Urban transportation policies toward sustainability of mega-cities

Abstract

A study was carried out on policies to address the environmental damage caused by urban public transportation in megacities. Policy recommendations were proposed to alleviate the environmental impact of transportation in two existing megacities, Mexico City and Guangzhou City, using lessons learned from previous experiences in two industrialized countries, the US and Japan. The objectives of this study were as follows: - Review the environmental problems caused by urban transportation; - Examine policies previously tried in developed countries to counter the problems; - Examine methodologies to evaluate external costs of urban transportation from the perspective of environmental sustainability; - Propose, on the basis of case studies, measures to alleviate the environmental impact of transportation in existing megacities. The megacities of Mexico City, Guangzhou City, and Tokyo are suffering from similar environmental problems caused by transportation such as local air pollution of ozone, NOx and suspended particular matter. The causes of pollution such as lack of both internalizing environmental externalities and long-term perspective are common. Policy recommendations were made for each mega city, taking into account the city's historical, cultural, and political background. Through the case studies, the importance of proper enforcement of the policies as well as well-planned transportation policies was found. Only integrated transportation and environment policies and effective policy implementation will enable the recommendations proposed here to achieve the goal of more sustainable urban transportation systems.