Pollution and Transport in El Salvador

Slide 1: ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF TRANSPORTATION IN EL SALVADOR 43 rd UNEP/UNES CO/BMU Inte rnatio nal S ho rt Co urs e o n Enviro nme ntal Manag e me nt fo r De ve lo ping and Eme rg ing Co untrie s : S us tainable Trans po rtatio n (22 nd No ve mbe r 2007 – 13 th De c e mbe r 2007 DRES DEN Ge rmany Saul Castelar Transportation Consultant 43 UNEP Course on Env. Management Saul Castelar

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Slide 3: • Located in Central America, • One of the smallest countries in Latin America (21,000 square kms.) • 6,500,000 people. • San Salvador, its capital, is the most important city in the country; about 2,000,000 inhabitants. • San Salvador concentrates about 50% of all vehicles in the country. • Transportation decisions made on a national level. 43 UNEP Course on Env. Management Saul Castelar

Slide 4: • About 650,000 vehicles in the country. • Public transport fleet comprised of about 12,000 vehicles • Transportation produces about 2 million tons of CO2 every year (about 46% of the CO2 tons emitted by the energy sector) • Vehicles in the country run on gasoline and diesel. No alternative fuels are distributed at the moment. • (The Kyoto protocol was ratified by El Salvador on september 17, 1998 ) 43 UNEP Course on Env. Management Saul Castelar

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Slide 6: El Salvador has one of the biggest accidents rates in Latin America. There were about 25,000 accidents last year! 43 UNEP Course on Env. Management Saul Castelar

Slide 7:  Public transport is operated by private parties. There is vast atomization in the sector and no coordination at all between routes. There is a fierce competition among service providers for passengers, which causes a number of problems.  Average PT fleet age: 14 years  Estimations of unnecessary veh kilometers for buses in San Salvador: about 39,000 a day.  About 4000 veh kilometers for minibuses  That amounts to 1,2 million gallons of diesel in a year!!!!  A fuel tax of 0.10 $US per gallon has just been aproved to subsidize the operation of public transport in the country. 43 UNEP Course on Env. Management Saul Castelar

Slide 8: TONS/DAY SS Metropolitan GASES Area CBD CO 227,700 13,500 HC 27,900 1,200 NOX 36,100 1,300 SO2 9,500 1,000 43 UNEP Course on Env. Management Saul Castelar

Slide 9: • SAL produces aprox. 9 million tons of (CO2) every year. That is about 0.003 % of CO2 emissions worldwide. • That amount is insignificant compared with 5,729 million tons produced by the US every year. Yet it is a problem to the nation. • Transportation produces about 22% of the country’s CO2 every year. 43 UNEP Course on Env. Management Saul Castelar

Slide 10: •In 2001, the government launched an aggressive campaign to organize Public Transport in the country, particularly in the capital. •The reorganization included the modification of about 60% of all routes running in the capital. •It was also aimed at matching the number of available buses with real demand. •It also aimed at formalizing the relationship between the government and the operators of the public transport system. 43 UNEP Course on Env. Management Saul Castelar

Slide 11: Peak hour AM Valley Peak hour PM Before After Change Before After Change Before After Change (%) (%) (%) Inmediate results CO 18,596 18,090 -2.72 9,850 9,093 -7.69 17,715 17,078 -3.60 HC 2,271 2,227 -1.98 1,279 1,191 -6,86 2,162 2,099 -2.90 NOx 2,817 2,763 -1.92 1,976 1,839 -6.93 2,723 2,639 -3.06 SO2 758 706 -6.97 322 261 -18,80 719 640 -10.98 Short Term Results CO 26,499 25,475 -3.87 13,790 12,509 -9.29 25,289 24,146 -4.52 HC 3,166 3,036 -4.10 1,731 1,568 -9.39 3,010 2,870 -4.64 NOx 3,599 3,421 -4.95 2,440 2,177 -10.79 3,463 3,263 -5.78 SO2 1,278 1,089 -14.78 504 366 -27.41 1,204 964 -19.92 43 UNEP Course on Env. Management Saul Castelar

Slide 12: Peak hour AM Valley Peak hour PM Before After Change Before After Change Before After Change (%) (%) (%) Inmediate results CO 995 826 -17.03 585 456 -22.15 1,099 951 -13.48 HC 92 83 -10.30 57 48 -16.03 102 93 -8.26 NOx 98 84 -14.94 71 56 -21.89 104 90 -13.31 SO2 84 63 -25.19 32 19 -41.05 79 49 -38.76 Short Term CO 1,417 1,194 -15.75 828 631 -23.79 1,590 1,355 -14.78 HC 127 116 -8.63 77 65 -16.59 143 131 -8.63 NOx 127 110 -13.51 90 70 -21.77 136 118 -13.24 SO2 139 109 -22.10 53 31 -40.67 135 82 -39.39 43 UNEP Course on Env. Management Saul Castelar

Slide 13: • Measures proved positive to reduce emissions, also congestion in the city center. • The measures would have allowed to improve the control of the authorities over the transportation system. • Bus operators were against the implementation of measures and put pressure on authorities to revert the situation. • The project had to be suspended due to political pressure and bus operation returned to its original inefficient pattern. 43 UNEP Course on Env. Management Saul Castelar

Slide 14: • More actions are required • 13 CDM projects are being promoted with potential to reduce about 1.5 million tons of CO2. • Until now 3 projects have been aproved, under the CDM. NO TRANSPORT PROJECTS ARE BEING PROMOTED • The old national rail began operation in a small line during the last trimester of 2007. • The new tax for fuels, might be an accidental step in the right direction. • Compulsory vehicle checks are demanded by law, but litigations make it a pending matter with negative effects on emissions and also on accident rates. 43 UNEP Course on Env. Management Saul Castelar

Slide 15: What else can be done? • Many, many things! • Begin by properly monitoring air quality and noise levels. • Target Education as a key to any strategy • Work responsibly towards mass transit. • Coordinate private and government efforts. • Promote NMT modes. • Increase Pedestrian safety. • Streghten the law and its application. • Establish a national policy on transportation, also on pollution and climate change. • Develop laws to promote clean energy production. 43 UNEP Course on Env. Management Saul Castelar

Slide 16: Will it be done? • Environmental matters don’t seem a priority. • Neither transportation, unfortunately. • Higher fuel prices seem to do more for transport than any formal strategy. • Different strategies have proved successful, but a firmer stance from the authorities is required for sustainable improvement. • For now, there is no happy ending to this story! 43 UNEP Course on Env. Management Saul Castelar

Slide 17: Final thoughts • It is possible to change Status Quo. • Become a proficient salesman of change! • Take matters into your own hands! • Get your data straight • Make it simple & realistic • Make it personal • Put it in graphs, figures, votes and $! • Promote maximum participation & Involvement • Strive for maximum accountability • Make it enforceable • Compromise 43 UNEP Course on Env. Management Saul Castelar

Slide 18:  NEVER GIVE UP! THE END!!!! scastelar@yahoo.com 43 UNEP Course on Env. Management Saul Castelar