Efficacy of Vehicle Use Restrictions to Curb Pollution

In this article, Madhav Bahuguna looks into the experience of cities in Latin America and China which have put in place vehicle/car use restrictions and its efficacy in achieving the desired result in terms of reduced vehicular pollution and congestion. The evidence reflects mixed outcomes. Enforcing a single type of measure may not reduce the negative externalities (pollution and congestion) of car use. The article further explores the instruments that can be applied to control vehicular pollution and manage mobility and achieve durable sustainable transport outcome.

- Madhav Bahuguna

Urban transport in Indian metros is moving towards greater use of personalized motor transport (PMT) consisting of two-wheelers and cars, which outweighs the economic and social benefits of living in a city. This is mainly because car users only cover their own private costs, but not the social costs of increased congestion and emissions. A case in point is the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi where the total stock of motor vehicles on road as on March 2018 was 11 million with share of cars (29.5 per cent), two-wheelers (64.4 per cent), auto-rickshaws (1 per cent), taxis (1.1 per cent), and buses (0.3 per cent). These figures reveal an overwhelming presence of PMT with a share of 94 per cent in Delhi’s total vehicle population and a miniscule 0.3 per cent share of buses. However, the actual number of vehicles plying on Delhi’s roads could be much larger as vehicles registered outside Delhi also add up to the total number of vehicles being run in the capital.

In addition, vehicular pollution problem in Delhi is aggravated by the factors, such as (i) high-vehicle density. The number of vehicles per 1000 population in Delhi was estimated at about 600 in 2017–18; (ii) vehicle stock consists of a large number of old vehicles as there is no law which provides for compulsory scrapping of overage vehicles; (iii) heterogeneous composition of vehicle stock in terms of fuel use. Commercial heavy vehicles which are exempt are predominantly users of diesel; (iv) inspection and maintenance system and certification of vehicles is grossly inadequate and depends on discretion and visual inspection rather than proper evaluation; (v) overwhelming share of two-stroke two-wheelers which account for almost two-thirds of the vehicular population in Delhi.

Many Facets of Vehicular Air Pollution