Travel, for most is an essential part of the holidays. Either driving for miles to be with loved ones or taking a flight just to simply “get out of here”, there’s no season like the Christmas holidays to do it. In fact, according to a travel study done (Deloitte), 42% of Americans are set to travel, 53% of which plan to travel multiple times during the holiday season. And while we all love to travel, it’s been estimated that 15-20% of the world’s harmful emissions come from all forms of transportation, 8% of which specifically come from tourism.

A survey (Booking.com) with about 29,000 respondents from 30 countries showed that while 83% of travelers think sustainable travel is vital, 49% of those also believe there aren’t enough sustainable travel options available. And that is why we have put together some facts and information that will hopefully help you become a more sustainable traveler.

In general, transportation generates harmful emissions, degrades air quality and water resources, and also exacerbates the effects of climate change, and since travel is inevitable, a recent study has ranked the following modes of transportation from green-nest to not-so-green.

1. Train
The most sustainable form of transportation exemplifies “bulk transportation” at its best. Trains are fuel efficient, energy efficient, releases about 75% lesser emissions compared to the other modes of transport. For perspective, traveling 785 miles via train (a similar distance to a trip from London to Madrid)  emits about 95 lbs of CO₂ per person, compared to traveling the same distance via a plane will more than double emissions to about 250 lbs of CO₂ per person.
Greener technological advances are also easily available and faster to develop (less risk vs plane) such as cruise control, energy maximization functions, “greener trains” that uses emission-free batteries (HybridFlex Train in the UK) or have gone electric like the US’ AMTRAK Northeaster Corridor.

2. Bus
Same concept of “bulk transportation” as the train but on a smaller scale. According to
National Express Transit,  a bus “with as few as seven passengers is more fuel-efficient than the average single-occupant auto used for commuting.” Besides, more people taking the bus means fewer single-occupancy cars on the road, freeing up road traffic if even for a little bit.
Bus companies have also upped their “green efforts”, such that New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced that they are increasing their electric buses to about 35% and are aiming to have zero-emission fleets by 2040.

3. Ride Share / Hail Share
Car-pooling via service companies like Uber and Lyft can reduce CO₂ emissions by 5% per person. According to MIT, ride share has the power to reduce the number of vehicles on the road, decreasing overall traffic congestion and pollution. Fuel consumption is also set to decrease by 240M liters if its popularity continues. More recently, options to choose an EV vehicle for ride share have been added, reducing emissions further down to 25% less.
Ride share companies have also been very vocal in their contributions to sustainability and the environment. Uber aims to be a zero-emission platform by 2040 and is slowly starting to transition drivers to EVs with hopes to be fully EV by 2030 (same goal as Lyft).

4. Car
While it’s hard to fully quantify a car’s environmental effects due to several factors (mileage, conditions, type of vehicle, etc), according to the EPA, a typical vehicle emits roughly 4.6 metric tons of CO₂ per year which is about the same size as an adult elephant seal. So drive less – if each family reduced holiday gasoline consumption by one gallon, or opted to drive 20 miles less, greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by one million tons.
And when you can, simply carpool with friends and family members when heading out or go hybrid or EV if your situation permits – with inflation and increase in fuel prices, going hybrid or EV will save you money long-term.

5. Plane
No surprise, planes are the least sustainable since it requires a lot of energy and fuel to operate, emitting tons of CO₂ in each commercial flight. A flight burns 8,255 gallons of fuel, so if there are around 87,000 flights per day, about 718 million gallons of fuel get burned.
Worse of the worst is flying private, which is said to emit 5-14x more emissions and pollution as compared to a commercial plane, emitting 2 metric tons of CO₂ every hour. For perspective, you can drive the circumference of the earth and emit just one metric ton of CO₂.

Hopefully, this article arms you with the necessary information to make more mindful travel choices. And remember, however you choose to travel – travel safe, travel smart and most of all have fun! Happy Holidays!

Source:
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/transportation/holiday-travel-plans-survey-2021.html
https://brightly.eco/blog/holiday-travel-sustainability
https://www.tripsavvy.com/environmental-impact-of-tourism-how-we-travel-5212825