![]() Many people, though, view public transport as the most obvious way to reduce their transport emissions, and it is especially important in the most congested urban areas. The same is true to an extent for electric scooters.” “And they are faster because you never sit in a traffic jam. “Journeys that you just wouldn't have made by bike before, now are actually trivial to make by e-bike,” says Murray. A recent report from advocacy organisation Transport for Quality of Life argued evidence from Europe shows electric bikes can transform our cities and should be financially incentivised in places like the UK. In Copenhagen’s Farum cycle superhighway, the average bike commute is now 15km (9 miles), largely thanks to electric bikes. But electric bikes and networks of segregated cycle lanes are beginning to change what is possible in terms of commuting distance, says Leo Murray, director of innovation at climate change charity Possible (formerly 10:10 Climate Action). Often people may discard cycling as a viable option for longer distance travel. All three countries had major policy changes in the 1970s and 1980s that led to a large increase in cycling, and all still continue to invest in cycling infrastructure. Some countries have sped ahead in bike transport: in the Netherlands 26% of journeys are made by bike, followed by Denmark on 18% and 10% in Germany. Living Streets says walk to school rates have increased by 23% after five weeks in schools where its programme have been implemented, while car journeys have fallen by around 30%.Ĭycling, which shares many of the climate benefits of walking, is increasingly a viable alternative to car journeys, too. It gives you a real insight into what’s happening.” “They log their journeys on a daily basis as part of the project, they get really involved in the process… Then you can track whether or not you’ve been successful. “The children were being educated about the benefits of walking on a daily basis,” he says. During National Walking Month in May, it encourages people to substitute just one short car journey a day for a walk, and to experiment with incorporating walking into their daily routine. People often face psychological barriers to walking, says Edwards, and Living Streets aims to support people as they try to change their behaviour. “There's an immediate contribution that we could all make to reducing our personal carbon emissions by walking more of those short journeys, whether it be to school, to the shops, to work or to the station.” “From our perspective, the really low hanging fruit is the journeys that people could walk,” says Stephen Edwards, head of policy and communications at Living Streets, a British charity that promotes walking. In England, for instance, around 60% of 1-2 mile trips are made by car. In many countries, even short journeys which could often be made on foot or by bike are usually made by car. Generally, the larger the car, the higher the emissions.ĭriving a newer vehicle can reduce these emissions – in Europe the average emissions for a new petrol car in 2018 was 123g of CO2/km.īut in many cases it may be possible to avoid using the car altogether. In the US the average passenger vehicle on the road releases 650g of CO2/km. The average petrol car on the road in the UK produces the equivalent of 180g of CO2 every kilometre, while a diesel car produces 173g of CO2/km. If you use a car frequently, the first step to cutting down your emissions may well be to simply fully consider the alternatives available to you. So, the way you get around each day can make a big difference to your own carbon footprint. Road vehicles – cars, trucks, buses and motorbikes – account for nearly three quarters of the greenhouse gas emissions that come from transport. Globally, transport accounts for around a quarter of CO2 emissions.Īnd much of the world’s transport networks still remain focused around the car. In countries like the UK and the US, the transport sector is now responsible for emitting more greenhouse gases than any other, including electricity production and agriculture. But how we choose to travel to the office, or even to pop to the shops, is also one of the biggest day-to-day climate decisions we face. ![]() For many people, the journey to and from work are the bookends of the daily grind. ![]()
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