The Current Trends Global Transportation - 1348 Words

The current trends global transportation are widely considered to be unsustainable for a number of reasons, including profound impacts on the climate and heavy dependence on limited fossil fuel supplies (Greene, 1997). However, there is a great deal of disagreement among researchers and policy makers regarding what constitutes a â€Å"sustainable† system of economics, governance, or transport. The prevailing notion of sustainability has largely focused on reducing impacts to the planet from an ecological and natural resources perspective. In a broader policy context, however, the impacts of economics and equity issues on the health of the environment are not to be ignored. The relationship between resource scarcity and environmentally†¦show more content†¦Thus, even under the strictest ecological interpretation of sustainability, achieving social, political, and quality of life objectives is paramount to getting national and global participation. Based on this more ho listic interpretation, a high-level definition of a â€Å"sustainable transportation system† is one which: †¢ Does not unfairly prioritize any one ethnic, social, or economic group of people over another, in terms of access, financial cost, and secondary/external costs †¢ Is supportive of and not a barrier to equitable economic growth and development †¢ Supports societal expectations concerning mobility and quality of life †¢ Does not carry any unreasonable risks to humans in terms of public health or injury †¢ Works within the carrying capacity of the environment, both in terms of resource consumption and pollution output - A truly sustainable system would not degrade ecosystems or the environment, and would not consume any unrenewable resources †¢ Considers all objectives, policies, and strategies in a global context Some have suggested that a policies regarding sustainability should include broader social issues in their list of objectives including education attainment, â€Å"cultural health† of a community, and even democracy (Farrell Hart, 1998). At the risk of seeming overly pragmatic or uncaring, the view taken here is that such