Real Progress on local
transport
Green
policies could cut traffic by 20% in 10 years – cut roadbuilding and hidden
costs by billions – and deliver a transport system that works
Contact Ruth Somerville
or Spencer Fitz-Gibbon
Green Party national press office
Tel 0207 561 0282
Email press@greenparty.org.uk
Introduction
Currently, we have some of the
most congested and polluted roads in Europe. On top of that, the UK spends an
estimated £43 billion a year (1) both directly on roadbuilding and road
maintenance, and indirectly on dealing with problems associated with road
transport including congestion costs to businesses, costs of crashes and
emergency services, and the health costs of air and noise pollution. And this
doesn’t even include road transport’s contribution to climate change, although
it accounts directly for more than one-fifth of UK greenhouse gas emissions.
A comprehensive package of
Green transport policies implemented by local authorities could cut road
traffic by 20% within 10 years (2), probably save society billions of pounds a
year by cutting the hidden costs attributable to road transport, and help
tackle climate change.
Local authorities can
kick-start the Green transport revolution by switching funds from roads to
public transport, and by introducing congestion charging or other fiscal
measures to help pay for improvements in clean, green transport, Safe Routes to
School programmes and so on. They can also lobby central government to cancel
the £30 billion roadbuilding programme and to pump this money into improving
local, regional and national rail, reduction of general traffic and heavy goods
traffic, and better provision for disabled people, cyclists and pedestrians.
Which would be Real Progress.
Planning for Real Progress in transport
Many communities
are left isolated and car-dependent by bad planning which maximises road
traffic and develops out-of-town "greenfield" sites and can generate up to
seven new car trips per day (3).
Progressive Green planning can
cut road traffic by at least 2o%, revitalise local communities, and keep our
parks and countryside intact. Green planning
will ensure that essential services such as shops and schools, are available
locally.
A Green local authority will:
·
Place pedestrians, cyclists and communities at the heart
of their planning decisions
·
Ensure that disabled people’s perspectives are directly
taken into account with a view to the transport system becoming as inclusive as
possible
·
Use planning powers to minimise car-dependency and to
make major developments accessible by public transport, bike and on foot
·
Seek to optimise use of existing space by converting old
offices, space above shops and disused public buildings
·
Never advocate developing a "greenfield" site
when a "brownfield" site exists.
Safe
Routes to School
In the early seventies, seven
out of ten seven-year-olds made their own way to school (5). Today, parental
concern over unsafe roads, traffic and perceived "stranger
danger"(6), means that less than one in ten does so.
A comprehensive "safe
routes to school" programme could deliver huge benefits for both child and
community. Research shows that an extra half-hour walk or cycle to and from
school each day makes children fitter (7), more independent, and even improves
their school performance! Moreover, if every child walked or cycled to school
we'd cut out 17% of peak-time road traffic (8).
Greens are committed to
creating an environment where children can get out of the car and back on the
street.
·
Help schools to set up and fund their own "safe
routes to school" programmes
·
Create
"safe" street environments with better lighting and more cycle
lanes
·
Enforce "slow" zones around schools
·
Promote walking buses and cycle trains
Traffic management
The UK has the most extensive
traffic congestion in Europe (9). Our cyclists are 10 times more likely to be
killed than they would on Danish roads, and seven times more likely than on
Swedish or Dutch roads (10).
These deaths are unacceptable.
A few Green traffic management measures strategies can drastically cut road
deaths and transform our streets.
A Green local authority will:
·
Implement 20mph traffic "calming" zones around
schools, that reduce child deaths by up to 70% (11)
·
Create "Home Zones" and design streets to
favour pedestrians and cyclists
·
Work to incorporate "reduction of road
deaths" into local police
strategies
·
Dramatically cut the number of cars in your town centre,
through progressive car-parking controls and restricted access (12)
Public transport
Britain's buses and railways
are some of the worst and most expensive in Europe, due to decades of neglect
and damage by Labour and Tory governments.
Yet a Green, progressive,
public transport strategy at local authority level can actually transform your
local city/town/environment. Research shows that every penny spent on public
transport is repaid several times over by economic savings provided to
governments, businesses and consumers from reduced road and parking facility
costs, vehicle cost savings, reduced traffic accident costs, and congestion
cost savings (13).
Greens place public transport
at the very heart of their transport strategy and a Green on your local council
will always prioritise your buses, railways and trams.
Here is how "Green"
public transport can improve your city:
·
An effective rail system can cut road deaths by 36% and
shave 20% off each household's transport bills in large cities (14)
·
A good public transport system will revitalise trade and local businesses in the
city centre(15)
·
An effective tram system can drastically reduce traffic
in the area that it serves (16)
Notes
1. Fair Payment From Road Users? A critical look at the calculations for
air pollution, David Maddison, Centre for Social and Economic Research into
the Global Environment (CSERGE), University College London and University of
East Anglia, for ETA Trust on behalf of: Council for the Protection for Rural
England, Friends of the Earth, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds,
Transport 2000, December 1998: As quoted in “Fair on fuel, fair in the future”
(2000) www.greenparty.org.uk
2. “How local authorities can
reduce traffic”, Professor John Whitelegg, 2003 see
3. Memorandum by Prof John Whitelegg (Managing Director) and Dr N J
Williams, Eco-Logica Ltd,
Select Committee on Office of
the Deputy Prime Minister: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions,
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmodpm/77-ii/77m32.htm
4. 2.1. John Robert (of the
consultancy TEST) ran a comparison of Almere, Netherlands and Milton Keynes and
demonstrated the extent to which land use and transport planning can influence
the demand for motorised transport: "the most obvious finding and an
important one, was the much higher percentage of trips made by car and the much
lower level of bicycle use in Milton Keynes when compared to Almere (65.7 per
cent of trips by car compared to 43.1 per cent, 5.8 per cent of trips by
bicycle compared to 26.5 per cent respectively)
Memorandum by Prof John
Whitelegg (Managing Director) and Dr N J Williams, Eco-Logica Ltd,
Select Committee on Office of
the Deputy Prime Minister: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions,http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmodpm/77-ii/77m32.htm
5. Source: National Travel
Survey, "Facts and figures", Transport 2000, http://www.transport2000.org.uk
6. Source: interview with
Alistair Goulding, Sustrans,
http://www.saferoutestoschools.org.uk/index.php?f=benefits.htm#4
7. Half an hour of physical
activity a day - such as walking or cycling to school - makes a real difference
to keeping fit and healthy. 29% of boys and 43% of girls under 16 have less
than 30 minutes of physical activity on most days (the daily minimum level of
activity as recommended by the Health Education Authority). This is one reason
why there has been a rapid rise in obesity and overweight children over the
last 10 years, and will have serious implications for our children's health in
later life. (Research by Kings College London). "Benefits of safe routes
to school", Sustrans,
http://www.saferoutestoschools.org.uk/index.php?f=benefits.htm#4
9. Source: CfIT 2001 http://www.transport2000.org.uk.
10. Vital Travel Statistics. Potter & Hughes, Transport 2000, 1990.
11. In
Hull where traffic calming has been installed in 20mph zones in consultation
with the emergency services, total crashes have been cut by 56 per cent, with
crashes involving child pedestrians down 74 per cent, Figs from Hull City Council.
12. An MVA consultancy study
of Bristol for the UK government showed that car trips into central Bristol
could be cut by 41 per cent by a 75 per cent reduction in on-street parking,
higher charges and enforcement of planning permission for non-residential
parking. Transport 2000 (1997), Just the Ticket: Traffic Reduction through
Parking Restraint.
13. A study by Todd Litman,
"Comprehensive Evaluation of Rail Transit Benefits", evaluated the
impacts of different types of transit on urban transportation patterns. The
study found that the additional costs of rail transit systems are repaid
several times over by economic savings provided to governments, businesses and
consumers from reduced road and parking facility costs, vehicle cost savings,
reduced traffic accident costs, and congestion cost savings.
The studies calculated that
cities with large rail transit systems have on average:
400% higher per capita transit
ridership.
390% higher transit commute
mode split.
36% lower per-capita traffic
fatalities.
14% lower per capita consumer
transportation expenditures.
19% smaller portion of
household budgets devoted to transport
21% less per capita motor
vehicle mileage.
33% lower transit operating
costs per passenger-mile.
58% higher transit service
cost recovery.
"Comprehensive Evaluation of Rail Transit Benefits" by
Victoria Transport Policy Institute www.vtpi.org
14. ibid.
15. There are 2 good examples
here:
- "One German study
suggested that retail trade in central city districts increases with policies
that encourage environmentally friendly transport modes. Of the 38 cities
studied, 14 had above average retail growth. Of these 14, 10 had below average
provision of infrastructure for the car"
European Commission (1996)
European Sustainable Cities Report, Expert Group on the Urban Environment, page
176
- "Portland's
economic decline in the 1960s and 1970s was reversed by new high density
housing in the downtown area, conversion of streets to pedestrian-friendly configurations,
replacing a riverside motorway with an esplanade, stringent parking
restrictions, free public transport in the central area using a new light rail
system, and the scrapping of road schemes. The result was a revitalised city
centre with 30,000 more jobs and 40 per cent of commuters using public
transport"
See "How local authorities can reduce traffic" A Green
Party local elections briefing, 2003
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/files/reports/2003/1traffic%20reduction.htm
16. Trams can make a
significant contribution to getting people out of cars. This is more likely to
happen if new trams are introduced at the same time as new measures to lower
fares and introduce Berlin style ticketing on all journeys (see note), improve
connections with trains and buses, reduce the number of parking spaces in
cities, increase parking charges, provide for bicycles on trams and remove
wasteful competition by buses along tram routes. In England this means
repealing the 1985 Bus Deregulation Act.