Author(s)

S. A. Tabatabaie & A. A. Davoodi

Abstract

The use of private vehicles in large cities has been increased extensively in recent years due to economical development. This results in a heavy traffic load and consequently high pollution in the center of the cities. This is considered to be one of the most significant problems in modern urban management. In this paper, impacts of public transportation on fuel consumption, pollution and traffic load in Ahwaz city are discussed. In addition, private and public bus networks in Ahwaz are compared both to each other and to the international standards. Eventually, a methodology to enhance bus transportation networks in large cities is introduced. Keywords: public transportation, pollution, environment, private vehicle. 1 Introduction Lack of proper development of public transportation systems in cities has led to increased use of private vehicles [1]. Fuel consumption impacts on the economy and air pollution have made the public transportation system a vital issue to be studied. The public transportation system consists of subways, light rail transits (LRT), buses, minibuses and taxies. Buses are considered as the main body of traffic systems in most of the world cities. [2] Data for the period 2005–2006 indicate that 81.7 million people per year, equivalent to 224000 people per day, were using the bus network system in Ahwaz. This represents 9% of the whole transportation in the city [3].

Keywords

public transportation, pollution, environment, private vehicle.