Experts attribute the changing climatic conditions and warmer oceans to climactic sensitivity to carbon dioxide concentrations, the chief being greenhouse gas emission. Vehicles and vehicular activity, among other factors, contribute to global warming through burning fuel. But the thing about cars’ CO2 output is that it is totally proportional to fuel consumption. The level of emissions produced is intrinsically linked to how efficient the person behind the wheel is. The more economically you drive, the cleaner your car will be.

Many developing countries are working on many initiatives to tackle growing CO2 emissions. To understand traffic volumes and traffic speeds in India, a pilot study was undertaken recently with the help of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, Mitsubishi Research Institute (MRI) and Evalueserve.com Pvt Ltd.

At the seminar titled ‘Traffic Survey in India’ held in New Delhi, speakers stressed on international cooperation and best practice sharing in managing CO2 emissions. An MRI official said that India will play a key role in tackling global CO2 emissions due to speedy growth of the road transportation sector over the next few years. “There is a need to define tools to manage CO2 emissions from the road transportation sector in India,” he said.

Japan's experience

Speaking on Japan’s role in the field, he said that it being a densely populated and car-intensive nation, Japan has plenty of experience on traffic and pollution management, particularly in urban areas, and can play help tackle global CO2 emissions with its technology and management know-how. Evalueserve’s pilot study highlighted the differences between the two countries and the customisation required for India, the challenges in execution, recommendations and the government’s efforts towards easing traffic. It noted that the Indian government has built flyovers, underpasses, overbridges and subways in many cities but much more needs to be done. There have also been recent public-private initiatives to step up driver training programmes. The study observed that the public transport system is being revamped to reduce private transport. It points out that infrastructural development needs to be accelerated to keep pace with growing traffic. It also called for containment of vehicle volume in cities and importantly the need for much improved education and driver training.