TRANSPORT SECTOR IN INDIA: AN ANALYSIS IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

1999

Subject Area

operations - traffic, policy - sustainable

Keywords

Transportation policy, Sustainable development, Sustainability, Passenger traffic, Infrastructure, India, Fuel consumption, Energy utilization, Energy consumption, Econometric models, Carbon dioxide

Abstract

A brief review of the Indian transport sector in the past few decades is provided in this article. It is shown that the period has witnessed a gradual transformation from rail-dominated transport to road-dominated transport. Infrastructure bottlenecks such as lack of roads and railways network and aircraft are the limiting factors. Emission of local pollutants and carbon dioxide (CO2) because of fuel consumption in transport were estimated. Future transport performance is projected using cointegrating econometric models. The models project that passenger traffic in India is likely to grow at more than 8 percent per year and freight traffic at more than 5 percent per year during the period 1990-2021. This will increase the energy consumption and CO2 emissions at equivalent rates. The effects of various policy options aimed at reducing energy consumption and CO2 emission were analyzed using a scenario approach. The scenario analysis shows that efficiency improvements can reduce future energy consumption and CO2 emissions by 26 percent. If the modal split is promoted in favor of public transport modes (rail and public road transport), about 45 percent in energy requirements and CO2 emissions is expected.

Comments

Transport Policy Home Page: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0967070X

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