Green Transport, published in the Daily Telegraph, 20th September 2007

Rt Hon. Ruth Kelly MP.

Secretary of State for Transport

Britain's transport system plays a vital role in supporting our economy, giving people access to jobs and services, and providing the networks that are so fundamental to business and trade.

As our society has grown more affluent, demand for road, rail and air travel has soared. At the same time, we face an urgent environmental challenge: to build a more sustainable transport network that helps us meet our climate change and air quality objectives.

The Government is using a combination of measures to achieve this goal. For example we're investing heavily in public transport; we're supporting the development and adoption of greener technologies; and we're encouraging more sustainable patterns of travel through regulation, training, and improving public awareness of environmental issues.

Last year, transport spending was more than 60% higher in real terms than it was in 1997, with public transport receiving an increasing share of the total.

We're investing £2.5 billion a year in buses, for example, to help cut congestion and provide real transport alternatives at local level. Alongside this funding, the recent draft Local Transport Bill includes significant new powers for local authorities to improve bus services across the country.

In July, I announced our long-term plans for Britain's rail network to boost capacity and improve environmental performance. Between now and 2014, the Government will deliver 1300 extra carriages and invest more than £10 billion to increase rail capacity.

Higher investment in public transport will increase capacity and improve passenger experience - but it must also incentivise the development and take-up of greener technologies.

And so we are working with the rail industry to research and roll out more efficient, environmentally-friendly trains - for example featuring hybrid technology and regenerative braking that will cut carbon emissions.

We also need to take advantage of improved fuel technology. So the Government is requiring that 5% of all fuel sold on UK forecourts will come from biofuels by 2010. This alone is expected to save 1 million tonnes of carbon a year.

We're encouraging the development and use of greener technologies by the aviation industry. Changes in working practices at airports, like taxiing on one engine and using continuous descent approach, are helping to improve operational efficiency.

Improving technology is essential, but to be effective in global transport industries it often needs to be accompanied by co-ordinated international action. Britain has been leading the debate in Europe to include aviation in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, for example, and we will continue to push for comprehensive international agreement to improve the industry's environmental performance.

We also strongly support a move to mandatory EC fuel efficiency targets for new cars, while on a national level we're using the car tax and company car tax systems to encourage use of more fuel efficient, greener vehicles.

Britain's ability to meet its environmental goals in the future will also depend on each of us as individuals becoming more aware of green issues, and considering our own travel habits and options.

That's why the DfT has been supporting sustainable travel trials in Darlington, Peterborough and Worcester, where local people have been given 'personalised travel plans' which show how different forms of travel compare in terms of cost, health benefits, and environmental impact.

The results so far have been very encouraging.

In Worcester, for example, public transport use over the past year is up 22%. Cycling's up 36%, and car trips are down 12%. In Darlington, cycling has risen by more than three quarters, while walking is up by almost a third.

Recently we launched the Act on CO2 campaign, to encourage people to think about the type of car they buy - and the way they drive - to reduce CO2 emissions and other pollutants.

In this way, we can all contribute to improving the environmental performance of transport.

We have no time to lose. As the Stern Review reported last year, the economic cost of not acting to tackle climate change far outweighs the costs of taking action.

The goal is to develop a transport system that not only provides increased capacity and supports continued economic growth in Britain, but also that allows us to achieve our environmental objectives.

I believe that in the years ahead, transport must become part of the solution to climate change, not simply part of the problem. It's a huge challenge - but it's a challenge we're determined to meet.