Skip to main content

New report shows benefits of improved urban transport efficiency

Policies that improve the energy efficiency of urban transport systems could help save as much as US$ 70 trillion in spending on vehicles, fuel and transportation infrastructure between now and 2050, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. The report, A Tale of Renewed Cities, draws on examples from more than thirty cities across the globe to show how to improve transport efficiency through better urban planning and travel demand management. Extra benefits include lower greenhouse-ga
July 12, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Policies that improve the energy efficiency of urban transport systems could help save as much as US$ 70 trillion in spending on vehicles, fuel and transportation infrastructure between now and 2050, according to a new report from the 4724 International Energy Agency.

The report, A Tale of Renewed Cities, draws on examples from more than thirty cities across the globe to show how to improve transport efficiency through better urban planning and travel demand management. Extra benefits include lower greenhouse-gas emissions and higher quality of life.

This report was supported by the 2001 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Shareholder Special Fund and includes input from EBRD experts and case studies based on the Bank’s work in the urban transport sector.

Among the three broad categories of policies recommended in the report are those that allow travel to be avoided, those that shift travel to more efficient modes, and those that improve the efficiency of vehicle and fuel technologies.

The report offers three case studies, Belgrade, Seoul and New York City, to show how those cities have already improved their transport systems.

A Tale of Renewed Cities sets out a path outlining the essential steps and milestones for policy development and implementation to transform cities by improving urban transport systems, with the necessary planning and actions for supporting development, financing, implementation and evaluation of policies to improve the energy efficiency of urban transport systems.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Congestion pricing - no such thing as a free ride
    October 2, 2018
    The widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles is likely to increase congestion, many experts believe. But Wes Guckert of Traffic Group believes that tolling could provide the answer. While it is still hard to wrap your head around the idea of getting into a vehicle without a driver, the industry is now used to hearing, reading, participating in the advancement of autonomous vehicles (AVs). Those in the industry have heard about Uber delivering a shipment of Budweiser, or the convoy of driverless trucks
  • Transportation hub the centre of sustainable urban development
    November 21, 2012
    A marriage of transit, technology and culture is taking shape in Minneapolis, with ITS systems vital to hopes for a sustainable development centred on a hub of public transportation. Construction started in July this year on ‘The Interchange’ – a station in the Midwest US city of Minneapolis claimed as the most spectacular expression yet of the fast-spreading North American concept of transit-oriented development (TOD). Due for completion in 2014, the Interchange is designed as a multi-modal public transpor
  • EBRD invests in trolleybuses for Kyrgyz Republic
    March 26, 2012
    The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is boosting support for public transport in the Kyrgyz Republic with a US$10.1 million sovereign loan, accompanied by a US$ 5.5 million grant from the EBRD’s Shareholder Special Fund, for the benefit of the municipally owned Bishkek Trolleybus Company.
  • Invisible barriers: how urban transport fails women – and how we can solve it
    March 7, 2025
    Gender equality should be a reality in our cities, not just an aspiration