Urban transport is one of the necessities that cities require to perform their day-to-day activities. At the same time, it is also the major treat to global climate change. Transport sector has emitted more than 7200 billion tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. This study therefore intends to assess the greenhouse gas emission reduction measures in urban transport of Mekelle city. It employs a descriptive research with qualitative and quantitative research approaches and survey research strategy. Data for the study were collected from primary and secondary data sources. Questionnaire, interview, and observation were used to gather primary data from owners of private automobiles and transport office, whereas, archives were used to gather secondary data. These data were analyzed through qualitative (narrative analysis) and quantitative (descriptive and statistical analysis) methods. Tables, charts, graphs and plates are used to present the data. This study finds that Atoz and Yaris car models; and Hyundai and Daihatsu motors emit lesser amount of carbon dioxide, while Land cruiser and WllB car models; and Mercedes Benz and Suzuki motors emit more. The average emission level of private automobiles in Mekelle city is found to be 209.93grams of CO2/km with an average fuel efficiency of 12.115km/liter. The number of motor vehicles in Mekelle city is increasing with an average annual growth rate of 17.34% for the last ten years. The growth rate is highest for Code 5 cars and is lowest for code 2 cars. Most of the cars in the city are below five years of service. The current share of motorized vehicles in urban transport of Mekelle city is 33.44% and the vehicle ownership rate of the city is 35.6 vehicles/1000 people, which is above the national average. Rapid urban population growth, intensification in economic activities, and inaccessible public transport are among the main causes for expansion of motorized urban transport in the city. Use of bio fuel, conducting annual inspection of cars, regulating speed limits, extending public transport services, and taxing vehicles are among the greenhouse gas mitigation measures being undertaken in Mekelle city.
Table of Contents
Title Pages
Abstract
Acknowledgements
List of Tables
List of Figures
List of Plates
List of Abbreviations
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Background of the Study
1.3 Statement of the Problem
1.4 Objectives of the Study
1.4.1 Main Objective of the Study
1.4.2 Specific Objectives of the Study
1.5 Significance of the Study
1.6 Scope of the Study
1.7 Description of the Study Area
1.8 Limitations of the Study
1.9 Conclusion
CHAPTER TWO Review of Related Literature
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Evolution of Urban Transport
2.2.1 Trends in Urban Transport Growth
2.2.2 Causes of Urban Transport Growth
2.3 Theoretical Literature
2.3.1 Greenhouse Gas Emission Measurement Models
2.3.2 Carbon Dioxide Measurement Approaches
2.3.3 Theories of Urban Transport
2.4 Empirical Literature
2.4.1 Urban Transport and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
2.4.2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Ethiopia
2.4.3 Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Measures of Urban Transport
2.4.4 Current Status of Road Transport in Ethiopia
2.5 International Legal Frameworks of Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions
2.5.1 Financing Instruments for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation inTransport Sector
2.6 Policies and legal frameworks of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Ethiopia
2.7 Conceptual Framework
2.8 Research Gaps
2.9 Conclusion
CHAPTER THREE Research Methodology
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Operational Definition of Variables
3.3 Research Design
3.4 Methods of Data Collection
3.5 Sampling Techniques
3.5.1 Population
3.5.2 Sampling Frame
3.5.3 Sampling Unit
3.5.4 Sample Size
3.6 Sources of Data
3.6.1 Primary data sources
3.6.2 Secondary data sources
3.7 Data Analysis and Interpretation
3.8 Data Presentation
3.9 Conclusion
CHAPTER FOUR Findings and Discussions
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Response Rate
4.3 General Background of Respondents
4.4 Results and Interpretations
4.4.1 Carbon Dioxide Emission Level of Private Automobiles in Mekelle City
4.4.2 Current Status of Urban Transport in Mekelle city
4.4.3 Trend of Car Growth in Mekelle City
4.4.4 Causes of Motorized Urban Transport Expansion in Mekelle City
4.4.5 Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Measures in Urban Transport of Mekelle City
4.5 Conclusion
CHAPTER FIVE Conclusions and Recommendations
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Conclusions
5.3 Recommendations
5.4 Conclusion
References
Appendices
Abstract
Urban transport is one of the necessities that cities require to perform their day-to-day activities. At the same time, it is also the major treat to global climate change. Transport sector has emitted more than 7200 billion tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. This study therefore intends to assess the greenhouse gas emission reduction measures in urban transport of Mekelle city. It employs a descriptive research with qualitative and quantitative research approaches and survey research strategy. Data for the study were collected from primary and secondary data sources. Questionnaire, interview, and observation were used to gather primary data from owners of private automobiles and transport office, whereas, archives were used to gather secondary data. These data were analyzed through qualitative (narrative analysis) and quantitative (descriptive and statistical analysis) methods. Tables, charts, graphs and plates are used to present the data. This study finds that Atoz and Yaris car models; and Hyundai and Daihatsu motors emit lesser amount of carbon dioxide, while Land cruiser and WllB car models; and Mercedes Benz and Suzuki motors emit more. The average emission level of private automobiles in Mekelle city is found to be 209.93grams of CO 2 /km with an average fuel efficiency of 12.115km/liter. The number of motor vehicles in Mekelle city is increasing with an average annual growth rate of 17.34% for the last ten years. The growth rate is highest for Code 5 cars and is lowest for code
2 cars. Most of the cars in the city are below five years of service. The current share of motorized vehicles in urban transport of Mekelle city is 33.44% and the vehicle ownership rate of the city is 35.6 vehicles/1000 people, which is above the national average. Rapid urban population growth, intensification in economic activities, and inaccessible public transport are among the main causes for expansion of motorized urban transport in the city. Use of bio fuel, conducting annual inspection of cars, regulating speed limits, extending public transport services, and taxing vehicles are among the greenhouse gas mitigation measures being undertaken in Mekelle city.
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I would like to extend my precious and grand gratitude to the almighty God for his ineffable offerings made in my life. Next, I would like to thank my advisor Ato Fekadu Nigussa, for his constructive comments and directions he provides to carryout objectives of the study starting from selection of the title until end of the study. Further, my heartfelt and great praise goes to my parents and relatives, my beloved friends, and my classmates for their indescribable moral and material assistances they contribute for the accomplishment of the study.
Finally, I would like to praise the officials and experts of Tigray National Regional State Transport Bureau, Mekelle City Transport Office, Mekelle City Tax and Custom Office, Kedemay Weyane Wereda Administration, and traffic police of the city for letting me obtain pertinent data for the study.
List of Tables
Tables Pages
Table 4.1: Sex and age structure of respondents
Table 4.2: Educational status of respondents
Table 4.3: Average distance travelled per day by private automobiles
Table 4.4: Carbon dioxide emission level of private automobiles
Table 4.5: Analysis of taxis (code 1 vehicles) by service of years and load capacity
Table 4.6: Analysis of private (Code 2 vehicles) by service of years and load capacity
Table 4.7: Analysis of public transport (code 3 vehicles) by service of years and load capacity
Table 4.8: Analysis of government (Code 4 vehicles) by service of years and load capacity
Table 4.9: Analysis of NGOs (Code 5 vehicles) by service of years and load capacity
Table 4.10: Analysis of dry cargo vehicles by service of years and load capacity
Table 4.11: Analysis of tanker trucks by service years of and load capacity
Table 4.12: Total number and average growth rate of vehicles by code in Mekelle city
Table 4.13: Public transport vehicles survey result by type of vehicle and year of registration
Table 4.14: Dry cargo vehicles survey result by load capacity and year of registration
Table 4.15: Tanker trucks survey result by load capacity and year of registration
Table 4.16: Growth in population and number of vehicles in Mekelle city
Table 4.17: Monthly average income of respondents before purchase of their car
Table 4.18: Current monthly average income of automobile owners
Table 4.19: Main reason that cause respondents to purchase car
Table 4.20: Home-work distance of private automobile owners
Table 4.21: Reasons to use private automobiles by respondents
Table 4.22: Awareness of respondents on climatic impacts of vehicular exhausts
Table 4.23: Main reason of respondents to choose their vehicle among others
Table 4.24: Respondents response for regular inspection of their cars
Table 4.25: Origin, areas reserved and routes for horse drawn carts
Table 4.26: Location of parking and rent per month
Table 4.27: Annual tax of vehicles in Mekelle city
Table 4.28: Measures taken by owners of private vehicles to reduce exhausts
Table 4.29: Private automobiles owners’ response if fuel use is to be taxed
List of Figures
Figures Pages
Figure 4.1: An average carbon dioxide emission levels by car models
Figure 4.2: Average carbon dioxide emission levels by car producers
Figure 4.3: Carbon dioxide emission levels by vintage of cars
Figure 4.4: Summary of motorized and non-motorized transport in Mekelle city
Figure 4.5: Total number of vehicles by type in Mekelle city
Figure 4.6: Summary of vehicles by type and service years
Figure 4.7: Trend of car expansions in Mekelle city
Figure 4.8: Existing public transport network of Mekelle city
Figure 4.9: Planned area allocation for permitted uses in mixed land use area
List of Plates
Plates Pages
Plate 4.1: Some of the taxi transit routes of Mekelle city
Plate 4.2: Some of the areas in the intermediate parts of the city without sidewalks
Plate 4.3: Some of the areas with narrow and inconvenient sidewalks
Plate 4.4: Some of the new roads of Mekelle city with convienent walkways
Plate 4.5: Some of the parking areas of Mekelle city
List of Abbreviations
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CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Introduction
This paper deals with assessment of greenhouse gas emission reduction measures in urban transport of Mekelle city. To achieve the main objectives of the study different literatures on the area of the study are reviewed. Primary and secondary data sources are collected, analyzed, interpreted, and presented using various instruments. In this chapter, background of the study, problem statement, objectives, significance and scope of the study, description of the study area, and limitations of the study are briefly described.
1.2 Background of the Study
Climate change is among the most serious challenges that the world is facing today. As assessed in the recent report of the IPCC (2007), climate change has a wide range of impacts on natural systems, as well as on human societies. The severity of these impacts depends partly on global efforts to mitigate climate change. According to Daniel, Mila, Marcus, Perinaz, and Belinda (2011), cities are critical in global efforts to mitigate climate change, as they are the main sources of global greenhouse gas emissions. Transport is one of the sectors in cities that emit a large amount of greenhouse gases.
Transport plays a crucial role in accelerating development and improving quality of life by allowing ease transfer of people, goods and services. It is also one of the important preconditions for achieving developmental goals. In contrary, transport has negative effects such as CO2 emissions. For this reason, it is recognized as one of the major drivers of global warming and the subsequent climate change (David, Robin, and Ricardo, 2010).
The Huffington Post Canada (2013) indicated that, the total number of motor vehicles in the world's roads surpassed 1.015 billion in 2010. The same source revealed that, the global number of vehicles is increasing on average of 3% annually.
According to IPCC (2007) report, the contribution of transport to total greenhouse gas emissions in 2004 was about 23% (6.6 Giga tones of carbon dioxide emissions globally). CO2 emissions from the sector have increased by around 27% since 1990. Under the international energy agency baseline scenario, emissions related to global transport could grow to 35% (8.9 Giga tones of carbon dioxide) in 2030.
UNFCCC (2011) indicated that, road transport accounts for 74% of total transport related CO2 emissions. In addition to generating carbon dioxide emissions, transport is also responsible for other greenhouse gas emissions including methane, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases and particulates (David, Robin, and Ricardo, 2010).
It is common that cities in most developed nations prioritize public transport and non-motorized modes. However, accessible and affordable public transport service and safe infrastructure for non-motorized transport such as cycling and walking are lacking in most developing country cities. The number of private vehicles has been increasing continuously and dominates the roads. It is projected that, by 2030, there will be more vehicles in the developing world than in developed nations (Lloyd and Lewis, 2005).
As to Tsehaynesh (n.d), road transport in Ethiopia handles more than 95% of both passenger and freights mobility. Presently, there are 403,711 cars, where most of them are more than 15 years of age. Of which 54% of the total vehicles are in Addis Ababa. On the average 10% of fleet growth is observed per annum. Ethiopia's total CO2 emission was estimated to be 2596Gj for 1994. The old vehicles, particularly those with diesel power engines, generally have low engine efficiency and consume more fuel (Edwards, 2010), thus contributing significantly to the atmospheric concentration of carbon.
In Ethiopia, the contribution of transport sector to the total greenhouse gas emission is low, i.e. 3% (CRGE, 2011). However, if the current trend continues, greenhouse gas emissions will be more than double in 2030. It is indicated that, 75% of greenhouse gas emissions from transport sector come from road transport.
The size of transport in Tigray region is increasing from time to time. According to the region’s transport bureau, the total number of vehicles has showed a 20% increase in the last four years. Out of the total number of vehicles in the region, 57% are found in Mekelle city. However, the transport sector is not receiving enough attention in climate change mitigation efforts. Despite the fact that, cities are now giving emphasis to the changing climate through various adaptation and mitigation measures, they must work to enhance the greenhouse gas mitigation measures by providing a solution to the growing number of motorized vehicles. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to assess the greenhouse gas emission reduction measures in urban transport of Mekelle city.
1.3 Statement of the Problem
In today’s world, transport plays a vital role in ensuring socio-economic development. However, it is also one of the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions like, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and particulates, which are the major contributors to the global climate change. The contribution of transport sector to global greenhouse gas emissions is estimated to be more than 7200 billion tons. Since little efforts are being exerted to mitigate vehicle emissions, the contribution of transport to greenhouse gas emissions is expected to grow in the coming years (UNFCCC, 2011).
Ethiopia, like other developing countries, has undergone rapid road transport expansion mainly due to the augmentation in economic activities and the consequent income growth (Belew, 2012). Nevertheless, most of the urban transport expansions do not take climate change in to consideration. Unless greenhouse gas mitigation measures are taken for the growing urban transport, the likelihood of social vulnerability to air pollution, urban heat island, and climate change related impacts; like incidence of extreme weather conditions, seasonal fluctuations in rainfall, flooding, drought, and some other related impacts could heap on as evidenced in the recent reports of UNFCCC (2011) and IPCC (2007).
Mekelle is one of the Ethiopian cities characterized by rapid urban transportation growth. The city’s transport system is mainly based on road transport. According to the city’s road transport office, in 2008, there were more than 4500 vehicles registered in the city. This number has risen to more than 8500 in 2012. This rapid increase in urban transport is intensifying the emission of greenhouse gases, which in turn exacerbate the impacts of global warming. If the trend continues, the contribution of urban road transport to total greenhouse gas emission of the city will increase tremendously. Moreover, the boost in automobile dependence and unsustainable transport development in the city could undermine the emission reductions achieved through various mitigation measures. The unsustainable growth of cars in the city when coupled with the little efforts being made to abate greenhouse gas emission level of vehicles could worsen the adverse impacts of climate change globally and in the city.
However, proper greenhouse gas mitigation measures could turn away the possible risks of the changing climate.
Previous studies conducted on similar issues, like Wright and Fulton (2005) and Klier and Linn (2012) has focused on vehicle emission mitigation measures, while other studies like Eizindqvist and Tegher (2008) and McKinnon and Piecyk (2009) has mainly focused on measuring and reporting vehicle emission levels. Tsehaynesh (n.d) made similar studies for Ethiopia, yet there are no related studies conducted in Mekelle city. This study, unlike the aforementioned studies endeavors to assess the technical and non-technical greenhouse gas emission reduction measures in urban transport of Mekelle city by measuring carbon dioxide emission level of private automobiles, describing the status and trend of urban transport, and examining the various greenhouse gas emission reduction measures in urban transport of Mekelle city.
1.4 Objectives of the Study
1.4.1 Main Objective of the Study
To trim down the possible impacts of climate change, greenhouse gas emission reduction measures are imperative. Therefore, the main objective of the study is to assess greenhouse gas emission reduction measures in urban transport of Mekelle city.
1.4.2 Specific Objectives of the Study
Specifically, this study intends to:
Measure carbon dioxide emission levels of selected motor vehicles in the city.
Describe the current status of urban transport in the city.
Analyze the trend in motorized urban transport growth of the city.
Identify the main causes of motorized urban transport increment in the city.
Examine the technical and non-technical greenhouse gas emission reduction measures in urban transport sector of the city.
1.5 Significance of the Study
Policy significance: The study will help decision makers in ensuring sustainable urban transport development by providing relevant information that could help them understand the main causes of urban transport expansion and ways to mitigate its impact on climate. This assists them to come up with solutions to abate greenhouse gas emissions from urban transport and to efficiently manage urban transport growth.
Academic significance: the study will serve as a base for other researchers who are interested in measuring carbon dioxide emissions from motor vehicles or conducting further study on this area.
1.6 Scope of the Study
This study is conducted in Mekelle city. The study has limited itself to assess the greenhouse gas emission reduction measures of urban road transport within the city’s boundaries. Due to limited time and budget, the study is restricted to measuring carbon dioxide gas emissions from selected private automobiles (code 2) in the city. Besides, the CO2 emission inventory did not cover the motor vehicles that enter and exit the city. For this purpose, cars with Tigray plate are taken to exclude cars coming from other parts of the nation. In addition, residence and work place of private automobile owners is asked to control the cars commuting to nearby towns. Moreover, the period of data for the study to analyze the trend in motorized urban road transport growth is 10 years, i.e. 2003-2012.
1.7 Description of the Study Area
Mekelle is the capital city of Tigray National Regional State, which is 780km North of Addis Ababa. Astronomically, the city is located at 13032’N of latitude and 39028’E of longitude with an average elevation of 2325 meters above sea level. The city has average daily temperature of 17.1[[0]]C and 618.3mm of average annual rain fall. Accordingly, the city is categorized under Weinadega climatic zone. Based on the 2007 census of Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, Mekelle has a total population of 215,194; of whom 104,925 are men and 110,989 women. Mekelle city is one of the fast growing cities of Ethiopia and is becoming an ideal place for visiting (Mekelle city administration, 2006).
Mekelle is one of the ancient cities of Ethiopia. The formation of the city trace back to the reign of Hatse Seyfe Ared (1344-1371), but its heyday come soon after emperor Yohannes IV was crowned as king of kings of Ethiopia (1871-1889). The city spread out on a plain and partly encircled by mountains with total area coverage of 130,000 hectare (Mekelle city administration, 2006).
Mekelle is a major political, economic, administrative and educational center of Tigray National Regional State with new international standard airport, new teaching hospital and two governmental universities. The livelihood and occupation of the city population is mainly based on trade, i.e. the expansion and occupation of micro and small-scale trade and industries. The service sector plays a significant role in socio-economic activity of the city (Akililu, 2008).
Mekelle city is administratively divided into seven sub cities: Ayder, Semen, Kedamay Weyane, Hawelti, Adi-Haki, Hadinet and Quiha, which are established to provide effective municipal functions to the public. The city has more than 150km network of road transport, of which 45km is asphalt road, 16km is cobblestone, and the rest 89km is gravel and earthen road (Mekelle municipality office, 2010).
Existing road network of Mekelle city (2010), adapted from Mekelle municipality office
1.8 Limitations of the Study
The main limitations of the study were lack of prearranged and well- organized data, unwillingness and nonappearance of some officials, and very limited time for distributing and collecting questionnaires. Most of the data concerning the current status and the trend in urban transport growth of the study area were obtained from the registration files found in transport office of Mekelle city. For this reason, little is known about the total number of cars operating in the city as these cars may go beyond Mekelle city. This influences results of the study while describing the status and trend in urban transport growth of the city. Further, the study used carbon calculator model to compute CO2 emission levels from vehicles. Indeed, the model is with some shortcomings like abandonment of physical landscapes, road type, gases emitted during traffic jams, and travelling speed of vehicles while calculating the total CO2 emission level of cars. This influences the authenticity of the CO2 emission values faintly. To minimize the impact of these limitations on the findings of the study, an official letter was taken from the university for interviewing officials and to get access to archives. Besides, consent of the respondents was initially asked prior to interviewing and distributing questionnaires. Further, politeness and courtesy in gathering the required data were the ethical guides.
1.9 Conclusion
The main objective of the study is to assess greenhouse gas emission reduction measures in urban transport of Mekelle city. The study is delimited to measuring carbon dioxide emissions of selected private automobiles operating in Mekelle city. This paper will have policy and academic significances for decision makers and academicians. In the last discussions, background of the study, problem statement, objectives of the study, significance and scope of the study, description of the study area, and limitations of the study are described in brief. The next chapter deals with review of relevant literatures that are written on the area of the study.
CHAPTER TWO Review of Related Literature
2.1 Introduction
The second chapter is wholly about review of related literatures. In this part, theoretical and empirical literatures that entail evolution and trends of urban transport, causes of urban transport expansion, global urban transport emission levels, current status of urban transport in Ethiopia, technical and non-technical greenhouse gas emission reduction measures, models and approaches of emission measurements, and international and national legal frameworks that are related with urban transport are briefly explained.
2.2 Evolution of Urban Transport
Different transport technologies and infrastructures have been implemented, resulting in a wide variety of urban transport systems around the world. Since second half of the 20th century, diverse evolutions of urban transport that influenced the urban form have occurred. Generally, there were four important periods of urban transport evolutions.
During the Walking-Horse car Era (1800-1890), cities were typically less than 5kms in diameter and land use was mixed with density of 100-200 people per hectare. The development of the first public transit extended the size of the city without changing the urban form. The invention of streetcar during the Streetcar or Transit Era (1890-1920s) created urban transport revolution. Its speed was three times faster than the horse-carts. The city spread along the streetcar lines with residential development along urban fringes. Densities reduced to 50 - 100 people per hectare. As street congestion increased, the efficiency of streetcars deteriorated and many were abandoned (Rodrigue, 2013).
During the Automobile era (1920-1945), motor vehicles radically increased and urban development started to diverge. This innovation expanded cities by improving accessibility. However, only wealthy classes had access to automobiles. The private cars caused emergence of low-density suburbs with economic segregation. Eventually, large diffusion of automobiles with growth in mobility comes to exist during the Highway era (1945-2000). During this period, improvements in transport infrastructures significantly increased urban transport. Several suburbs were emerged and ring roads were constructed that enhance human activities in highly accessible urban areas (Muller, 1995).
2.2.1 Trends in Urban Transport Growth
It was at the end of the 18th century that early automobiles were invented. Attempts were continued in various parts of the world throughout the 19th C to manufacture automobiles. Finally, in 1897 a steam vehicle called the “loco mobile” was made by the Stanley brothers in America and sold more than 5000 units. Vehicle ownership between 1920 and 1980 increased from 89 to 127 vehicles per 1000 population. USA had exceeded the 10 million mark in the early 1920s and the 30 million in 1940s (Kirby, 2000). Vehicles ownership is converging among the highest income nations. The 1998 vehicle ownership rate was 529 and 762 in Western Europe and USA respectively. The 1998 world motor vehicles fleet was about 700 million, increased from 246 million in 1970. Out of this, passenger cars accounted for three fourth of the fleet (Nicholas and Brendan, 2003).
According to the projections made by Joyce, Dermot, and Martin (2007), the world’s vehicle stock will be 2.5 times greater in 2030 than in 2002. Developing countries’ share of total vehicles will rise from 24% to 56%. China’s vehicle stock will increase nearly twenty-fold by 2030. However, its rate of vehicle ownership (270 vehicles per 1000 people) will be the levels experienced by Japan and Western Europe in the mid 1970’s and by South Korea in 2001. Vehicle ownership in China, India, and Indonesia will grow twice as rapidly as its per-capita income like the other most developing countries.
In Ethiopia, due to the economic growth and liberalization of the transport sector, total vehicle fleet has been growing at annual rate of 6.7%, increasing from 95,925 vehicles in 1996/97 to 170,000 vehicles in 2004/05. Vehicle ownership is around two vehicles per 1000 people, which is quite below most of the developing countries (Belew, 2012).
2.2.2 Causes of Urban Transport Growth
The growth in motorized vehicle ownership has largely followed by trends in per-capita income. In the per-capita income range of US$2000-5000, vehicle purchases jump sharply. Other factors affecting vehicle ownership are population growth, urbanization levels, importation regulations, and the quality of alternative transport services. The relative lower cost of suburbs can also increase private vehicles. Several developing nations are entering the income zone of rapid motorization (Lloyd and Lewis, 2005).
According to the study made in 45 countries (1960-2002), the correlation between vehicle ownership and per-capita income is non-linear. The income elasticity of vehicle ownership starts low but increases rapidly over the range of $3,000 to $10,000, as vehicle ownership increases twice as fast as per-capita income. Europe and Japan were at this stage during 1960’s. Many developing countries are currently experiencing similar growths and will continue to do so in the next two decades. When income levels rise to the range of $10,000- $20,000, vehicle ownership raises as fast as income. At very high levels of income, vehicle ownership growth reduces (Joyce, Dermot, and Martin, 2007).
According to Inner City Fund International (2008), the main drivers for road transportation expansion are grouped in to six major categories: policy, demography and society, energy and environment, technology, economy, and finance. Each plays a role individually and collectively. Out of these drivers, Hedwig et al. (2005) has identified technology, economy, and demography as determining factors for car growth.
Policy highly influences road transportation system through regulations of various transport activities. These regulations, mainly the taxation system influence transport expansion highly. As a greater share of the global population lives in urban areas, transportation services increases to serve the urban community. For this reason, population growth had increased the demand for transportation, causing transportation expansions. Issues related to the availability of energy, particularly fossil fuels have become main determinant of road transport expansion. The innovation of different modal options like alternative fuels is expected to reduce the number of old vehicles, leading to most energy efficient transport chains.
Technological innovations determine management and motion of transportation. It is expected that technologies will transform and improve mobility management practices with high potential of contributing more to efficiency of vehicles. Economic development and structure of national economies has significant effect on the growth of transportation. As transportation costs rise due to fuel and transport demand growth, there will be readjustment in transportation according to the change. Transportation projects, due to their size and technological complexity, require a huge finance. Thus, financial availability greatly determines transport innovations and its growth.
2.3 Theoretical Literature
2.3.1 Greenhouse Gas Emission Measurement Models
Edoardo, Sabrina, and Molteni (2011) stated that, there are two main approaches for estimating greenhouse gas emissions: top-down and bottom-up. The top-down approach uses national or regional data on variables like population, energy consumption, and mobility to analyze emission level. On the other hand, bottom-up approach uses local data from single sources whenever possible, and this is the preferred approach.
Different cities employ various approaches to estimate emissions. Bangkok estimates emissions from fuels consumed within city boundaries, whereas Mexico City, London, New York, and Milan use kilometers traveled by different categories of public and private vehicles to estimate vehicle emissions (Edoardo, Sabrina, and Molteni, 2011).
There are different models used to calculate greenhouse gas emissions. These include:
Advanced Light-Duty Power train and Hybrid Analysis (ALPHA): This model is used to estimate the greenhouse gas emissions from light-duty vehicle. This model is computer based application and capable of simulating various vehicle types and power train technologies (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2012).
National Mobile Inventory Model (NMIM): This model is developed to estimate current and future emission inventories for road motor vehicles. NMIM uses current versions of MOBILE6 to calculate emission inventories at national or individual level based on several input scenarios (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2012).
COPERT 4: This model is a software tool used worldwide to calculate air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from road transport. It is also used to evaluate air pollution and CO2 emissions from transport projects. It was served as manual for calculating greenhouse gas emissions of different projects of the World Bank. It is also underuse for the citywide analysis of multiple transport projects (International Road Federation, 2011).
CHANGER: This is the greenhouse gas calculator developed specifically for road transport and other different infrastructure projects. The model is very flexible and allows estimation of greenhouse gas emissions for each of the transport sector. The results are expressed in tons of CO2 equivalent (International Road Federation, 2011).
Traffic Network Model: This model is used to calculate CO2 emissions from light and heavy-duty vehicles and buses based on total distance travelled, total traffic volume per unit time and emission factor for each pollutant (Reynolds and Broderick, 2006).
Carbon calculator model: This model is used to calculate carbon emissions from motor vehicles (cars, freight, bus, and motor cycles), flights, house, and rail. The model uses distance covered by the vehicle, manufactured date, model of the vehicle, and fuel type of the vehicle as an input to calculate carbon dioxide emissions of motor vehicles (Institute of Environmental Management and Analysis corporate member, 2013).
2.3.2 Carbon Dioxide Measurement Approaches
McKinnon and Piecyk (2009) identified two basic approaches of measuring carbon dioxide emissions from road transport. These are:
Energy based approach: This approach is the simplest and accurate way of calculating CO2 emissions of motor vehicles. This is because; almost all motor vehicles are energy related. This approach is based on recorded energy use, and employs standard emission factors to convert energy values into CO2. The unit of energy for the measurement is liters of fuel. The main problem with this approach is lack of direct access to energy data.
Activity-based approach: This approach is used in the absence of energy data. It is possible to make a rough estimate of the carbon dioxide emissions of a transport operation by applying a simple formula shown below:
CO2 emissions = Tones transported x average distance travelled x CO2 Emissions factor per tone-km.
2.3.3 Theories of Urban Transport
Transportation in urban areas is highly complex. This is due to the variable modes of vehicles involved. As cities are locations of human interactions, commercial transactions, leisure and cultural activities, the focus of urban transportation has been on passengers. However, cities are also ideal places for production, consumption and distribution, and other activities linked to movements of freight (Richard and Daniel, 2006).
Urban road transportation is associated with a variety of externalities. These externalities include congestion, accidents, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. Traffic jams during morning and evening rush hours are common in most cities. The magnitude of congestion externalities varies from city to city depending on location and time. Mass transit is no exception. As Yamazaki and Asada (1999) indicated, in Tokyo When demand is low relative to capacity; positive externalities between passengers exist, as an increase in demand enables more frequent services. When demand is high, the externalities turn negative. Environmental pollution and accident externalities also involve considerable social costs. The Federal Highway Administration (2000) estimated the air pollution cost of passenger cars to be 1.33 cents per mile for intra urban transports.
Road pricing is widely advised as a tool to reduce these externalities. Based on Alex and Robin (2011), four conclusions about urban road pricing are drawn: the benefits of road pricing exceed the costs; the benefits of congestion relief are larger than the benefits of improvements in environmental quality; success depends on the presence of public transit and on how service is adjusted; and the distributional effects and public acceptance of road pricing pose important challenges for policy design.
Several urban spatial structures and land use densities have emerged following the growth in vehicles. Andrew (2011) identified four major types of urban forms in relation to transport at the metropolitan scale:
i. Completely Motorized Network: This is characterized by low to average land use densities with free movements between all locations. Most activities are designed to be accessed with an automobile. This system characterizes recent cities in a North American, such as Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver and Dallas.
ii. Weak Centre: This is characterized by average land use densities. The central business district is relatively accessible by the automobile. Services are often oriented along major corridors. This system is often related to older cities, such as Melbourne, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and Montreal.
iii. Strong Centre: This is characterized by high land use density and high levels of accessibility to urban transit. There are limited needs for highways and parking space. Most of the mobility needs are provided by public transit lines. This system characterizes cities having important commercial and financial functions such as Paris, New York, Shanghai, Toronto, Sydney and Hamburg.
iv. Traffic Limitation: This is characterized by high land use density and efficiently implemented traffic rules which are planned to limit the usage of automobile in central areas. Public transport is used in central areas, while private automobiles take the periphery. This system characterizes cities that prioritize public transit, like London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vienna and Stockholm.
Now days, there are various types and modes of urban road transport serving the general public in urban areas. Rodrigue (2013) classified urban road transportation in to three broad categories. These are:
Collective Transportation (public transit): This form of urban transport is established to provide publicly accessible mobility. Its efficiency is measured by the total number of people transported. It includes modes such as tramway, bus, train, subway and ferryboat.
Individual Transportation: This form includes any mode where mobility is the outcome of personal choice such as automobile, walking, cycling and the motorcycle. This number of individual transportation varies from city to city. For instance, walking accounts for 88% of all movements inside Tokyo while this figure is only 3% for Los Angeles.
Freight Transportation: This urban transportation is mostly characterized by delivery trucks moving between industries, distribution centers, warehouses and retail activities as well as from major terminals such as ports, rail yards, distribution centers and airports.
Supply characteristics of public transport, travel time, reliability, location and direction, comfort, security from accident, and income are the main determinant variables that influence attitude and behavior of urban transport users towards a particular mode. In United States, use of private automobiles has increased from 69% to 88% during the period of 1960 to 1990. On the other hand, the use of public transport reduced from 13% to 5% during the same period (Sadwicki and Moody, 2000). Minibus taxi is the dominant mode of transport used for work, school, and other trips in Nairobi. Private automobiles are the second most dominant mode of transport next to minibus taxi (Jika, 2006).
In Bahirdar, passengers have positive attitude for city buses because of their affordability and security from crush and accident. Minibus taxis are preferable for their security. Although Bajaj are the most accessible and frequent, passengers have negative attitude to Bajaj due to their higher level of crimes and frequent accidents (Degumulat, 2011).
2.4 Empirical Literature
2.4.1 Urban Transport and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Most of the transport emissions are associated with the increased use of private motor vehicles on public roads. Improving the local environment of cities requires high level of public transport service, less road traffic, and reduced dependence on the private car. The rise in number of motor vehicles is hindering the efforts to lessen greenhouse gas emissions. Global greenhouse gas emissions from transport sector in 1999 were 6143 billion tons. The IPCC has concluded that to stabilize the earth’s climate system it is must to cut the amount of greenhouses gas in the atmosphere by 45ppm of volume. To achieve this it is required to reduce carbon emissions by 60% this century. Means, dipping annual CO2 emissions from transport sector to 2500 billion tons (Eizindqvist and Tegher, 2008).
Urban road transport is responsible for over 18% of global CO2 emissions. In 2050, most developing nations are expected to reach the rate of fossil fuel dependency of the USA has today. Under this scenario china will emit 22,000 billion tons, India 1,360 billion tons and the USA 2,904 billion tons, adding 26,264 billion tons. However, if china, India and the USA continue to grow economically at the rate they have today, then within 50 years their emissions will grow to 92,000 billion tons (Nicholas and Brendan, 2003).
Urban transport accounts for 31% of total CO2 emissions in USA. In London the road transport alone is causing 75% of nitrous oxide, 83% of benzene, 77% of particulates, 97% CO and 53% of volatile organic compounds, and 29% of CO2 emissions (Kirby, 2000). In Stockholm, transport sector is responsible for 33.3% of total greenhouse gas emissions. The transport sector emits about 1,100 kiloton in 1995. This is estimated to increase to 1,156 kiloton of greenhouse gases in 2050 (Eizindqvist and Tegher, 2008).
2.4.2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, greenhouse gas inventory has been carried out for the period of 1990-1995, where the major results were; total CO2 emissions were estimated to be 2596 GJ, carbon monoxide, 7619 GJ; nitrous oxide, 24 GJ; and sulfur dioxide was estimated to be 13GJ (Tsehaynesh, n.d). Generally, there were increasing trends in greenhouse gas emissions in Ethiopia during the period of 1990-1995. Aggregate greenhouse gases emissions in terms of CO2e have increased by 12 % (National Meteorological Services Agency, 2001).
Greenhouse gas emission from energy sector is major contributor to the total national emission. According to the 2004 inventory, energy sector accounted for more than 50% of the total greenhouse gas emission. This was twice of the 1994 values. Among the sub sectors, the transport sector takes the lion’s share that accounts for 68%. The combustion of fossil fuels from transport sector was responsible for 88% of total CO2 emissions (B and M Development Consultants, 2006). Under the BAU, emissions from the Transport sector will increase from 5 Mt CO2e in 2010 to 41 Mt CO2e in 2030 (CRGE, 2011).
With respect to petroleum fuels used in the energy sector, B and M Development Consultants (2006) showed that, the greenhouse gas emissions of petroleum products for the year 2004 was largely contributed by diesel (2273.01Gj), followed by gasoline (535.67Gj), and jet fuel (423.28Gj). According to the emission projections made for Ethiopia by Amare (2007), greenhouse gas emissions from transport will grow annually by 10.7%, increasing from 915 Gj in 2000 to 3,852 Gj in 2030. This makes the sector to have 44.6% share of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2030.
2.4.3 Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Measures of Urban Transport Technical Measures
Catalytic converters: This device is used to reduce the harmful emissions from an internal combustion engine by oxidation and conversion of toxic byproducts in to less harmful substances. This could reduce nitrous oxide emissions of road transport by up to 40%. Hydrocarbon and CO emissions could be reduced even further. However, due to the reduced efficiency of engines, CO2 emissions will raise (Borrego and Sucharov, 2008).
Use of compressed natural gas as a fuel: This integrates the use of compressed natural gas (mainly methane) in place of existing fuels. This gives the possible reduction of CO2 emissions in urban transport up to 33%. However, the effect on global warming could not be reduced due to increase in methane emissions (Ackerman and Jefferson, 2003).
Fuel saving measures: This has the advantage of reducing all pollutants as well as CO2 emissions through conserving energy. In order to improve fuel efficiency, it is important to consider how energy is wasted in urban traffic (Ackerman and Jefferson, 2003).
Speed reductions: A 10% reduction in traffic speeds would lead to 19% reduction in energy consumption. Assuming such traffic speeds constitutes 30% of road transport, and therefore contributes 10% of global CO2 emissions; speed reductions of this order could reduce global CO2 emissions by about 1.3% (Eizindqvist and Tegher, 2008).
Vehicle weight reduction: Reduction in vehicle weight would result in lower rolling resistance and a reduced energy requirement for acceleration. These currently account for 78% of energy consumption. Overall weight reduction of 5-10% could lead to fuel consumption reductions 1-3% on urban transport (Eizindqvist and Tegher, 2008).
Brake energy recovery: Brake energy accounts 45% of the energy consumption of a car. Given that up to 60% of brake energy is recoverable through hybrid vehicle propulsion technology, motorized vehicles could result in a 27% overall energy saving, reducing fuel consumption and consequent CO2 emissions by 4.9% (Ackerman and Jefferson, 2003).
The use of hydrogen as a fuel: Technology already exists for conversion of hydrogen to electricity through gas turbines. Such systems could provide the primary power for the complete range of zero emission hybrid vehicles for road transport. The problems with this technology are storage and supply of hydrogen (Borrego and Sucharov, 2008).
Use of bio fuels: This could make a significant reduction in CO2 emission for all types of road transport. Although there are supply limitations, their optimal use is necessary. Bio fuels represent the key low carbon option. Crops grown in Europe could provide a substantial share of Europe’s future transport fuels (David, Robin, and Botas, 2010).
Electric vehicle: This is a plug in hybrid vehicle that utilizes rechargeable batteries or another energy storage device that can be stored to fill charge by connecting a plug to an external electric power source. Electric Vehicles include plug-in electric cars, hybrid electric cars, and hydrogen vehicles. The vehicle would not produce any emissions and the cost to plug in is equivalent to US$75cents per gallon of gasoline (Frank, 2007).
Non-Technical Measures
Use of Policy measures for improving fuel efficiency: According to European Commission (2004), European Union policy of reducing the CO2 emissions of passenger cars aims at improving fuel efficiency and promotes fuels with less CO2 emissions. The objective of the European Union is to achieve an average CO2 emission figure of 120g/km for all new passenger cars sold in the European Union (average emissions in 2003 were 163g/km) by 2010. To achieve the fuel efficiency target, three instruments are currently in place. The Commission informs the Council and European Parliament annually on effectiveness of these instruments:
1. Voluntary agreements: The European Commission has separate voluntary agreements with various car manufacturers to achieve a CO2 emission target of 140 g/km by 2008. These targets are to be achieved mainly through technological innovations of cars.
2. Consumer information: To secure the 120 g CO2/km targets the European Union has introduced provision of consumer information on the fuel economy and CO2 emissions of newly marketed passenger cars through displaying officially approved data of fuel consumption and specific CO2 emissions of cars at the point of sale.
3. Market-oriented measures: Fiscal measures are proposed to close the 20 g CO2/km gap between the European Union target for new passenger cars and the commitments made by the car manufacturers’ associations. In 2005, the Commission presented a legislative proposal to link passenger car taxation to the fuel efficiency of cars and to restructure the tax base of registration taxes and annual circulation taxes on the bases of CO2 emissions.
Taxing vehicles: In European countries, weight, horsepower, and engine size were the systems used to tax vehicle purchase or ownership. Post 2006, many countries like France, Germany, and Sweden shifted their tax systems to
CO2 emissions rates to encourage consumers to purchase vehicles that emit less CO2. In 2008, France introduced a program that offered subsidies to purchases of low emission cars and imposed taxes on purchases of high emission cars. For example, purchasers of vehicles with emissions rates between 120g and 130g of CO2/km received a subsidy of 200euros, and purchasers of vehicles with emissions rates between 100g and 120g of CO2/km received a subsidy of 700euros. Cars with below 60g of CO2/km emission levels get a subsidy of 5,000euros, but there were no such vehicles during the tax reform (Thomas and Joshua, 2012).
In Netherland, there are four different taxes of car purchase and use: Registration tax, which is levied on purchase of a new vehicle, depending on engine type; Annual circulation tax, which is indexed to vehicle weight and fuel type; Fuel tax, which is levied on total amount of fuel consumed by vehicles; and Value Added Tax (VAT), which is levied on newly purchased passenger cars as well as on fuel. The Dutch VAT rate for newly purchased passenger cars is 19% (Kampman and Boon, 2005).
As Richard and Roy (2008) indicated, all developing nations use different tax systems to tax motor vehicles. Nevertheless, most of them use import and excise duties to tax motor vehicles. In some other developing countries like Syria, Malaysia and Thailand, vehicles are taxed based on distance travelled, registration fees and passenger and freight rates.
Regulating the fuel efficiency of new cars: This could be elaborated in one of the several ways: per car, (all cars must comply with e.g. 120g of CO2/km), per manufacturer (the average fuel consumption of all cars sold by the manufacturer must comply), or for the industry as a whole (the average car marketed must comply). Alternatively, individual manufacturers or the industry could be obligated to achieve a certain percentage improvement in fuel efficiency (Kampman and Boon, 2005).
Promoting fuels with less CO2 emissions: With respect to the promotion of bio fuels, Kampman and Boon (2005) indicated that, Dutch policy aims for a 2% mix of bio fuels in road transport in 2006. Oil companies are obligated by law to mix of up to 2% of bio fuels in petrol and diesel and subsidies will be provided to promote use of new bio fuels.
Promoting bicycle use: In Stockholm, bicycle trips occur up to 15.20km. 72% of the population has access to a bicycle. According to the estimated car traffic volumes and bicycle travel time, increased bicycle travel time would result in 2% reduction of car traffic volumes and consequent CO2 emissions by 5% (Eizindqvist and Tegher, 2008).
Improved public transport network: A transport strategy to improve the public transport network is a common policy in most cities. Depending on the structure of such improvements and the success of their implementation, various results could be obtained. A specific high quality public transport strategy for Stockholm would yield a 39 kiloton (3.3%) decreases in CO2 emissions (Eizindqvist and Tegher, 2008).
Road use pricing: Transport economist have recommended road pricing as an efficient measures to curb the excess usage of cars in the cities. A recent road pricing studies have been carried and estimated a 24% reduction in traffic volumes in the inner city of Stockholm. The estimated impact on the CO2 emissions would be 141 kiloton in the city of Stockholm (12%) in total emission level. This has a strongest impact on the reduction of carbon dioxide levels of all the examined measures (Eizindqvist and Tegher, 2008).
Improved road infrastructures: Although additional urban roads increase car ownership, as accessibility will be enhanced by improved road capacity, sometimes new road facility removes urban problems by reducing the amount of vehicle kilometers driven, shorter trip distances, and avoiding congestions (Borrego and Sucharov, 2008).
Demand reduction: This is challenging because of the economic and social opportunities that road transport provides. However, reduced demand may provide other benefits, e.g. reduced CO2 emissions through fuel price increment. This could lead to modal shift, decreased travel, and more efficient driving (David, Robin, and Botas, 2010).
A policy for sustainable transport development is the other indispensable measure of mitigating vehicular emissions. Among the various policy options for sustainable transport development, the most important ones are described below:
Application of Push and pull approach: One way of viewing transport problem is to analyze it from the standpoint of where we should “push” people and from which modes we should “pull” them. To achieve the “pull” component, one must provide good quality of public transport service and develop infrastructure and policies that improve conditions for the use of non- motorized transport. To achieve the “push component”, policies must be in place to discourage use of cars by eliminating fuel subsidies, charging automobile ownership and use, and creating policies that make use of the revenue from those charges to enhance sustainable urban transport (Shanghai manual, 2012).
Improvement in Public Transport: This measure implies the development of high quality of public transport systems, which includes mass transit systems like Bus Rapid Transit, Subway and light-rail systems, which are rapid, cost- effective and environmentally friendly urban transport systems (Shanghai manual, 2012).
Integration of Land Use and Transport Planning: This measure requires development of mixed land use and medium to high densities along key corridors within cities through appropriate land use policies that promote transit oriented development when introducing new public transport infrastructure (Jiang, Feng, Wu, and Xu, 2008).
Promotion of Non-Motorized Transport: This refers to walking, cycling and other wheels with no engine such as freight tricycles. These modes have been greatly promoted recently due to their great benefits for reducing transport emissions. Non-motorized transport have to be integrated in transport plans (Shanghai manual, 2012).
Implementation of Travel Demand Management Policy: This measure assists in reducing the demand for travel. It aims at discouraging use of private vehicles through congestion charges, safety, pollution costs, road and parking pricing, and encouraging different work schedules to minimize traffic jams during peak hours (Jiang et al., 2008).
Enforcement of Vehicle Testing and Compliance: This policy option incorporates formal vehicle registration systems and appropriate regular vehicle inspection and maintenance set out by national authority and enforcement of standards for fuel quality and emissions for all vehicles, including new and inuse vehicles (Jiang et al., 2008).
In addition to the above stated policy options, Manfred, Armin, and Pardo (2010) has identified charges and taxes, subsidies, and auctions and bidding schemes as basic economic instruments for transport policy.
2.4.4 Current Status of Road Transport in Ethiopia
According to Ethiopian Road Transport Authority (2012), road transport in Ethiopia is classified in to three categories on the bases of loading capacity. These are:
I. Dry cargo vehicle: This category has total number 36,865 vehicles; of which 2779 are private uses, 30,644 are commercial uses, 2609 are governmental uses, 162 are public association uses, and the rest 649 are NGOs. Out of the dry cargo vehicles, 8276 are pickups, 8741 are 16-35 quintal carriers, 9719 are 36-100 quintal carriers, 5100 are 101-150 quintal carriers, and the rest 5029 are above 150 quintal carriers.
II. Passenger vehicles: This category has total number of 103,952 vehicles; of which 15,997 are taxis, 53,330 are private uses, 19,619 are commercial uses, 8228 are government uses, 1326 are public association uses, and the rest 5452 are NGOs. From the total number of passenger vehicles, 56,775 are automobiles, 17,060 are station wagon, 11,410 are double cab, 12,835 are minibuses, 2464 are 13-25 seats, 1699 are 26-44 seats, and the rest 1709 are above 44 seats.
III. Tanker vehicle: This category has total number of 2564 vehicles; of which 4 are private uses, 2384 are commercial uses, 137 are government uses, and the rest 24 are NGOs. Out of the total number of tanker vehicles, 306 carry below 10,000 liters, 935 carry 10,001-17,000 liters and the rest 1308 tanker trucks carry above 17,000 liters.
According to the authority, the annual growth rate in motor vehicles in Ethiopia is estimated to be 10%. With regard to its spatial distributions; Addis Ababa has highest fleet size, i.e. 53.83%, followed by Oromia (7.73%); SNNPR (4.13%); Tigray (4.12%); Amahara (3.36%); Diredawa (1.76%); Somalia (1.17 %); Harari (1.03%); Afar (0.35%); Gambela (0.19%); Benishangul (0.28%); and the rest 22.05% are ET plates.
Road transport in Ethiopia is regulated by Federal Transport Authority in federal level and by Regional Transport Bureau at state level. Setting vehicle emission standards is among the main responsibility of Federal Transport Authority.
2.5 International Legal Frameworks of Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions
The Clean Air Act of 1963 was the first US federal legislation regarding air pollution control. The act authorized development of emission standards for stationary sources, but not mobile sources. In the Clean Air Act Extension of 1970, the Congress greatly expanded the federal mandate by requiring comprehensive federal and state regulations for industrial and mobile sources. According to United States Environmental Protection Agency (1990), the law established four new regulatory programs: National Ambient Air Quality Standards for carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, hydrocarbons and photochemical oxidants; State Implementation Plans; New Source Performance Standards; and National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.
Cops are the other main global legal frameworks for addressing climate change. This year’s COP (19) was held in Warsaw, Poland. The entire day was dedicated to transport and the focus was on the importance of integrating transport sector in addressing climate change. As to Holger, Benoit, and Hilda (2013), the key discussion points of the day were: Mitigation potential of the transport sector to greenhouse gas emissions; Policymaking on sustainable low carbon transport in the developing world; Ensuring effective transport Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions; Integrating adaptation in transport policies; and Financing sustainable low carbon transport.
The main achievement of COP 19 was the adoption of the Warsaw Statement on Low Carbon Transport and Sustainable Development, which contains recommendations on how to strengthen sustainable and low carbon transport development.
After the adoption of European Commission strategy in 2007, the European Union has put a comprehensive legal framework in place to reduce CO2 emissions from new light duty vehicles to meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol. The legislation sets binding emission targets for new car and van fleets. For cars, manufacturers are compelled to ensure that their new car fleet does not emit more than an average of 130g of CO2/Km by 2015 and 95g of CO2/Km by 2020. This compares with an average of 160g in 2007 and 135.7g in 2011. For vans, the target is 175g of CO2/Km by 2017 and 147g of CO2/Km by 2020. This compares with an average emission standards of 203g in 2007 and 181.4g in 2010 (European commission, 2013).
Similarly, in United States, EPA is finalizing carbon dioxide emission standards for cars, where each vehicle has different CO2 emissions depending on the size of the vehicle. CO2 emission levels are projected to decrease from 212 to 143g/mi between 2017 and 2025. In the same way, CO2 emission levels for trucks are projected to decrease from 295 in 2017 to 203g/mi in 2025 (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2012).
In terms of fuel consumption, the 2015 target for European Union is approximately 5.6 l/100km of petrol or 4.9 l/100 km of diesel. The 2020 target equates approximately to 4.1 l/100km of petrol or 3.6 l/100km of diesel. In 2012, the Commission proposed legislation for implementing the 2020 targets. The intention is to ensure that CO2 emissions from vehicles continue to reduce and to innovate technologies (European commission, 2013).
With respect to reduction of greenhouse gas emission level, Kyoto Protocol had set the amount of emissions that nations have to achieve in the period of 2008 to 2012 (having base line in 1990). In line with this, Article 2 (a) of the protocol states that:
“each Party included in Annex I, in achieving its quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments under Article 3, in order to promote sustainable development, shall implement and/or further elaborate policies and measures in accordance with its national circumstances, such as: (i) Enhancement of energy efficiency in relevant sectors of the national economy; (ii) Measures to limit and/or reduce emissions of greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol in the transport sector; and (iii) Limitation and/or reduction of methane emissions through recovery and use in waste management, as well as in the production, transport and distribution of energy ” .
Further, Article 3(1) of the protocol states that, the Parties included in Annex I shall ensure that, their emissions do not exceed their assigned amounts, and in accordance with the provisions of the Article, countries shall reduce their overall emissions of such gases by at least 5% below the 1990 levels in the period of 2008-2012 (United Nations, 1998).
2.5.1 Financing Instruments for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in Transport Sector
According to Diaz (2011), there are different financial sources for assisting climate change mitigation measures in diverse transport sectors. These sources of finance support the various transport sectors technically and financially as summarized in the table below:
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As clearly indicated in the table above, Clean Development Mechanism, UNDP, Hayotama initiative, Global Environmental Facility, Clean Technology Fund, and International Climate Initiative are the main sources of financial (grant and loans) and technical supports for transport sector through capacity building, operational, technological, and infrastructural assistances. Out of the transport modes, non-motorized and urban public transits are supported by all of the financial sources except Hayotama Initiative, which is unclear. However, road transport is supported by only three of the financial sources, i.e. UNDP (technical support), Global Environmental Facility (financially and technically), and Clean Technology Fund (financially). Out of the financial sources, UNDP, Global Environmental Facility, and Clean Technology Fund support all modes of transport. In contrary, International Climate Initiative supports only two of the modes of transport, i.e. non-motorized and urban public transit via grant.
2.6 Policies and legal frameworks of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Ethiopia
According to Tsehaynesh (n.d), elements of vehicle emissions in Ethiopia are CO, CO2, volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter. The greenhouse gas inventory made in the period from 1990 to 1995 indicates that, Ethiopia's total CO2 emission were estimated to be 2596Gj for 1994, of which 88% came from fossil fuel combustion in the energy and road transport sectors. Carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide emissions were estimated to be 7619Gj and 24Gj respectively, of which 44% of carbon monoxide and 12% of nitrous oxide emissions were sourced from energy sector. Sulphur dioxide emissions were estimated to be 13Gj, of which fossil fuel use in the manufacturing industries, construction, and transport sub sectors were its main sources. Generally, the contribution of transport sector to total national greenhouse gas emissions was 3%; out of this, 75% are generated from road transport sector (CRGE, 2011).
Ethiopia is a signatory to the United Nation Frame Work Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC). For this reason, Ethiopia is working to reduce greenhouse gas emission by initiating Climate Resilience Green Economy Strategy. The climate change mitigating measures integrated in the CRGE are: Introduction of fuel efficiency standards for cars; promotion of the purchase of hybrid and electric vehicles; construction of an electric rail network; improvement of urban transport in Addis Ababa by introducing urban electric rail and by enabling fast and efficient bus transit; and substitution of imported fossil with domestically produced bio-diesel and bio-ethanol (CRGE, 2011).
With regard to legal frameworks, the possible legal and institutional aspects in relation to environment protection are in place. These include: Proc 2/1995 established the Federal Environmental Protection Authority with a mandate of protecting and preserving ecosystems of Ethiopian environment.
Proc 468/2005 established the Federal Transport Authority, which empowers the authority to be involved in the preparation and implementation of standards of the exhaust pipe emissions in consultation with the respective organizations.
Proc 681/2010 governs the vehicles identification, inspection and registration with a provision that an authorized inspector shall inspect each vehicle for establishing the vehicle compliance with environmental pollution protection standards.
In addition to the above federal proclamations, Addis Ababa City Government’s Environmental Pollution Control Regulation has included air quality standard in Regulation No.25/2007. Further, the FDRE Environmental Pollution Control Proclamation (2002), Proclamation No. 300/2002, states that:
“ 1) No person shall pollute or cause any other person to pollute the environment by violating the relevant environmental standard.
2) The Authority or the relevant Regional environmental agency may take an administrative or legal measure against a person who, in violation of law, releases any pollutant to the environment.
4) Any person who causes any pollution shall be required to cleanup or pay the cost of cleaning up the polluted environment in such a manner and within such a period as shall be determined by the Authority or by the relevant regional environmental age ” .
With regard to environmental standards, the proclamation states that; Air quality standards that specify the ambient air quality and give the allowable amounts of emission for both stationary and mobile air pollution sources have to be in place.
The other activities being taken on in Ethiopia regarding vehicle emission reductions are: decongesting roads by introducing traffic management tools; preparation of draft for policy document on age limitation of imported vehicles; projects for sustainable transport such as light rail transit are ongoing; preparation of vehicle emission standards by the Transport Authority is in progress; and a draft document for emission standards is prepared by the Environmental Protection Authority (Tsehaynesh, n.d).
2.7 Conceptual Framework
The expansion of urban transport is caused by several factors; of which the increase in population, income growth, home-work distances and urban land use systems are the major ones. Increment in number of urban transport is accelerating the global climate change through the emissions of greenhouse gases. Unless emission reduction measures are taken, the growing number of urban transport will continue to put its pressure on the atmosphere and will exacerbate social vulnerability to adverse impacts of climate change. Several greenhouse gas emission reduction measures are in place that could further classified as technical and non-technical. These measures are expected to reduce the current level of greenhouse gas emissions and enhance development of sustainable urban transport that in turn can reduce the incident of adverse climate change impacts.
illustration not visible in this excerpt
Source: Developed by the researcher based on the studies made by Inner City Fund International (2008), Shanghai manual (2012), and David, Robin, and Ricardo (2010).
2.8 Research Gaps
Most researchers like, Liold and Lewis (2005), Joyce, Dermot and Matrin (2007), and Inner City Fund International (2008), had assessed the causes of urban transport expansion and its possible impacts on climate. Other researchers like, Borrego and Sucharov (2008), David, Robin and Botas (2010), and Eizindqvist and Tegher (2008) assessed the effectiveness of various climate change mitigation measures and their consequent benefits. Finally, these studies recommended the possible climate change mitigation measures of urban transport. However, the researchers were limited to climate change mitigation measures of developed nations. As a result, little is known about greenhouse gas emission reduction measures of urban transport in cities of least developed nations. Therefore, this study will try to fill this knowledge gap by assessing the greenhouse gas emission reduction measures being under taken at a city level of a developing nation. Moreover, this dissertation endeavors to compare carbon dioxide emission levels of different automobile models which is not researched yet.
2.9 Conclusion
In the above section, various theoretical and empirical literatures written in the area of the study are reviewed. Generally, there are four important periods of urban transport evolution. Technological innovations and the growth in income and population are among the reasons behind the evolution and expansion of urban transport. There are diverse models and approaches of measuring greenhouse gas emission of vehicles. Urban road transport accounts for about 18% of global carbon dioxide emissions. In Ethiopia, the contribution of transport sector to the total national greenhouse gas emissions is 3%. Abatement of greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles entails technical and non- technical measures. Further, international and national policy frameworks, financing instruments, and policy options are in place that are vital for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and sustainable development of urban transport. Based on the discussed related literatures, conceptual framework is developed and research gaps for the study are identified. In the next chapter, research methodology of the study is discussed in detail.
CHAPTER THREE Research Methodology
3.1 Introduction
In this chapter, operational definition of variables and research methodology which includes research design, methods of data collection, sampling technique, sources of data, methods of data analysis and presentation, and important points about carbon calculator model are discussed in depth.
3.2 Operational Definition of Variables
Modes of urban transport: This concept refers to all forms of motorized and non-motorized road transports available in urban areas.
Urban transport: This concept in this paper refers to all forms of motorized modes of urban road transport.
Climate change: This concept refers to alterations in the average weather condition of an area over a long period of time due to greenhouse gas emissions. Mitigation measures: This concept refers to any activity intended to reduce the level of greenhouse gas emissions entering to the atmosphere from urban transport.
Greenhouse gases: This term in this paper refers to carbon dioxide and other gases emitted from urban road transport which can potentially warm the globe. Fuel efficiency: This term refers to the total mileage travelled by motor vehicles per a liter of fuel.
3.3 Research Design
The main objective of the study is to assess greenhouse gas emission reduction measures in urban transport of Mekelle city. To achieve the objectives of the study, a descriptive research, which incorporates both qualitative and quantitative research approaches is applied. This is mainly to describe the existing realities and phenomenon numerically and in a meaningful way. To efficiently collect factual data from the sampled population using questionnaire, a survey research strategy is employed. Moreover, approximation of longitudinal study using cross sectional research is used for the time dimension of the study in order to solicit data about the past.
3.4 Methods of Data Collection
3.4.1 Observation
To flexibly view the units to be observed and capture data about what is happening in the urban transportation of the city; unstructured observation (with flexible schedules) was used. Vehicle congestions, parking sites, and suitability of roads for walking and cycling in the city were observed for two consecutive days between 1:30-5:30 PM, and pictures were captured.
3.4.2 Key informant interview
Semi-structured interview is employed to acquire data from head officials of road transport. This is essentially to make the interview guided by flexible schedules for asking elaboration and to make the interviewee more relaxed. This technique is used to gather data on ongoing and planned greenhouse gas mitigation measures in urban transport of the city from transport office of the city and transport bureau of the region.
3.4.3 Questionnaire
Both open and close ended questionnaire was administered to selected private automobile owners. This is to obtain structured response and self- expressed opinions from private automobile owners concerning the data that are important to determine the level of vehicle’s carbon dioxide emissions and causes of car expansion. The questionnaire was translated to and delivered in local language (Tigrigna).
3.4.4 Documentary Sources
Data regarding main causes of urban transport expansion, the trends and current status of urban transport of the city, and the technical and non-technical greenhouse gas mitigation measures being undertaken in urban transport of the city are generated from archives like reports, published and unpublished books, internet and other related researches.
3.5 Sampling Techniques
Non-probability sampling is the sampling technique adopted for this study. Based on purposes of the study and characteristics of the motor vehicles, purposive sampling has been used to select the population from which sample for the study was taken. This helps to gather pertinent data that are crucial for the achievement of objectives of the study. Furthermore, haphazard sampling has been employed for the selection of respondents for administering the questioner. This is mainly due to the mobile nature of the respondents.
3.5.1 Population
The study focuses on the motorized urban road transport modes of Mekelle city. According to the region’s transport bureau, currently there are about 10,000 motor vehicles registered in the city. This includes, 2,926 of taxis (code 1), 1,146 of private automobiles (code 2), 4,731 of commercial vehicles (code 3), 1,169 of government vehicles (code 4), and 64 of NGO cars (code 5). Due to budget and time constraint, the researcher is limited to one category of the urban transport that was selected purposively. Since purposive sampling is used, the sample for the study was selected based on the motor vehicles contribution for the identified problems and mainly based on availability of substitutions for the transport type. Accordingly, private automobiles (code 2) were selected for taking sample for this research.
3.5.2 Sampling Frame
The sampling frame for the study was the list of registered private automobiles (code 2) available in transport office of Mekelle city.
3.5.3 Sampling Unit
Owners of private automobiles (code 2) operating in Mekelle city were the unit of analysis for the study.
3.5.4 Sample Size
According to transport office of Mekelle city, there are 1,146 private automobiles operating in the city. Based on Godden (2004), if population is less than 50,000, the following sample size determination formula is appropriate when dealing with descriptive statistics. Therefore, the formula was adopted to determine respondents for the study.
Where:
Z= confidence level
P = percentage of population picking a choice
C = confidence interval
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Assuming 95% of confidence level, the sample size for this study is calculated as:
Sample size =[illustration not visible in this excerpt]
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The final sample size will be =
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Therefore, 167 was the final sample size for the study.
3.6 Sources of Data
Data for the study were generated from both primary and secondary data sources.
3.6.1 Primary data sources
The primary data sources for the study were private automobile owners, head of transport office of Mekelle city, head of transport bureau of Tigray National Regional State, and Traffic police of Mekelle city.
3.6.2 Secondary data sources
Books, reports, internet, published and unpublished texts, and related researches written on the area of the study were the secondary data sources for this study.
3.7 Data Analysis and Interpretation
The data that are collected from both primary and secondary data sources were carefully analyzed by using qualitative and quantitative method of data analysis. Qualitative method of data analysis (narrative statistics) is used for analyzing non-numerical data. While quantitative method of data analysis (descriptive and statistical analysis) is used for analyzing numerical data, like the trend in car growth. To analyze the data needed for carbon dioxide emission measurement, Microsoft Excel is employed.
Carbon calculator model
The procedure for calculating carbon dioxide emissions from motor vehicles is obtained from Carbon calculator model. The model is developed by Institute of Environmental Management and Analysis corporate members. It is used to calculate carbon emissions from motor vehicles (cars, freight, bus, and motor cycles), flights, house, and rail. The model serves several businesses and organizations around the world. According to the Institute of Environmental Management and Analysis corporate member (2013), over 20,000 of business carbon footprint are assessed by the model annually.
The model uses distance covered by the vehicle, manufactured date, model of the vehicle, and fuel type of the vehicle under study as an input to calculate carbon dioxide emissions from the selected motor vehicles.
Car emissions in the model are calculated by dividing the miles driven by the fuel efficiency of the vehicle. This number is then multiplied by the CO2 emissions coefficient, i.e. 19.36 lbs CO2/gallon of gasoline. Finally, the value is divided by 2204.6 lbs/metric ton to convert the value in pounds to tones of CO2 emitted from car travel.
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Source: Institute of Environmental Management and Analysis corporate member (2013).
This calculation model is adopted for this study with some modifications as it is easy, cost effective and time efficient, and integrate main drivers of car emissions among other models. Eventually, the following formula is derived based on the above stated carbon emission calculation model:
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As to the corporate members, the calculations for motor vehicle emissions are based on conversion factors sourced from:
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), UK
- World Resource Institute (WRI) Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol
- Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), UK
- US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), USA
- US Department of Energy (DOE), USA
- Green House Office - Australia
- Standards Association (CSA) GHG Registries, Canada
Potential weaknesses of the model
The model does not consider physical landscapes, road type and travelling speed of vehicles. In addition, the model does not account gases emitted during stay of cars being motor is on and during traffic jams. Moreover, the model only measures carbon dioxide emissions from a single car; hence, it cannot be used to calculate total emissions from vehicles in a city or a region unless data are entered separately.
3.8 Data Presentation
The analyzed qualitative data are presented and interpreted in a descriptive text, report form, photographs and self explanatory statements. Whereas, the analyzed quantitative data are presented using tables, charts, graphs and map.
3.9 Conclusion
This study deals with assessing greenhouse gas mitigation measures in urban transport of Mekelle city. To attain objectives of the study, a descriptive research with qualitative and quantitative research approaches, approximation of longitudinal study using cross sectional research, and survey research strategy are applied. Non-probability sampling is the sampling technique used for the study. The population of the study was the total number of vehicles in Mekelle city, and the sample size was determined from the total number of private automobiles (code 2) in the city. Relevant data for the study were collected from primary and secondary data sources using questionnaire, interview, observation, and document analysis. These data are carefully analyzed, interpreted, and finally presented using appropriate data presentation methods.
CHAPTER FOUR Findings and Discussions
4.1 Introduction
This chapter deals with findings and discussions of the study. In this chapter, response rate, general background of respondents, carbon dioxide emission level of private automobiles, trend in cars expansion, current status of urban transport, causes of urban transport expansion, and greenhouse gas mitigation measures in urban transport of Mekelle city are briefly presented using various appropriate data presentation techniques.
4.2 Response Rate
To avoid some of the improperly filled questionnaire and to surrogate the mislaid ones, 180 questionnaires were administered to private automobile owners by three data collectors (60 questionnaires each); of which, 167 questionnaires were properly filled and collected. Accordingly, the response rate for this study is 92.5%.
4.3 General Background of Respondents
Most 149 (89.23%) of the respondents for this study, as shown in table 4.1, are males and the rest 18 (10.77%) are females. With regard to the age structure of the respondents, most 126 (75.5%) of them are in the age group of 25-54. Those whose age group is 55-64 follow by 26 (15.56%). The respondents with age group of above 65 and 18-24 have least share, i.e. 8 (4.8%) and 7 (4.2%) respectively.
Table 4.1: Sex and age structure of respondents
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Source: field survey, 2014
The data concerning educational status of the respondents shows that, 76 (45.5%) of them are degree holders followed by diploma, 29 (17.36%), secondary school complete, 26 (15.56%), and elementary (5-8) school completed that account for 18 (10.78%). PHD and above have the least share, 3 (1.83%) followed by master degree holders, 15 (8.98%).
Table 4.2: Educational status of respondents
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Source: field survey, 2014
Concerning the occupation of respondents, 104 (62.3%) of the private automobile owners are self-employed followed by private organization and government recruits that accounts for 40 (23.9%) and 23 (13.8%) respectively.
The organizational structure of Mekele City’s Transport Office incorporates head office, coordinator, and two follow-up teams of all the drivers and vehicles of the city; hence, the organizational structure does not have an environmental pollution follow-up team. Regarding their educational status, only 5 (29.42%) out of the total 17 permanent workers have bachelor degree and the rest 12 (70.58%) are diploma holders.
4.4 Results and Interpretations
4.4.1 Carbon Dioxide Emission Level of Private Automobiles in Mekelle City
Energy and activity based approaches were used to calculate carbon dioxide emission of the automobiles. Energy based approach is used because, data regarding energy use of the vehicles were obtained and standard emission factor is used to convert values to carbon dioxide emissions. Activity based approach on the other hand, is used to manually calculate the emission level. Combination of the two approaches helps to minimize the shortcoming of the approaches and to be benefited from their synergy. The following formula is sourced from carbon calculator model in order to compute carbon dioxide emission level of motor vehicles.
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Source: Institute of Environmental Management and Analysis corporate member (2013).
To make the calculation compatible with the data gathered, miles were substituted by kilometers. The emission factor, i.e. 19.36 lbs CO2/gallon, is divided for 2204.6 so as to convert the pounds of CO2 emissions to metric tons.
19.36 lbs CO2/gallon is equivalent with 19.36 lbs CO2/3.78541 liters or 5.115 lbs CO2/liter. This is also equivalent with 2.32012kg CO2/liter. Vehicle’s emission factor is computed based on the averaged details of: vehicle numbers; annual mileage travelled; fuel specifications; road distribution by type of road; average vehicle speed; and temperature and humidity (Hao, Andrew, and Michael, 2013). The vehicle’s emission factor for any diesel and gasoline car in Ethiopia is 2.67kg CO2/liter and 2.42kg CO2/liter respectively (CRGE, 2011).
In due course, the above formula was modified and the following formula was finally used to compute carbon dioxide emissions of automobiles and results are described in terms of grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, since international standard of carbon dioxide emissions of cars is expressed in grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer.
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Source: derived by the researcher based on the motor vehicle’s CO2 emission computation procedure of carbon calculator model.
To obtain the mileages driven, an estimation given by automobile owners on their average distance travelled per day is used as summarized in the table below.
Table 4.3: Average distance travelled per day by private automobiles
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Source: field survey, 2014
Mileage of cars is the initial requirement to compute vehicle emissions. According to table 4.3, most 82 (49.1%) of the private automobiles travel for 21-25kms per day averagely, followed by others travelled for 16-20kms (31.13%). The least distance traveled by the selected private automobiles is 10- 15kms, which accounts for 13 (7.78%). Generally, the average distance travelled by the private automobiles per day is 20.74km.
Fuel efficiency is the other most important requirement while computing emission level of cars. The fuel efficiency of these cars is sourced from US Environmental Protection Agency; office of Transportation and Air Quality. For locally assembled cars, fuel efficiency data were obtained from their respective sale houses. Vintage and model of the cars is used as an input to acquire the fuel efficiency of these cars. The result was given in gallons (US) per 100 miles, and the value was converted to kilometers driven per liter.
Accordingly, the carbon dioxide emission level of the selected private automobiles (code 2) of Mekelle city is summarized in the table below.
Table 4.4: Carbon dioxide emission level of private automobiles
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Source: computed based on the data obtained from the field survey, 2014
As observed in table 4.4, 107 (64.07%) of the private automobiles are Toyota motors. Out of these Toyota Motors, 42 (39.25%) are Corolla cars followed by Corolla DX, 15 (14%), Executive, 14 (13.01%), Corolla GL, 13 (12.15%), Yaris, 11 (10.3%), Vitz, 6 (5.6%), Land Cruiser, 4 (3.75%), and Rav4 4WD, 2 (1.85%).
Suziki motors are the second largest in number next to Toyota motors by having 25 (14.37%) of shares. Vitara is the only Suziki motors model. The other cars include Lifan motors, 8 (4.8%); Holland and Diahatsu motors (3.6% each); Geely, Mercedes Benz, and Mitsubishi motors (1.8% each); Renault motors (1.2%); and Mahindra motors (0.6%).
Figure 4.1: An average carbon dioxide emission levels by car models
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Source: computed based on the data obtained from field survey, 2014
The above chart shows that, land cruiser cars emit highest amount of carbon dioxide (450.6grams of CO2/km) followed by WllB (383.09grams of CO2/km), Vitara (272.27grams of CO2/km), Colt (269.43grams of CO2/km), and Rav4 4WD (239.072 gram of CO2/km). On the other hand, Atoz cars emit lowest level of carbon dioxide (173.61grams of CO2/km) followed by Yaris and Terious (176.45grams of CO2/km each), Shebelle (177.02grams of CO2/km),
Vitz (177.88grams of CO2/km), and Lifan X-50 cars (178.16grams of CO2/km). Executive, Abay, Tekeze, and Addis cars have identical emission levels, i.e. 179.304grams of CO2/km.
Eleven different manufacturers fabricate these models of car. Figure 4.2 shows that, Mercedes Benz Motors emit highest amount of carbon dioxide (383.09grams of CO2/km) followed by Suzuki Motors (272.27 grams of CO2/km), Mitsubishi Motors (269.43grams of CO2/km), and Mahindra Motors (235.50grams of CO2/km). In contrary, Hyundai Motors emit the lowest amount of carbon dioxide (173.61grams of CO2/km) followed by Daihatsu Motors (176.45grams of CO2/km), Holland Motors (178.92grams of CO2/km), and Geely Motors that emit 179.3grams of CO2/km.
Figure 4.2: Average carbon dioxide emission levels by car producers
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Source: computed based on the data obtained from the field survey, 2014
Generally, the average emission level of private automobiles in Mekelle city is 209.93grams of CO2/km. This is much higher than the automobile emission standards of Europe, which is 203grams of CO2/km for 2007 and 181.4grams of CO2/km for 2010 (European Commission, 2013) and that of United States, which is 131.73grams of CO2/km for 2017 (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2012).
Fuel efficiency of cars is the most decisive factor of vehicle’s emission level, which in turn is determined by vintage, engine type, and model of the car. According to Ethiopian Road Transport Authority (2012), there is no fuel efficiency standard that limit the import of less fuel efficient vehicles by the country. The average fuel efficiency of the cars listed in table 4.4 is 12.115km/liter. Based on the African Public Transport Association Study for Addis Ababa, the Sub-Technical Committee of CRGE initiative estimated the fuel efficiency of private automobiles in Addis Ababa to be 8.33km/liter (CRGE, 2011). This indicates that, the fuel efficiency of private automobiles in Mekelle city is better than that of Addis Ababa. This is partly due to the variation in vintage of these cars. Various sources like Tsehaynesh (n.d) and Edwards (2010) shows that, most of the vehicles in Addis Ababa are more than 15 years old. Whereas, most (51.5%) of the sampled cars of Mekelle city are below 10 years old. Nevertheless, the fuel efficiency of Mekelle city is much poorer when compared with the average fuel efficiency of motor vehicles in United States, which is 19.04km/liter (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2012).
Carbon dioxide emission level of cars is also highly influenced by vintage of cars. Most 60 (35.92%) of the private automobiles described above are 4-8 years old followed by cars that are 9-13 years old, 54 (32.33%) and 14-18 years old, 33 (19.77%). On the other hand, the cars whose age is 2-3 years, 19-23 years, and 24-28 years have a percentage share of 5.34%, 4.8%, and 1.8% respectively. As shown in figure 4.3, the cars whose age is 24-28 emit 407.76grams of CO2/km on average. This reduces to 216.3grams of CO2/km when the age of these cars decreases to 19-23. However, the emission level increases to 228.32grams of CO2/km and 221.83grams of CO2/km when the age of the vehicles reduces by five and ten years respectively. This is partially due to the subsistence of different car models with different emission rates. For instance, the vintage of Land Cruiser in the year 1996-2000 and Mercedes Benz in the year of 2001-2005 has raised the average emission rate of the cars in their respective years. The average emission rate of the cars whose age is 4-8 years is 183.0014grams of CO2/km. This is lower by 21.22% than that of 9-13 years of cars. This further reduces to 179.05grams of CO2/km for those cars that are 2-3 years of service.
Figure 4.3: Carbon dioxide emission levels by vintage of cars
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Source: computed based on the data obtained from the field survey, 2014
Regarding the fuel type, nearly all, 159 (95.2%) of the automobiles are petrol vehicles, while the rest 8 (4.8%) of the cars are diesel vehicles. This corresponds with the ratio of diesel cars in Europe during 1990s, which accounted about 10%. Since the production of ethanol is increasing from time to time, and as it can only be muddle up with gasoline fuel, the dominance of petrol cars in Mekelle city could be seen as an opportunity in reducing car emissions. However, the number of diesel cars is increasing tremendously due to the improvements made to their engine power in the last two decades. This raised the share of diesel cars in Europe to 33.2% in 2009 (Cames and Helmers, 2013).
Generally, based on the fourth assessment report of IPCC (2001), diesel vehicles are more fuel efficient than petrol cars. Nevertheless, the calorific (heat) value of diesel fuel, which contains 14% of carbon per liter, is much higher than gasoline fuel. This increases the carbon dioxide emission level of diesel cars as compared to petrol cars. Furthermore, B and M Development Consultants (2006) showed that, the greenhouse gas emissions of petroleum products in Ethiopia for the year 2004 was largely contributed by diesel fuel followed by gasoline and jet fuel.
Although there is unbalanced ratio among the two engine typed vehicles in Mekelle city, their average carbon dioxide emission level indicates that, petrol cars emit 200.45grams of CO2/km on average, whereas, the average emission level of diesel cars in this case is 398.4grams of CO2/km. This great deviation is partly due to the entire, but one, diesel cars are more than ten years old; of which more than half of them are above 16 years old and two of the diesel cars are 24 and 28 years old. If the same years of gasoline and diesel cars are compared, their discrepancy reduces. For instance, 2002 diesel cars emit 351.69grams of CO2/km on average, while the average emission rate of all 2002 gasoline cars is 225.0089grams of CO2/km. In this case, gasoline cars emit much lower level of carbon dioxide than diesel cars. Furthermore, the emission factor, which is higher for diesel cars affects comparison of the emission level among the two engine types.
Generally, a sum of 725.603kg of carbon dioxide is emitted in Mekelle city daily from the selected 167 private automobiles. Means that, these private automobiles emit an average of 21,768.09kg of carbon dioxide monthly and 264,845.1kg of carbon dioxide annually.
4.4.2 Current Status of Urban Transport in Mekelle city
Road transport is the only existing type of transport in Mekelle city. According to transport office of the city, the total road network of the city is 243 km, of which 62 km is asphalt, 26 km is cobblestone, and 155 km is gravel and earthen road.
According to the transport studies report of Mekelle city (2010), the urban road transport of the city composes motorized and non-motorized transport. Motorized transport in the city includes Private cars, Bajaj, Small taxis (lada), Minibus taxis and code 3 minibuses, buses, small and large trucks with trailers, and motorbikes. On other hand, non-motorized transport in the city includes pedestrians, bicycles, horse drawn carts, hand pushed trolleys, and pack animals.
The report further shows that, traffic count was conducted in seven selected parts of the city for fourteen consecutive days. Accordingly, majority of the trips that accounts for 66.56% (1,075,199 trips) are made by non-motorized transport modes, out of which 94.05% (1,011,225 trips) are made by pedestrians. The next most dominant non-motorized trip is made by bicycles, which accounts for 4.28% (46,019 trips). Pack animals, hand pushed cart, and horse drawn cart accounts for 1.36% (14,623 trips), 0.24% (2,580 trips), and 0.15% (1,613 trips) respectively.
Motorized transport on the other hand, accounts for 33.44% (540,185 trips) of the total voyages in the city. Out of this, the larger share, 68.85% (371,917 trips) is accounted by passenger cars. Freight cars contribute the rest 31.15% (168,268 trips) of motorized transport voyages. Most of the passenger car trips is covered by Bajaj, 41.43% (154,085 trips) followed by minibus taxi, which accounts for 35.17% (130,803 trips). Buses, motor cycle, and small taxi (Lada) contribute 5.28% (19,637 trips), 2.8% (10,414 trips), and 1.98% (7,364 trips) to the total passenger car transport respectively.
The traffic count data of motor vehicles indicates that, private automobiles have made a total of 43,076 trips during the traffic count period. Hence, the share of private automobiles to the total urban road transport trips, motorized transport trips, and passenger car trips in the city is 2.66%, 7.98%, and 11.58% respectively.
Figure 4.4: Summary of motorized and non-motorized transport in Mekelle city
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Source: computed by the researcher based on the data obtained from transport studies report of Mekelle city
Walking is the most widely used mode of transport that accounts for 62.6% of all trips in Mekelle city. This is higher to a great extent as compared to Los Angeles in which the figure is only 3%. However, it is still lower than that of Tokyo in which walking accounts for 88% of all movements inside the city (Rodrigue, 2013).
The other transport study made by the city municipality (2010) on 600 sample commuters indicates that, pedestrate is the type of transport most often used. It was reported that most of the respondents that accounts for 201 (33.5%) use on foot transport. Minibus taxis and Bajaj are the next most often used types of transport by the respondents that accounts for 162 (27%) and 138 (23%) respectively. Buses and private cars are the other types of transport used by the respondents, which accounts for 39 (6.5%) and 38 (6.33%) respectively. Horse drawn carts and bicycles are the least often used transport that accounts for 4 (0.67%) and 16 (2.67%) respectively, and two of the respondents use other types of transport other than the stated ones.
Figure 4.5: Total number of vehicles by type in Mekelle city
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Source: computed from registration files at transport office of Mekelle city
The current total number of vehicles in the city is 12,303; of which 10,097 (82.07%) are motorized vehicles. Based on the population projection made for 2014, the present vehicle ownership rate for Mekelle city is 35.6 vehicles per 1000 peoples. This is much lower than what the Americans have experienced during 1920s, i.e. 89 vehicles per 1000 peoples (Kirby, 2000). However, it is still above the national average largely, which is two vehicles per 1000 vehicles (Belew, 2012).
Commercial cars have the highest percentage share of vehicles in the city, i.e. 4778 (38.83%), followed by taxis, 2934 (23.84%) and bicycles, 1622 (13.18%). Government cars and private automobiles have similar percentage share (9.52% and 9.33% respectively). Carts and NGO cars have the least (4.74% and 0.52% respectively) share in the current total number of vehicles in Mekelle city.
Data obtained from Mekelle transport office shows that there are 584 carts in the city. Out of this, 85% are registered and have plates. The remaining are not registered and hence, have not plates. Most of the carts give service within kedamaye Weyane, which is the center of market in the city.
Analyses of the vehicles by load capacity and service years
As shown in table 4.5, there are 2934 taxis in Mekelle city. 1504 (51.26%) of the taxis are found to have given service for less than 5 years. Those that gave service for 5-10 years accounting for 663 (22.6%) follow this. Those cars that gave service 11-15 years accounts for 320 (10.9%). This show that majority of the taxis are new and they emit relatively lower greenhouse gases. The rest 308 (10.5%) and 139 (4.74%) of the cars have given services for more than 20 years and 16-20 years respectively.
Table 4.5: Analysis of taxis (code 1 vehicles) by service of years and load capacity
Load Service Years
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Source: Compiled from registration files at the city’s office of transport
Regarding private automobiles, the data shows that, 488 (42.48%) of the private vehicles in the city have served for less than 5 years, followed by those cars that served for 5-10 years accounting for 235 (20.45%) and that served for 11-15 years accounting for 176 (15.31%). The number of vehicles that served for more than 20 years and 16-20 years in this case accounts for 123 (10.7%) and 123 (11.05%) respectively.
Table 4.6: Analysis of private (Code 2 vehicles) by service of years and load capacity
Load Service Years
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Source: Compiled from registration files at the city’s office of transport
The commercial public transport vehicles survey result by service years presented in table 4.7 shows that, majority of the vehicles that accounts for 804 (33.3%) have less than 5 years of service. Those cars that gave service for 5-10 years accounting for 552 (22.8%) follow this. In this case, the total number of vehicles that gave service for more than 20 years is higher, i.e. 481 (19.94%) and these vehicles that accounts for 364 (15.08%) and 212 (8.78%) have 11-15 and 16-20 years of service respectively.
Table 4.7: Analysis of public transport (code 3 vehicles) by service of years and load capacity
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Source: Compiled from registration files at the city’s office of transport
As compared to others, government owned vehicles that served for 5-10 years have highest percentage share (39.33%). These are followed by the cars that gave service for less than 5 years (35.85%). The other unique thing for code 4 vehicles is that, more than 20 years of service vehicles have the lowest percentage share (1.1%). The rest 11-15 and 16-20 years of vehicles accounts for 231 (19.63%) and 48 (4.08%) respectively.
Table 4.8: Analysis of government (Code 4 vehicles) by service of years and load capacity
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Source: Compiled from registration files at the regional bureau of transport Similar to the taxis, private automobiles, and commercial vehicles, the number of code 5 vehicles that served for less than 5 years have highest number, i.e. 38 (59.4%). In addition, like code 4 vehicles, the NGO cars that served for more than 20 years have the lowest percentage share, 1 (1.56%). The other NGO vehicles that gave service for 5-10, 11-15, and 16-20 years accounts for 14 (21.9%), 6 (9.4%), and 5 (7.8%) respectively.
Table 4.9: Analysis of NGOs (Code 5 vehicles) by service of years and load capacity
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Source: Compiled from registration files at the regional bureau of transport Unlike the other cars, dry cargo vehicles have relatively balanced distribution of cars among the different service of years. The largest number, 556 (29.3%) of dry cargo vehicles have given service for 11-15 years followed by 10-15 service of year vehicles that accounts for 527 (27.8%). The percentage share of the cars that have served for more than 20 years in this case is also lowest, 231 (12.18%). This is followed by the cars that have served for 16-20 years that accounts for 249 (13.12%).
Table 4.10: Analysis of dry cargo vehicles by service of years and load capacity
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Source: Compiled from registration files at the regional bureau of transport As compared to the other type of vehicles, dry cargo and tanker trucks have greater energy consumptions and hence emit higher amount of greenhouse gases than others emit. This is mainly due to the more energy they require to transmit their loads. Their energy consumption is also directly related with their loads.
Table 4.11: Analysis of tanker trucks by service years of and load capacity
Load Service Years
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Source: Compiled from registration files at the regional bureau of transport The data in table 4.11 shows that, the tanker trucks that have given service for 11-15 years have largest percentage share (32.64%) followed by the cars that served for 5-10 years (22.95%). In this case, unlike the other vehicles, the cars that served for less than 5 years have the lowest share (12.5%). The rest 19.3% and 12.6% of tanker vehicles is accounted by the cars that gave service for 16- 20 and more than 20 years respectively.
Figure 4.6: Summary
of vehicles by type and service years
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Source: computed from registration files at transport office of Mekelle city
Generally, as it can be seen from figure 4.6, most, 3710 (35.03%) of the vehicles in Mekelle city are less than 5 years old, of which, 40.53% are code 1 vehicles followed by code 3 vehicles, which account for 21.67%. The share of code 2, code 4, and dry cargo vehicles to the cars whose service year is less than 5 years is 13.15%, 11.37%, and 9.002% respectively. Tanker trucks and code 5 cars have least share to these cars, i.e. 3.23% and 1.03% respectively. The motor vehicles that served for 5-10 and 11-15 years are the other prevailing vehicles in Mekelle city that accounts for 2674 (25.25%) and 1966 (18.55%) respectively. Most (24.79%) of the 5-10 years of vehicles are code 1 vehicles followed by code 3 vehicles (20.65%) and dry cargo vehicles (19.7%). Additionally, dry cargo vehicles, code 3 vehicles, and code 1 vehicles have the highest share of the cars whose years of service are 11-15 years and accounts for 28.28%, 18.51%, and 16.27% respectively.
The cars that have served for more than 20 years are the other vehicle categories that have significant number in Mekelle city. The percentage share of these cars to the total number of motor vehicles in the city is 12.06% (1278 cars), of this number, 37..64% are code 3 vehicles followed by code 1 vehicles (24.1%) and dry cargo vehicles (18.08%). Code 2 and tanker vehicles have also considerable share of these exhausted cars, i.e. 9.62% and 9.46% respectively. The contribution of code 4 and code 5 cars to these exhausted cars is negligible.
The motor vehicles that have given service for 16-20 years occupy the rest 965 (9.1%) share of total number of motor vehicles in the city. Most (25.8%) of these cars are dry cargo vehicles followed by code 3 vehicles (21.97%) and tanker vehicles (19.17%).
4.4.3 Trend of Car Growth in Mekelle City
The number of vehicles in Mekelle city has been increasing since the beginning of registration of vehicles by the city transport bureau in 2001. The trend in car expansion of the city shows that, vehicles have growing in an average growth rate 17.34% for the last ten years. This is above the national and global average in which the figure is 10% nationally (Ethiopian Road Transport Authority, 2012) and 3% globally (Huffington Post Canada, 2013). The growth rate of vehicles in Mekelle city was relatively lower for 2005 and highest for 2010. The average growth rate of vehicles is highest for code 5 cars (25.51%) although they have the least share in the urban transport of the city. In contrary, code 2 cars have the least annual growth rate (9.9%). This indicates that, if alternative transport modes are made available, the rate could reduce further making the emission abatement efforts easier. The annual average growth rate for code 1, code 3, and code 4 is 20.35%, 18.92%, and 14.7% respectively.
Table 4.12: Total number and average growth rate of vehicles by code in
Mekelle city
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Source: compiled from the registration files at transport office of Mekelle city
The data in the vehicle registration bureau of Mekell city shows that, in 2001, about 240 minibuses and 45 small taxis were providing public transport services in Mekelle. According to same sources, taxi transport service in Mekelle city started in 1995. At that time, there were seven taxis providing services. The number of vehicles in the city has showed a rapid growth in the last decade. If the current trend keeps on, the total number of vehicles in the city will surpass 15,000 vehicles in the next three years and will be more than 20,000 vehicles by the year of 2020. This could be the main challenge for mitigating greenhouse gas emission of vehicles in the city.
Figure 4.7: Trend of car expansions in Mekelle city
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Source: compiled from the registration files at transport office of Mekelle city
As shown from the chart above, the number of registered vehicles in the city has more than doubled between 2003 and 2008 within 6 years of period. It also nearly doubled from the period of 2008 to 2012. When compared the growth rate of cars by their code, the trends in growth of code 2 and code 4 vehicles are found to be smooth. Code 1 cars have showed similar growth rate between the period of 2004 and 2007 and it underwent sharp increase during 2009. On the other hand, the average growth rate of code 3 cars is higher in between the years of 2003 and 2005, but it is low and has showed similar trend between the period of 2010 and 2012. The number of code 5 cars has been increasing in a sharp decreasing rate up to 2010 and started to move up in an increasing rate since 2010.
All these cars are composed of different types of vehicles. The following table shows the trend in the growth of passenger commercial vehicles and government cars in Mekelle city on the bases of their type and year of registration.
Table 4.13: Public transport vehicles survey result by type of vehicle and year of registration
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Source: Compiled from registration files at the city’s office of transport
As shown in table 4.13, passenger commercial vehicles in the city are composed of mid-buses, minibus taxis, and Bajaj. As compared to the number of taxis and Bajaj, the number of mid-buses is much lower. The number of minibus taxis has been the highest passenger commercial vehicle until 2010. Nevertheless, from the year of 2011 onwards, the number of Bajaj surpassed number of taxis. The average growth rate is highest for Bajaj (64.6%) followed by mid-buses (29.57%) and the growth rate for minibus taxis is lower (10.4%) as compared to mid-buses and Bajaj.
On the other hand, the types of government cars are composed of buses, minibuses, multipurpose and special service cars. Special vehicles have the highest average growth rate (25.28%), and government minibus cars have the lowest average growth rate (9.66%). Government buses and multipurpose cars have similar average growth rate, i.e. 15.003% and 14.06% respectively.
Table 4.14: Dry cargo vehicles survey result by load capacity and year of registration
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Source: Compiled from registration files at transport office of Mekelle city
The trend in dry cargo vehicles has been increasing in a decreasing rate except for the year of 2007 and 2012. The average growth rate for dry cargo vehicles in the city is 20.1%. The trend has showed maximum increase during 2004 (56.4%) and the lowest growth rate was recorded during 2011 (12.04%). The load capacity of these cars ranges from below 35 quintal to above 350 quintal. The average growth rate is highest (46.5%) for the cars whose load capacity is 71-120 quintals followed by 121-150 quintal of load capacity cars (39.16%) and 35-70 quintal of load capacity cars (38.52%). In contrary, the cars whose load capacity is above 350 quintal have showed the lowest growth rate (7.6%). The intensification in dry cargo vehicles is associated with the augmentation in economic activities of the city.
Table 4.15: Tanker trucks survey result by load capacity and year of registration
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Source: Compiled from registration files at the regional bureau of transport The trend in the total number of tanker trucks shows that, there were fluctuations in the growth rate throughout the years. The growth rate varies from 41.9% that occurred during 2004 to 4.8% in 2012 with an average growth rate of 17.02%. The load capacity of these cars ranges from below 13000 liters to above 45000 liters. The cars whose load capacity is below 13000 liters record the highest growth rate. These cars have increased three fold during 2006. The cars with 13001-20000 liters of load capacity follow by 23.7% of annual growth rate. The trend shows that, there is similar growth rate for the cars whose load capacity is 20001-30000 liters, 30001-40000 liters, and 40001-45000liters. The cars with above 45000 liters of load capacity have least (13.17%) average growth rate in relative to others.
4.4.4 Causes of Motorized Urban Transport Expansion in Mekelle City
In Ethiopia, the number of vehicles is increasing from time to time. The rapidly growing economy is identified as the main driver for freight transport increment; whereas, the growth in passenger transport is estimated to be driven by rapid population growth, rapid urbanization, and the growing per capita GDP (CRGE, 2011). The main causes for motorized urban transport growth in Mekelle city are discussed below.
i. Rapid urban population growth
Mekelle city, from the time of its establishment as regional capital city of Tigray, its population has been increasing from time to time. Currently, Mekelle is one of the highly populated cities of Ethiopia. The population and housing census of 1984 reveals that, population of the city was estimated to be 57,072. This number increased to 96,938 in 1994 (CSA, 1994). This shows that the population of the city has increased by 70% over a decade. In 2007, the population of the city further increased to 215,546 (CSA, 2007), showing about fourfold increase between the three census periods. Most of the growth was mainly due to immigration. The population of the city is assumed to increase at an average growth rate of 4.3%. The increase in number of population in the city has increased human activities and physical size of the city, and hence the need for mobility. This caused increment in urban transport. The following table shows the trend in the growth of human population in relation with number of vehicles in the last ten years.
Table 4.16: Growth in population and number of vehicles in Mekelle city
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Source: computed from CSA data and the files at the city’s office of transport
As shown from the table above, the number of human and vehicle population has been growing in an averagely faster growth rate. In addition, it is indicated that there is a positive strong relationship between the number of population and number of cars in the last ten years. This implies that as number of population increase, human activities that entail transportation services will be intensified. Moreover, urban population growth causes development of shelters in urban outskirt areas that are far distant from center of the city. As a result, urban transport will raise and expand its services to meet commuters.
ii. Intensification in economic activities and income growth
According to Bureau of Finance and Economic Development of Tigray National Regional State (2010), the GDP of the region has increased from 4.9% in 2000/1 to 14.2% in 2005/6 showing an average growth rate of 10.46, out of which agriculture, industry and service contribute 46.8%, 23.4%, and 29.9% respectively. Mekelle is the capital city and center of economic, political, and social activities for the region. The increase in GDP has implication in transport growth. Economic growth is the main cause for urban transport increment as it causes trade and market expansion. Trade and market in turn requires transportation so as to mobilize goods and services. As a result, number of transportation expands to meet these needs.
Mekelle city has large industries such as Messebo Cement Factory, Mesfin Industrial Engineering, Selam and Dashen Steel Factory, Quiha Garment, and various workshops and storages. Outputs and inputs of these industries covet transportation services. This causes augmentation in number of transport services in the city.
Mekelle has 48.54% share of all investments in the region in terms of number and 54.56% in terms of capital. The job creation share of the city from investments is 28.1%. From 1992-2009 there were 1074 investments in Mekelle city with a total capital of 10.925 billion Birr and 132,212 permanent and temporary jobs. As to Tigray investment promotion office, the number of projects increased from 57 to 1074 in the 2007-2009 periods and new jobs created increased from 11,958 to 132,212 within the same period. The construction sector is one of the key employers in the city. A total of 8612 individuals got permanent and temporary employment opportunities in the construction of condominium houses alone. This increases personal income and the need for transport.
In Mekelle, there are more than 800 cooperatives and 15000 small and micro enterprises and some of the MSE has currently transferred their capital to the middle and large-scale industries. The development of small and micro enterprise is considered as a critical issue in enhancing employment opportunity and means of transport expansion in the city.
Moreover, road construction in the city is one of the pioneer issues stated in the development plan of the city and the amount of expenditure for road construction has increased through the years. Data on this issue shows that, majority of the expenditure in 2007 fiscal budget was spent on construction of cobblestone and asphalt roads (BoFED, 2007). This increases accessibility and number of road transports.
Economic growth is directly linked with personal income growth. According to the study made in 45 countries by Joyce, Dermot, and Martin (2007), number of vehicles has increased as fast as income. The data obtained from private automobile owners indicates that, most, 103 (61.67%) of the respondents were in lower middle income status before they planned to purchase their cars and 49 (29.34%) of them were in upper middle income status. Whereas, the rest 15 (8.98%) of the car owners were under the lower income status.
Table 4.17: Monthly average income of respondents before purchase of their car
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Source: field survey, 2014
Currently, the income status of the respondents shows that, most, 94 (56.3%) of the private automobile owners are in higher income status, and 70 (41.9%) of them are in upper middle income status. Only 3 (1.8%) of the respondents are in lower middle income status. Generally, 15 (8.98%) of the respondents have totally moved from lower income status to lower middle, upper middle, and higher income status and most of the lower middle and upper middle income earners have shifted to their respective higher income levels. However, 13 (7.78%) of the upper middle income earners did not show improvements in their income status before and after car purchase. This could be due to wide range of the income category as compared to the other income statuses.
Table 4.18: Current monthly average income of automobile owners
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Source: field survey, 2014
It is clear that, unless one has the purchasing power, it is difficult to own a car. Therefore, the growth in income could be considered as the main driving force of transport growth.
In addition, it is identified that the main reason that caused respondents to purchase a car, as shown in the table 4.19, is longer home-work distances, 61 (36.5%) followed by income growth, 54 (32.4%) and lack of access to needed services on nearby, 52 (31.1%). Growth in income is the second main reason that forced respondents to purchase a car, 67 (40.1%) followed by Longer home-work distances, 63 (37.7%) and lack of access to needed services on nearby, 37 (22.2%). 78 (46.7%) of the respondents indicated that lack of access to needed services is the third main reason that forced them to purchase a car followed by growth in income, 46 (27.6%) and longer home-work distances 43 (25.7%).
Table 4.19: Main reason that cause respondents to purchase car
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Source: field survey, 2014
iii. Weak integration of the existing land use with transport system
Travel to and from different institutions, places and spaces is an essential activity in cities. Transport demand in cities is largely determined by the spatial arrangement of the different urban land uses. Land use in a city has a very close relationship with transport as different land uses generate varying levels of trips. Urban land uses determine the location and density of human activities. The location and density of human activities in turn requires spatial interactions with transport system to access different activities.
Mekelle city is divided into seven sub cities. Its layout and settlement pattern shows that the city is consolidated and dense at the core. In the periphery areas where new houses are being built, it is less dense. The city has separate kind of independent settlements such as Quiha, Aynalem, and Arid that are far from the center. There are new housing areas at the western part of the city called Adi- shundhin and Adi-ha that are also the major trip origins and destinations.
According to the existing land use map of the city, almost all commercial, services, administrative and recreation functions are located at the center. The northern and northeastern parts of the city are consists of industrial uses. Social services are more concentrated at the core, eastern and southern parts. Green areas are located around the recent built-up parts of the city. The distribution of
human activities in various parts of the city increases the need for transport and number of vehicles.
Table 4.20: Home-work distance of private automobile owners
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Source: field survey, 2014
As shown in table 4.20, the home-work distance of most, 94 (56.28%) of the respondents is 5-10km followed by those whose distance is 11-15km that accounts for 65 (38.92%). The respondents whose home-work distance is 16- 20km accounts for 8 (4.8%).
According to the study made by the transport office of the city (2010), the main purpose of trips in Mekelle city is found to be home to work, which accounts for 30.5%. The other main purposes of trips identified are visiting relatives and friends (14%), marketing (12%), recreation (16.5%), and others (27%). This indicates that, land use of the city is attracting more trips, which in turn causes higher transport demand and growth.
The transport office of Mekelle city has identified the major non-residential trip generators and attractions in the city. These areas attract many passengers from all over the city. The areas are:
- Market center in the city, which include Dfoa, Adi-Haki, Adi-Hawsi, Adi-Shimdihun, Kebelle 17, the cattle market, and Kedamay Weyane market,
- Mekelle University and Business College, and Mekelle Institute of Technology at Aynalem,
- Mekelle International Airport,
- Messobo Cement Factory, Mesfin Industrial Engineering and other manufacturing and warehouses located along the road to Illala and Lachi,
- Mekelle Referral Hospital and Nursing School,
- Recreation sites near municipality and Romanat areas, and Hawelti area,
- The regional bus terminal at the core, and
- Hotels, bars and restaurants in and around the core of the city.
The major housing settlement areas are found within the periphery areas of the city. Most of these housing areas are expanding to the boundary of the city in all directions. The density of these settlements will increase with time. Redevelopment of the city core is also underway. However, unless measures are taken to develop mixed urban land uses, it will be another burden for the transport of the city. This when coupled with the horizontal expansion of housing areas in the city, it will increase the demand for transportation.
iv. Inaccessible Public Transport
Mekelle’s transport system is solely based on road transport. Currently, there are 21 taxi routes and 58 trip lines in the city. All routes originate from the core and around Edaga Soni.
Figure 4.8: Existing public transport network of Mekelle city
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Source: Transport Bureau of Tigray National Regional State, 2010
The above map make clear that, most of the areas are inaccessible for public transport. Transit routes in most of the expansion areas that are being developed currently and in the residential areas of the periphery are found to be insufficient. According to the transport studies report of the city (2010), public transport routes reach housing settlements in one location, and then people walk on foot for up to a kilometer distance. Such areas include those located at the eastern edge of the city with a distance of up to 480m. In Adi-Shumdihun, the distance reaches 1200m and in Adi-Hawsi, it reaches up to 1400m. International standard shows that maximum walking distance from transit should not be more than 400m (Walker, 2011). As people settle in these areas, there will be more need for private transport.
The report has further revealed that, 34% of the city’s population does not have direct access to public transport. It is indicated that, 7.6% of the city’s population walks for more than a kilometer, 11.6% of the population walks for 500-1000m, 12.9% of the population walks for 400-500m, 23.1% of the population walks for 200-400m, and 44.8% of the population walks up to 200m to get public transport. This push commuters to possess and use private automobiles.
The same source shows that, 8.7% of public transport users wait for more than an hour to get access to public transport; 13.6% of them wait for 40-60 minutes, 36.9% of them wait for 20-40 minutes, and 40.8% of them wait up to 20 minutes to get public transport. This also significantly contributes to the growth in number private automobiles.
Plate 4.1: Some of the taxi transit routes of Mekelle city
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Source: field observation, 2014
The formal working time of taxis is 6:00Am to 9:00Pm. Although, taxis do not run according to defined time schedule, the limited time hinder access of passengers to public transport in any time. For some trips such as those to university, Quiha and Aynalem shortage was observed during the evening and weekends. Besides, these taxis tend to exploit the opportunity of maximizing the number of journeys and thus their profits, hence; service to customers has not been the primary concern of taxis. These induce the haves to shift from public transport to private modes transport.
According to the data obtained from private automobile owners, their main reason to use private automobiles is lack of access to public transport on needed time that accounts for 73 (43.71%). Lack of spatial access to public transport is the other main reason that accounts for 47 (28.14%). The other reasons such as convenience, comfort, and security issues of public transport account for 43 (25.75%). Few, 4 (2.4%) of the respondents do not want to use public transport and hence have no any reason to use private automobiles.
Table 4.21: Reasons to use private automobiles by respondents
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Source: field survey, 2014
v. Limited and narrow pedestrian walkways
An investigation that is carried out by the municipality (2010) shows that, only 22 streets have pedestrian walkways in Mekelle city. Most of the pavements are narrow. They have a height of up to 40 cm above the street; most of them are used for advertisement, and therefore are found to be inconvenient.
Mekelle has been expanding horizontally since its establishment to meet the growing demand of housing and services. Almost all main and local access roads in housing expansion areas such as Adi-Shumidihn, Adi-Hawsi, Illala and others that accounts for more than half of the city are not asphalted. For this reason, they do not have pedestrian walkways and therefore are used by both motorized and non-motorized traffic in a mixed way. Vehicles cause dust to rise and affect pedestrians who commute to other areas and within their neighborhood causing inconvenience and pollution. The field survey pictures results shows that, many of the intermediate parts of the city have not sidewalks, and most of the sidewalks in the city are narrow and inconvenient.
Plate 4.2: Some of the areas in the intermediate parts of the city without sidewalks
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Plate 4.3: Some of the areas with narrow and inconvenient sidewalks
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Source: field observation, 2014
Awareness of car owners on greenhouse gas effects of vehicular exhausts
Public awareness campaigns to raise social consciousness on vehicular emission impacts have a great role in reducing the pace of the growing number of vehicles. Public awareness is highly recommended by researchers, like David, Robin, and Botas (2010) and Jiang et al. (2008) to reduce private car expansions. As it can be seen from table 4.22, a significant number, 58 (34.74%) of respondents are oblivious about the impact of vehicular emission on climate. This makes them not to go for any measure to dampen the emission after car purchase. In contrary, most (65.26%) of the private automobile owners are conscious about the climatic impact of vehicle emissions.
Table 4.22: Awareness of respondents on climatic impacts of vehicular exhausts
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Source: field survey, 2014
Climatic consciousness and awareness level about the impact of vehicular emissions before car purchase significantly affects purchasing choice. The following table shows the different reasons that respondents consider while purchasing vehicles among others.
Table 4.23: Main reason of respondents to choose their vehicle among others
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Source: field survey, 2014
As shown in table 4.23, durability of cars is the first criteria considered by majority, 65 (38.9%) of the respondents while purchasing a vehicle followed by price of cars that accounts for 49 (29.3%). Price of cars is the second main consideration taken while purchasing their vehicle, which accounts for 67 (40.1%) followed by durability that accounts for 52 (31.2%). Fuel efficiency of cars is the third vital criteria considered by the automobile owners while purchasing their cars that accounts for 61 (36.5%) followed by attractiveness of cars accounting for 52 (31.2%). Finally, attractiveness of cars is the forth criteria considered by the car owners that accounts for 81 (48.5%) followed by fuel efficiency of cars that accounts for 39 (23.4%).
4.4.5 Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Measures in Urban Transport of Mekelle
The data obtained from transport office of Mekelle city indicates that, there is no specific strategy intended to abate vehicle emissions in the city. However, different measures are in place though most of the measures have their prime objective other than reducing vehicle emissions; nevertheless, they have also role of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. These measures are classified as technical and non-technical greenhouse gas emission reduction measures as discussed below.
Technical greenhouse gas emission reduction measures
Use of Bio fuel
In Mekelle city, there are nine gas stations. All these gas stations sell gasoline and diesel fuel that is blended with ethanol and bio diesel. According to these gas stations, one liter of ethanol is mixed with twenty liter of gasoline fuel and one liter of biodiesel is mix up with 100 liters of diesel fuel. This means that, 5% the gasoline and 1% of diesel fuels being sold in these gas stations is ethanol and biodiesel respectively. Due to the fact that, ethanol can only muddle up with gasoline, and biodiesel can only mix up with diesel fuel; the shortage in biodiesel is making diesel cars to release more emissions than petrol cars.
According to Ministry of Water and Energy (2013), currently, more than 40 million liters of ethanol is produced from Fincha and Methara sugar factories annually. Metehara and Fincha sugar factories are the two plants engaged in ethanol production, while Nile, Oil Libya and National Oil Company Plc (NOC) are the companies engaged in the blending business. In Ethiopia, ten sugar factories are under construction. After the completion of these sugar factories, more than 180 million liters of ethanol is estimated to be produced per annum. This increases the amount of ethanol in gasoline fuel to 20% (one liter of ethanol will mix with four liter of gasoline). This policy is better as compared to Dutch policy that aims to mix 2% of bio fuel in road transport (Kampman and Boon, 2005). Besides, the blend of bio diesel is estimated to increase to 5% in 2030. In Ethiopia, use of bio fuel has an abatement potential of 0.7 MtCO2e in 2030 (CRGE, 2011).
Conducting annual inspection of cars
Enforcing periodical vehicle testing and compliance is one of the ways of regulating fuel efficiency of vehicles (Jiang et al., 2008). According to the Mekelle city’s department of annual inspection of cars, more than 64% of vehicles make inspection annually (periodically), whereas, 32% of the vehicles in the city make irregular inspection. However, 4% of the vehicles in the city do not make annual inspection of cars. According to the office, those cars, which are found to be in a poor condition, and those cars that are failed to make annual inspection, are not permitted to renew their license.
The data in table 4.24 shows that, 93 (55.68%) of the private automobile owners make regular inspection for their cars. on the other hand, 74 (44.32%) of them do not make regular inspection for their cars. The main reason for this was most of them take care of their car’s health by preventing occurrence of problems and fixing it when any car problem is happened. This measure is more important as much as continuous inspection and maintenance is conducted. However, this requires technical knowhow to detect and fix any problems that cause vehicles to make use of more energy than the usual.
Table 4.24: Respondents response for regular inspection of their cars
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Source: field survey, 2014
Conducting regular inspection and maintenance of vehicles prevents wastage of energy and emissions from undetected problems that cause the car to use more energy and emit significant amount of greenhouse gases.
Enforcement of motor vehicle speed limitations
A 10% reduction in traffic speeds would lead to 19% reduction in energy consumption (Eizindqvist and Tegher, 2008). Further, Kampman and Boon (2005) indicated that, raising car speed by 10km/h leads to 0.4 to 0.7 liters of more fuel consumption. According to the data obtained from traffic police of Mekelle city, the legal speed limit of motor vehicles in Mekelle city is 35km/h. This is much lower than the standard speed limits of most of the Asian and European countries in which the general speed limit in built up areas for all vehicle types is 50km/h (Legislative Council Panel on Transport, 2000). The data gained from the traffic police of Mekelle city further showed that, to enforce the speed limit of cars, the traffic police have recently introduced and applied an electronic device (manually manipulated radar) that can detect the speed of cars.
Non-technical greenhouse gas emission reduction measures
Extending public transport services
Mekelle city’s development plan aims at increasing transport access and facility through increasing public transport coverage from 61% to 81% and reducing transport waiting time and cost. To attain these objectives, the following strategies are planned by transport office of the city in collaboration with the city administration:
i. Introducing city buses
ii. Increasing taxi routes and terminals
iii. Increasing the number of taxi associations iv. Implementing traffic safety schemes
Some of the proposed actions, like increasing taxi routes and terminals and increasing the number of taxi associations are being implemented; for instance, five new taxi terminals are established in this year.
Currently, the city does not have city buses. However, the purchase of ten city buses is approved by the city administration and is estimated to operate 2015 onwards. This increases the coverage of public transport and helps these passengers to get access to public transport. As limited access to public transport was identified as one of the causes for use of private automobiles, extending public transport services can reduce the use of private automobiles. In addition, the cost effectiveness of the city buses will make public transport more preferable and avert the spreading out of private automobiles.
The annual abatement potential of improving and extending public transport (Bus Rapid Transit) for Addis Ababa is estimated to be 0.1 Mt CO2e in 2030 (CRGE, 2011), whereas, Eizindqvist and Tegher (2008) indicated that, high quality of public transport service in Stockholm would yield a 3.3% decrease in CO2 emissions annually.
Promotion of the use of non-motorized transport
Mekelle city is known by bicycle contest made among different clubs and various sub city administrations. Bicycle contest is conducted at least once in a week (Sunday) and competitors are observed making trainings in different streets of the city. This impresses spectators and promotes the use of bicycles in the city. Besides, cars moving along the race street are required to park until the end of the game. This reduces significant amount of car emissions. Most of the city streets, as observed in the field survey are plain and suitable for bicycling. According to the estimations made by Eizindqvist and Tegher (2008) on car traffic volumes and bicycle travel time, increased bicycle travel time would result in about 2% reduction of car traffic volumes and consequent reduction of CO2 emissions by 5%. Moreover, some of the new big streets of the city are being constructed with adequate pedestrian sidewalks. This measure enhances walking and reduces motor vehicle uses for shorter distances. Some of the new roads with appropriate sidewalks in the city are illustrated in the picture below.
Plate 4.4: Some of the new roads of Mekelle city with convienent walkways
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Source: field observation, 2014
Furthermore, there is vehicle free zone reserved for pedestrians only on Sunday in the area commonly called ketema. The area is one of the highly crowded areas of the city. Due to the availability of market services in the area, pedestrians and motor vehicles are observed obstructed. This market area is reserved for pedestrians on Sunday starting from 6 AM to 6 PM. This dejects the use of motorized transport and private vehicle owners are forced to move on foot. This greatly reduces vehicle emission in the city.
Passenger and cargo carts are the other non-motorized transports that contribute more to greenhouse gas mitigation measures in the city. The data obtained from transport office of the city indicates that, there are a total of eight areas reserved for horse drawn cart uses as shown in table 4.25. This measure endorses the use of carts in the reserved areas.
Table 4.25: Origin, areas reserved and routes for horse drawn carts
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Source: Mekelle city transport office
Most of the areas that are reserved for horse drawn carts are found in the city outskirts and open market centers. However, due to lack of well-organized data, the trend in total number of carts operating in these sites remains unexplained.
Taxing vehicles
In Mekelle city, there are four ways of taxing vehicles. These are parking fees, tariffs, registration taxes, and annual profit taxes.
i. Parking fees
Parking charges is one of the economic principles of discouraging use of private automobiles (Manfred, Armin, and Pardo, 2010). In Mekelle city, cars park on streets, hotel sides, building surroundings and in areas reserved for parking areas. Non-commercial parking spaces are available in different parts of the city, mainly on streets. There are no off-street parking areas in the city except those owned by buildings. Some hotels, offices, shops, restaurants and cafes also do not have their own parking areas. Most of the cars in the parking areas, as observed by the researcher, are charged for their parking. According to the transport office of the city, there are eight recognized parking areas that run by small and micro enterprises. As shown in table 4.26, these parking areas charge 100 up to 2000 ETB per month.
Table 4.26: Location of parking and rent per month
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Source: Mekelle city transport office
Plate 4.5: Some of the parking areas of Mekelle city
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Source: field observation, 2014
Moreover, code 1 (taxis) have their own way of parking fees that is different from the other cars. These cars are obligated to pay parking fees at their terminal. The charges are 0.5 and 1 birr for small and big vehicles respectively for every hour stop.
ii. Tariffs
Tariffs have a role of reducing the demand for car voyage. In Mekelle, the tariff for Bajaj’s is one Birr to everywhere, which is lower than minibus taxis for similar distances. For instance, tariff for minibus taxis to SOS is 1.75 Birr, while it is one Birr for Bajaj’s. Tariff is low as compared to running costs. In Mekelle there is ongoing construction of roads and the tariffs were defined based on the direct and alternative route roads.
iii. Registration tax of vehicles
Prior to 2000, weight, horsepower, and engine size were the basis of taxing vehicles in many parts of the world. Now days, in countries like France and Netherland, carbon dioxide emission levels and engine type are the basis of taxing vehicles (Thomas and Joshua, 2012). In Mekelle, new purchased vehicles are compelled to pay registration tax in order to get plates. According to Mekelle city administration, tax and customs office, the registration tax of vehicles is based on purchased price of the car and the place from which it was purchased (locally purchased or imported). Accordingly, the registration tax for locally purchased vehicles is 2% of their purchased price, whereas, imported cars are taxed 3% of their purchased price. This encourages purchase of locally assembled cars. According to the data obtained from Lifan and Mesfin Industrial Engineering car assembly, new fuel-efficient cars are planned to be manufactured. Currently, Lifan motors has inaugurated X-60 model, which is more fuel efficient (13-14km/liter). The same fuel efficient cars called Saba model has also come to market by Mesfin Industrial Engineering. This opportunity when coupled with the high tax rate of imported cars will push the demand for these cars upward. Consequently, the average emission level of the private automobiles could show improvements.
iv. Annual profit taxes
Vehicles like the other businesses are obligated to pay annual profit tax. Private automobiles are not liable for annual profit tax as they are assumed to provide service for private uses. The profit tax is based on prearranged monthly net profit and tax base, which in turn is determined by load capacity of the vehicle as illustrated in table 4.27.
Table 4.27: Annual tax of vehicles in Mekelle city
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Source: tax and custom office of Mekelle city, Kedemay Weyane sub-city
The above table indicates that, progressive tax system is applied to levy tax on vehicles. The cars with lower load capacity are charged lower amount of tax as compared to the cars with higher load capacity. The average profit tax is highest for tanker trucks followed by dry cargo cars. In the contrary, the average tax for non-motorized vehicles is lowest and passenger vehicles are charged lower amount of tax as compared to the tanker and dry cargo vehicles.
Planned integrated mixed urban land use
According to Mekelle city development plan (2006-2015), land use of the city promotes development of mixed urban land uses. Certain parts of the city are identified with specific land uses. Accordingly, Aynalem (in Hadnet sub city) is designed to be recreation and knowledge center; Quiha is designed to be airport based commercial, recreation and culture center; Lachi (in Semen sub city) is planned to be heavy industrial site; Adi-Shumduhn (in Hawelti sub city) is planned to be mixed residential development; and the inner city is designed to be activity enhancement site and service sector. The rest (more than 50% of the city’s area) is planned to be mixed urban land uses.
The city’s development plan indicates that the areas permitted for mixed land uses should include residential, roads, recreation, administration and commercial, permitted manufacturing and storages, and social services. The next chart shows the planned proportion of these areas in the permitted mixed urban land use areas.
Figure 4.9: Planned area allocation for permitted uses in mixed land use area
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Source: Computed based on the data obtained from Mekelle city development plan
As indicated in figure 4.9, largest (55%) of the mixed land use area is allocated for residential areas followed by roads (16.36%) and recreation and green areas (10.23%). The rest 18.42% is evenly distributed to administration and commercial, permitted manufacturing and storages, and social services.
These measures will lessen a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles by reducing the distance travelled as mixed land uses improve accessibility to services.
Improving and extending urban road infrastructures
Improved road facility and network reduce vehicle emissions via reducing the amount of kilometers driven by vehicles or shorter trip distances and by avoiding traffic congestions (Borrego and Sucharov, 2008). One of the main objectives of the Mekelle city’s development plan is to improve road condition and network through increasing the existing asphalt coverage to 90 km and gravel roads to 228 km. The plan has identified the following strategies so as to achieve this objective:
Improving the existing local roads
Constructing and upgrading roads
Upgrading the existing gravel taxi line to asphalt Connecting the existing ring road
These measures could enhance the mitigation measures by reducing trip distances and by improving the accessibility to public transport.
Existence of transport related legislations
The office of transport uses federal and regional laws for carrying out its activities. The office also prepared directives for implementation of these laws at the city level. Two directives that are recently drafted by the office are described below.
I. Directive for administration of terminals
This directive is issued in October 2008 by Tigray National Regional State; Bureau of Trade, Industry, and Transport; vehicles inspection and approval work process. The directive consists introduction, types of services being given by the terminal, and regulatory provisions in conducting the services, and amount of fines for violation of the laws. In this directive, regular testing and compliance of vehicles is stated as obligatory. This coerces vehicle owners to make regular inspection for their cars and this further improves the efficiency and emission levels of the cars.
II. Directive for administration of circulation of non-motorized transport
This directive is also drafted and approved in 2008. The directive defines spaces for origin and destination points, permitted routes for carts, locations to be permitted and forbidden for carts, locations that are allowed and restricted for renting of bicycles, and practicing with bicycles. This directive promotes the use of non-motorized transport in the authorized spaces.
Organized civil society movements to mitigate vehicle emissions
The role of civil society in preventing and alleviating social problems is high. Based on the data gathered from Mekelle municipality office, there are various multi purposed civil society movements organized by Alliance of Civil Society Organizations of Tigray. At present, a civil society initiation named hamleweyti Mekelle has planned to reach at consensus with stakeholders to levy 10 cents in each liter of car fuel sold starting 2015 onwards. In Mekelle, the current (March, 2014) price of gasoline is 20.69 birr for liter, while the price of diesel is 18.43 birr for liter. This has an advance of 10-20 cents per liter from the fuel price of Addis Ababa. These gains are planned to be refunded for the various green infrastructure developments of the city. This measure could reduce fuel use in one way and could enhance carbon sink in the other way.
Table 4.28: Measures taken by owners of private vehicles to reduce exhausts
illustration not visible in this excerpt
Source: field survey, 2014
As indicated in table 4.22, only 109 (65.26%) of the respondents are conscious regarding the climatic impacts that vehicular emissions have. These respondents take their own personal measures to abate emission levels of their automobiles. Out of the 109 cognizant respondents, 41 (37.6%) of them switch motor while stop to reduce emissions and 33 (30.27%) of them avoid unnecessary trips so as to dilute emissions. This has its own role in mitigating the greenhouse gas emission of motor vehicles. The other respondents use bio fuel and other measures like car maintenance to reduce vehicle emissions.
Table 4.29: Private automobiles owners’ response if fuel use is to be taxed
illustration not visible in this excerpt
Source: field survey, 2014
If fuel use is to be taxed, 104 (62.27%) of the respondents would depend on the amount of tax to take measures. Whereas, 32 (19.17%) of the respondents would do nothing for any change made on fuel price and 31 (18.56%) of them would reduce daily trip if fuel is to be taxed. Therefore, applying polluter pays principle in the transport sector can reduce emission levels from the reduced fuel uses.
4.5 Conclusion
This chapter was wholly about findings and discussions of the study. The chapter has incorporated response rate for the study, general background of respondents, the carbon dioxide emission level of private automobiles, current status of urban transport, the trend in urban transport growth, the main causes of motorized urban transport expansion, and greenhouse gas mitigation measures in urban transport of Mekelle city. These discussions are illustrated using various data presentation techniques. The next chapter will deal with conclusions for the main findings of the study and recommendations for mitigating the existing level of car emissions.
CHAPTER FIVE Conclusions and Recommendations
5.1 Introduction
In the prior chapter, the main findings of the study are briefly discussed. This chapter has two major sections: conclusions and recommendations. The conclusion part will deal with summary of main results of the study, while the recommendation part will deal with suggestions to tackle the identified vehicle’s emission related problems.
5.2 Conclusions
Urban road transport is one of the basic requirements for economic development. Analogously, it is also one of the main drivers of global climate change via its emissions. Fuel efficiency of cars, which depend on vintage, engine type, and model of the car is the most determinant factor for the emission level of cars. The average fuel efficiency of the private automobiles in Mekelle city is 12.115km/liter. Most of the private automobiles in the city are Toyota Motors, of which corolla cars has the highest share. The average daily mileage of these automobiles is 20.74km. In their trip, they averagely emit 209.93grams of CO2/km. Atoz, Yaris and Terious emit lesser amount of carbon dioxide. In contrary, Land cruiser and WllB emit higher amount of carbon dioxide. Mercedes Benz and Suzuki Motors emit higher amount of carbon dioxide among the car manufacturers, whereas, Hyundai and Daihatsu Motors averagely emit lesser amount carbon dioxide. The average emission level of these cars increase as their service age increases. In addition, diesel cars are found to be higher carbon dioxide emitters than petrol cars.
The number of vehicles in Mekelle city is increasing from time to time with an annual average growth rate of 17.34%. The average growth rate is highest for code 5 government cars and it is lowest for code 2 private automobiles. Passenger commercial vehicles in the city is constitute of mid-buses, mini- buses, and Bajaj. The average growth rate is highest for Bajaj as compared to the other passenger commercial vehicles. The trend in dry cargo and tanker trucks also showed greater increment with fluctuations in their growth rate.
Urban road transport in Mekelle city is composed of motorized and non- motorized transport. Non-motorized transport, which is dominated by pedestrians, has highest share in urban transport of the city. The share of motorized transport in urban transport of Mekelle city is 33.44%. Walking is the most widely used mode of transport in Mekelle city. Currently, there are 10,097 motor vehicles and 2,206 non-motorized vehicles in the city. Commercial cars in the city have a leading number. In contrary, NGO cars have the least share in the current number of motor vehicles in the city. The vehicle ownership rate of the city is 35.6 vehicles/1000 people. Most of the cars in Mekelle city are below five years of service. In contrary the cars with 16-20 years of service has the least share.
Rapid urban population growth, intensification in economic activities and its subsequent income growth, Weak integration of the existing land use with the existing transport system, inaccessibility of public transport, and limited and narrow pedestrian walkways are identified as the main causes of motorized urban transport expansion in Mekelle city.
There are technical and non-technical greenhouse gas mitigation measures in the city. The technical measures include use of ethanol and bio diesel fuels, conducting annual inspection of cars, and regulation of motor vehicle speed limitations. Non-technical greenhouse gas mitigation measures, on the other hand incorporates; extending public transport services, promotion of the use non-motorized transport, taxing vehicles via parking fees, tariffs, registration taxes, and annual profit taxes, planned integrated mixed land uses, improving and extending urban road infrastructures, existence of transport related legislations, and organized civil society movements to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. These mitigation measures are composed of planned and ongoing actions.
5.3 Recommendations
Climate change is the most pressing issue in the current world. Regardless of what adaptive measures are taken, much of the world would suffer extreme vulnerability to climate change in the absence of any mitigation efforts. Therefore, it is important to identify measures that could react to the expected climate change. The following recommendations are forwarded so as to avert the greenhouse gas emission level of motor vehicles in Mekelle city:
Conducting greenhouse gas emission inventory
The city’s transport office has to conduct greenhouse gas emission inventory of vehicles in urban transport of Mekelle city. The region’s environmental authority has to provide technical assistances to conduct the inventory, and results have to be used as an input for planning emission reduction strategy in the city.
Promoting the purchase of fuel efficient cars
Most of the new cars have car specification label telling more about the car including their fuel efficiency. The city municipality in collaboration with transport office has to work on influencing consumer’s purchasing behavior by informing the potential buyers about the fuel efficiency as compared to other similar sized model of cars through local mass media.
Integrating land use and transport planning
The city development plan has to formally integrate transport planning while designing land use of the city. Furthermore, the city’s plan preparation project office has to foster the development of mixed land uses, which could reduce travel distances and promote walking and cycling.
Improving public transport services
Public transport provision should be treated as a key element of a city development /structural plan. The transport bureau of the region in collaboration with the city administration has to hasten the introduction of city buses to the city. Besides, they have to make an expeditious effort to improve the quality of the public services given in the city through improving the working time of taxis, aerial coverage, and standardizing the vehicles by giving appropriate levels, like level 1 taxis, level 2 taxis, and so forth.
Promoting the use of non-motorized transport
The city municipality has to promote use of non-motorized transports like walking, bicycling, and use of carts by ensuring convenient and safe movement for pedestrians and bicycles and through supervising the enclosure of walkways in the planned and ongoing road projects. In addition, the use of horse drawn carts has to be promoted via lifting some of the areal restrictions imposed on the use of carts and making them improve their services.
Enforcing annual inspection of cars
Vehicle owners have to test their cars regularly. The transport office of the city has to regulate and enforce the annual compliance of vehicles and has to take appropriate measure on these who failed to make periodical inspections and on the cars that are found to be in a poor condition.
Restructuring the taxing system of vehicles
The region’s bureau of finance and economic development has to restructure the vehicle taxing system based on fuel efficiency of the cars. Further, the bureau has to introduce other form of taxes like vehicle ownership tax and annual circulation tax.
Road pricing
The city administration has to introduce and apply road pricing on the new standardized car ways of the city to reduce the demand for travel. The road toll should be levied more on private automobiles and have to be lower for public transports.
Encouraging the production of fuel efficient cars
The regional government has to encourage the production of fuel-efficient cars based on voluntary agreements with Mesfin Industrial Engineering and has to provide tax benefits to encourage consumers to buy these cars.
Formulating and regulating fuel efficiency standards
The transport bureau of the region in association with the transport office of the city has to design and enforce fuel efficiency standards for new and used cars of the city. This could be done by comparing the fuel efficiency standards of different nations/cities.
Driving responsibly
Car owners and drivers have to use cars for compulsory trips and avoid unnecessary trips. Besides, they have to drive in a possible minimum speed and have to turn off engine while stopping for more than five minutes.
Overall, mitigating greenhouse gases in urban transport of Mekelle city entails strong integration among the city administration, city municipality, transport bureau of the region, transport office of the city, car owners, and various stakeholders.
Recommended future researches
Future researchers have to emphasize on the comparison of carbon dioxide emission levels of the other models and types of cars (other than the private automobiles) and measuring total carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emission levels of the city from road transport. Furthermore, they have to work on assessment of the abatement potential, cost effectiveness, and feasibility of the different greenhouse gas mitigation measures, including catalytic converter, compressed gas fuel, Mass Rapid Transit, etc. in urban transport of Mekelle city.
5.4 Conclusion
In this chapter, conclusions are drawn based on the findings and discussions made for the study. Besides, various recommendations are forwarded that could potentially alleviate the stated problems of the study. Moreover, recommendations are also given for further research works.
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Appendices
Appendix 1: Operational (logical) Framework
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Appendix 2: Questionnaire and interview for the study Ethiopian Civil Service University
Institute of Urban Development Studies
Urban Environment and Climate change management
Questionnaire to be filled by private automobile owners
Dear respondents:
The purpose of this questionnaire is to gather relevant data to assess greenhouse gas mitigation measures in urban transport of Mekelle city. The responses that you give are useful for the success of this study. Therefore, you are kindly requested to fill this questionnaire. The researcher would like to thank in advance for your cooperation.
Directions: The following questions have alternatives and blank spaces. In the alternative questions you are requested to indicate your choice by circling number of your choice, whereas, in the blank spaces you are requested to write your response as short as the given spaces.
1. Sex: [illustration not visible in this excerpt]
2. Age: [illustration not visible in this excerpt]
3. [illustration not visible in this excerpt]
4. Occupation: [illustration not visible in this excerpt]
5. What is the load capacity of your car?
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6. What is your average distance travelled per day by your vehicle in Km? -
7. Please fill the following table that is related with your vehicle. Manufacturer of your car
illustration not visible in this excerpt
8. What is your monthly average income in ETB: [illustration not visible in this excerpt]
9. What was your monthly average income before you planned to purchase your car? [illustration not visible in this excerpt]
10. What was the main reason that make you purchase private car? Please rank them. [illustration not visible in this excerpt]
11. What was your major reason to choose your vehicle among others? Please rank them. [illustration not visible in this excerpt]
12. How much is the distance from your home to your work? [illustration not visible in this excerpt]
13. For what purpose do you purchase your private car? [illustration not visible in this excerpt]
14. Why do you use private cars? Because, [illustration not visible in this excerpt]
15. Do you know that vehicle emissions have impact on climate?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
16. If your answer for the above question is yes, what measures do you do to reduce your emissions? [illustration not visible in this excerpt]
17. If fuel use was to be taxed, what would you do? [illustration not visible in this excerpt]
18. Do you make regular inspection for your car?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
19. What do think are the main reasons for transportation growth in Mekelle city?
20. What do think are the possible solutions that must be done to reduce vehicle expansion in your city? .
Guiding questions for interview
1. What can you say about the trend in motor vehicles increment in Mekelle city?
2. What can you say about current number of motorized transport in Mekelle city?
3. How do you manage urban transport growth in the city?
4. What are the significant reasons for motorized transport growth in the city?
5. Is there annual inspection of vehicles in the city?
6. If yes, how many cars are inspected annually?
7. What do you do for these vehicles that are found unfit in the inspection?
8. What is the working time and spatial coverage of public transport in Mekelle city?
9. Do you integrate vehicle emissions in your urban transport management?
10. Have you ever made greenhouse gas emission inventory of motorized transport in the city?
11.What measures did you take to reduce vehicle emissions so far?
12. What measures are you currently taking to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in your sector?
13.What are the main problems facing your bureau to take measures to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions?
14. Is there any projected greenhouse gas mitigation measures for Mekelle city?
15. What is your future intension concerning greenhouse gas mitigation measures in urban transport of Mekelle city?
- Quote paper
- Tewelde Gebre (Author), 2014, Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Measures in Urban Transport of Mekelle City, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/296015