UK’s urban transport net zero aims hindered by weak decision making

We need to learn from less well-resourced countries where good collaboration between government, cities and operators is enabling a deep and rapid transformation of urban transport, says LTT’s COP28 correspondent Martina Juvara

Speaking at the Land Transport Roundtable in Dubai, Mauritania’s representative set out clear, unequivocal aims for achieving a 38% cut in carbon emissions from land transportation by 2030. This involves four interconnected steps:

1. Integrating urban development strategy with transport planning, to coordinate urban growth with public transport corridors.

2. Pedestrianisation of all main and secondary town centres.

3. Massive investment in expansion of public transport services and electrification of the fleet.

4. Transformation of the informal (“artisanal”) transport sector through professionalisation programmes.

At another transport event on the same day, Bogotá, the capital of Columbia, was hailed as the first city in the world outside China to run a fleet of nearly 1,500 electric buses. India also was singled out for its strategy of aggregating demand for the commissioning and purchase of 12,000 electric buses (with 5,000 already delivered) by working through the supply chain for the specifications and for an overall reduction in cost of 24-27% per vehicle. In India, we were told, 40% of all rickshaws are now electric.

Mauritania, Colombia and India, like many others, have swiftly moved towards integrated and systemic implementation of emission reduction measures particularly by focusing on leveraging the power of the public sector, through integrated spatial planning, public services, training and procurement. Transport represents 22% of global emissions and it is one of the few sectors where emissions are still growing.

The UK is lucky to have strong governance and resources, compared with other countries. In the run-up to COP26 in Glasgow, the UK Government published a plethora of strategies, white papers and plans. The majority of these, maybe all, focused on encouragement of private sector initiatives: energy, industry, hydrogen, electrification of private cars, etc. 

Some were supported by government incentives and funding – according to our pledges, the Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs (2022 - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s Nationally Determined Contribution (publishing.service.gov.uk). According to the Partnership for Active Travel and Health, we are also part of a small subset of countries who have national and regional walking and cycling strategies - PATH-UNFCCC-policies-report-FINAL.pdf (pathforwalkingcycling.com).

What is clearly missing and what we could learn from other less well-resourced countries is the activation of the public sector and the collaboration between government, cities and operators towards a deep and rapid transformation of urban transport. 

Only mayors and unitary authorities have the wherewithal to combine urban planning urban design and transportation. But often they have not been empowered to invest in large scale walking and cycling and in the restructuring of public transport. 

The Government’s £129m funding for electric buses announced last September for the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas 2 (ZEBRA 2) is awarded through a bidding process, rather than a strategic and comprehensive national decarbonisation action plan. And the scale is for ‘hundreds’ of Zero Emission Buses, not thousands.

Volvo received successive orders for electric buses from the UK for a total of around 500, with Edinburgh recently ordering a batch of 50 (Third UK electric bus order confirmed (volvobuses.com). This is a drop in the ocean compared with the estimated bus fleet of over 37,800 vehicles. Besides this, bus passengers numbers in the UK are in decline and, without an integrated action plan, disinvestment may follow.

Another important and vast theme, of which we do not talk enough in the UK, is social justice for transport, which was taken very seriously in multiple discussions at COP:

• Inclusion and upskilling of transport workers, to ensure the workforce is ready to operate the new systems, including digital fleet and route management

• Comprehensive plans for redeployment of staff made redundant by the transition

• Reduction of the burden of paperwork through digitalisation

• Safety of women, vulnerable groups and children, essential to enable routine use of public transport.

The Transport Climate Action Directory measures (itf-oecd.org) comprises 80 measures to decarbonise transport,  education and awareness through schools and national campaigns. These fundamental aspects are necessary to support people in anticipating and preparing for change. Governments have key responsibilities in giving clear and unequivocal messages to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and towards public transport: in this aspect, we are clearly not shining!

Finally, the SLOCAT Transport Climate and Sustainability Global Status Report (SLOCAT Transport and Climate Change Global Status Report (tcc-gsr.com)) provides a damning overview of transport’s role in the climate crisis: heavily carbonised, massive emissions, and no sign of reduction. 

While maritime and aviation have now published concrete and actionable plans for zero carbon by 2050 or near 2050, mobilising the entire supply chain and with the support of most stakeholders, urban transport is still marred in weak decision making and slow implementation. The UK, with its technical capacity and ambitious white papers, should definitely do more: at scale and at speed.

Martina Juvara is Director - Master Planning at Urban Silence