environment + Sustainability
Sustainable mobility Arcadis ranks North American cites’ transportation systems for overall sustainability.
New York City ranks No. 1 among 23 North American cities for overall sustainability of its urban transportation systems, according to the first Arcadis Sustainable Cities Mobility Index (see Figure 1). However, no city in the United States or Canada makes it into the top 20 cities ranked in the global index. New York City, sitting in 23rd place globally, is the most sustainable city for transportation in the United States and Canada, buoyed by an efficient, expansive, and heavily used metro system operating around the clock. This index, one of themost comprehensive sustainable transit studies ever conducted, is an indicative ranking of sustainable urban transportation practices across 100 of the world’s leading cities. It looks at more than 20 elements of mobility that are essential to a city’s competitive advantage, economic vitality, and overall sustainability. The study was conducted for Arcadis by the London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). Exploring the three pillars of sustainability — People (social), Planet (environmental), and Profit (economic) — the study measures financial investments and infrastructure improvements to urban transportation systems, including access to multiple transit modes, active commuting, bicycle infrastructure, commuting travel time, affordability of public transit, digital mapping and payment capabilities, air and emissions pollution, internet connectivity, and more. The People sub-index rates safety (traffic fatalities), access to transport services, share of trips taken by public transport, rider connectivity, digitization of the transport system, upkeep of the transport system, uptake of active commuting, airport passengers, hours of metro accessibility, and wheelchair access. These indicators can broadly be thought of as capturing “quality of life” for a city’s commuters and visitors. The Planet sub-index ranks cities on greenhouse gas emissions, congestion and delays, efforts to lower transport emissions, bicycle
Figure 1: North American urban transportation sustainability rankings. Cities that ranked toward the bottom of sustainability were planned around the invention of the personal vehicle. Source: Cebr.
infrastructure, air pollution, provision of green space, and electric vehicle incentives. These indicators can be broadly thought of as “green factors.” The Profit sub-index examines commuting travel time in a city, transport revenues as a share of expenses, public finance commitment, affordability of public transport, system utilization, and efficiency of road networks. These indicators can broadly be thought of as capturing “economic health.” North America’s car dependency Overall, North American cities rank low compared with equivalent European or Asian cities due to the car-centric culture that exists today. Many U.S. cities lack an extensive transit network because of years of reduced public investment. According to Arcadis, to improve future mobility, bold actions need to happen soon. North American cities will have to overcome the negative public perception of public transit and alternative modes of transportation by incentivizing usage and working with companies and developers to encourage ridership. Using technology such as apps, smartcards, and other communication systems is also critical to the adoption of public transit by streamlining the user experience and making commutes convenient. Further, cities should work collaboratively with counties,
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csengineermag.com
january 2018
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