Sustainable Low-Carbon Development of Urban Public Transport: International and Russia’s Experience

Abstract

The rapid growth of cities all over the world has inevitably led to the aggravation of economic, social and environmental problems. In this regard, developing «green», low-carbon, circular and other new economic models is necessary. Transport sector is an important source of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants. The purpose of this work is to assess the impact of urban public transport, especially electric buses, on the air quality. The authors have analyzed international and Russia’s experience of the low-carbon development of urban public transport and evaluated the environmental effects of transitioning to electric buses in Moscow using a regression model and data visualization tools. The results have shown that integrating electric buses into an urban transport system can be considered as a step towards the low-carbon development of the transport sector. The authors have identified a decrease in carbon monoxide (CO) pollution in the districts of Moscow where there are electric bus routes. Although the authors managed to demonstrate positive aspects of using e-buses instead of traditional ones, the proposed hypotheses were not fully confirmed due to limited data and a small number of electric bus routes at an early stage of the project. The results of the work can be used both in theoretical studies of sustainable development and practical implementation of programs for the low-carbon development of an urban transport network