Abstract

Personal transport currently accounts for 25–30% of global CO2 emissions, increase in the pollution level, enormous demand for fuel and in turn a drastic increase in the external balances of the country. It also adds to the domestic inflationary pressures. The main objective of this study is to reduce the carbon emission in Tamil Nadu by increasing the utilization of the mass transit vehicles and by reducing the usage of personal vehicles. The numbers of mass transit vehicles, personal vehicles, per kilometer vehicle density, total length of the road were considered as the major factors for the study. A simulation was conducted to estimate the level of carbon emission and fuel consumption of both the personal as well as mass transit vehicles for a per kilometer usage in a district of Tamil Nadu in India. In the simulation process, different scenarios were assessed to determine the efficient and less carbon emitting commuting system and the results show that a meager 10% shift of commuters from personal vehicles to mass transit vehicles can result in huge carbon reduction. These simulations provide a supporting guideline to both the transport corporation and the pollution control board for creating a better commuting system and cleaner environment in Tamil Nadu.