Green road transportation management and environmental sustainability: The impact of population density

The objective of the study is to examine the moderating role of population density in the relation between road transportation and environment sustainability of South Asian countries from 1990 to 2014. The study uses environment sustainability (population density) as the outcome (moderator), whereas road infrastructure, road density, energy intensity and transportation energy consumption are explanatory variables. The selection of these variables is motivated by their significance in understanding the relationship between road transportation and environmental sustainability. Road infrastructure and road density capture the physical aspects of transportation systems, while energy intensity and road transportation energy consumption provide insights into the energy efficiency and environmental impact of road transport, respectively. The findings show that a positive impact of road infrastructure and road density exists on environmental sustainability. There is contrarily a negative effect of road transportation energy consumption and energy intensity on environmental sustainability. Population density also harms environmental sustainability. When population density is used as a moderator between road transportation energy consumption, energy intensity and environment sustainability, it increases the coefficients of both energy intensity and road transportation energy consumption, which shows that population density plays an enhancing role between road transportation energy consumption, energy intensity and environment sustainability. The coefficients of road density and road infrastructure changed into a negative from a positive in the presence of population density as a moderator, which states that population density plays an antagonistic role between road density and environmental sustainability. We recommend prioritizing sustainable transportation solutions and policies in densely populated areas. Implementing measures such as promoting public transportation and electric vehicles, and investing in infrastructure that supports active transportation modes like cycling and walking can help mitigate the negative environmental effects of transportation while addressing the challenges posed by population density.