For the last decade or so, our universe has been facing the repercussions of indiscriminate exploitation of nature which has often went to the level of abuse of the environment. As climate change started affecting even the daily life of people, countries started to wake up to the challenge heeding appeals from climate scientists and activists. When unprecedented floods, untimely droughts and related destructions such as mudslides, crop losses, people’s displacement, loss of infrastructure etc started to be a daily affair, experts have been advising policy-makers to come up with laws and regulations to protect the environment.
As the biggest pollutant of environment is carbon emission, countries across the world started to formulate and implement a variety of laws and regulations to prevent an imminent threat of world-wide calamity. Researchers and experts say that 99 percent of emissions is man made, hence its our combined duty to ensure that we keep our planet livable for our progeny too.
Between 1990 and 2006, emissions in the transportation sector alone increased by more than 25 percent, representing almost half of the total growth in greenhouse gas emissions, according to data. In countries like Qatar, people mainly depend on private vehicles for their daily grind. Most often the vehicles carry only one person and if there are three people in the same house they drive three separate cars to work.
Data shows a single person commuting alone by car, clocking a 20 mile round trip on a public transport can reduce his annual carbon emissions by 4,800 pounds per year, equal to a 10 percent reduction in all greenhouse gases produced by a typical small household.
With the introduction of public buses and the widely accepted Doha Metro service, people in Qatar got an option to switch to public transport. Especially, the Doha Metro proved a roaring success as more and more people quickly started ditching private vehicles and embracing the metro service. Travellers find the metro attractive with its prompt, free feeder services which give convenient access to the far flung areas. To make the transport system more integrated and effective, Qatar’s Ministry of Transport has come up with the newest Public Bus Infrastructure Programme, which is being implemented at a fast pace.
Enhancing the country’s position as a leading state in using eco-friendly electric vehicles is part of the main objectives of the programme.
The country has already taken delivery of over 740 electric buses which will be used to transport fans during the upcoming FIFA World Cup, which promises to be the world’s first carbon-neutral tournament. These buses will be later integrated into the public transport system, leaving a long-lasting legacy of the World Cup, which will take Qatar into the league of a few countries which depend on electric vehicles for mass transport.
