Better Transport

We need to reclaim our streets and communities from the car. We can achieve this by slowing traffic down, changing the design of streets, making it easier to leave our cars at home and cutting the number of lorries on our roads.

Community-friendly speeds
Lower traffic speeds, for example more 20mph zones in towns and cities and 30mph in villages, would provide a better environment for walking and cycling. And slowing traffic down is one of the best ways to reduce traffic accidents.

Street design that prioritises people
So many of us use the road, even when we’re not in a car, and streets should be designed to reflect this multiplicity of use. Councils should reduce the width of main roads, widen pavements, blur the distinction between pavements and streets, green the roads with trees and planters, put seats and cycle racks on the widened pavement, put in many pedestrian crossings, close off side streets and create pockets of public space.

These ideas aren’t far-fetched. They are being implemented now.

Plans that help us get around without our cars
Governments, employers, train companies and developers should plan for people to be able to leave their cars at home. We need:

• School travel plans, safe cycle and walking routes and training for children so they are ‘street smart’ when walking and cycling
• Station travel plans, so that there are secure cycle parking at stations and bus stops, better provision for people to take their bike in the train, safe ways of carrying bikes on the front of buses and signing and good cycle access to stations
• Workplace travel plans. Workplace travel plans can reduce commuter car travel by 10-30% (to find out exactly how, visit the National Business Travel Network's website)
• Residential travel plans so that developments are designed from the beginning to make it easy to cycle, walk and use public transport. Higher density development on brownfield sites with good public transport links, together with a wide range of local services to reduce the need to travel

Change is possible. We've published some far-reaching research that shows traffic could be cut by 15%.

Change is posible, even in the suburbs. We've published some research (560K pdf) showing how traffic can be tackled in the outer London suburbs - the lessons could be applied around the country.

Eco-towns that live up to their name
If eco-towns – the name being given to four proposed new towns around the country – are to be truly sustainable, as well as pleasant places to live, residents must be provided with plenty of convenient, green ways to travel. The towns must be compact so that people can easily walk and cycle to the centre. And they must have excellent public transport, both in the town itself and linking it with the rest of the country.

In October 2008 we published a checklist (PDF, 756K) for creating sustainable new developments. The checklist could be used for eco-towns, for big housing development areas like the Thames Gateway and even for existing urban areas.

Fewer lorries
Transporting freight by train would remove thousands of large lorries from our streets, helping the environment and improving street life.

Find out more on the Freight on Rail website. Freight on Rail is a project to get more freight on to rail and off lorries. Freight on Rail is a partnership between the main transport trade unions (TSSA, Aslef and the RMT), freight operating companies (EWS and Freightliner), Network Rail, the Rail Freight Group and Campaign for Better Transport.

Traffic reduction commitments
Local authorities should create specific local traffic reduction targets. These would be part of local strategies, perhaps the community strategy. Many community strategies talk about traffic reduction but do not contain specific reduction targets.

Fewer parking spaces
National Government should amend national guidance on parking in order to reduce the increase in parking spaces across the country.

Holidays and day trips without the car
Our holidays don’t need to include traffic jams and motorway service stations. Local authorities, transport operators and tourism businesses should:

• Provide leaflets, websites and posters to help us plan and make trips easily without a car
• Create sustainable travel networks so that we can move easily between different means of travel – for example, with tickets that combine bus, train and/or ferry travel in a particular area or region; coordinated timetables to reduce waiting times; cycle hire facilities at stations; and cycle carriers on buses
• Offer a pick-up from the local station or discounts for visitors who leave the car at home

You're part of the solution
While the Government needs to do a great deal, there are ways you can help to reduce traffic:

• If you want to reduce traffic in your local area, read our online guides.
• If you agree that traffic reduction is needed, take action or support us.