Sustainability

How Much Does Your Car Contribute Towards Your Carbon Footprint?

With growing concerns around exhaust fume pollution and carbon emissions, personal cars are becoming a big topic of controversy with the battle between sustainability and comfort.
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Private car owners find both social and economic value in car ownership. They find great utility in having this privacy and independence when going from place to place. In countries such as South Africa where public transportation is relatively unsafe and unstable due to poor infrastructure, owning a private car is deemed a necessity. However, with new and innovative transport services such as Zeelo, more optimal solutions can be put in place as a compromise, which better serves the environment at the same time.

Concerns About Carbon Emissions

The environmental cost of car ownership and daily driving is of grave concern throughout the world. Businesses are tasked with overcoming this issue from an organisational standpoint, and governments attempt to better regulate sectors which negatively influence the environment, such as transport and energy. However, this has proved a difficult task, especially in industries which are heavily dependent on transport, such as the logistics sector for example.

Congestion, overpopulation, and parking are all looming issues, especially in South Africa. City centres are overpopulated and growing at an exponential rate. It is estimated that each employee who drives a private vehicle to and from work each day, emits approximately 680 kilograms of carbon by merely looking for a place to park. To quantify this in practical terms, businesses would need to plant at least 20 trees per year, per employee, just to compensate for the emissions from searching for a parking space. This does not even take into account long trips or excessive driving. As a result, a great burden is placed on business owners to propose viable solutions that boost efficiency along with sustainability.

Car Ownership In South Africa

In South Africa, Cape Town has the highest number of cars per household. On the other hand, Gauteng leads the charts as the most congested province in the country. This can be credited to Johannesburg lying within its vicinity, and being the business hub of the country. Little explanation is required to understand why hordes of people are attracted to the city each year, which leads to the population growth in these areas and urban development.

Between 1997 and 2006, new car sales practically doubled, and the consumer market for automotives was booming. Johannesburg is listed as one of the top three economically important cities in the world with a growing carbon emission problem. There is clearly no doubt as to why South Africa has received mounting international pressure to sizably reduce carbon emissions. Another prominent difficulty for South Africans is the increased prices per unit of electricity and the threat of load shedding, all of which weigh heavily on the pockets of business owners.

How Can Zeelo Help Reduce Your Emissions?

A good way to reduce the environmental pressure caused by car users is to look at alternatives such as shared transport. Means of travel which host large passenger occupancy, such as bus travel, proves to be the most efficient means of reducing emissions. It’s estimated that annual bus travel reduces carbon emissions by 5.6 billion litres of gas per year. Zeelo helps to make this good news a reality for commuters who would still like to enjoy the luxury and privacy of commuting, yet also want to travel sustainably.

According to the Centre of Globalisation, Governance and Competitiveness, bus transit is a much greener choice than any of its alternatives. Additionally, bus capacities are generally high, unlike private car travel where people are more likely to be alone or with a single passenger on board. Mass transit is an underrated method and a logical step before fully electric vehicles become the norm in South Africa. Zeelo succeeds by minimising your impact on the environment, while not compromising your travel experience.

This is further emphasised at Zeelo where high occupancy, luxury vehicles are used to service employers. Data is used to place these employers in the best position to ensure that the buses are used optimally and operate at near full capacity. Timetables are convenient and flexible to facilitate large group pick-ups on every occasion. Again, data is used to ensure routes are specific, meaning that the simplest, shortest, and the overall most efficient route can be used to accommodate groups heading to fixed locations. Shared transportation which is also private, premium and comfortable makes for the perfect trifecta in meeting modern transport needs whilst keeping the environment in mind.

Employees using the Zeelo services, as a means to travel to and from work, will benefit from a seamless booking platform, 24/7 customer support, live vehicle tracking on the day of travel, a relaxing commute onboard a luxury vehicle, and best of all, they will be able to reclaim the time they once spent behind the wheel by tapping into complimentary WiFi on during their journey. All of this the while helping to reduce their Carbon Footprint by making use of a shared transportation service.

Unfortunately, reliance on private vehicles travel has become more prevalent than before, requiring employees and ordinary citizens alike to travel more often to get from place to place. Commuters can, however, reap the benefits of fast and efficient travel, combined with an environmentally friendly approach by opting to use a shared bus service, such as Zeelo, to cater to their travel needs. Find out more about Zeelo and book your first journey with us at zeelo.co.za.

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