming from LEZs in certain cases, there has to be a long lead time so as to give people the opportunity to make the required changes, there has to be a decent public awareness campaign in order to explain the reasons as well as advantages of the policy, there indeed has to be flexibility; and if something is not working the way it should, policymakers must go ahead and re-design it.
