On 14 July 2021, the UK government published its ‘green print’ to decarbonise all modes of domestic transport by 2050. The Transport Decarbonisation Plan (TDP) aims to deliver cleaner air, healthier communities and tens of thousands of new green jobs.

CIHT has been reviewing the detail behind the plan to see if it goes far enough to set out the UK’s ‘Route to net zero”.

Sue Percy, Chief Executive, CIHT said:

“CIHT welcomes the publication of the TDP as we have previously called for a genuine plan with clear objectives, specific targets and unambiguous responsibilities, all backed with the necessary powers and resources.”

“There are a lot of positives in the TDP and we are pleased to see it recognise that the challenge of net zero cannot be met by a technology-fix alone and that innovation will need to be accompanied by significant behavioural change.”

“We have previously called for the plan to acknowledge the fundamental link between transportation and planning and are encouraged that the TDP commits to making quantifiable carbon reductions an integral part of transport planning and funding.”

“CIHT believe that this can play a vital in role in creating the high-quality places that are needed to meet the government’s goal for public transport, cycling and walking to become the first choice for people when making suitable decisions to travel. In this context it is good to see the TDP commit to ensuring that the updated Manual for Streets, currently being developed through CIHT, will become a routine tool for decision makers.”

“A criticism of yesterday’s announcement was that unfortunately the government’s own public communications on the TDP focused on technology being the solution to all the UK’s transport decarbonisation problems. We have previously highlighted that while innovation and technology will play important roles, we must use this opportunity to start a serious conversation about behavioural change and the difficult decisions we will all need to make.”

“Similarly, while this commitment to embrace innovation and technology to decarbonise our vehicle fleet is obviously welcome, it brings with it a major reduction in tax revenues (from lost fuel duty c£40bn pa) that will leave a big hole in how we fund and support the highways and infrastructure network. The highways network remains the only utility we do not pay for at point of use and there is a generational opportunity to change this debate. CIHT believe that the government should be using this opportunity to start the conversation about how change can be paid for in a way that supports the outcomes being pursued.”

So, will the TDP enable delivery of net zero by 2050? The jury is still out but we have a chance if the tech fix is accompanied by behavioural change and more effective integration of planning and transport decision making.

CIHT is carrying out a review of how highways and transportation can achieve net zero and more details can be found on our dedicated ‘route to net zero’ project pages here. 

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