Making up almost 30% of Canada’s GHG emissions, transportation is a vital concept to address regarding environmental stewardship in cities. Transit maintains the range and time-competitiveness of driving, while also complimenting active modes of transport such as walking and cycling by extending the range one can travel.
Four of many areas that can be indicative of the health of a city include: the quality of air, quality of water, land use, and GHG emissions. The City of Vancouver’s Transportation 2040 plan in combination with their Greenest City 2020 Action Plan aims to make the city greener in part by means of encouraging use of transit for Vancouverites, and also implementing policies to better our transit system.
Air
The City of Vancouver has a Greenest City goal of having the cleanest breathing air of any major city globally. A specific and vital part of this action plan item is their target of reducing transit-related emissions. Particularly, the Greenest City 2020 Action Plan depicts the city’s goal of using 100% renewable, non-fossil fuel energy by 2050. To further address the city’s air quality beyond emission control, the City of Vancouver also aims to minimize road noise, vibration due to vehicles, and air pollution from car exhaust. Not only will these reductions benefit the overall urban air quality, but they will particularly benefit residents and businesses along transit corridors.
Water
Water pollution due to oil and fuel spills is another sizeable problem, especially in the city, with the high number of vehicles on the road. Spills and leaks from vehicles are washed off the road from* rainfall and this polluted runoff seep into soils, lakes, and wetlands. This in turn detrimentally impacts water and soil quality. The City of Vancouver’s goal of reducing road vehicles by encouraging the alternatives of non-fossil fuel transit and active transportation modes should translate to less oil and fuel spills, and resultantly a healthier ecosystem.
Land
Although Translink is in control of the city’s bus systems, the City of Vancouver shows support of the development of transit systems to encourage users by making transit-supportive land use decisions. A few examples of said decisions include the building of transit-supportive streets and public spaces, and the protection of corridors and sites for future routes and stations.
GHGs
Although the City of Vancouver does not have policy in place to directly control the number of vehicle users, they do support reduction of GHGs indirectly by deterring policies. Some of these include: increasing the regional fuel tax, implementing a transportation carbon tax, increasing the vehicle registration fee, and creating more road pricing.
Something everyone has in common is the need to get around. Transit is inexpensive and as such accessible to everyone. In upgrading to clean energy use, and updated transit policies and planning, there lies potential for a sizable environmentally friendly impact for our city.
References
City of Vancouver. (2012). Transportation 2040.
Trumbull, Nathaniel, and Christine Bae. “Transportation and Water Pollution.” University of Washington Growth Management Forum, 28 Jan. 2000. Retrieved November 12, 2018, from courses.washington.edu/gmforum/topics/trans_water/trans_water.htm.
Vehicle Emissions (2018). In Green Vehicle Guide. Retrieved November 24, 2018, from https://www.greenvehicleguide.gov.au/pages/Information/VehicleEmissions#ape