DfT-commissioned study prescribes 'huge change in how we travel'
Sat 28 January 2006
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A study commissioned by the Department for Transport on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport has concluded that dramatic changes in technology and in how and whether we travel are needed to meet emission reduction targets.
The VIBAT - Visioning and Backcasting for UK Transport - Study examined the possibilities of reducing transport emissions by 60 per cent by 2030 through a modified backcasting and scenario-building approach. It examined a range of policy measures (technological and behavioural), and assessed how they can be effectively combined to achieve this level of emissions reduction.
The authors - David Banister of UCL and Robin Hickman of Halcrow - concluded that a huge change in how we travel is desperately needed to halt a trend that will see the UK’s air dangerously and irreversibly polluted within 15 years if left unchecked.
The report concludes that a change in the behaviour of UK residents will have more impact on achieving the CO2 emission reduction required than advancements in technology.
The report recommends that the government puts emissions at the centre of its thinking; by encouraging less commuting and more working from home; by providing better local facilities so that trip lengths can be reduced, and by encouraging people to shift to public transport.
The authors say that the car industry and large companies choosing car fleets will also have a big role to play. They call for emission levels to be given much greater weight when companies choose cars.
Overall, it is only through a strong combination of technological and behavioural change that these necessary but challenging targets can be met, they say.
Study co-author, Professor David Banister, UCL Bartlett School of Planning, said: “For governments not to act is becoming increasingly irresponsible. We need major change in the way people travel. Global atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are over 370 parts per million now. This figure is rising at over 2 ppm each year. If we exceed 400 ppm then most people believe we're in trouble in terms of global warming, so we've got 15 years of current growth before we reach a critical point.”
Related Links
VIBAT Website
University College London Press Release
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