Net Zero Transport, Decarbonisation & Emissions

SYSTRA plays a key role in helping clients to develop robust plans to decarbonise transport through multiple initiatives, ranging from active transport strategies to low-carbon vehicle schemes and transport demand management.

Tackling carbon emissions from transport

Ireland is required to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, with an interim target of a 51% emission reduction by 2030, as laid out in the Climate Action Plan 2023. This means the carbon emissions from energy, industry and transport must fall below the amount of carbon taken out of the atmosphere by our forests, peat bogs and any carbon capture technology.

Clients have challenging decarbonisation targets to meet. Given that the transport sector comprises the second-largest share of Ireland’s sectoral carbon emissions (after the agriculture sector), decarbonising transport is one of the most urgent priorities. Public and private sector clients must now produce and implement actionable strategies to assist in delivering Ireland’s net zero objective.

SYSTRA offers the expertise and support clients need to develop robust transport decarbonisation strategies. These strategies are essential if local authorities are to turn net zero ambitions into realistic, achievable and affordable plans.

our experience

Discover how SYSTRA provides expert insight and advice to support decision making, policy development and strategy.

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SYSTRA has the expertise to identify achievable pathways to decarbonising transport, helping our public and private sector clients deliver workable strategies and implementation plans as part of their wider net-zero efforts.

Transport decarbonisation strategies

Decarbonising transport is a complex challenge. The environmental specialists at SYSTRA help local authorities to develop strategies that cover a wide range of initiatives and schemes to:

Reduce the need for people to travel outside of their immediate area to access day-to-day services – using the ‘liveable communities’ concept.
Prioritise the consideration of carbon emissions within travel decisions.
Change the relative real and perceived cost of low-carbon and high-carbon transport modes.
Ensure that the pathway to low carbon is equitable and accessible for all residents, workers and visitors.

On course for net zero carbon emissions

We help local authorities set targets to achieve transport carbon reductions through strategies such as demand constraint, increasing the use of zero and low-carbon transport modes (such as walking, cycling and public transport), adopting new technologies (such as electric driverless vehicles) and converting transport to new carbon-friendly fuel sources, such as electric or hydrogen.

The strategies we recommend are based on robust evidence, including accurate modelling of base carbon emissions, and the likely impacts of schemes on passenger behaviour, fleet mix and transport network performance.

Understanding the impacts

SYSTRA has significant experience of developing and appraising a range of transport and environmental modelling techniques. This expertise enables us to make realistic predictions about the impacts of different types of transport intervention on behavioural change. It also enables us to forecast the impacts of future vehicle fleets and their emissions, to help clients understand the carbon reductions delivered by different technologies in a given geographic area.

Deliverable transport decarbonisation strategies

SYSTRA has the skills and resources to help our public and private sector clients, including local, regional and city authorities, deliver realistic and prioritised decarbonisation plans, which include a robust quantification of the impacts of transport on future carbon emissions.