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Sustainable Transportation includes the development of new methods in transportation. Transportation is the movement of people and goods from one place to another. Transportation has been integral in the evolution of human culture and trade.  Vehicle, infrastructure and operations are all part of transportation industry.  
Oldest Electric Car
Green transportation is about reducing the environmental damage originated by an individual's use of cars and light trucks.  Green vehicles represent a segment of green transportation.  A green vehicle is a vehicle that is considered to be more "environmentally friendly" than traditional all-petroleum internal combustion engine vehicles. This includes vehicles that run fully or partly on alternative energy sources.  Other segments include human powered transport of cycling or pedestrian transport (walking) and public transportation alternatives that utilize sustainable technologies.

Transportation infrastructure such as roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals and pipelines; or terminals such as airports, railway stations, bus stations and seaports, that support more environmental means of transportation and the operations and logistics to implement them, are important to sustainability.

Examples of vehicles with reduced petroleum consumption include electric, biodiesel, ethanol, hybrid and fuel cell-powered hydrogen cars.


  • Electric cars - are typically most efficient, though they have by range limitations from a charging unit. The electric car batteries are their main cost.  Technology advancements for distance and powering, and infrastructure advancements for recharging, are the key to wider acceptance of the electric vehicle.
  • Hybrid cars - may be partly fossil fueled and partly electric or hydrogen-powered. Even though they are more expensive to buy, the hybrid has been widely accepted.  Greater fuel cell capacity and regeneration can dramatically increase the mileage of the Hybrid car.
  • Solar cars - are sleek driver-only vehicles that can travel long distances at highway speeds using only the electricity generated instantaneously from the sun.  Races are held on a regular basis in order to promote green vehicles and other "green technology".
  • Fuel cell-powered hydrogen cars - the feasibility of building hydrogen vehicles is currently being researched by most of the automobile manufacturers have begun developing hydrogen cars. In 2007, there were 200 hydrogen powered cars of record on the road in the US.   Hydrogen fuel can be made from both renewable and non-renewable energy sources.  Technical and economical challenges have placed hydrogen as one of the least efficient and most expensive ways to reduce greenhouse gases.

Often there can be a sliding scale of green transport depending on the sustainability of the option. Public transport on traditional diesel buses uses less fuel per passenger than private vehicles so is more green than private vehicles, but is not as green as using a solar powered bus. It can often be useful to talk about moving a community towards the ultimate green mode transport outcomes - instead of declaring that they are there if they cross a particular sustainability threshold. Walking across sensitive environments can often cause considerable damage and so is not always the greenest option.