Comparison of environmental performances of passenger vehicles in Kampala/Uganda

Kampala is rapidly growing and widening and in a few years to come authorities have to choose on the specific modes of passenger transport that are required to serve the city dwellers. To make decisions on such a critical issue various studies and researches have to be carried out. This thesis can be among the studies that can set a groundwork for a procedure that can be used to efficiently select the best passenger transportation modes for the city in relation to environmental sustainability. Using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, the energy inputs and emissions from the 14-seater minibuses (Kamunye), 29-seater minibuses (Coaster), BodaBoda motorcycles and the three-wheeler TukTuk motorcycles while transporting passengers were quantified. Inventory results were normalized to environmental effects per kilometer covered while transporting a passenger using a specific motor vehicle. Simapro 8.5.0 software was used to analyze the inventory data and results were evaluated in terms of impact categories such as acidification potential, global warming potential, fossil fuel based abiotic depletion potential among others. The findings of this thesis are very important to the Kampala city administration and other authorities of cities in other developing countries while deciding on the most sustainable passenger transportation system from an environmental point of view.