Public transport Essay Example for Free

Public transport Essay Public transport can be described as a shared service of passenger transportation readily available for public use. Modes of public transport in many modern cities include trains and trams, buses, trolley buses, ferries and rapid transit. Public transport is necessary to economic and social development, with easy movement of people, goods and services. Increased number of motor vehicles in the modern cities carries both economic and social costs evidenced by increased air pollution. Air of poor quality can serious affect the health of the public and can result to premature deaths. Public transport is said to be the key of reducing air pollution in the urban cities in the following ways: reduced emission of carbon monoxide, reduced emission of nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide emission, reduced emission of the volatile organic compounds and minimized fossil fuel consumption. Studies have shown that private vehicles, which are mainly petrol-powered, emit carbon monoxide, lead, benzene and lead which are detrimental to the air in our cities (European Environment Agency 2010). Still, due to the large number of this private vehicles, they are bound to emit this pollutants in high amounts compared to public transport. It is clear that, in order to reduce the air pollution and especially the concentration of carbon monoxide in our cities, there is need for people to rely much on public transport rather than the private vehicles. Nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide emitted on the environment. Study conducted by the American enterprise institute and Brookings institution in 2002 showed out that the quantity of nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide emitted by the private vehicles was about double the amount emitted by the public transport for every mile traveled by a passenger (European Environment Agency 2010). Use of public transport can reduce carbon footprint of an individual. Another study in the year 2005 showed that the use of public means rather than the private means could have reduced the carbon dioxide emission in the United States by 3. 9 million of metric tones. So it is much possible that, reducing air pollution in our cities can be achieved by depending more on the public transport. On other organic volatile compounds, the same study showed that the private vehicles could emit 92 percent more organic volatile compounds than the public vehicles as compared to mile traveled by each passenger. Efforts of reducing air pollution in our cities should focus on how to minimize usage of private vehicles in transport and also encourage use of the public means in transport. The same studies by the same two institutes showed out that in United States, public transport only used half of the fuel which was required to fuel the private vehicles. The more fossil fuel is used, the more emission of pollutant air is likely to emit in the environment, so in order to reduce the air pollution in our cities, there is need to encourage use of public transport. Public transport is very vital in our cities especially in achieving the global war on reducing air pollution which can result to global warming. Efforts need to be put in place to ensure that people use much the public means in most of their traveling because it will reduce air pollution in our cities as well as reducing the urban congestion of vehicles and also reduce the overdependence of energy imports. Bibliography European Environment Agency, 2010, Sources of Air pollution, Viewed July 27, 2010 http://www. eea. europa. eu/publications/2599XXX/page010. html