green transport hierarchy

{{Short description|Prioritising vulnerable sustainable road users}}{{refimprove|date=April 2021}}

class="wikitable floatright" style="text-align: center;" ! colspan="2" \| Green transport hierarchy
12px	Pedestrians
20px	Bicycles
20px	Public transit
20px	Trucks and commercial vehicles
20px	Taxis
20px	High occupancy vehicles
20px	Cars and single occupancy vehicles

The green transport hierarchy (Canada), also called mobility pyramid, reverse traffic pyramid, street user hierarchy (US), sustainable transport hierarchy (Wales),{{cite news |last1=Reid |first1=Carlton |title=Car Dependency Must End, Transport Minister Lee Waters Tells Welsh Parliament |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2020/11/18/car-dependency-must-end-transport-minister-lee-waters-tells-welsh-parliament/ |work=Forbes |language=en |access-date=2021-04-12 |archive-date=2021-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412220950/https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2020/11/18/car-dependency-must-end-transport-minister-lee-waters-tells-welsh-parliament/ |url-status=live }} urban transport hierarchy or road user hierarchy (Australia, UK){{cite book|date=October 2012|title=Walking, Riding and Access to Public Transport: Draft report for discussion|url=https://infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure/pab/active_transport/files/active_travel_discussion.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210708225704/https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure/pab/active_transport/files/active_travel_discussion.pdf|archive-date=2021-07-08|publisher=Australian Government Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications|isbn=978-1-921769-90-0}} is a hierarchy of modes of passenger transport prioritising green transport.{{Cite journal |date=2010 |title=Practices and policies of green urban transport in China |url=https://www.academia.edu/download/30908369/JOURNEYS_May2010_(full).pdf#page=26 |journal=Journeys (Berghahn Books) |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=26–35}} It is a concept used in transport reform groups worldwide{{cite web |title=Pedestrian and bicyclist safety and mobility in Europe / |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2010443270/ |website=Library of Congress|access-date=2021-04-12 |archive-date=2021-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412222452/https://www.loc.gov/item/2010443270/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite book|last1=Fischer|first1=Edward L|url=http://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo3988|title=Pedestrian and bicyclist safety and mobility in Europe|last2=International Scanning Study Team (U.S.)|first2=FHWA International Technology Scanning Program|last3=United States|last4=Federal Highway Administration|last5=Office of International Programs|last6=American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials|last7=American Trade Initiatives|first7=Inc|date=2010|publisher=Office of International Programs, U.S. Federal Highway Administration|location=Washington, DC|language=English|oclc=537680874|access-date=2021-11-06|archive-date=2021-11-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106053314/https://permanent.fdlp.gov/gpo3988/pl10010.pdf|url-status=live}} and in policy design.{{Citation |last1=Zhenqi |first1=Chen |title=Toward a Green Transport System: A Review of Non-technical Methodologies for Developing Cities |date=2016-11-09 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38789-5_59 |work=Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing |pages=509–520 |access-date=2023-12-05 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-319-38787-1 |last2=Weichi |first2=Lu|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-38789-5_59 |url-access=subscription }} The UK Highway Code has a road user hierarchy prioritising pedestrians.{{Cite web |title=The Highway Code - Introduction - Guidance - GOV.UK |url=https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/introduction |access-date=2025-06-16 |website=www.gov.uk |language=en}} It is a key characteristic of Australian transport planning.{{cite web |title=2. Key characteristics of active travel |url=https://www.atap.gov.au/mode-specific-guidance/active-travel/2-key-characteristics-of-active-travel |website=Australian Transport Assessment and Planning |language=en |access-date=2021-04-12 |archive-date=2021-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210317183439/https://www.atap.gov.au/mode-specific-guidance/active-travel/2-key-characteristics-of-active-travel |url-status=live }}

History

The Green Transportation Hierarchy: A Guide for Personal & Public Decision-Making by Chris Bradshaw was first published September 1994{{cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Jiawen |last2=Alterman |first2=Rachelle |last3=Li |first3=Bin |title=References |journal=Value Capture Beyond Public Land Leasing |date=2020 |pages=45–49 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep25487.10 |publisher=Lincoln Institute of Land Policy |access-date=2021-05-12 |archive-date=2021-05-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512152355/https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep25487.10 |url-status=live }} and revised June 2004.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} As part of a pedestrian advocacy group in the United States, he proposed the hierarchy ranking passenger transport based on environmental emissions. The reviewed ranking listed, in order: walking, cycling, public transport, car sharing, and finally private car.

It was first prepared for Ottawalk and the Transportation Working Committee of the Ottawa-Carleton Round-table on the Environment in January 1992, only stating 'Walk, Cycle, Bus, Truck, Car'.{{cite web |title=The Valuing of Trips - Transportation - Sierra Club |url=https://vault.sierraclub.org/sprawl/articles/trips.asp |website=vault.sierraclub.org |access-date=2021-05-12 |archive-date=2021-05-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512153339/https://vault.sierraclub.org/sprawl/articles/trips.asp |url-status=live }}

Factors

File:Mobility pyramid.png ]]

Mode
Energy source
Trip length
Trip speed
Vehicle size
Passenger load factor
Trip segment
Trip purpose
Traveller

Adoption

Chris Bradshaw directed the hierarchy at both individual lifestyle choices and public authorities who should officially direct their resources – funds, moral suasion, and formal sanctions – based on the factors.

Bradshaw described the hierarchy to be logical, but the effect of applying it to seem radical.see a separate paper by the

author, ‘Using Our Feet to Reduce Our Footprint: The Importance

of Scale in Life’ (1997) for the ‘NRFUT’ system of comparing the

‘footprint’ of different trips.

The model rejects the concept of the balanced transportation system, where users are assumed to be free to choose from amongst many different yet ‘equally valid’ modes. This is because choices incorporating factors that are ranked low (walking, cycling, public transport) are seen as generally having a high impact on other choices.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}