BLOG: The Future of the UK’s Public Transport: Sustainable, Affordable and a Viable Alternative to Cars
As part of Groundwork’s Local Action, Global Impact campaign, Kickstart Trainee Alex Bond looks at the future of the UK’s public transport.
I have no plans to learn how to drive, and I am not alone. In 2021, the number of young people with a driving licence is the lowest on record (Davies, 2021), and the numbers are likely to keep falling. The pandemic put a stop to driving lessons for the past year, and this has had an impact. However, there are a myriad of other reasons as to why young people are not taking to the roads.
Perhaps the most significant factor is the prohibitive cost of first learning to drive, and then purchasing, running and insuring a vehicle. For large numbers of young people, entering into an economy still reeling from the impact of Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, driving is an unaffordable luxury. Not only that, but petrol prices in the UK are at their highest since 2013 and are continuing to climb (Wearden, 2021).
Increased awareness of climate change and air pollution serves as another deterrent for many young people, myself included. Our generation is painfully aware that we will face the consequences of the climate crisis if radical action is not taken, and that a shift away from driving petrol and diesel cars is a necessity. Indeed, with the government planning to phase out petrol and diesel cars entirely by 2030, driving doesn’t seem like a worthwhile investment. Meanwhile, cheap electric cars are still much harder to come by, and are less likely to be within budget for a young, first-time driver.
Young people driving less is good, actually.
High levels of traffic lead to air pollution, which has a detrimental effect on respiratory health, an issue which it is especially important to tackle amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Electric cars, which produce no gas emissions, can be part of the solution, but can’t fix the issue of cars entirely.
Electric or otherwise, car-dominated city centres are noisy and unpleasant, often deterring people from spending time in certain areas, and roads can be dangerous, both to pedestrians and drivers alike. In addition, it is hard not to recognise the inefficiency of hundreds of individual, energy-hungry machines, each occupied by a single commuter.
In a breakdown of which sectors are responsible for the highest carbon emissions in the UK, surface transport came out on top. Unlike energy supply, which has become significantly greener over the last 20 years, transport has stagnated, despite technological advances (Institute for Government, 2020). It is apparent that, as we move out of lockdown and set our sights on a net-zero future, reform of Britain’s transportation systems must be at the forefront of the government’s Green Industrial Revolution. In practice – that means less cars, and greater investment in public transport that is cheaper, greener and better able to serve the needs of passengers.
Are we really prepared to travel differently?
In a promising 2020 report commissioned by Climate Assembly UK it was found that, in the wake of the UK lockdowns, the British public overwhelmingly supported a green recovery from coronavirus and were prepared to alter their lifestyles where necessary.
Lockdown brought on huge changes, particularly to the way that people travel, and working from home became the norm for many would-be commuters. This has opened the door to accepting the necessity of change to the status quo in response to a large-scale crisis. Respondents to the report echoed sentiments that the threat of climate change was just as serious as the threat posed by Covid-19, and that a similar level of public collective action was warranted in response. However, members also felt that this shift needed to be directed and facilitated by policy changes, in order to achieve the UK’s target of net-zero (Harvey, 2020).
What are the barriers to using public transport?
I have spent most of my adult life living in London, where driving just didn’t make sense. There were regular busses for £1.50 a tap, and tube stations were only ever a walk away, with many lines running all through Friday and Saturday night. Oyster cards made it easy to pay, and meant that fares were automatically calculated and capped. Driving in such a busy city seemed stressful, potentially less convenient and not worth the expense, especially with the congestion charge.
It is only living and travelling outside of London that I start idly wishing for a car. In other cities, and especially in towns and more rural locations, the convenience and availability of public transport quickly begins to dry up. Even though I don’t want to drive, there are certainly moments that have made me consider it. Train tickets that cost more than a flight, delays during the morning commute and busses that never appear.
The desire to drive less might be there, but unless public transport can improve, then it’s not yet fit to serve as an alternative. The key is making public transport cheap, reliable, convenient and comprehensive for everyone in the UK, no matter where they live.
London receives significantly more money per head towards public transport than in other parts of the country, and the bus and tube networks are regulated to ensure that TFL provides the best service possible. In other areas of the country, however, public transport has been privatised, fragmented and chronically underfunded. The results speak for themselves: bus ridership fell by 38% in England (outside of London) on the UK’s busses between 1982 and 2016/2017. In Wales this drop was 45%, and 43% in Scotland. In contrast, London’s regulated busses have remained inexpensive, comprehensive and reliable, and have seen an 89% uptake in ridership (Alston, Khawaja and Riddell, 2021).
In many parts of Britain private operators have made profit-driven decisions at the expense of passengers, resulting in soaring fares, the cutting of essential routes and an unreliable service with no consistency from one area to the next. Busses account for the majority of public transport journeys in the UK, and provide a vital service for people to travel to work, access medical appointments, shop and socialise. When these services suffer there is a tangible human cost, as well as an environmental impact.
Where do we go from here?
In the Government’s 10 Point Plan for the Green Industrial Revolution (HM Government, 2020) they propose significant and much-needed investment in the UK’s public transport systems.
Tens of billions are due to be invested into renewals and advancements of the UK’s rail networks, with electrified trains being phased-in to replace diesel engines. Railway networks will also be expanded to serve wider areas of the country in a bid to reverse the legacy of Beeching.
A further £5 billion is due to be invested in Britain’s busses, cycle and walking routes. 4000 zero-emission busses are to be brought onto the roads, and a National Bus Strategy was published earlier this year in order to address some of the long-term problems with how busses were previously managed. Part of this strategy seeks to increase the regularity of buses and to invest in the expansion of bus networks in order to serve more areas and disincentivise car ownership. There is also to be more cooperation between bus networks, with the introduction of integrated ticketing.
Finally, new walking and cycle networks will be created by 2025, allowing for safe and direct travel on foot, or by bike.
These measures represent huge positive steps in the right direction. However, it will also be vital to keep ticket prices down, and to increase the regulation of private bus and rail companies to ensure that they serve the best interests of passengers. Nevertheless, these new policies go to show that an alternative approach to travel is possible for the UK.
We have yet to realise the full potential of affordable, green public transport – but the benefits are tangible. As a young person, unsure of what the management of the climate crisis will look like in next 30 years, I remain hopeful that a cultural shift is possible, and that the way we travel can be smarter, greener and more accessible to all.
Blog by: Alex Bond, Communications Trainee, Groundwork UK
Sources:
- Davies, C. (2021) ‘Number of young people with driving licence in Great Britain at lowest on record’, The Guardian, 5th April.
- Wearden, G. (2021) ‘UK petrol prices at highest level since 2013, with more rises expected’, The Guardian, 4th August.
- Fiona Harvey (2020) ‘UK public ‘supports green recovery from coronavirus crisis”, The Guardian, 23 June.
- Institute for Government (2020) UK net zero target, Available at: https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/net-zero-target (Accessed: 28/07/21).
- Alston, P., Khawaja, B. and Riddell, R. (2021) Public transport, private profit: the human cost of privatizing buses in the United Kingdom, New York: Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice.
- HM Government (2020) The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, London: HM Government.