Carbon emission reduction policy in transport cannot be based on people doing less travelling, Chair of the House of Commons Transport Select Committee Louise Ellman MP has told Transportation Professional.

In an interview in the November issue of the magazine she said: “It is not realistic to build policy based on people travelling less. Work should be done with businesses to reduce vehicle emissions and more trains should be electrified.”

Institutions like CIHT, she said, “can play a very valuable role in sending us very good evidence on topics we are dealing with. The success of our inquiries rests on the strength of the evidence we get.”

Ms Ellman and 10 other cross party MPs on the Committee grill senior figures running the country’s roads, railways and airports and call them to account on matters of public and Parliamentary interest. The Committee focuses not only on big issues such as HS2 and the expansion of airport capacity but also less controversial topics including surface access to ports and local bus services.

You can read more in your November Transportation Professional published next week.

Also in the upcoming issue: Resurfacing the M90 to Transport Scotland’s new specification; Government chief planner Steve Quartermain on making localism work; Are in cab lorry gadgets too much of a distraction?; Winter maintenance training; CIHT tells Government road safety should be a higher priority. Plus readers’ views on the cycle helmet debate.

The issue should be on your doorstep from 23 October.