Sustainable

Public Transport

By Lochlan Partington

Introduction –

I wanted to find out about environmentally friendly forms of public transport.

Well, I was going to do a project on the Tasmanian devil, but I thought “I’ve done this a lot over the past two terms, so why not do something else?”

I instantly thought, PUBLIC TRANSPORT! I then started to randomly say ideas and eventually got onto the subject of the future of public transport, one of the ideas was magnet cars and magnet roads, these cars would emit no greenhouse gasses, no co2 and would be a whole lot faster than regular cars. Also the magnet roads could be built through a forest without damaging it, how? By placing the magnets in the spaces between trees and having the cars hover via the magnets opposite force above the rainforest. That is why I wanted to research public transport. Perth has the best light rail system in Australia, has the “CAT” buses in the city and has a lot of bike and walking paths. If we stop building more light rail we may go down the same road as LA, literally.

BAD TABLE

Mode of transport

Bus Train Car Planes

Amount of CO2 (kg per person per km)

0.03kg 0.02kg 0.33kg

Number of passengers

Approximately 60

Approximately 300 Approximately 4 Approximately 400

Infrastructure required

roads rail roads -

Support network required

Repair & maintenance

Repair & maintenance

Repair & maintenance

Power required

Diesel, electric, gas

Diesel, electric Petrol, diesel, hybrid, gas

Petrol

GOOD TABLE

Mode of transport

Bus Train Monorail Walking/ cycling

Amount of CO2 (kg per person per km)

0.03kg 0.02kg 0.0kg

Number of passengers

Approximately 60

Approximately 300 Approximately 90

1

Infrastructure required

roads rail Suspended rail Paths/tracks

Support network required

Repair & maintenance

Power required

Diesel, electric, gas

Diesel, electric Mainly electric Human power

What is the problem?

High CO2 emissions lead to Greenhouse gases and hence, climate change

Depleting energy resources

Air quality

What are the solutions?

More people use public transport to travel to work in Sydney than any other major Australian city. The more

people that choose public transport, the better our air quality will be. For example, if each bus carries

around 30 people, that's potentially 30 cars off the road. Along with walking and cycling, public transport is

classed as ‘active transport’ – transport that involves some degree of physical activity and reduces reliance

on car use.

What is Sustainable transport?

Sustainable transport (or green transport) refers to any means of transport with low impact on the environment, and includes non-motorised transport, i.e. walking and cycling, transit oriented development, green vehicles, carpooling, and building or protecting urban transport systems that are fuel-efficient, space-saving and promote healthy lifestyles.

Sustainable transport systems make a positive contribution to the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the communities they serve. Transport systems exist to provide social and economic connections, and people quickly take up the opportunities offered by increased mobility. The advantages of increased mobility need to be weighed against the environmental, social and economic costs that transport systems pose.

Transport systems have significant impacts on the environment, accounting for between 20% and 25% of world energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions from transport are increasing at a faster rate than any other energy using sector. Road transport is also a major contributor to local air pollution and smog. (ref.3)

Graph from: lets clear the air, New South Wales Government.

What type of transport is there now?

Cars:

Cars are the least environmentally friendly road transport at the moment. Cars emit higher amounts of CO2 than 3 buses or 3 trains combined. Here is a graph to prove that:

Graph from: NSW Transport, sydney buses.

Buses:

Buses may be an environmentally friendly alternative to driving a car, but it is still less environmentally friendly than trains/monorails. They carry around 60 people on average whereas trains and monorails can carry around 200! A transit bus (US), also known as a commuter bus, city bus, or public bus, is a bus used for short-distance public transport purposes. The buses we have in Australia aren’t really that much different, our buses consist of: the CAT buses found in the city, Transperth buses found all over the city and Transit buses.

Motor vehicle emissions are the main source of air pollution in major cities such as Sydney, and make a large contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. Buses produce around 100 kilograms of greenhouse gases a year, whereas a car will emit around 4000 kilograms of greenhouse gases a year. Now this is mostly correct, with some fuel efficient cars only emitting around 2000kg of greenhouse gases a year (that’s still quite a lot).

Trains / Monorails:

Almost all modern monorails are powered by electric motors fed by dual third rails, contact wires or electrified channels attached to or enclosed in their guidance beams. However, diesel-powered monorail systems also exist. Historically, some systems, such as the Monorail, located in Listowel, County Kerry, used steam locomotives. Modern monorails depend on a large solid beam as the vehicles' running surface. There are a number of designs divided into two classes, straddle-beam and suspended monorails.

Transrapid maglev on monorail track

The most common type of monorail in use today is the straddle-beam monorail, in which the train straddles a reinforced concrete beam in the range of two to three feet wide. A rubber-tired carriage contacts the beam on the top and both sides for traction and to stabilize the vehicle. The straddle-beam style was popularized by the German company ALWEG. Magnetic levitation train (maglev) systems by the German Transrapid were built as straddle-type monorails, as they are highly stable and allow rapid deceleration from great speed. When in full-speed operation maglev trains hover over the track and are not in physical contact with it. The maglev is the fastest train of any type, the experimental JR-Maglev having recorded a speed of 581 km/h.

The French company SAFEGE offers a monorail system in which the train cars are suspended beneath the wheel carriage. In this design the carriage wheels ride inside the single beam. The Monorail is presently the world's largest suspended monorail network.

There is also a historical type of suspension monorail developed by German inventors Nicolaus Otto and Eugen Langen in the 1880s. It was built in the twin cities of Barmen and Elberfeld in Wupper Valley, Germany, opened in 1901, and is still in operation.

A suspended monorail in Germany.

What innovative types of transport are being developed?

Heli-cars

The PAL-V (personal air and land vehicle) can be driven on any road in almost any city with a standard driver’s license. It can reach speeds of 180 km/h on the ground. It has 3 wheels and is a lot quieter than helicopters, won’t stall mid-air and is very easy to control. The PAL-V can land practically anywhere. The car requires a run way to take off and relies on the same fuel as cars. It is not very fuel efficient as it is basically a car with the ability to fly. Information has only just been released in 2012, made by a Dutch company.

Straddling buses

Traffic jams are increasingly becoming a problem, this new invention could help, the straddling bus is up to 10 metres tall and will have its interior 4 metres above the ground, allowing cars and some small trucks to pass underneath. It will travel at speeds of up to 60 km/h and will carry 1200-1400 passengers while straddling 2 lanes of traffic. It is supposed to reduce traffic jams by 20-30%.

Monocabs

The monocab, an invention by David Whittaker, is like a personal monorail. It can carry 8 to 16 people. A monocab will always be waiting for you at the “ministations”. It will go directly to your destination, meaning no additional stops on the way. The elevated rails it will be suspended on will not interfere with traffic below them. There will be 7000 cars on the gold coast monorail. It only costs $6.1 million instead of $28 million for train tracks per kilometre. Ministations will be 2-3 metres wide, like a bus stop. If it a cab breaks down it will only inconvenience the people on board unlike train systems where if a train breaks down a whole lot more will be inconvenienced and can be held up for days! The first monorail was made in Russia in 1820 by Ivan Elmanov.

Conclusion

I found out that cars emit a huge amount of dangerous gases and I was amazed at how little greenhouse gases buses and trains emit. I found out about Monocabs and Straddling Buses saw what a suspension monorail looks like and got to see how fast a maglev monorail can go (over 500km/h). I found out that the first monorail was made in 1820 and that the Disneyland monorail wasn’t one of a kind. I found out how terrible LA’s public transport system is and how close we are to becoming a metaphorical LA. I found out that Melbourne has the best public transport system in Australia and that Perth has the best light rail system in Australia. I’ve learnt what types of transport are in existence now and what types of transport are still in development. I’ve learnt what is a sustainable mode of transport and what is a bad mode of transport, I’ve learnt that cars aren’t as environmentally friendly as I thought they were and that buses and trains are a lot more environmentally friendly than I originally thought.

Key words and phrases from what I have found

Public transport

Environmentally friendly

Decreasing the carbon emissions of transport

Energy saving

Sustainable transportation

Innovation

Monorails

Magnetic trains/monorails

Bibliography

1. Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW Government. (2012). Let’s Clear the Air, 19/08/2012, http://www.cleartheair.nsw.gov.au/initiatives/actions_for_cleaner_air/transport.aspx

2. Wikipedia. (2012). Public transport, 18/08/2012, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport

3. Wikipedia. (2012). Sustainable transportation, 18/08/2012, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_transportation

4. http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_rrd_103.pdf (not actual website)

5. Grosvenor, M. (2008). Energy Saving Tips for Dummies, Wiley Publishing, MILTON.

6. Fordham, A. (2011). Personal Monorail, Popular Science, May 2011, 14-15.

7. Garnaut, R. (2008). The Garnaut Climate Change Review, Cambridge University Press, CAMBRIDGE. http://www.garnautreview.org.au/pdf/Garnaut_Chapter21.pdf . (Online book).

8. http://www.toxel.com/tech/2012/05/19/helicopter-car/

9. http://www.chinahush.com/2010/07/31/straddling-bus-a-cheaper-greener-and-faster-alternative-to-commute/