육상교통수단의 환경성 비교분석

Abstract

In pursuit of active economic development, the Korean government has continuously insisted on implementing measures to support and invest on the road and automobile-based transportation system. If this system continues, the environmental damage is expected to become much more serious in the near future. However, despite these apprehensions, a systematic approach has not been introduced in Korea for comparing the environmental nature of the railways and road transport, to be reflected in transportation policy initiatives. Therefore, systematic analysis and evaluation of the social cost for different means of transportation became necessary for effective and environmentally friendly implementation of the measures and policies. This study analyzed 6 categories of the transportation external effects, which include air pollution, greenhouse gas, noise pollution, land use, traffic accidents, and congestion. Then the economic, social and environmental impacts on these categories were evaluated. The point of assessment was based on the years 2000 and 2010, under the assumption that the current transportation policies will be maintained without any significant changes. The cost for traffic accidents and congestion in the year 2000 was based on the data from the Korea Transport Institute(KOTI). According to the study, the social cost from the surface transportation sector in the year 2000 was estimated around 49 trillion won; out of this amount, the estimated cost for air pollution was 11.6 trillion(23%), congestion 11.3 trillion(23%), land use 9.7 trillion (20%), traffic accidents 9.2 trillion (19%), greenhouse gas 5.9 trillion (12%), and, noise was 1.9 trillion won (4%). When social cost for railways and road transports were compared from the aspects of the passenger traffic volume(person/km) and the freight traffic volume(ton/km), the social cost for the road transport was generally higher than the railroad transport. The air pollution cost for road transport was 3.1 times higher than that of railroads, greenhouse gas 3.6 times, noise pollution 2.1 times, land use 1.0 times, and most surprising of all, the cost arising from road traffic accidents was 646 times higher than the railroads. This is under the assumption that there is no cost for congestion in the railroad transportation. On the road, full-sized buses emit the most volume of air pollutants per vehicle, with large trucks and taxis producing a little less. Especially, for the air pollution cost based on the passenger volume (person/km), the cost for taxi is the highest with 24.5 won, automobiles 12.9 won, large buses 11.4 won, and trains 5.5 won. Based on the freight volume(ton/km), the cost is estimated to be 46 won on the roads and 10 won on the railroads. Assuming the same volume of traffic, in the passenger transport, roads emit twice as much greenhouse gas as the railways, and ten times as much in the freight transport. For the year 2010, the expected environmental cost from the surface transportation sector was raised to 57 trillion won, a significant increase compared to the year 2000. The cost for traffic accidents, air pollution and greenhouse gas were all decreased to 3.7 trillion won, 1.8 trillion and 0.3 trillion won, respectively. But, the cost for congestion increased to 6.1 trillion won, and the cost for land use and noise pollution also increased, to 5.7 trillion and 1.6 trillion, respectively. The social cost for the surface transportation sector according to the traffic volume proved that the railways are gradually prevailing over the roads in many aspects of the environment. In conclusion, in light of the social cost for the transportation sector, railways are proven to be 3～4 times more superior than the roads. Also, due to the dramatic increase in the cost of road congestion in the near future, even more wider gap is expected. Based on these results, some of the measures to improve the current transportation policies should be established. First of all, we should emerge from the road-based transportation policy, and enforce more legislative efforts for expansion of environmentally friendly means of transportation, such as railways. Secondly, in line with strengthening the air quality management standards, public transportation service should be expanded and popularized for less congested roads. Thirdly, efforts should be made to reduce pollutant emissions by increasing the number of advanced-engine LPG taxis, and the use of clean fuel and low-emission vehicles and supply of the Compressed Natural Gas(CNG) buses should also be increased. Measures for improving the current transportation system in Korea can largely be divided into 5 areas. First of all, strengthen emission and fuel quality standards for the operating vehicles as well as make technological development for newly manufactured vehicles, and reduce pollutants by promoting wider use of cleaner fuels. Also, some measures are implemented to reduce the traffic amount by managing various traffic demands. Also, efforts are needed for effective operation of the freight traffic, and reduction of congestion and air pollution by lesser traffic accidents. Also, railway freight systems should be improved in order to facilitate transport of cargo by railways, instead of the roads. Last but not least, the noise reduction and efficient use of the land also should be considered. Besides the areas evaluated in this study, the social cost for transportation should be expanded to include the impacts on the ecosystem and landscape. Also, in order to determine the real superiority between the roads and railways, not only the environmental benefit, but also social and economic benefits should be considered. Also, more extensive and systematic research is needed for the unit cost. And, since the nature of traffic tends to vary in different localities, an appropriate regional research plan should be formulated to obtain more accurate and reliable results.