Environmental Impact Analysis and Comparative Assessment of the Interurban Passenger Transport Modes

Abstract

A methodology and results from a com­parative analysis of quantity assessment and evaluation of the interurban passenger transport modes environmental impact are presented in the article. The research is focused on the inter­urban road passenger trips (by busses and by personal vehicles) and the railway trips. Some main relations, origin and destination points of the Bulgarian transport network are examined. The research covers 30 year period – from 2011 to 2041. The assessments include some of the main indicators for the negative environmental impact of the transport. The comparative analysis results are derived using a specially developed assessment model. It estimates the pollutants quantities and social costs from the evaluated transport modes for two scenarios. The first scenario represents the real situation for the transport modes with no future improvements. The second one includes some target values from the European strate­gies and particularly the growth of the railway passenger trips sharecomparative analysis, assessment model, environmental impact, land passenger transport, external effect