TRANSPORT POLICY IS FAILING THE ENVIRONMENT

RMT renewed its call for an urgent and fundamental shift in policy to change transport habits after the government's annual Transport Trends statistics showed recently that growth in car and air travel was continuing to outstrip growth in use of trains and buses. Transport Trends 2007 shows that most of the 65 per cent increase in passenger-miles travelled between 1980 and 2006 has been thanks to car use, with growth in domestic air travel in second place, and that the alarming trend is continuing. THE STATISTICS • most growth in transport passenger miles between 1980 and 2006 has been due to car travel - up by 77 per cent • for travel modes other than car, the greatest percentage increase was in domestic air travel, which has more than trebled • the overall cost of motoring has remained at or below its 1980 level in real terms, while bus and coach fares and rail fares were both 40 per cent higher in 2006 than 1980 • rail investment was three times higher in real terms ten years after privatisation, but punctuality and reliability were still below British Rail levels. Transport is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases. Carbon emissions from transport account for approximately 25 per cent of all UK carbon emissions, the vast majority of which are currently produced by road transport. In the UK the modal share of the car is higher than any other EU state. A recent University of Oxford report also stated that forecasted aviation growth will mean all other sectors of the economy will have to cut their emissions by 71-87 per cent by 2050 rather than the 60 per cent proposed by the government. According to a report by Professor Phil Goodwin of University College London, a five per cent reduction in private transport use could lead to a 50 per cent increase in the actual or potential demand for public transport use. This is due to the current very high percentage of the population who use private transport compared to the very small amount who use public transport. The union said that economic growth meant that all transport use is on the increase, but the relative growth in car and air travel was shocking. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that if train and bus use was to increase in order to meet emissions targets, a fundamental shift in policy was required to bring a massive increase in rail capacity, including new high-speed lines. “If we need a 50 per cent increase in rail capacity, dramatic action is required. “But we also need a fares policy that encourages rail and bus use, and that means cheaper tickets, not more expensive ones. “If the government is to achieve its emissions targets the Secretary of State urgently needs to be set legally binding targets to get people using less damaging modes of transport. “We also need to stop wasting money on a failed privatised system in which investment costs three times what it did in British Rail days, while punctuality and reliability remain below pre-privatisation levels,” Bob Crow said. RMTnews :: january 2008 :: www.rmt.org.uk 12 TRANSPORT POLICY IS FAILING THE ENVIRONMENT The government's own statistics reveal that transport policy is failing to get people out of cars and planes and on to trains and buses Transport Trends 2007 can be read at http://www.dft.gov.uk/162259/162469/221412/190425/220778/trends2007.pdf