Let’s build viable car alternatives, Greenwood tells TPS

Minister for the Future of Roads Lilian Greenwood has urged politicians, transport planners, town planners, and built-environment professionals to work together to deliver “viable, reliable and desirable alternatives to car dependency”.

Speaking at the Transport Planning Society (TPS) annual conference, Greenwood said: “We need to work in partnership to reflect a shift in thinking. From the purely reactive to the vision-led.

“Rather than relying on simple projections of what we think travel demands will be, we must work together to define what we want our places to look like, and then plan the transport systems and behavioural incentives that will help us achieve this shared vision.”

She told attendees: “Working alongside communities, we’re setting goals that prioritise active travel - walking, cycling, and public transport - to build healthier, more sustainable futures.

“We can create a system that serves our communities, fuels our economy, and safeguards our environment.”

The TPS event, held at the Institution of Civil Engineers in London, was attended by over 150 industry leaders, academics, and emerging professionals from across the UK.

The theme for this year’s conference was discussing the principles, policies, practicalities and politics of reducing car use.

Chair of the Transport Planning Society Ben Plowden said: “If we are to reduce car use in the UK, governments and transport planners will need to overcome some practical challenges and consider the costs and benefits to everyone of implementing such policies in a sustainable and equitable way, as well as overcoming concerns about the practicalities in areas that are currently poorly served by public transport.

“But above all, we need to think about how to frame the issue of car use reduction so that it makes sense to people outside the transport planning profession. We need to emphasise the huge social, economic and environmental attractions of a world in which people didn’t need to use a car – if they have one – to do the things they need and want to do.”