Green transport hierarchy
hierarchy of modes of transport prioritising sustainable transport modes, that is the order of priority in movements
The green transport hierarchy (Canada), also called mobility pyramid, reverse traffic pyramid, street user hierarchy (US), sustainable transport hierarchy (Wales), urban transport hierarchy or road user hierarchy (Australia, UK) is a hierarchy of modes of passenger transport prioritising green transport. It is a concept used in transport reform groups worldwide and in policy design. The UK Highway Code has a road user hierarchy prioritising pedestrians. It is a key characteristic of Australian transport planning.
History
The Green Transportation Hierarchy: A Guide for Personal & Public Decision-Making by Chris Bradshaw was first published September 1994. As part of a pedestrian advocacy group in the United States, he proposed the hierarchy ranking passenger transport based on environmental emissions. The reviewed ranking listed, in order: walking, cycling, public transport, car sharing, and finally private car.
It was first prepared for Ottawalk and the Transportation Working Committee of the Ottawa-Carleton Round-table on the Environment in January 1992, only stating 'Walk, Cycle, Bus, Truck, Car'.
Factors
Mode
Energy source
Trip length
Trip speed
Vehicle size
Passenger load factor
Trip segment
Trip purpose
Traveller
Adoption
Chris Bradshaw directed the hierarchy at both individual lifestyle choices and public authorities who should officially direct their resources – funds, moral suasion, and formal sanctions – based on the factors.
Bradshaw described the hierarchy to be logical, but the effect of applying it to seem radical.
“Green transport hierarchy” enters the record as hierarchy of modes of transport prioritising sustainable transport modes, that is the order of priority in movements. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Green, transport and hierarchy can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Green transport hierarchy” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Green, transport and hierarchy provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q106512563. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1994 and 1992.
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This entry incorporates text from “Green transport hierarchy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.