Traffic and streets – Mitigation
Approximately a fifth of the Finnish greenhouse gas emissions are produced by traffic, mainly road traffic. By reducing traffic, promoting the use of public transportation and bicycle and pedestrian traffic and favouring energy efficient and low emission technology, traffic emissions can be reduced.
Decreasing traffic
By catering for smooth and extensive public transportation connections with motivating pricing, a municipality can promote the use of public transportation. Safe bicycle and pedestrian ways that are in good condition – also during the winter – promote bicycling and walking. In addition, bicycles should have enough storage spaces in connection to stations and other service buildings.
Regional cooperation and optimisation of travel centres and routes can reduce the deliveries of goods or personnel transport services produced or purchased by a municipality. For example, in school transports or meal deliveries for the elderly, route optimisation is estimated to achieve a reduction of 20–50% in driving kilometres.
Energy-efficient transports and lights
Municipalities can emphasise energy-efficiency as one selection criteria in competitive bidding of personnel and goods transports. The same can also apply to the purchase of machinery needed for street construction and maintenance. In addition to reducing costs and carbon dioxide emissions, use of energy can be made more efficient by taking a comprehensive approach to the energy consumption of goods transport chains.
Easily adding up to 10% fuel savings, reduced emissions and costs, the municipality's own drivers and drivers of transport services ordered by the municipality can be provided training in economic driving and appropriate maintenance of the vehicle. In addition, the municipality can run campaigns to promote economic driving to its residents.
Globally, lighting adds up to approximately a fifth and, in Finland, a tenth, of the consumption of electricity. Lighting in streets, market places and squares, recreational areas and parks must begin to use energy-efficient lamps at the latest by 2015, when lamps containing mercury will be removed from the market. Already now, there is luminous LED technology available that can be used to make notable savings from the current consumption levels.
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Checklist
Energy saving and energy efficiency: Is there regional co-operation in the acquisition, planning and implementation of municipal goods and passenger transports?
Enhancing the efficiency of transports through regional co-operation; Energy audits of transports
| Strengths, factors in favour |
Weaknesses, uncertainties |
Costs, economic impacts |
| A municipal logistics centre may facilitate combining of goods transport and planning of deliveries so as to reduce vehicle-kilometerage. |
As major changes may cause surprising problems, the functionality of new driving and transport routes must be tested in advance to facilitate anticipation of problems. |
+ Less mileage and transport kilometres reduce fuel costs. |
| Regional logistics pools may help in combining the procurements of small municipalities into larger deliveries. |
The implementation of transports must also be monitored in order to facilitate quick fixing of any drawbacks. |
+/- Planning and optimisation of transports increases work costs but enhancing efficiency of transports and deliveries reduce them. |
| Optimisation of the routes of passenger transport services commissioned by municipalities may reduce the number of kilometres driven. |
Efficiency must be enhanced continuously. |
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| Information on energy consumption of various stages of different transport chains helps the correct targeting of measures to enhance efficiency. |
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| Lower energy consumption of transport and less emissions. |
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Energy saving and energy efficiency: Is energy efficiency a purchasing criterion for acquiring transport services and excavation machinery and services for the municipality?
Emphasis on energy efficiency as purchasing criterion for transport services and excavation machinery and services
| Strengths, factors in favour |
Weaknesses, uncertainties |
Costs, economic impacts |
| Energy efficiency criteria may emphasise the fuel consumption of machinery or driving training for drivers. |
Criteria must be defined clearly when planning procurement. |
+ Lower fuel consumption reduces the costs of transport and construction services. |
| The energy consumption of the municipality's technical equipment is reduced and emissions decrease, too. |
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+ Higher demand usually pulls down prices (here, those of equipment and services). |
| Energy consumption of transport and excavating services purchased by the municipality decreases and so do emissions. |
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| Demand increases supply of energy efficient equipment and services. |
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Energy saving and energy efficiency: Have the lamps on streets, market places and squares, recreation areas and parks been replaced with energy-saving light bulbs? Has attention been paid to targeting of lighting? Have the lights been connected to a timer?
Use of energy-saving lamps; Reducing public lighting
| Strengths, factors in favour |
Weaknesses, uncertainties |
Costs, economic impacts |
| With the help of timers, lighting can be switched off completely or it can be dimmed for a certain period. |
Safety may suffer if there is less light at certain locations. |
- Replacement and installation of lamps increases costs. |
| Less light pollution facilitates observation of natural phenomena (stars, northern lights). |
The type of energy-saving lamps must be selected to suit the location. |
- Acquisition and installation of timers or dimmers raises costs. |
| Lower energy consumption of lighting and less emissions. |
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+ Reduced energy consumption of lighting saves costs in the long term. |
Information and communication: Have transport sector employees been trained in energy-efficient driving?
Training in energy-efficient driving
| Strengths, factors in favour |
Weaknesses, uncertainties |
Costs, economic impacts |
| Reduces greenhouse gas emissions. |
How to commit employees to this activity? |
+ Saves money. |
| Saves money. |
Training costs money. |
- Training of employees incurs costs. |
| Higher traffic safety |
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| Improved energy efficiency for equipment |
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