Carbon footprint from road transport use in Kolkata city

• Published in: Transportation research. Part D, Transport and environment Vol. 32; pp. 397 - 410
• Main Author: Gupta, Mitali Das
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier India Pvt Ltd 01-10-2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Buildings. Public works; Carbon footprint; Exact sciences and technology; Ground, air and sea transportation, marine construction; Lifestyle; Road construction. Pavements. Maintenance; Road transport; Road transportation and traffic; Transportation infrastructure; Asia; India; Lifestyle; Road transport; Carbon footprint; Case study; Survey; Methodology; Town; Environment impact; Household; Road traffic; Computing method; Life style
• ISSN: 1361-9209; 1879-2340
• DOI: 10.1016/j.trd.2014.08.004

•Carbon footprint from road transport use of households in Kolkata city is estimated.•One of the objectives is to see how the footprint changes across income categories.•Second objective is to find factors that drive changes in the footprint values.•There is a clear link between people’s affluence and average per capita footprint.•Per capita income, transport expenditure and vehicle ownership drive changes in footprint values.
Carbon footprint is intricately related with the consumption and lifestyle pattern of individuals. The transport sector is one of the major sectors that effects lifestyle in a significant way and is the major contributor towards the city emissions. This paper attempts to estimate the carbon footprint arising from household’s use of road transport in the city of Kolkata across various income categories. The objective is to see how the footprint changes across income categories and also what factors drive changes in the footprint values across the defined income categories. The study has been based on primary surveys done across the city of Kolkata by choosing about 500 households across various income classes defined. Estimation of carbon footprint shows a clear picture of the relation between people’s affluence and the average per capita footprint. It clearly shows that per capita footprint from transport use increases with income. Further results show that income, vehicle ownership and per capita transport expenditure has significant and positive impact on per capita footprint of households from road transport use.