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TreeSmart for Public Transport
All modes of transport contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, even public transport modes which are often considered to be "green". This is especially the case for public transport modes which are electrically powered, and where the electricity is generated by the burning of brown coal (which has notoriously high emissions of greenhouse gases). Calculations have shown that trains, trams and buses have the following CO2 emission rates under current Melbourne operating conditions.


Measure of Emissions
Train
Tram
Bus
CO2 per Vehicle-km (kg)
20
1.5
1.5
CO2 per Passenger-km (kg)
0.170
0.083
0.141
Total CO2 p.a. (million kg)
340
33
113
While there are a number of ways that the cost of sequestration could be borne by public transport (see table below),the simplest would probably be by way of an annual subscription for each vehicle, or for the public transport fleet as a whole.

Public Transport Sequestration Costs
Train
Tram
Bus
Sequestration Cost per Vehicle-km
$0.140
$0.010
$0.010
Sequestration Cost per Passenger Trip
$0.019
$0.002
$0.006
Sequestration Cost per Vehicle p.a.
$15,000
$480
$520
Fleet Sequestration Cost p.a. ($million)
$2.40M
$0.25M
$0.80M
In addition, private individual subscriptions are available (based on 5 return public transport trips per week) for an annual subscription fee of $5.00.