4 in 10 adults say that a lack of reliable, regular or convenient public transport is greatest barrier to them using greener forms of transport, finds survey

February 2023 - Transport & Infrastructure

4 in 10 adults report that reliable, regular or convenient public transport is greatest barrier to them using greener forms of transport: Government research has revealed insight into the travel habits of UK citizens with 41% saying that the greatest barrier to them travelling using greener forms of transport is a lack of reliable, regular and convenient public transport. The cost of taking public transport was also cited as a barrier.

The quarterly report titled Climate change insights, business and transport, UK was last published in February 2023 and used different sources including findings from the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Department for Transport. The research also found that the number of newly licenced battery electric vehicles increased by 80% between 2020 and 2021 and the purchase of new petrol and diesel vehicles fell by 8%.

Also revealed by this fourth edition of the research was that in 2020 more than half of all domestic transport emissions came from cars (52%).

According to the Department for Transport there were 3.1billion bus passenger journeys in 2020 - 2021, an increase of 81% on the previous year when the pandemic was in full force. However, when compared to the 4.5 billion journeys made in the year before the pandemic, we see a significant fall (31%).

Road traffic also fell by 37% between 2019 and 2020 and 2020 and 2021, although has since risen to just 5% below its highest recorded level.

An uptick in businesses reducing carbon emissions

The research uncovered that more businesses are getting involved with trying to curb their carbon emissions, with just three in 10 saying that have 'taken no action' in doing so over the last twelve months (30%), down from 46% in 2021.

And while greenhouse gas emissions in the UK increased by 6% between 2020 and 2021, this was 8% lower than in 2019 and 36% lower than thirty years ago in 1990.

Sign up to our newsletter to receive free insights from your sector...

Support Us...

We hope that you have found this article useful. This section is freely available for all to use. Please help support it by liking us or following us on our social media platforms: