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As with electricity generation, the transition to cleaner fuels for transport is important for climate change mitigation and will have the added benefit of reducing mortality from air pollution. Fuels used for transport currently produce more than half of the nitrogen oxides emitted globally and a substantial proportion of particulate matter, posing a large threat to human health, particularly in urban areas (indicator 3.3). Additionally, the health benefits of increasing uptake of active forms of travel (walking and cycling) have been shown through a large number of epidemiological and modelling analyses.

 

Encouraging active travel (particularly cycling) has become increasingly central to transport planning, and growing evidence suggests that bikeway infrastructure, if appropriately designed and implemented, can increase cycling in various settings.  A modal shift in transport could also result in reductions in air pollution from tyre, brake, and road surface wear, in addition to a reduction in exhaust-related particulates.

Global trends in fuel efficiency and the transition away from the most polluting and carbon-intensive transport fuels are monitored using data from the IEA; specifically, it follows the metric of fuel use for road transportation on a per-capita basis (TJ/person) by type of fuel.  In response to feedback, this year's indicator displays data in three categories of fuel: fossil fuels, biofuels, and electricity.

Globally, per-capita fuel use increased by 0·7% from 2015 to 2016 (figure 17). Although fossil fuels continue to contribute 95·8% of total fuel use for road transport, the use of clean fuels is growing at an increasing rate: fossil fuel use increased by 0·5%, compared with 3·3% growth in use of biofuels and 20·6% growth in use of electricity. In China, electricity now represents 1·8% of total transportation fuel use. This is more than any other country and an 80% higher share than observed in Norway (0·85%), who have committed to 100% of new vehicles sold being zero-emission by 2025.  A growing number of countries and cities have announced plans to ban vehicles powered by fossil fuels and automaker Volkswagen has announced that they will stop developing engines fuelled by petrol or diesel after 2026.

A number of cities have made considerable progress towards improving the amount of cycling. Notably, cycling mode share has increased from almost zero to about 15% in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, in less than a decade.  The city's transport policy has strongly promoted cycling though the expansion of the cycle lane network, improved cycle parking facilities, and the introduction of safety courses and new cycling regulations, in addition to enhanced communication on the health benefits of cycling.  The search for a more comprehensive metric of active transport remains elusive, principally limited by scarcity of data access in this field.