A new report published by Arcadis ranks the top North American cities with green transportation systems based on the “overall sustainability of urban transportation systems.”
According to that, the cities were measured by ranking measures includes social, environmental, and economic impact.
North American cities rank low compared to European or Asian cities due to the car-centric culture that exists today. However, many cities are striving to provide sustainable, alternative transportation options through various strategies. See what mobility strategies are happening across the nation on the map and download the report for more.
While personal vehicles may be the most common mode of transportation, they aren’t always the most environmentally friendly. This is especially true in populated cities where the public transportation systems can be a lot more energy-efficient with the use of green technology, clean commuting is even more beneficial to the environment.
New York City took the top spot. San Francisco, Vancouver, Montreal, and Washington, D.C., followed, in that order.
Top 5 Cities with Green Transportation Systems
To determine the Top 5 Green Transportation Cities, several factors were taken into consideration, as the average time spent commuting and the system’s hours of operation, how reliable the transportation system is, how much coverage they provide and the system’s ability to lower emissions. Other factors include access to multiple transit modes, bicycle infrastructure, affordability of public transit, digital mapping and payment capabilities, internet connectivity, and more.
Here are the top five North American cities with green transportation systems, according to data from the Sustainable Cities Mobility Index by Arcadis.
New York City, being the most populous city in the United States, has a transportation system which includes one of the largest subway systems in the world; the world’s first mechanically ventilated vehicular tunnel; and an aerial tramway.
The subway system is one of the most developed in the world. Millions of people use New York’s public transportation to get across the city without driving their own vehicles. That helps keep more cars off the roads and fewer emissions in the atmosphere.
The City by the Bay offers public transportation options, but they aren’t quite as popular to use as they are in New York. However, San Francisco also offers many initiatives for green energy. There are many electric vehicles in the city, for example.
San Francisco is becoming a model of how to work successfully with businesses and community groups to phase in and scale up sustainable transportation policies that make an immediate local and citywide impact.
The transportation system is aiming for allow for personal freedoms and environmental benefits to coexist, making sure there are many sustainable options to get around. Gas-fueled vehicles accounted for approximately 37% of our total emissions in 2017.
The city scored well in terms of system maintenance, air pollution and incentives to promote the use of electric vehicles, especially the public transportation systems.
According to a new report from the Arcadis Sustainable Cities Mobility Index, Montreal ranks as the fourth greenest transportation city in North America. The city ranked well for green transportation options with well-organized subway and easy for passengers to use. Montreal’s public transportation is an environmentally-friendly choice.
Montréal is home to a rapidly-growing sector of clean transport innovators, and their work is changing the face of it.
The United States’ capital ranks well for clean commuting with diverse range of national parks, including the National Mall, residents are often found walking to their next destination.
Washington, DC was the first city in North America to launch a bike-share system, which now has more than 4,000 bikes.
While the above cities top the North American none of them find a place in the international cities rank, according to the data from Arcadis.
The top European cities ranked well due to their organized metro systems and efficient infrastructure. These cities also use a lot of green technology in their transportation efforts, which means they release fewer carbon emissions.
The Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal, are an archipelago in the mid-Atlantic. The islands are characterized by dramatic landscapes, fishing villages, green pastures and hedgerows of blue hydrangeas.
The Azores islands are consistently ranked as one of the best, most sustainable, and most affordable island travel destinations in Europe. Located between Europe and North America, the Azores are the perfect island getaway for those looking for a unique and beautiful destination.
There is plenty to see and do (and eat) throughout the nine islands to keep the most ambitious traveler busy and beyond satisfied; here’s just a starter.
Lets explore the top 10 things to do in the Azores:
Photo Credit: Sete Cidades, Azores, Portugal | ARoxo/Moment/Getty Images
Azores Geopark
The Azores Geopark is a network of 121 geographically-dispersed sites of geographic heritage and marine areas that covers the nine volcanic islands of the archipelago of the Azores, representating the archipelago’s vast and varied volcanic geodiversity. There’s no place quite as geologically interesting and breathtaking as the Azores Geopark.
The natural beauty in the park includes about 300 volcanic cavities, underwater geothermal sources, fumarolic fields, crater lakes, dry calderas and so much more.
If you’ve ever dreamed of discovering the world of wild dolphins and whale, then look no further. Many species of whale and dolphin pass by the Azores on their annual migrations. The Azores attracts huge numbers of dolphins and whale, many of whom are very interactive both with boats and swimmers. Whale are, undeniably, one of Mother Nature’s most beautiful and majestic creatures, so it’s only natural to want to see these marvelous animals up close and personal.
This is of the most unforgettable experiences for the whole family includes sailing through the Atlantic in search of these majestic marine mammals. Most of the islands have guided tours available. The largest of the nine islands, Sao Miguel — some of the biggest highlights lie in the vast ocean that surrounds it. And probably the easiest way there with companies in Ponta Delgada and Vila Franca do Campo.
April through June is the best time to see blue whales, but you can still see other kinds of whales and dolphins the rest of the year-round.
The waters that surround the Azores are a diver’s paradise, filled with all sorts of fish species and amazing rock formations, but diving isn’t a year-round pursuit. Each island brings something different to the table: For diving enthusiasts, the very best can be found in the waters of Terceira, near the old port of Angra do Heroísmo in Terceira there’s an underwater anchor graveyard of ancient ship anchors and marine life like eagle rays and octopus, while the awesome topography of Pico Island continues beneath the waves with sheer volcanic cliffs.
Off São Miguel there are volcanic canyons at low depth, providing habitat for octopuses and triggerfish.
Throughout the islands, there are more than 100 diving spots with over 3,000 marine species, vertical walls, clean waters and incredible encounters with manta rays, mobulas and even whale sharks.
You can dive the Azores any time of the year, but the best offshore dive sites are only really accessible during the summer.
There’s a lagoon in the middle fed by the ocean on the landward side, and so completely shielded from the ocean currents. This strange, beautiful spot fills up quickly on sunny days. You can take a short boat ride from the Pier of Vila Franca do Campo to get to this amazing location
Enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience at the Islet of Vila Franca do Campo. You can enjoy an afternoon on the slopes of the ancient caldera or go for a swim within the Islet’s crater. This tiny island is just a kilometer away from São Miguel’s coast. Spot beautiful and vibrant vegetation, a gorgeous lagoon shielded from the ocean’s currents, and marvel at the natural cone that the islet creates.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Sete Cidades Caldera
This landscape has been shaped by successive volcanic events over the last 38,000 years. The last eruption might have been as recent as the 1400s, just before the island was colonized.
Nothing can prepare you for the astonishing views of the Sete Cidades Massif on the west side of São Miguel Island. Twin green and blue lakes are ensconced in evergreen vegetation and shielded by a massive volcanic crater that rises like ramparts is one of the scenic highlights of the Azores. Sitting inside the crater of an extinct volcano, a bridge divides the lake into two sections. They each have quite distinct colors. Visit on a clear day if possible, as that’s when you’ll get those perfect breathtaking views.
The natural beauty of this twin lake is breathtaking with lively hues of green blanketing the surrounding landscapes. The twin lakes, which are relatively small and are ecologically unique, are connected by a small square and can be crossed via a small bridge. They are known simply as the Green Lake and the Blue Lake
Boca do Inferno translates as the Mouth of Hell, is likely to be one of the most beautiful places you’ve ever visited. With just a few minutes walk, you’ll see a breathtaking panorama that you can’t imagine.
You can see the small town of Sete Cidades visible in the distance, and it’s one of the best places on Sao Miguel to see how volcanic activity has shaped the island.
If you are driving, don’t park in the car park off the main road, but continue driving on the dirt road opposite for a few minutes until you reach the end. The dirt road runs along the top of the caldera, and you walk walk directly alongside where you park the car.
Photo Credit: Tiago Ferreira / Flickr
Terra Nostra Park
A visit to the Terra Nostra Gardens is like spending time in a secret paradise tucked away at the Azores, one of the world’s best-kept secrets. Over 200 years old, the Terra Nostra Gardens are internationally renowned for their incredible beauty which is showcased in a sprawling 31-acre complex. Visitors to the gardens can see beautiful plant life from all over the world such as Rhododendrons from Malaysia, a collection of Cycads and Camellias, the exceptional Victoria Cruziana, and even over 300 kinds of ferns. Full of tropical and subtropical plants from the Azores and around the world, it’s easy to spend an hour or more exploring these large, impressive gardens.
Terra Nostra Park The Botanical Park´s next highlight is the famous thermal water pool. The volcanic hot spring nourishes the pool with temperatures between 35 and 40 degrees Celsius.
Photo Credit: madeinazores.eu
Pico Island Wine Country
With all of the volcanos surrounding the Azorean islands, the Pico Island Wine Country has been producing world-class wine since the 15th century. The stone homes and stone-walled vineyards that were built to protect the 2,439 acres of vineyard from fierce Atlantic winds and surges of salty ocean water from centuries ago can still be seen today in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Criação Velha wine region, in the municipality of Madalena.
Tour the vineyards with a local guide during the day and spend the late afternoons and evenings sipping and tasting all of the gorgeous wines that Pico Island has to offer.
Photo Credit: wikipedia
Montanha do Pico
At Pico Island you can climb the mountain, 2351 meters (7713 feet) above sea level. The Montanha do Pico is one of the highest Atlantic mountains, it’s the tallest in Portugal and twice the elevation of any other peak in the Azores. The Montanha do Pico is classified as a basaltic stratovolcano and was declared a nature reserve in 1982 because of its spectacular beauty and wildlife. With a summit that often disappears into the cloud.
You can climb the mountain in the afternoon so you can see the sunset when you are in the top or enjoy a remarkable view of the Faial, Graciosa, São Jorge and Terceria Islands. The steep, nearly 3-mile trek takes about three hours. In addition to magnificent vistas, you’ll see lava tubes and fascinating rock formations too.
The Montanha do Pico is classified as a basaltic stratovolcano and was declared a nature reserve in 1982 because of its spectacular beauty and wildlife.
Photo Credit: azoresontravel.com
Poca da Dona Beija
Take a break from your tour of Sao Miguel with a relaxing swim at Poca Da Dona Beija, a small spa featuring three natural pools of iron-rich water known for its therapeutic properties. Fed by a series of hot springs, the small pools remain at about 39 C (102 F), an ideal temperature for soothing tense muscles and easing pains associated with chronic rheumatism.
Today, Poca da Dona Beija has been lovingly renovated and update to exude a rustic charm with its brick pools that are fringed by vibrant tropical vegetation. After the hot bath, you can enjoy the tropical landscaping and the gift shop of the facility. Keep in mind that the yellowish water can leave stains on your clothes.
Photo Credit: Jorge Santos / olhares.sapo.pt
Lagoa das Furnas
There are three spectacular lakes on São Miguel Island and one of them is the Lagoa das Furnas. Lagoa das Furnas is unique in scenery and experiences. One of the most unique features of Lagoa das Furnas is the clear and amazing sign of volcanic activity that takes place on the lake’s northwestern shore. Furnas is the place to visit if you want to see the hot springs. It has an active caldera with steam vents, mud pots and geysers, locals cook food in earth ovens available in picnic areas. This hot spring and most touristy city of the island is situated in the east inland of Sao Miguel in the middle of mountains and forest.
On a raised boardwalk guests can navigate to get a great view of the small calderas and pools at the lake spouting steam.
These small craters are even used by restaurant chefs in the town of Furnas who bring their pots of cozido (meat and vegetable stew) and let them simmer in the hot ground. And after that you may be enticed to head to town to taste traditional food cooked with volcanic activity.
Check this official video about Azores from VisitPortugal. Don’t forget to check their Youtube channel for more and unforgettable videos about Portugal.
Botswana with its unique country’s natural resources provides a significant advantage in the tourism sector. Tourism plays a significant role in the national economy and exhibits enormous potential for future growth. Tourism in Botswana is the second-largest income in the country. According to official estimates, Botswana received 1.6 million visitors in 2015 and generated about 1 billion U.S. dollars in monetary gains.
Botswana, a landlocked country in Southern Africa, has a landscape defined by the Kalahari Desert and the Okavango Delta, which becomes a lush animal habitat during the seasonal floods.
In 1990 Botswana implemented a Tourism Policy aiming to increase tourist numbers, government revenue, and employment opportunities. The tourism industry also helped to diversify Botswana’s economy from traditional sources such as diamonds and beef and created more than 150 000 jobs in this sector.
The Botswana Tourism Organization (BTO) is responsible for all operational functions of the tourism sector such as marketing, investment promotion, and the grading of tourism facilities to international standards.
“The government has made a deliberate decision to boost eco-tourism because we are not sure natural resources will last unless we make a point to protect them,” tourism minister Tshekedi Khama said.
Botswana relies on natural resources for both general livelihoods and tourism.
Due to a lack of resources and skills in local communities, the country has often to depend on the assistance of international partners to achieve their dual goals of increasing economic prosperity and preserving natural resources.
Environmental management
Botswana has experimented with various methods of preserving natural resources including community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), which is based on assumption that local people have more incentive and are more committed to the sustainable use of natural resources where they live compared to the more removed government.
To be effective these areas must work closely with the local communities. In other areas park authorities and people living adjacent to protected areas have come into conflict. This often occurred when local people were suddenly denied ancient hunting, fishing or grazing rights, access to ancestral burial sites, or when tourist revenue was accumulated by foreign companies with nothing finding its way back to the local communities.
Botswana seeks to broaden the tourism base by adding more product components and increasing the geographic spread of tourism.
United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary-General Taleb Rifai said sustainable tourism has proven not only to boost economic development, create jobs but also to promote the inclusion of communities.
Some of the most popular areas for a safari trip in Botswana include Okavango Delta, formed by a river of the same name, traveling across 22,000 square kilometers of the surface without ever reaching the sea. The water of the Okavango River eventually evaporates in the sand of the unexplored Kalahari Dessert, inhabited by the Bushmen, one of the oldest tribes in the world.
Also in the Kalahari Dessert you can find the Chobe National Park, where is the home to the largest elephant population on the continent, or the impressive biodiversity that populates the entire country, including wild mammals such a lion, elephant, leopard, rhinoceros and buffalo.
Sustainable tourism is a worldwide theme but for the Okavango delta, the uniqueness is in the landscape, the people and the conservation policies of Botswana.
The Okavango Delta region is both a popular tourist destination and a world heritage site as well as one of the largest inland deltas in the world.
While the vast majority of attractions are based on the country’s natural resources, the tourism industry itself makes the very resources it has commodified vulnerable to damage. Large groups of people in tourist groups can disrupt wildlife and lead them to migrate to other habitats that may be unsustainable.
Botswana offers the traveler a choice of accommodation options from top-class tourist hotels, luxury lodges, and safari camps, to budget guesthouses and camping grounds. The major tourist areas have a choice of private lodges, safari camps, and public camping sites.
This country is almost the same size as of France has only 2.2 million population, gained its independence 50 years ago. Besides its ecosystems and a democracy, another valuable resource for the country is diamonds: diamond mines that were exploited by the De Beers Company, but managed by the government of the first and revered President Seretse Khama. Botswana steadily grew at an average rate of 9%-10% of its GDP, and from one of the poorest countries now is becoming an average economy country.
“Diamonds don’t last forever, but sustainable tourism and development do,” says Tshekedi Khama, Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism.
The Botswana government’s National Conservation Strategy and Tourism Policy was created to promote tourism while protecting wildlife areas. Citizens of the United States, South Africa, British Commonwealth countries, and most Western European countries do not need visas for stays of less than 91 days.
Attracting more tourists and being an example of sustainable travel destination is slowly becoming the new economic engine for undeveloped countries.
If you want to explore and learn more about other countries in Africa, check out our section here.
*This article may contain affiliate links. We receive a small percentage of sales made through them at no extra cost to the reader. For more information see our privacy page.
