The transport energy trade-off: Fuel-efficient traffic versus fuel-efficient cities

Abstract

Improving fuel efficiency in vehicular traffic by increasing average speeds is shown to have a major trade-off through land use changes and modal shifts that result in an overall loss in fuel efficiency for the total urban area. In Perth, even though vehicles in central areas have a 19% lower fuel efficiency than average due to congestion, the central area residents still use 22% less actual fuel on average due to their locational advantages. On the other hand, outer suburban traffic is 12% more efficient than average but residents use 29% more actual fuel. A comparison of 32 world cities confirms that there is a trade-off between fuel-efficient traffic and fuel-efficient cities. The implications for traffic engineering programmes and road funding are discussed