Source: The Ecologist Website
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Ecologist: Ken Livingstone’s congestion charge was introduced in 2003 and extended earlier this year. It has sparked a flurry of media-driven concern over ‘pay-as-you-drive’ schemes and road tolls. Can the great British public be persuaded to part with the car?
Jason Torrance: They can, yes – and indeed they’ve started to leave their cars at home, as traffic reduction levels in London prove.
While it’s true that for a few days in February the news was dominated by anti-road pricing sentiment, due to a rather popular petition on the No 10 website, in fact the evidence about support or otherwise for road pricing and congestion charging is more contradictory than the headlines suggest. Opinion polling carried out for London’s Mayor before the introduction of the congestion charge in 2003 normally found a small majority against. But this changed to a majority in favour when respondents were told that the revenue would go to public transport. In Manchester, where a road pricing scheme is being actively developed, the Evening News recently found that 59% of people thought that the pricing was worth paying to use the roads if the proceeds went into trams, trains and buses.
The truth seems to be that road pricing needs to be sold on the basis that attractive alternatives to the car are available. This is easier in central London, which has as dense a public transport network as anywhere in the world. Elsewhere it means the government must do more to improve public transport now so that it can sell road pricing in few years’ time.
Ecologist: Last week saw the Eden Project’s ‘Sexy Green Car Show’. On display were biofuel driven sports cars and ultra-efficient consumer models. Will it take more than this to make car transport a sustainable option?
Jason: It certainly will. The government’s own figures (Climate Change Programme 2006) show that even with the optimistic estimates of emissions reductions from greener cars and the introduction of biofuels, road transport emissions are still set to rise up to 2020. This is because traffic growth will out-strip reductions gained from all the fiscal and technological measures the Government have in place.
Greener cars and other techno-fixes will no doubt play their part in tackling climate change, but we mustn’t delude ourselves that this is all that is needed. We must have Government policies that cut traffic growth (by cancelling the £13 billion road programme, for a start) and put in place sustainable alternatives.
Ecologist: Public transport is usually hailed as the solution to increased congestion and pollution. But in the past few years we have seen a rise in bus fares of 14 per cent, and in rail fares of 5 per cent. What is the solution towards reversing this trend? Will rural bus and train services ever return?
Jason: It’s true that the cost of taking public transport has risen while the cost of motoring has fallen. One of the main reasons for this is because so many motoring costs are paid for by the Government – such as the very expensive cost of roads. To make public transport a real alternative to the car, we need Government investment, good transport planning and transport services that suit local needs – and rural solutions are often very different to urban ones. It’s important to put more money into rural public transport. One in five rural housesholds have no car and they need good bus or train services in order to access jobs, shops, eduction, training and services. Public transport is vital if people are to use alternatives to the car and tackle climate change. Government must seize the opportunities offered by new legislation this summer to turn things around - in the form of the Road Transport Bill - setting out bus policy and a potential road pricing system, and the Rail White paper, which will set out the next 30 years of rail policy. Longer franchises need to be offered to rail companies that build in anticipated growth and enable improvements from current sardine-like conditions in many rail carriages. People need travel choices if we are move forwards.
Ecologist: Our shops, buildings towns and even lives are becoming increasingly built around the car. Out-of-town is the new synonym for 'choice'. If we give up our cars, won't we have to reinvent the way we live?
Jason: Imagine living in a remote rural area and having to get in a car and drive miles for every single necessity in life. And then imagine that rather than driving to a neighbouring town to meet all your needs, the different services you require are in fact concentrated in single units spread over large distances in all directions. You spend half your life driving to anonymous places where no-one knows you.
This is in fact happening to life in our cities, towns and villages. Cars allow people to travel further but at a price. Car mobility has enabled providers of services and facilities to save costs and centralise their activities on the edges of built-up areas where greenfield land is cheaper to build on than in city centres. Extensive road building and car parking required for car dependent lifestyles creates lower density settlements that sprawl, making it even harder to walk, cycle and use public transport. Choice of facilities that seemed endless at one time disappears as places close down. People without cars have minimal choice, finding it difficult and expensive to access out-of-town essential services such as hospitals, whilst dwindling custom inevitably means closure of local shops.
For city and town dwellers, choosing to use your car less or opting for a car-free lifestyle requires some adjustment but not the major overhaul imagined. Start by walking round your local area and noting the services and shops on offer. Try to do as much as you can locally on foot and by bike. Use local service people where you can – read notices in shop windows to see what’s on offer. Organise local deliveries to your home such as vegetable box schemes. Using a facility creates demand and strengthens what is available. Opportunities for change also exist in rural areas, especially in the market towns and in large villages. For travelling further afield, take advantage of special bus and rail offers. Not owning a car saves pots of money which can be spent on alternative transport that includes occasional car hire and taxis. It may all sound time consuming, but there is plenty more to be gained from local living, ranging from better health through spending less time in the car to feeling part of a local community.
Jason Torrance is Campaigns Director at Transport 2000.