Transport, climate change and society

London faces huge challenges in moving to a reduced reliance on oil and lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in its transport system and travel behaviours. The city is one of the most progressive internationally, at least in policy terms, in seeking to respond to climate change. It has a very high public transport mode share for radial trips to the central area, but is still heavily reliant on the private motor car (almost exclusively powered by petrol or diesel) for travel in the suburbs1. The Mayor of London has set a very demanding target on climate change: a 60% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2025, across all sectors, on a 1990 baseline (Greater London Authority, 2007). Although there is no specific target in the transport sector, the expectation is that transport should make a significant contribution. The scale of the target set is consistent with the aspiration to limit the increase in global surface temperatures to 2oC, at most, relative to present day levels (Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change, 2007; Stern, 2009). There is, however, less certainty as to how to achieve this target in terms of the level of investment required and the ability to influence individual travel behaviours. The response to climate change also neatly correlates with the oil scarcity problem. Many of the solutions required, such as a much greater use of public transport, walking and cycling, also mean there is likely to be less reliance on the petrol-fuelled motor car as the main mode of travel. The International Energy Agency (2009) points towards the urgency of the problem: there are ‘just