Sustainable transport key to Asia-Pacific’s development ambitions and emission cap targets

Across the Asia Pacific region, especially in urban centres, electric cars and buses are increasingly replacing petrol-powered vehicles.

Simultaneously, smart mobility and other transport innovations, along with ubiquitously available smart devices are significantly reshaping everyday life through ride-sharing apps, driver assistance technology and real-time traffic management.

With new highways and railways operationalised during the last decade, the region is getting more connected, while the digitalisation of road, rail and maritime freight transport is further improving efficiency and cost reduction.

All these trends are part of sustainable transport development, which benefits everyone by making the transportation of people and goods safer, “greener,” more efficient and accessible.

While great progress has been made in the Asia Pacific region, major challenges remain. Greater cooperation will be needed to overcome these obstacles and advance these trends.

Why regional collaboration is needed

Coordinated regional development of transport infrastructure in the Asia Pacific region continues to advance economies of scale to meet increased demand in freight transport.

Currently, approximatively 145,000 km of Asian highways, 121,000 km of trans-Asian railways and 275 dry ports cover the region and almost 99.7 per cent of the population.

The region also hosts the world's 10 largest container ports and accounts for more than half of the global maritime trade.

In addition to the widespread adoption of smart mobility solutions, countries in the region are in general committed to decarbonisation of roads, railways and maritime transport, with plans to electrify transport modes and promotion of fuel efficiency and the use of clean sources of fuel.

Most countries saw a decline in road traffic deaths in the past decade, and several have made progress in improving gender equality in the transport sector.

How sustainable transport benefits society

The transition to a sustainable model for transportation leads to interlinked benefits that are felt across multiple domains.

For example, with more efficient public transportation, more people will move towards walking and cycling.

This will not only improve general mobility by relieving congestions, it will also significantly cut emissions as fewer personal vehicles get on the roads. In turn this will reduce the risk of road accidents and promote physical fitness.

Ride-hailing apps offer personalised transport solutions tailored to individual needs, reducing fuel consumption and waste, while connected and autonomous vehicle technology improves traffic flow and prevents crashes – by UN estimates, up to 80 percent of the ones that happen due drink driving – by minimising human error.

Coupled with inclusive transport planning, these developments make it much easier for the elderly, disabled, pregnant women and other underserved sections of the populations to access transport solutions and fully engage in society.

The knock-on effect of these measures across economic growth, health, climate action and social inclusion makes sustainable transport a key enabler of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the UN.

Challenges remain

There are still several challenges that the countries of the region have to tackle.

Most of the projected future growth in global transport demand will take place in the Asia Pacific region, owing partly to rapid urbanisation and a growing appetite for personal vehicles.

While the most tangible effect of this growth will be the rise in greenhouse gas emissions due to the ongoing heavy reliance on fossil fuels, these trends also add additional strain to existing urban transport systems, many of which are underinvested.

Missing links and sub-standard quality of infrastructure, coupled with lack of transport facilitation, continue to increase costs and delays of international transport projects, especially in landlocked developing countries.

Likewise, small island states continue to show limited and often stagnant levels in their maritime connectivity, hindering their integration into the regional and global economy.

The disparity in technological capabilities between countries in the region, as well as current gaps in meeting low-carbon transport goals, hinder the effective adoption of region-wide smart mobility systems and net-zero strategies, respectively.

And despite improvements, a person in the Asia Pacific region loses their life in a road accident every 45 seconds. Women only make up approximately 16 per cent of the regional transport workforce, a slightly lower figure than the global average.

Regional Action Programme

Government representatives gathered in early November and assessed these achievements and challenges within the framework of the Regional Action Programme for Sustainable Transport Development in Asia and the Pacific.

Many tasks, such as transport decarbonisation, cannot be overcome by any country alone; meanwhile, the benefits of transport innovations such as digitalisation and automation will only be fully realised if widely implemented.

With Asia Pacific 32 years behind in achieving the SDGs, accelerating sustainable transport development benefits everyone so everyone needs to get on board to make it happen.

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP.