Two environmental campaign organisations have teamed up to develop an action plan for local authorities to reduce car use.
Friends of the Earth and Transport for Quality of Life will put a list of 27 suggestions to local authorities in a bid to get people out of cars and onto public transport or active travel modes.
According to the organisations, a rapid reduction in car mileage is needed if the UK is to help lower global carbon emissions. They are therefore calling on local authorities across the country to, on average, double the proportion of journeys made by public transport, cycling and walking.
Mike Childs, head of science at Friends of the Earth, said: “Transport has been a stubborn sector for cutting climate-wrecking emissions for years now, so 2021 needs to be the year that changes. Local authorities have a massive role to play in supporting their residents to move from cars to bikes and buses.”
Included in the action plan is the establishment of a remote working hub network, free or cheap e-bike schemes for key workers and job seekers, and the introduction of lower speed limits. Furthermore, the plan calls for emergency active travel infrastructure, deployed during the pandemic, to be made permanent.
Additionally, the partnership said local spending should be redirected to public transport and active travel projects instead of its current funding of road building. Thus, a carbon budget for transport and traffic reduction targets has also been recommended.
Furthermore, local authorities are being urged to stop subsidising or encouraging free parking whilst cutting bus services. The campaigners have put forward proposals for initiating a town trial of free public transport and introducing guaranteed service frequency standards for public transport in rural areas.
Ian Taylor, director, Transport for Quality of Life, said: “This paper sets out a complete package for transport policy that is entirely feasible, based on existing world best practice, yet also on a scale and depth that matches up to the severity and urgency of the climate emergency.
“It is also a package that will enable us to ‘build back better’ and revive our economy after Covid. We hope this briefing will empower all those who care about the climate emergency and are in a position to take action in their locality – whether as Friends of the Earth activists, local councillors, or local government officers.”
