Better Transport

16 September: A recent announcement by the Government for £61 million of new rail freight grants is a step in the right direction but dwarfed by costs of new road-building.

The extra money, which will be rolled out over three years comes after years of concerted lobbying by us. Lasting ‘til 2014, the grants are a real, long-term boost for rail freight, which is great news because an average freight train can remove 50 HGVs from our roads, greatly reducing CO2 emissions.

All good news, but the recent announcment for further rail freight investment is put into perspective when you consider how much the Government is considering spending on expanding just one road scheme - the A14, estimated at £1.2 billion. In addition to the A14 many other roads are being considered for construction with a huge price tag that will generate extra traffic and further reveal the disproportionate levels of investment that go into our road network rather than our rail network. For a truly low carbon economy the Government must invest more into enabling rail freight to be a real choice and compete on an equal footing with road freight.

3 September: What makes traffic grow? One of the answers, as we’ve just discovered, is the amount of car parking in new developments. Over 62,000 additional parking spaces are planned for London, which will cause congestion chaos.

Our research found an average of almost 8,000 parking spaces in each of eight major London development areas, ensuring that they will act as powerful magnets that will attract car travel from miles around. Though the Olympics themselves will be car-free, at least for spectators, Stratford City next door will have an 11,000 space car park, half for a vast new shopping centre. If the object is to promote walking, cycling and public transport as governments claim, this isn’t the way to do it.

If the Mayor is serious about London leading the way in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, he must cut traffic in outer London. Last year we identified measures that boroughs must put in place to tackle traffic growth… and surprise, surprise a massive increase in parking provision isn’t on the list

24 July: The Government statement on ecotowns today at least starts to respond to our campaigning. We want to ensure that the ecotowns that do get built have good public transport and good local services and employment, so people can live there without relying on cars. What we need now is for fine words to be turned into action. We want to see firm plans for new and improved rail or light rail links for these towns, which can be implemented right from the start.

The Government statement

15 July: One in four people say that traffic has a serious impact on their quality of life. And people living in deprived areas are the worst affected – by pedestrian accidents, pollution, noise and busy roads cutting through their communities.

These findings come out of the Government's research into public attitudes to transport, released recently. We say this situation is simply unacceptable: our lives are seriously blighted by the Government’s failure to cut traffic.

The research also found that people are in favour of measures that cut the impact of traffic, including priority for pedestrians, cyclists and buses in towns and cities, and lower speed limits in residential areas. The good news is that local people all over the country are fighting to get these measures implemented in their neighbourhoods – and many of them are succeeding. We've collected some of their inspiring stories.

If you want to cut traffic in your neighbourhood, our local campaigning guides will take you step-by-step through the process.

9 June: The Manchester congestion charge will improve life in the city by cutting traffic and providing for some radical public transport improvements. We've consistently told Government that congestion charging will only work if alternatives to driving are greatly improved, and it seems they've listened: in Manchester, bus, tram and rail services will all get a huge boost.

If similarly well-thought-out schemes are introduced in other places it will be good news for communities, the environment, and traveller choice.

3 June: Fantastic news: after many months of campaigning by us, the Transport Secretary has decided once and for all not to allow 60-tonne, 25-metre 'super-lorries' on Britain's roads.

Announcing her decision, Ruth Kelly agreed with us that these longer, heavier lorries are "not compatible with British roads. Not only are there clear environmental drawbacks, but such vehicles would be unsuitable for many roads and junctions". She also expressed concerns about the impact of these lorries on rail freight.

Ruth Kelly has received hundreds of letters and emails, written through our website, asking her to say no to super-lorries. And our Freight on Rail campaigner Philippa has been working hard to convince her of the threat of these lorries and the great benefits of rail freight.

The British Government has taken the lead in rejecting super-lorries, now we hope that the European Commission, which is currently evaluating longer heavier lorries, will follow suit.

Find out about the campaign against super-lorries in Europe

20 May: Our concern continues to grow over the 15 shortlisted locations for the Government's new eco-towns. Most of the sites are far away from existing towns and cities and none of them could link up easily with public transport networks – many are miles away from rail lines. This means that eco-towns could become car-dependent commuter towns.

We're determined to stop eco-towns from being built without adequate transport infrastructure. Along with five national organisations we've written to housing minister Caroline Flint (PDF, 78K) to express our support for many of the objectives of the eco-town programme and our concern about the shortlist of locations, and to call for urgent action to ensure the sustainability of eco-towns.

The potential sites for eco-towns are:

• Pennbury, Leicestershire
• Manby and Strubby, Lincolnshire
• Curborough, Staffordshire
• Middle Quinton, Warwickshire
• Bordon-Whitehill, Hampshire
• Weston Otmoor, Oxfordshire
• Ford, West Sussex
• Imerys China Clay Community, Cornwall
• Rossington, South Yorkshire
• Coltishall, Norfolk
• Hanley Grange, Cambridgeshire
• Marston Vale and New Marston, Bedfordshire
• Elsenham, Essex
• Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire
• Leeds City Region, Yorkshire

If you'd like to comment on the suitablity of any of these sites, please email me: campaigns@bettertransport.org.uk. I'll pass your comments on to our executive director Stephen who's one of 12 expert advisors on the Government's eco-towns challenge panel.

13 May: Nottingham City Council's decision to charge businesses for parking spaces is a positive move towards tackling traffic growth and climate change. The money raised will be used to improve tram services and other public transport, so employees will have good alternatives to driving. As we argued in August (PDF, 25K), the levy will improve quality of life, boost social inclusion and enhance the economy and vitality of the city. Other cities should follow Nottingham's bold lead.

22 April: Doesn't look like the Government is convinced that super-sized lorries are a good idea. Today Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly has said that there are "no plans" to allow these 60-tonne, 25-metre monsters in the UK. She cited safety and environmental concerns and damage to rural villages as reasons for her position.

Great news! We've been working hard for a long time to make the case that these super-lorries would be a disaster – and I know hundreds of people have emailed the Transport Secretary to support our case.

10 April: Yesterday I went dinosaur-spotting at the Porsche car showroom with the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s.

Under the new C02-related congestion charge planned for London, the owners of cars in high carbon Band G would pay the highest charge. 43 out of 45 of Porsche's models fall into this category, and Porsche is launching a legal challenge to the plans.

We put on our binoculars and 'Jurassic Park' outfits and spotted some of the outdated, gas-guzzling dinosaurs that need to adapt to survive in a new, low carbon London.

9 April: We’ve been asked to improve the development of the Government’s 15 chosen Eco-Town proposals. Housing Minister Caroline Flint has asked Campaign for Better Transport to challenge these bids to make them as good as possible. Improved bids will go back to the Government for it to decide a final list of eco-towns. We intend to challenge these bids robustly, asking for them to do the utmost to ensure the new towns aren’t car dependent, by making them high-density, mixed-use developments that can support public transport, cycling and walking.

Government efforts in new towns need to go hand-in-hand with work to improve our other cities, making sure they too offer people the possibility of a high-quality, car-free life.

7 April: Porsche is getting all revved up over plans to link the London congestion charge to cars' CO2 emissions. The car company has launched a legal challenge, claiming that the CO2-related charge is unfair and disproportionate.

Porsche says its challenge is about "protecting London and Londoners"... but a Mori poll has shown that two-thirds of Londoners support the CO2-related charge.

I suspect Porsche's challenge actually has more to do with the fact that 43 out of its 45 models fall into the most gas-guzzling Band G, meaning they’d fall into the highest rate of congestion charge.

Rather than challenging the CO2-related charge, which is a popular, positive move towards tackling climate change, Porsche should move into the 21st century and cut its emissions.

5 March: I'll be spending next Saturday helping to train people who are trying to make their communities better by reducing traffic and securing improvements for public transport users, cyclists and walkers. The day-long event, being run by us, CTC and Living Streets, takes place in London. If you're interested in attending, book your place today through Living Streets.

26 February: The Woman Who Stops Traffic showed that people will choose to get out of their cars if they have the right information and decent alternatives (like safe cycle routes and pedestrian crossings in sensible places). For more stories of inspiring campaigning around the country, sign up to my monthly e-bulletin.

14 February: Last night the London Borough of Bromley won the Sustainable Travel and Transport Award, part of the City of London's Sustainable Travel Awards. In just two years, the borough has been able to reduce school run traffic by 16%. A real inspiration! I hope other boroughs take up the challenge to better Bromley's results. We were pleased to be able to sponsor the award this year.

4 February: London’s low emission zone (LEZ), which comes into force today, is sorely needed. London’s air quality is the worst in the UK, causing an estimated 1,000 premature deaths a year. 

The introduction of the LEZ means lorries heavier than 12 tonnes will have to pay £200 a day to come into most of the London area if they fail to meet emissions standards. From July the rules will apply to vehicles over 3.5 tonnes and by 2010 it will also apply to larger vans and minibuses.

But while the LEZ is welcome, it isn’t enough. The Mayor admits that even after it's fully implemented, hundreds of thousands of Londoners will live in areas where air pollution levels are dangerous to health.

Cars are responsible for much of London’s pollution and aren’t included in the LEZ rules. Londoners must be given better alternatives to driving, particularly in outer London where traffic levels are growing.

23 January: A huge retail and residential development planned for Brent Cross could really jam up roads and harm communities in North London. The developers are expecting an extra 29,000 vehicles to travel into the area every weekday!

Our London group knows this just isn't sensible. Or necessary. It has published some research today showing how the development could instead contain a tram, connected to the existing tube and train network, thereby giving us good alternatives to taking our cars.

Brent Cross is only one of 42 locations where London’s forecast growth in jobs and homes is to be concentrated – risking the Mayor’s plans to reduce traffic and cut CO2 emissions.

Find out more about the Brent Cross report

15 January: Road pricing can play a significant role in tackling Britain’s transport problems -- but it must be used to tackle climate change as well as the growth in traffic. Road pricing should be part of a package of measures including greater investment in public transport, safer streets for cycling and walking and better land-use planning. The alternative -- building more roads and widening motorways -- will lead to increases in traffic, congestion and emissions of carbon dioxide.

I was on the Today programme this morning talking about this issue.

7 January 2008: High levels of traffic are making our streets dangerous, unhealthy and unpleasant; now the problem has reached the attention of BBC programme makers (Road Rage: The Battle for Britain’s Roads, Monday, 9pm, BBC 1). Unfortunately things are only getting worse, with the Government predicting a growth in traffic of 31% by 2025. A vicious circle is at work here: heavy traffic makes buses late and walking and cycling unattractive (47% of adults are frightened to cycle on busy roads), so we get in our cars instead. If we don’t want our roads to be battle grounds, we need to redress the balance: we need safer speed limits in towns and villages and street design that prioritises people, as well as affordable, attractive public transport.

6 December: Great news! The Government has listened to reason from us, and other environmental organisations, and chosen not to fund an inadequate - and very expensive - tunnel under Stonehenge. The proposed scheme would have been a financial and environmental disaster.

Our press release

26 November: The Times today suggests that the longer, heavier lorries being considered by the Government would reduce CO2 emissions because the total number of lorries needed would be lower. But research carried out for Freight on Rail has shown that previous increases in lorry size have not had this effect.

This is because lorries seldom drive around full. Load factors have fallen, meaning that despite the increases in lorry size, emissions per tonne carried have increased rather than decreased.

What's more, over a quarter of lorries on our roads are empty!

We don't need empty, 60-tonne, 25-metre lorries thundering past our front doors: rail freight is a brilliant alternative, producing fives times less carbon per tonne carried than lorries.

Visit the Freight on Rail website

22 November: One of our affiliates, Sustrans, wants your vote in The People's £50 Million Lottery Giveaway. £50 million will go to one of four good causes depending on a public vote. Sustrans would use the money to revitalise walking and cycling in 79 communities across the UK by creating new, safe routes. The project would cut traffic, improve health and reduce CO2 emissions.

From Monday you can vote online to support this brilliant project. In the meantime, there are other things you can do to show your support for green transport.

29 October: According to reports over the weekend Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly is soon to unveil a plan to cut pollution by advising people on alternatives to the car – which is welcome news! Although the detail of the plans are unknown they are thought to include offering free transport advice clinics to millions of households, businesses and schools to encourage more people to walk, cycle or take a bus instead of use their cars. Of course the devil is always in the details with such announcements and the gap that often appears between policy and delivery can be large to say the least. Such a plan by the Transport Secretary would at last see smarter travel choices ratcheted up the ladder and put into action.  So what are these smarter travel choices? They include: 

• Personalised travel information - personal travel plans
• Positive marketing of public transport incentives
• Workplace travel plans + parking restraint
• Synchronised buses and trains
• Cycle paths and secure cycle parking
• Car-sharing schemes

What's more they've been shown to work by a recent Government-funded trial. Sustainable travel Demonstration towns of Darlington, Peterborough and Worcester have on average reduced car use by over 10% and increased public transport and cycling by a similar double digit percentage. This was what in transport terms is for a small investment of £10 million over five years. Reducing traffic, tackling climate change and improving public transport are three key areas that the government needs to get right to improve our travel choices and adequately respond to climate change.So, let's hope the good intentions are backed up with good money and are a part of a clear and coherent strategy.  

18 October: The European Commission is taking action over air pollution in the UK. The EC has asked the UK to provide information on what it's doing to reduce levels of airborne particles known as PM10 to meet EU standards. These particles can cause asthma, heart problems, lung cancer and premature death, and they're largely emitted by traffic. It's unacceptable that traffic is destroying our health, so it's great to see firm action being taken.

Our traffic reduction campaign

12 October: The debate over longer lorries (LHVs or super-lorries) has filled the letters pages of The Times this week and we've been leading it, with letters from Philippa on Monday and Stephen today.

If you don't want a 60-tonne, 25-metre super-lorry thundering down a road near you, email the Transport Minister now!

9 October: Today the Government will set out its spending and taxing plans. Will it ensure transport spending goes toward tackling climate change?A press briefing we issued about the comprehensivespending review and the pre-budget reportOur submission to the comprehensive spending review

1 October 2007: Fuel duty went up today, the first above-inflation rise since 2000, which is good news! The fuel price increase is welcome at a time when the cost of motoring has gone down in real terms by 10% since 1997 and the cost of traveling by train and bus has risen by 6% and 13% respectively. Closing the gap between costs of motoring and public transport is essential if people are to have real travel choices. We want to see the revenues from this fuel increase ring-fenced for public transport improvements and alternatives to car travel.

28 September: In order to celebrate the good efforts some companies and organisations are making to reduce traffic, we’re helping to sponsor the City of London's Sustainable Travel and Transport Award (part of its Sustainable City Awards programme. The award recognises innovative projects and programmes that make quantifiable contributions to sustainable travel and contribute to the overall well being of their community.
 
We're pleased to be involved in the awards this year – and are looking forward to the swish awards ceremony at Mansion House in February!

27 September: As the Labour Party drew to a close, Secretaries of State for transport and the environment together with the Housing Minister were presented on stage in an informal Q&A style that represented the joined-up Government that we have all grown to love and respect.

Irony aside, the content of Ruth Kelly's speech was largely positive:

• On planning - "But if in building these new homes we are to create low carbon communities, housing and transport must in future be tied much more closely together"
• On cycling - "To improve public health and tackle congestion I will give greater priority to cycling"

All sounding postive until the elephant in the room loomed into view, with the well-troden New Labour view on communicating climate change and aviation...  "Not telling them, as the Tories do, that they can't take cheap breaks - that flying should once again be the preserve of a privileged elite."

Talking of the privilaged elite, Monday sees the announcement of fuel tax levies.... Could this possibly be the beginning of a new social equity where the real cost of motoring is prevented from falling year on year?  

27 September: Today's Guardian contains a letter that we and other environmental organisations wrote to urge Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly to tackle carbon emissions from transport. Le'ts hope she listens.

25 September: We recently received the very good news that Co-operative Bank customers have agreed to support one of our projects. The bank held a Charity Vote, as part of its Customers who Care campaign, and 24% of customers voted for us!

Thanks to their votes, we will be able to greatly expand the support, advice and strategic assistance we can give to individuals, community groups and networks that are trying to tackle climate change from transport in their local area.

Visit the bank's website for more information about its Customers Who Care campaign.

If you agree with Co-operative Bank customers, please consider supporting us.

24 September: My head hurts today! A very late night spent talking transport has left me feeling a bit blank. Not so blank to have missed the Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly announce a Carbon Reduction strategy for the Department for Transport at our morning fringe meeting.

What this means, apart from much soul searching and the emergence of a long awaited plan, is unknown…. More later. One thing that is certain is that any effective strategy will need to work towards reducing traffic.

24 September: A National Opinion Poll survey shows that 75% of people are opposed to the introduction of super-lorries onto UK roads, and that 80% favour the Government encouraging more rail freight. The findings were released by Freight on Rail yesterday.

25 metres long and weighing 60 tonnes, these super-lorries or LHVs are 50% longer and over a third heavier than existing 44-tonne lorries. They pose serious safety and environmental concerns and would damage our quality of life.

Find out more about the opinion poll

18 September: Transport for London continued with their innovation today as they asked Londoners to switch just one weekly car journey for walking, cycling, public transport and car sharing to make a big difference. Join them and with others and take the imovelondon pledge today.

Pledge: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/roadusers/sustainable-travel/default.aspx

13th September: Well, how times change. A moratoria on new motorway widening and new runways were recommended today by the transport group of the Conservative’s Quality of Life Commission this week. By cleverly leaking the story ahead of publication they managed to trump The Liberal Democrats in the media as they launched their Zero Carbon Britain report. 

4 September: A 20mph speed limit has been introduced outside Rhyl High School in Wales to help improve road safety. This move comes after a long community campaign, which we supported. Congratulations to the campaigners for their hard work! 

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/wales/6981319.stm