We need to talk about transport.
By Abhigyan Khargharia, Operational Volunteer | Leaders Network Sub-group
Before I write a sentence that suggests anything about the title, let me take you through a personal story. In November 2021, I had the opportunity to travel to Glasgow (from Dundee, where I live) for a public lecture around COP26 with a few of my friends from the University. It was the TB Macaulay lecture - one of Scotland’s biggest public lectures, that was attended by notable personalities like Christiana Figueres and the Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon. Three of us friends carpooled at the last minute to travel together by car, and one of our friends had train tickets to Glasgow and back - which he had booked about 4-5 days in advance. When we met at the venue, we discussed and laughed about how it costs our friend more to travel by train, than it cost the other three of us to travel by car. And I’ve always been fascinated by this in the UK, that a train or bus journey costs way more than a car journey or flight.
If you’re new to the climate conversation and do not know what COP is, let me tell you that it is the biggest event around climate change in the world that happens annually. The latest one happened right here in the heart of Scotland - in Glasgow - and was attended by over 200 nations. The objective of this “Conference of Parties” is to negotiate and hold discussions over the rising concerns of climate change and the effects it bears on humanity across the globe. As a young climate researcher myself, I can assure you that it is imperative that we genuinely hold conversations around climate change & action in the highest regard - whether you’re reading this from any corner of the world, belong to any age group or community, because believe it or not - it will impact you (if it not already is) is some way or the other.
Today I’m here to talk about one of my favourite issues around the climate change conversation - transport. Transport is a big sector that needs to undergo major transition - from improving public transport networks to the use of battery-powered private cars on the road. This is primarily because transport, especially in the UK, is one of the biggest sources of emissions - as recently as 2019, it was responsible for 27% of UK’s total emissions, 90% of which came from road transport. And the reason I mentioned COP right at the very beginning of this article is because there was an entire day dedicated to transport at COP26, and you’d assume that all the bureaucrats, the decision makers and innovators at the conference would be talking about reducing emissions through less use of cars and more use of active transport options like - cycling, walking or even the use of public transport. But there was more talk of electric vehicles, newer battery technologies for cars than anything else - which I’m not saying is wrong, but these are future technologies which will change the road transport industry in the long run. Why are we not talking about what we can do now? Why is there no push for dedicated cycling and bus lanes across the country? Why aren't there better public transport networks and facilities connecting smaller towns and rural areas to bigger cities? Why do we, as a society, still prefer to travel in cars?
Let’s talk about the biggest problem in the UK when it comes to transport.
A report on flight travel in the UK showed that in 2021, almost 3 million passengers took domestic flights between July and September (3 months), and among the top 10 frequently used routes, two of them were between cities that were only about 3 hours by a rail journey – London to Manchester and London to Newcastle. The difference in emissions between a flight and a bus (or even train) for every kilometre travelled is staggering. So why do people not take the train, or the bus? There has to be something fundamentally wrong in the whole transport system for people to opt for a flight for even short distances.
CO2 emissions per km of fuel combustion; Image credits: (BBC Future, 2020)
There are numerous reasons why people do not use the train to travel domestically within the country, or prefer to take the cab into town in the city rather than taking the local bus, cycling or even walking. The primary reason is fares. Privatisation of public transport has led to fares being so high, that there is absolutely no financial incentive for people to NOT take a car or a flight to travel any distance in the country that can be covered on a cycle, bus or train. And this is not helping the government’s net-zero and just-transition commitments.
But it is not all gloom and doom. There have been a few genuine efforts by the Scottish Government. The ‘Young person’s free bus travel’ scheme that allows all young people in Scotland under the age of 22 to travel free on buses, the cycle loan scheme , the Paths for All scheme aimed at improving the walking and cycling infrastructure for active travel to be a mode of choice for short commuting - have given people a lot of hope and will hopefully bear positive results as we navigate through this climate issue as a collective.
We at the Leader’s Network of the 2050 Climate Group are launching a new space where we want people who are keen about transport to have a platform to discuss and talk about it. It could be used for networking, finding opportunities or even for simply having healthy discussions around the topic, be it sharing their experiences or knowledge or asking for any kind of support. It’s called the ‘Transport Circle’ and will be the first of hopefully many circles related to various other topics (like waste, energy, fashion) in the future. It is open to anyone and everyone within 18-35 years of age who is interested in transport. All the circles (beginning with the transport) will run on Slack.
To kick this journey off we're having a small online event on Tuesday 29th of March at 7pm where you’ll hear other members of the 2050 Leader’s Network share their experiences with transport, and what this space will hold for everyone who joins. Click the button below to sign up to join the new Leaders Network Slack Workspace.
We’re very excited about this project and look forward to seeing you on Slack soon. Until then, please continue to keep safe and travel responsibly.