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Canadian Passenger Transportation

Technical Supplement: Carbon dioxide emissions of different modes

The last information bullet for the indicator "How Canadians travel" in the indicator bulletin states that automobiles and planes use more fuel and emit more CO₂ per passenger for a given distance of travel than do trains and buses. In Figure 2, CO₂ emissions are shown per passenger-kilometre for each of the four main motorized transportation modes. CO₂ emissions are proportional to fuel use. Additional information here shows how the modes compare under two different seating capacities.

SOURCES OF DATA
For annual fuel use by automobiles on the road:
See indicator on "Fossil fuel use by automobiles".

For estimates of passenger-kilometres:
See indicator on "How Canadians travel".

For annual fuel usage (1994–95) for air passenger travel:
Statistics Canada. Annual. Canadian Civil Aviation. Catalogue 51-206. Ottawa.

For annual fuel usage (1994–95) for rail passenger travel:
Statistics Canada. Annual. Rail in Canada. Catalogue 52-216. Ottawa.

For annual estimates of fuel consumption by urban transit and intercity bus companies (1994–95):
Statistics Canada. Annual; Monthly. Passenger Bus and Urban Transit Statistics. Catalogue 53-215. Ottawa.

For CO₂ emission factors for various transportation fuels:
Jaques, A.P. 1992. Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Estimates for 1990. Report EPS 5/AP/4. Environment Canada, Ottawa.

For estimates of CO₂ emissions per passenger-kilometre for the automobile, bus, train, and air modes assuming full seat utilization:
Royal Commission on National Passenger Transportation. 1992. Directions: the Final Report of the Royal Commission. Volume 2, Chapter 7—"Environmental Effects of Intercity Passenger Transportation." Ottawa.

GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE
Canada.

PERIOD OF RECORD
1990, 1995.

METHODOLOGY AND RELIABILITY
CO₂ emissions on a per-passenger-kilometre basis (Table 4) were derived for 1995 by dividing emission estimates for each mode (based on fuel use figures and the CO₂ emission factors) by the passenger-kilometre estimates for each mode (see below, discussion under methodology for the indicator on "How Canadians travel").

CO₂ emission factors per passenger-kilometre for full loads were taken directly from the Royal Commission on National Passenger Transportation data (1990). The Royal Commission estimated available passenger-kilometres (or seat-kilometres) based on average vehicle capacities for all modes. Theoretical lower limits for CO₂ emissions per passenger-kilometre were then calculated by assuming full, rather than actual, seat utilization.

Table 4. CO₂ emissions per passenger-kilometre

For a discussion of the passenger-kilometre and automobile fuel use estimates, see the methodology section under the indicators on "How Canadians travel" and "Fossil fuel use by automobiles." or a discussion of CO₂ emission estimates, see "Carbon Dioxide Emissions: The Contribution from the automobile and Passenger Transportation as a Whole," in the preceding section on the issue context.

As with much of the passenger transportation sector, direct survey data are not available. The estimation methods used here, however, are consistent and can be considered reliable as a way of providing a general picture to compare modes and analyze the efficiency potential with full loads.