Insights

In discussions about transport and decarbonisation, there is a strongly expressed view from some quarters that while it might be possible to decarbonise transport in cities, outside these there is no alternative to cars for any of the journeys people make and that any attempts to reduce car use outside cities are unrealistic. Yet the…

Mass transport is vital not only for decarbonisation but also for an inclusive, congestion-free future. Without effective mass transport (alongside active travel), our towns and cities will grind to a halt and many people will become excluded from society – unable to reach work or education. Yet, our public transport systems face a crisis in…

In ‘Decarbonising Transport: Setting the Challenge’, Government takes the welcome approach of viewing all modes of transport together. Ensuring that more trips can be made by foot is a crucial part of the solution – and the new cycling and walking plan for England ‘Gear Change’ is a step in the right direction too. But more needs to be done. The National Travel Survey for England shows that almost 80% of journeys under a mile…

I recently participated in the DfT roundtables on decarbonising transport. I recorded a short video as part of this, making the case for a radical policy experiment to trial a substantial shift away from car use. We need radical thinking about policy implementation, because we need to go much further and faster than current European…

  Rising demand for car and van travel one of the central reasons why transport emissions in the UK remain stubbornly high. Electrification has a part to play but it goes nowhere near far or fast enough. More fundamental changes in behaviour will be needed. It was encouraging, therefore, to see the prominence given to…

In February 2020, the Department for Transport announced £5 billion of new funding over the next five years for bus services and cycling. Of this total, £2 billion has been allocated to ‘active travel’ and £3 billion to buses. A key question for the Government is how to allocate the new funding for buses in…

Buses are the cleanest vehicles on our roads and a new bus purchased today is already cleaner than the equivalent car. We can be rightly proud that our industry will have a central role in ensuring that the UK meets its ambitious goal of being net zero by 2050. This role is not new though.…

For too long transport has been trying to engineer away the physical reality of human movement The Covid-19 pandemic has reminded us that our movement is inescapably physical. The virus was spread by a well-connected global transport system. For all the talk of smart transport, movement cannot be digitised. Transport is irreducibly rooted in time…

The effect of Covid-19 on transport has been seismic, but as the UK begins the process of recovery, the need for sustainable transport has only strengthened. The Government’s support during the crisis has sustained the sector so far, but the planning, design, scope, scale, funding and management of transport all need to be explored as…

Community transport has played a vital role during the coronavirus pandemic and needs to be kept in good shape for reconnecting our communities and forging a more sustainable and inclusive transport future. Being about community as much as transport means it provides companionship, social interaction, health benefits both physical and mental, in a way that…

Many of us have come to value the respite offered by a daily walk since the pandemic unfolded. When lockdown began and we were only allowed one form of daily exercise, we got to know our local communities much more than we perhaps previously did. Many of us walked more to our local shops and…

Will Covid-19 be the defining moment in the fight against climate change? This year we have had a glimpse of a world with clean air. The lockdown emptied the roads and cleared the skies. But as economies open up, global emissions have already bounced back to just 5% below pre-pandemic levels. We need a green…