138 ■ CITIES AND CLIMATE CHANGE
In Hong Kong SAR, China, vehicles meeting the energy effi ciency and
exhaust emission criteria can have the First Registration Tax reduced.^5 In
Delhi, a similar mixture of standard setting and incentives is seen. Th e state
government also has initiated a program to provide a 30 percent subsidy on the
purchase of battery-operated vehicles in the city. It is funding this subsidy from
the diesel tax it has levied since early 2008. Th e program, which is also sup-
ported by a subsidy provided by the central Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy, was introduced at a time when the price of crude oil was skyrocketing.
Th e government is keen on encouraging the use of alternate fuel and is particu-
larly eager to reduce the number of diesel vehicles, which currently account for
30 percent of the city’s automobiles population of the city (MNRE 2008). Th ese
examples suggest that regulation may be most eff ective when it is combined
with other, more enabling, modes of governing.
Beyond regulating vehicle standards and emissions, there is little evidence
that our case-study cities deploy the regulatory mode of governing in the trans-
port sector. One exception is Mexico City, where restrictions are placed on a
car one day per week, based on a car’s license plate number. In 2008, these
restrictions were extended to include Saturdays. Mexico City also introduced a
pilot scheme for mandatory school bus transportation in 2008 with 34 schools
that will enforce the use of school buses for all private school students by 2012.
Another example is Beijing, which had a two-month-long vehicle control pro-
gram in place based on odd-even license plate numbers for the Olympic Games
in 2008. Beginning in October 2008, the city started a vehicle-driving control
based on the last digit number of license plate numbers so that each vehicle can
drive only four days out of every fi ve working days (Xinhua News 2008).^6
Provisioning
Improving the effi ciency and coverage of public transportation is critical for
encouraging the public to change their travel mode to reduce energy use and
emissions associated with the growth of private motorized transport. In this
context, many municipalities are playing critical roles in providing infrastruc-
tures that promote less carbon-intensive travel. For example, large-capacity
buses, light-rail transit, and metro or suburban rail are increasingly being used
for the expansion of public transport. In some cases, municipalities are the
direct providers of such services, and elsewhere they are critical actors in build-
ing the necessary infrastructure for their operation.
Providing a higher-quality public transport system is regarded by our case-
study cities as an effi cient and eff ective approach to reducing traffi c jams,
air pollution, and carbon emissions. Most cities have made enormous invest-
ments in public transport infrastructure and plan to continue doing so. Hong
Kong enjoys a well-developed mass transit system; 90 percent of the 11 million