'2-wheelers chief contributor to B'luru's CO2 emissions'

A transnational study that analysed Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Bengaluru and Xi’an in China has come to a conclusion that car availability and location of the house majorly contribute to commute CO2 missions in developing countries.

Commute traffic is the traffic that involves travel to the workplace and back. It accounts for 60 percent of the urban passenger transportation in Bengaluru and Xi’an.

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), University of Melbourne, Australia and Chang’an University, China were involved in the study. It aimed at analysing the characteristics and changing trends of the commute CO2 emissions and at identifying strategies for reducing emissions and mitigating climate change.

The study found a combination of factors contributing to commute CO2 emissions.
“Vehicular occupancy is a measure of the total number of people occupied in a vehicle at a given time. Increasing it by means like carpooling can almost halve the emissions,” said Dr T V Ramachandra, associate faculty, Centre for infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning (CiSTUP), IISc, and a member of the research team.

The analysis of sector-wise carbon emissions revealed a relatively higher share for transportation sector in the IT cities of Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The emissions in Bengaluru were mainly due to an extensive urban sprawl and presence of two-wheeler traffic. Besides, car availability, higher household income and employment in multi-national companies were the factors adding to CO2 emissions.

Lack of public transport to places off the city limits and distances to the bus stop made it worse. “Public transport is very weak in Bengaluru. Xi’an has better public transport options like Metro and dedicated bus lanes. Hence, more people use public transport,” Ramachandra said.