Imagine two small towns of 1,000 people: Blacktop and Parktown. In the urban spr

Question

Imagine two small towns of 1,000 people: Blacktop and Parktown. In the urban sprawl that is Blacktop, all the residents own fuel-efficient cars (15 km/liter) and travel an average of 20,000 km per year. Over in Parktown, the situation is somewhat different. Good public transport and well-planned amenities mean that only half the inhabitants need a car. Those that do own a car tend not to need it so often and therefore replace it less frequently. Each car-owner drives an average of 10,000 km per year. However, their older-model vehicles are less fuel efficient (10 km/liter) than those in Blacktop. Which community%u2019s transportation is more environmentally sustainable?

Answer:

Using an IPAT model one finds that Parktown is more sustainable than Blacktop. 500,000 Liters per year(Parktown) vs. 1,333,333.333 Liters per year(Blacktown).

However, do you think this model specification is complete? If not, what other variables should be added and how should these variables be integrated into the IPAT model?

Explanation / Answer

I = P*A*T , so for Blacktop I = 1000*20000/15 = 13.33*10^5 lit/year. for Parktown I = 500*10000/10 = 5*10^5 li/year.

so you can see that Blacktop consumes more petrol per year hence more environmental impact.

However this model specification is not complete because you forgot to take into account the fuel burnt by public transport vehicles in both cities and as it is said that Parktown uses more public transport they might end up using more petrol than blacktop.

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