Impact of clean transportation systems in rural economy: A study Available to Purchase

Human Development Index (HDI) is the scale of measurement for development in a society or a nation. This index is the algebraic sum of three indices namely educational level, life expectancy and income level. Energy consumption pattern plays a vital role in the enhancement of HDI value. Maximum people in rural India are involved in agricultural activities and as a result agriculture becomes the backbone of rural economy. Agricultural sectors like irrigation, crop cultivation, crop processing and crop transportation needs energy. The fossil fuel operated auto rickshaws are emitting green house gases(GHG)to the local ambience that have detrimental impact on ecological system and is very sensitive to the fossil fuel quality and price. To reduce the ecological and economical load the battery operated vehicles (BoVs), entitled TOTOs have emerged in rural transport sector. Five years detail studies were conducted on Autos and TOTOs to study their impact on rural economy and empowerment. Results of studies showed that the growths of TOTOs are exponential in nature during the period 2013-18. On the other hand, growths of Autos are more or less linear in nature. Recent hike in fuel price put a negative impact on Autos operating cost; however operating cost of TOTOs remains more or less constant. Thus, the emergence of TOTOs put major impact with reduced adverse effect on environment as well as it helps in national economy as compared to Autos. Moreover, onsite charging of TOTOs using solar photo voltaic (PV)power systems will open up a new avenue for ‘Green Transportation’ in rural areas of the developing world.