And now, besides their well recognized functional efficiency, metros will provide even energy efficiency. In fact, the city of Philadelphia is expected to install within few months an underground system that will contribute to the urban electric energy production. Thanks to the joint cooperation of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and the Viridity Society, a study was produced that demonstrate the possibility of using the underground trains’ breaking – that is their kinetic energy – to accumulate energy that could be used also to empower the city’s electric network.

The Philadelphia public transport authority has invested some 900.000 dollars in this project, and estimates suggest this newly developed system will bear around 1200 tons of emission reduction and curb the SEPTA energy bill by 40%.

Such numbers – as well as similar projects carried out in Japan to produce reusable energy from subways – are an umpteenth proof of how important is research to improve the our way of moving and consequently the safeguard of the environmental sustainability of our cities and other human settlements.

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Founding NuRide, Rick Steele aimed to address the many-sided problem of traffic congestion by encouraging carpooling or greener trips. Face to a decreasing trend in sharing the car to get to work, NuRide has offered since the 2005 discounts and rewards to the members which have registered on line for free and traced their routes travelled by carpool, public transportation, walking or biking. NuRide, at present developing its market, has already achieved great results, counting more than 47,700 members and having reduced 4 million car trips saving 4,763,000 gallons of gas in the past six years.

Jodie Wu conceived the core business idea which is leading Global Cycle Solutions while a student at MIT’s D-Lab. The company aims at improving developing countries technological endowments, by creating small devices such as mobile phone charger or other more curios objetcs – for farmers powered in an inexpensive manner. The particular feature of these tools which are attached to the back of a bicycle is that only the pedalling power is exploited, without need to rely on electricity or fuel. The production was launched in Tanzania and now they intend to address the China or India markets, also creating further bike-powered attachments, including one to grind corn into flour.

The company Mobis Transport has born in 2008 from a long–term non profit company. As a consultancy, it helps clients in conceiving, developing and managing bike stations for favouring multimodal transportation systems. The bike Station are usually build near public transit hubs, offering services for bicycles such as secure parking, repairs, changing rooms, and storage lockers. Mobis by now has helped develop 14 Bikestations in the U.S., mostly located in California, and it intends to install from 15 to 20 this year.

Related websites

• images.businessweek.com
• images.businessweek.nuride
• nuride.com/
• images.businessweek.com.mobisinc
• www.mobisinc.com/
• images.businessweek.com.globalcyclesolutions
• globalcyclesolutions.com/

Sandei, from UNEP, provided a general outlook on the main features of the transport system within the Carpathians, during its presentation at the SWOMM Side Event at CSD18.

Representing one of the Europe’s largest mountain ranges, the Carpathians are an area of outstanding ecological value, inhabited by 20 millions of people sharing a peculiar economic and cultural environment.

The Carpathian Convention, signed in 2003 and entered into force in 2006, has been ratified by Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine. Receiving also the support of European funds (EU INTERREG IIIB CADSES – Carpathian Project), it aims at the creation of integrated policies, strategies and instruments for enhancing the sustainable development of the region. Activities should be promoted for fostering the territory development with regards to landscape and water management, transport and infrastructure, tourism, industry and energy, while preserving biodiversity and endangered species. Cultural heritage and traditional knowledge are also assets to be respected.

For issues related to transports, the Convention states that an adequate system has to be developed to guarantee accessibility and thus economic and social development, without endangering the mountain environment specificities (Article 8). Therefore, transport policies should focus on how to minimize the harmful effects of traffic, especially in sensitive areas, needing to be preserved for present as well as for future generations. International cooperation among the involved Parties is required for developing environmentally friendly transport systems.

The Working Group on Sustainable Industry, Energy, Transport and Infrastructure of the Carpathian Convention developed detailed analysis and assessments on the Carpathians’ transport system. During his presentation, Mr Sandei spoke on the Carpathian transport system and showed graphs and maps concerning the Carpathian Network of Protected areas (CNPA), the Pan-European Roads Corridors, different typology of Transport Network (if highway, primary or secondary roads) and the linkages between the Alpine and Carpathian Corridor.

According to these analyses, transport systems within Carpathian region have an almost homogeneous aspect, though they have been developed at a different stage in the Carpathian countries. Unfortunately, they generally reveal to be quite inadequate for managing the demand. The new political order within Carpathians with its opening to the market are increasing freight and passenger traffic and, as a consequence, the role played by road systems.

Roads are not enough to face the different types of displacements (residential, working, commercial, tourist, long-and-short route). Moreover, the existing ones are not endowed with proper infrastructural capacity. As an example, tourist and natural areas are generally not easy to reach and prone to bottlenecks. Due to these reasons, road safety is still not complying with EU-15 standards.

Other weak points of the actual system are the lack of transport services’ coordination. There are newer shuttle-bus services, but local public transport are still not enough and the modal integration is being improved (road – rail and rail – inland navigation).

Supported by the European Union in the framework of TEN Corridors policy, the construction of highways resulted to be very useful for developing transnational communications (with some positive economic and social effects). However, these actions had a high environmental impact, resulting in spoiling the natural scenery, particularly in some areas near to natural parks.

By using the Carpathian Convention, countries should go on in their integrated activities, always assuring that the new infrastructure development is in line with the highest standards on sustainable and environmentally friendly transportation.

Piercarlo Sandei
Is an Associate Professional Officer of the Environmental Reference Centre (ERC) of the Mountain Partnership Secretariat at UNEP. He is also part of the Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention, audited by UNEP in Vienna. The Carpathian Convention is a Regional MEA (Multilateral Environmental Agreement) aimed at the protection and sustainable development of the Carpathian Mountains, signed by seven countries in 2003 and effective since 2005.

http://www.swomm.info/Docs/sandei.pdf

Margrethe Sagevik, of the International Union of Railways (UIC), addressed the issue of railways in mountain areas during her presentation at the CSD18 SWOMM Side Event.

The UIC is the Worldwide Association representing the Railway Sector, counting about 200 members from all continents. The scope of UIC mission is promoting the rail transport at a world level, in order to meet challenges of mobility and sustainable development.

The association is pursuing this goal in various ways. In particular, they act as providers, making available know how, technical/operational expertise as well as solutions, regulations, standards, best practises. Moreover, they may fulfil the role of facilitators, by exchanging platforms, proposing new ideas and concepts, protecting the members common interests as well as supporting development policies for key infrastructure projects. Furthermore, they accomplish developing tasks by proposing specifications, standards, interfaces, studies, interoperability for international rail corridors. Finally, UIC is also involved in forums, seminars, conferences, congresses organization (i.e. WCRR 2008, UIC Highspeed, Global Rail Freight Conference).

Thanks to all these actions, UIC supports cooperation as well as partnerships among interested parties, thus bringing the existing gap with regards to solutions for addressing climate changes and sustainable development (i.e. the SLoCAT, Partnership on Sustainable Low carbon Transport).

Filled in low carbon performance, the railway is a means of transport strongly sustainable oriented. It is also safer than others and it preserves from traffic congestion.

However, Ms Sagevik highlighted the problem of building new railways within mountain areas, which is a quite complex issue influenced by several factors. Indeed, such investments are not directly sustainable according to a purely financial criterion. In particular, in developing countries they could also be not worth, at least in a short run. Therefore, there is a set of important aspects to be included into the cost/benefit analysis.

From a technical point of view, when new rail infrastructures are built in the mountains, the topography has relevant impact on the costs. Gradiant and curve radius, the classification of soil and rock, the need for avalanche and rock fall protection, the number as well as lengh of bridges and tunnels have to be added to other ordinary expenses. From an operational point of view, the railway reveals to be only a part of the whole solution to sustainable mobility in mountain areas. Combined transport are also needed (i.e. ROLA: Rollende Landstrasse), as well as high speed services and passenger tourism services. With regard to the financial aspects, maintenance costs have to be added to the investment costs, depending on the amount of tunnels and bridges. The environmental classification of the area is also a driver, as the existing environmental and landscape protection measures limit the range of possible actions. In addition, strategic, political, cultural and social aspects have influenced typology and costs of the activities.

Significant steps were already moved in Switzerland. The Swiss population enshrined the modal shift into the Constitution in 1994, voting for the ‘Alpine Initiative’, which is reflecting the country’s move towards environmentally sustainable transport in the vulnerable Alpine ecosystem. Measures include: two new transalpine rail links, the ‘land Transport Agreement’, the open access to the Swiss rail network for cargo traffic, increasing countrywide the mileage-related heavy vehicle fees, generating 900 million Euros in 2007, subsidies and incentives for combined traffic. Then, revenues from the heavy vehicle fee are spent on improvements and extensions to rail infrastructure, and the Swiss corridors have decreased of 16% in trucks crossing the Alps since 2000.

Future scenarios are increasingly including railway as a part of the solution for sustainable mobility in mountain areas. Priorities are, on the one hand, maintaining the existing infrastructure for ’regional’ train services. On the other hand, new infrastructure should also be constructed, mainly tunnels for high speed and heavy freight services (national and international train services). For a more efficient system, the capacity should be increased in terms of train load and time saving. Railways will play an important role in achieving sustainable mobility, especially in sensitive mountainous regions.

However, railways are not enough to avoid problems with car traffic (as traffic jams or parking space) and attractive combinations of public transport are needed. Innovative solutions may also add electro-mobility for the last mile, special solutions for the transport of baggage, optimal information to the customer about transport chains, etc.

Ms Sagevik quoted the Switzerland experience for a second time, as several car-free destination have been created within the Alpine area and they have successfully build advantages through connection by railway and other public transports (e.g. Zermatt, Ascona, Mürren).

Margrethe Sagevik
Is an environmental economist who has been the past seven years a sustainable development senior adviser in the International Union of Railways (UIC) – the global association for cooperation between and promotion of railways, in Paris. Margrethe has been working in the rail sector for more than 10 years, with a focus on how to improve the sustainability performance of rail within the rail sector – and to promote rail as a part of the solution to combat climate change and achieve a sustainable development.

www.swomm.info/Docs/sagevik.ppt

The General Assembly of United Nations recognised, in the Agenda 21 (Chapter 7 and 9) and in its further implementing sessions, that the issue of transport has been playing a key role in determining the demand for energy.

Transportation, in fact, is expected to grow both in the developed than in the developing countries. In the latter, the construction of proper transport infrastructures is highly recommended, for alleviating poverty by allowing access to basic services, markets, employment, education. At the same time new infrastructures should be compliant with appropriate environmental standards.

In particular, as current patterns of transportation development are not sustainable in the long run, it was generally recognised that more efficient transport systems are needed to mitigate negative externalities to human health and the environment.

Therefore, in the preparatory works to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, as well as in Johannesburg (2002), the General Assembly together with the countries agreed upon the necessity for international co-operation and integrated approaches for policy makers in the fields of land use, infrastructure, public transport systems and freight networks.

Furthermore, they indicated urgent actions as the accelerated phase-out of leaded gasoline, the promotion of voluntary guidelines, the development of national and international partnerships for implementing efficient transport infrastructure, the promotion of non-motorised means of transport, the development of innovative mass transit schemes.

The contribution of SWOMM (Scientific Workshop on Mountain Mobility) to the CSD-18 Transport Session has proved in line with these objectives and the general policy framework. In particular the focus was placed on the peculiar characteristics of mobility and transport in the mountains which have been recognised as having common features, according to the SWOMM’s philosophy.

Related links within the SWOMM Website

• SWOMM Side Event (12th May 2010) at the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) in New York
• “Sustainable Mobility in Mountain Areas” – SWOMM Side Event at the CSD18

• Outcomes from the SWOMM Side Event at CSD18 – “Sustainable Mobility in Mountain Areas”
  

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The city of Vancouver (Canada) has just hosted the Winter Olympics (February 12th-28th) and Paralympics (March 12th – 21st). The event, one of the biggest at a world scale, registered a worldwide audience and attracted millions of visitors from all the continents.

Dealing with the massive crowd expected in the mountain environment was one of the organizers’ major concerns since Vancouver was awarded to host the Games. Yet, they were able to face the challenge. They set up an ambitious transportation plan based on an extended role for public transport, conceived to answer to the mobility needs of both visitors and residents and assuring a limited impact on the surrounding environment.

The plan’s provisions included 6,000 park-and-ride places in conjunction with transit services, extended hours for rapid transit, 180 extra city buses and additional runs, the creation of new “Olympic Lines” reserved to authorized vehicles, strict parking restrictions around the sport venues and a 30% increase in the ultramodern “Skytrain” cars. All of these measures were enshrined in an intelligent transportation system based on enhanced “know before you go” information through the newest ICT technology and a tailored ticket booking service.

Results went far beyond the expectations: vehicle use during the Olympics was reduced, on average, by 35% per day, and Translink – Vancouver’s rapid transit network – moved more than 1.5 million people per day.

2010 Olympics could also be remembered in the future for their legacy in helping managing transport problems in the mountains, for big events as well as for smaller scale challenges.

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Road plan for 2010 Olympics foresees major traffic disruptions;

2010 Olympic Transportation plan a success;

Olympic movement. VANOC’s ambitious transportation plan (Conexus, the magazine of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Canada, p.10-13);

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