We cannot ignore the role transportation plays in sustainable development goals and while simply boarding your everyday ‘matatu’ or ‘boda boda’ from your home stage may seem like a simple item to your daily routine, it plays a much bigger role in the development of cities across the world. According to the United Nations, World leaders unanimously recognised that transportation and mobility are central to sustainable development at the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. It was further mentioned that above other things, sustainable transport achieves better integration of the economy while respecting the environment. It improves social equity, health, the resilience of cities, urban-rural linkages and the productivity of rural areas. As NSL, our major focus is on improving our environment and in this article, we shall discuss the impact transportation has towards our environment today and how that can be improved. 

Transportation plays a huge contributing factor to the quality and health of our environment. Our transportation systems contribute to both deteriorating air quality and a changing climate through emissions from burning fossil fuels. In Uganda, a motion was proposed to ban the importation of motor vehicles over nine years old and above to conserve the environment because said vehicles emit toxic gases into the environment daily. Transportation today not only affects the air around us but has a direct impact on water pollution and ecosystem disruption through a variety of direct and indirect interactions as well. 

IMPACT OF TRANSPORTATION ON THE ENVIRONMENT. 

• Air Quality

Air quality is a measure of how clean or polluted the air is and how it affects human health and the environment and is directly influenced by the emissions that come from various sources, or transportation systems being one of them. Highway vehicles, trains, and aircraft all emit gases and particulate matter that contribute to pollution. These emissions are harmful to human health and have an impact on the quality of air that we breathe. 

• Noise pollution.

Yes, noise pollution is a real thing. This is an unwanted or disturbing sound that harms humans, wildlife, and the environment. Long-term exposure to noise and pollution may cause direct health problems such as sleep disturbance, stress, asthma, high blood pressure and cardiac diseases. 

According to the World Health Organization, any sound above 65 decibels falls under noise pollution, said sound is considered excessive and unpleasant causing a temporary disruption in nature. In other words, it can also be defined as sound or noise which is excessive and unpleasant and causes a temporary disruption in nature. The best example of this would be the sound of a plane taking off or the sounds heard from combustion vehicles such as motorcycles without a filter in the exhaust.

• Water quality

You may question how the quality of water can be affected by transportation, but water is hugely affected by dredging, garbage and oil spills. Unlike other forms of transport that constantly emit fumes that affect our air, the waste that is produced by ship or boat operations is more directly affiliated with our previous discussions on solid and liquid waste. 

• Land consumption

Land has continuously been exploited to improve the means of transport. In Uganda alone, motions have been made to reconstruct and upgrade our road transport. With some of these ventures, many have been displaced from their homes. While this may be of no concern to many of us as long as we have roads free of potholes, the new constructions may displace other existing land uses like forestry, agriculture, and nature reserves, making the areas nearby unsuitable for a variety of activities.

With these threats to the environment, it is only fair for us to develop more environmentally friendly forms of transport. The innovations are limitless, from the creation of electric vehicles to embracing bicycles as another way to get around.

“You can’t understand a city without using its public transportation system.”

― Erol Ozan.