Green road transportation management and environmental sustainability: The impact of population density

Ashraf Ud Din; Jian Ming; Imran Ur Rahman; Heesup Han; Sunghoon Yoo; Rakan Radi Alhrahsheh

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19771

Green road transportation management and environmental sustainability: The impact of population density

Heliyon. 2023 Sep 1;9(9):e19771. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19771. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Authors

Ashraf Ud Din¹, Jian Ming¹, Imran Ur Rahman², Heesup Han³, Sunghoon Yoo⁴, Rakan Radi Alhrahsheh⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Transportation and Logistics, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China.
² Center for Trans-Himalaya Studies Leshan Normal University, China.
³ College of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Sejong University, 98 Gunja-Dong Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 143-747, South Korea.
⁴ Audit Team, Hanmoo Convention (Oakwood Premier), 49, Teheran-ro 87-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 06164, South Korea.
⁵ Applied Sociology programs, Al Ain University, United Arab Emirates.

Abstract

The objective of the study is to examine the moderating role of population density in the relation between road transportation and environment sustainability of South Asian countries from 1990 to 2014. The study uses environment sustainability (population density) as the outcome (moderator), whereas road infrastructure, road density, energy intensity and transportation energy consumption are explanatory variables. The selection of these variables is motivated by their significance in understanding the relationship between road transportation and environmental sustainability. Road infrastructure and road density capture the physical aspects of transportation systems, while energy intensity and road transportation energy consumption provide insights into the energy efficiency and environmental impact of road transport, respectively. The findings show that a positive impact of road infrastructure and road density exists on environmental sustainability. There is contrarily a negative effect of road transportation energy consumption and energy intensity on environmental sustainability. Population density also harms environmental sustainability. When population density is used as a moderator between road transportation energy consumption, energy intensity and environment sustainability, it increases the coefficients of both energy intensity and road transportation energy consumption, which shows that population density plays an enhancing role between road transportation energy consumption, energy intensity and environment sustainability. The coefficients of road density and road infrastructure changed into a negative from a positive in the presence of population density as a moderator, which states that population density plays an antagonistic role between road density and environmental sustainability. We recommend prioritizing sustainable transportation solutions and policies in densely populated areas. Implementing measures such as promoting public transportation and electric vehicles, and investing in infrastructure that supports active transportation modes like cycling and walking can help mitigate the negative environmental effects of transportation while addressing the challenges posed by population density.

Keywords: Energy consumption; Environment sustainability; Infrastructure; Population density; Road transportation.