CCC - Government Plans to Reduce Car Travel Lack Measurable Targets & Credible Policy

27th October 2021

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) says that government plans to reduce demand for car travel, along with goals for half of journeys in towns and cities to be walked or cycled, lack measurable targets and credible policy.

The CCC is an independent statutory body established by the Climate Change Act 2008. It's the UK's independent advisor on tackling climate change.

The CCC made the comments in its Independent Assessment of the UK Net Zero Strategy.

The government published its Net Zero Strategy on 19th October 2021. Most of the carbon reduction proposals for transport were based on the Transport Decarbonisation Plan.

CCC's Overall Assessment of the Net Zero Strategy

Overall, the CCC says that the Net Zero Strategy is 'ambitious and comprehensive'.

Its general criticisms include:

• lack of delivery mechanisms to reduce carbon in the agricultural and land use sector
• policies for buildings are undeveloped
• failure to put forward a Net Zero Test against which to test government policy and plans
• heavy reliance on techno-fixes
• lack of emphasis on behaviour change - failure to address change in diets, or to limit the growth in aviation

The CCC expands on the government's failure to address behaviour change.

'The Net Zero Strategy, and the earlier Transport Decarbonisation Plan, include ambitious goals for shifting travel choices away from private cars, such as by doubling cycling from 2013 to 2025. However, the Strategy has nothing to say on diet changes away from meat and dairy, or on limiting growth in flying.'
CCC Independent Assessment of the UK Net Zero Strategy, p13

Instead of behaviour change, the government assumes there will be sustainable aviation fuels and rapid efficiency improvements.

CCC's Specific Comments on Transport

The CCC says the Transport Decarbonisation Plan (TDP) relies on phasing out fossil-fuelled vehicles, and introducing a 'zero-emission vehicle mandate' for cars and vans from 2024. A mandate means an obligation on manufacturers to steadily increase the percentage of zero-emission vehicles they produce and sell.

The CCC notes that the TDP outlines a place-based approach in order to reduce  reliance on private car travel. This is a positive step, but it '...now needs to be turned into more detailed targets and delivery plans to enable widespread uptake of more sustainable travel choices' (p24).

State of Play

Table 2 UK Climate Policy State of Play (main image at the top of the page) shows that domestic transport is the biggest contributor to the UK's greenhouse gas emissions, at 23% of the total.

According to the table, an ambitious plan for transport has been published, but:

• credible delivery policies are shown as yellow (generally good plans with some risks)
• balanced mix of options is also rated yellow
• timelines for implementation are yellow

Implementation

Chapter 6 of the CCC's Assessment report concerns implementation and next steps.

On the TDP, it says that there is a clear roadmap for delivering the transition to electric vehicles, but it less clear how commitments to reduce traffic and increase travel by active and public transport will be delivered.

'...there is recognition of the need to reduce road traffic growth, supported by spending commitments on active travel and public transport. These now need to be turned into measurable targets and clear delivery policies to achieve this ambition.'
CCC Independent Assessment of the UK Net Zero Strategy, p29

The CCC makes further comments on implementing the TDP in Box 5. On traffic reduction in favour of more sustainable modes it says further work is needed to lay out the actions that are needed.

It makes reference to the goal for half of all journeys in towns and cities to be walked or cycled by 2030.

On targets and policy, box 5 says:

'Measurable targets and credible policy [to achieve goals on reducing traffic growth and increasing cycling and walking] are now needed to enable these to be achieved.'
CCC Independent Assessment of the UK Net Zero Strategy, Box 5

At the time of writing, we are still seeing construction work to expand road capacity. One example is the £10 million scheme to build extra lanes at J47 of the A1M; this will result in more traffic, starting now and continuing for decades to come.

Another example is the work at the junction of Otley Road and Harlow Moor Road, where more space is being allocated to motor vehicles, and pedestrians and cyclists are being squeezed into what remains and left to fight over scraps.

The gulf between stated policy and action on the ground is huge. No account is being taken of the time-lag between planning and design, and delivery. For example, the J47 works were designed in 2015, and work is carrying on regardless of the fact that the scheme does the opposite of current policy to reduce traffic and greenhouse gas emissions.

On funding, box 5 notes the £2 billion in cycling and walking funding, and £3 billion for buses, but it says:

'...the Government has not set out timelines or an overall approach to allocate this funding in a way that will improve people's lives and reduce emissions from reliance on private cars. A clear approach is needed to rebalance costs between car and public travel, making public transport better value and more competitively priced. Further concerns remain about the relative size of these investments compared to the ongoing roadbuilding budget.'
CCC Independent Assessment of the UK Net Zero Strategy, Box 5

The amount of money allocated to increasing capacity and therefore traffic on motorways and the busiest A-roads is £27 billion over 5 years. The amount allocated to cycling and walking over 5 years is £2 billion.

In other words, 13.5 times more money is being spent on increasing traffic and emissions than on reducing them; and the active travel budget is only 7.4% of the motorways budget.