A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE IN OUR HANDS - To Parent Directory

Sustainable Development Sustainable transportSustainable transportEasier, cleaner & saferCHAPTER2Didyou know…On average, each EUcitizen travels 35 km a day– 75% of this distance iscovered by carDoes your city suffer crippling congestion at rush hour?Are you forever trying to avoid the tailbacks you hear ofon radio traffic updates? Could the motorway you use bemistaken for a giant car park? You’re not alone. The wholeof Europe is affected, with seven and a half thousand kilometresof its roads blocked by traffic each day.The nuisance of overcrowded roads goes beyond timewasted in bumper-to-bumper traffic – the impact is alsodetrimental to our environment and our health. Road trafficcontributes massively to greenhouse gases. It accounts forone fifth of the EU’s total CO 2emissions which have risen26% between 1990 and 2004. And, in spite of road safetyinventions such as ABS brake systems and airbags, 40,000people still die on our roads each year.This is just one part of the picture – air travel is another.Flying looms large among environmental concerns as CO 2emissions from international air travel have soared by87% since 1990.© Corbis023