Resource information
Although urbanization is frequently
cited as a major cause of greenhouse gas and local air
pollution emissions growth, it could be better understood as
one of the crucial links between climate and development.
Urbanization is a major driver of development, and once in
cities, people tend to increase their mobility dramatically,
driving an increase in greenhouse gas and other emissions
from transport. The demand for transport is not limited only
to urban environments. As each economy becomes richer, its
demand for passenger and freight mobility increases. This
increase in car usage coupled with a tendency to have a
lower number of passengers per car, has been sufficient to
offset the improvements gained in vehicle fuel efficiency.
The increasing transport demand, if not accompanied by
adequate growth in infrastructure and facilities, leads to
rising congestion, time loss, and air quality deterioration
that can stifle economic growth and quality of life. Finding
the delicate balance of policy options to achieve long-term
improvements in on-road transport and reduce the impact of
its externalities is critical and needs to be tailored to
each locale. This requires measurements both to design the
interventions and evaluate their impacts. This transport
activity measurement toolkit (TAMT) has been developed
specifically to simplify this measurement process by
providing standardized software, data collection forms, and
a consistent standardized methodology.
