Motorcycles are Environmentally Friendly Motorcycles and Scooters
- Fuel efficient
- Cheap to operate, even large motorcycles only use half of a car's fuel
- Now meet Euro 3 environmental exhaust emission regulations
- Lightweight, less mass to get moving or keep moving, road wear negligible.
- Efficient commuting, less travel time
- Only need a small space to park
- Almost completely recyclable
- An excellent alternative to a car
The reality is that most people in urban centres will drive a car or ride a motorcycle because too many people have no choice
More about Public Transport here:
Action for Public Transport NSW
Ecotransit NSW
Motorcycles and Scooters are far more efficient and less wasteful than a car.
| Transport Mode | Energy Component | Energy use(MJ / pkm) |
| | | Low | High |
| | Operating | 2.7 | 3.7 |
| Car | Manufacture | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| | Total | 3.2 | 4.7 |
| | Operating | 1.6 | 2.3 |
| M/cycle | Manufacture | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| | Total | 1.8 | 2.8 |
Source: Australian Greenhouse Office.Average car occupancy for Sydney is around 1.1 persons per vehicle trip. See the link here to the [http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/tdc/documents/sydney-peak-hour-travel.pdf|Analysis of Sydney Household Travel Survey]
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average efficiency of the Australian vehicle fleet has not changed significantly since figures were first collected in 1963.
The NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change tell us that reductions in fuel consumption from improved technology in private vehicles continue to be offset by increases in the weight and power of new vehicles.
This is reflected in the following table from the Australian Greenhouse Office:-
Motorcycles are lightweight and city commuting scooters are even lighter with small engines that use even less fuel.
Again, this is recognised by the Australian Greenhouse Office
The Australian Government Submission to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change April 2007 National Inventory Report 2005 - Volume 1, provides the following:
During the same period as the above chart, the motorcycle fleet has expanded by more than 30%. This indicates the improvements in emissions of newer motorcycles and scooters and points to an under utilised transport strategy option.
Travel patterns have been changing.
Since 1981, the proportion of children driven to school in Sydney has doubled to more than 50%, while the share of walking and cycling has almost halved to about 20%
These car trips tend to be short, may involve two cold starts per day, and contribute significantly to the demand by families for a second car (Smith & Scott 2006), as well as to local road congestion.
see Figure 2.14 from this NSW State of the Environment report 2006
During periods of heavy congestion the average traffic speed in Sydney will fall to about 12km/h. Stop-start driving of a heavy vehicle will vastly increase its output of noxious gases and fuel usage.
Transit Lanes offer higher average travel speeds for “high occupancy vehicles” such as buses and cars with multiple passengers. The NSW Council on the Cost and Quality of Government report [here] shows in Table 45 that non-bus users of Transit lanes travel between 35 and 55% faster than non-Transit lane traffic.
http://www.ccqg.nsw.gov.au/Site07Jul2004/performance_reports/transportation/transportation_04_02.htm
Motorcycles are high occupancy vehicles and can use Transit Lanes
Professor Marcus Wigan, in his report to the Victorian governmentand Appendices, found that motorcycle trips take 14 - 46% less time in suburban areas
The European oraganisation ACEM provides several excellent references on motorcycle emissions
(1) Euro3 gives significant reductions in emissions
(2) Smart Wheels for City Streets
The Australian Greenhouse Office Workbook provided references for this page
Walking and cycling are only viable for trips up to about 5 kilometres. Bicycles may commute further if geography and specially built level tracks allow.
Motorcycles and scooters extend the distance range of single person trips in a very efficient manner, particularly for commuting.
Council on the Cost and Quality of Government transporttion report
Provision of bus and transit lanes
Kilometres of bus and transit lanes are provided in the Sydney network.
Context Bus lanes are dedicated to buses, while transit lanes are available to buses, motor cycles and cars with a specified number of passengers.
T2 lanes can be used by passenger vehicles carrying two or more people.
T3 lanes can be used by passenger vehicles carrying three or more people.
Table 44: Length of bus and transit lanes (km)
June 1996 June 1997
Bus lanes 27.6 40.7
Transit lanes 64.9 70.8
Source: Roads and Traffic Authority NSW.
Interpretation Between June 1996 and June 1997, the length of bus lanes (mostly in the Sydney CBD) increased by 13 km (47 per cent) and the length of transit lanes by 6 km (9 per cent).
Transit lanes
Persons per hour carried by transit lanes and non transit lanes on selected routes and average speeds on transit lanes during peak period.
Context
Table 45 provides data on three key routes where transit lanes are available, comparing the rate of persons carried per hour per lane by transit lanes with adjacent non-transit lanes.
Table 45: Transit and non-transit lane travel speeds and occupancy rate - 1996
| Route | | Transit lanes | | Non-transit lanes |
| | Length | bus | non-bus | occupancy rate | non-bus | occupancy rate |
| | | speed | persons/ | speed | persons/ |
| | km | km/h | hour/lane | km/h | hour/lane |
| Victoria Rd T3 | 8.6 | 23 | 34 | 870 | 22 | 1160 |
| Military Rd T3 | 7.6 | 28 | 35 | 1500 | 15 | 730 |
| Epping Rd T2 | 10.5 | n/a | 25 | 1960 | 24 | 1320 |
Source: Roads and Traffic Authority NSW.Interpretation
The number of persons carried per hour in transit lanes is up to twice the number carried in adjacent non-transit lanes.Average speeds on Victoria and Military Road transit lanes are significantly higher (more than 100 per cent in the case of Military Road) than on adjacent non-transit lanes.
