Are these the solutions for fair transition to clean transport?

The Clean Cities Campaign has published a new report in response to growing concerns that the cost-of-living crisis will jeopardise efforts to improve urban air quality. 

Win-Win: 5 Fast and Fair Solutions For Cleaning Up Urban Transport has just been unveiled in a bid to signpost policymakers in the direction of schemes that can help move away from high polluting travel modes in an affordable way. 

Many of these are relatively simple to implement, and promote the use of active travel, shared travel, and green public transport rather than high-tech infrastructure projects. A number of recommendations have also been made on the steps needed in order to roll out such initiatives. 

The five proposed solutions are: 

*Introducing mobility credits and scrappage schemes to deliver targeted financial support to those upgrading from diesel and petrol vehicles to plug-in alternatives, or opting to take public transport. Examples of this already exist in London, Paris, Brussels, Barcelona, and Berlin

*Launch bicycle purchase support schemes to lower the overall cost to individuals of buying a bike, as is currently available in Finland, France, Italy and Portugal 

*Reduce and cap public transport fares within authority boundaries, as has been done in both London and Greater Manchester 

*Install shared mobility hubs in difficult-to-reach areas with poor public transport connections, with Scotland cities leading the UK on this

*Facilitate the social leasing of electric vehicles for those who want to move away from internal combustion engines but cannot afford to buy for themselves – France has unveiled plans to support 130,000 social leased vehicles at a cost of around €100 per month

Further to the solutions, a number of best practice measures with a focus on equity. Specifically, this means making sure all low-income households can afford to move, with new connections established for geographically difficult-to-reach neighbourhoods, and accessibility for those with disabilities and the elderly also prioritised. 

‘This is not a zero-sum game — the costs of inaction of air pollution are much greater than those
associated with the implementation of the measures that will ease the transition to clean transport,’ said Barbara Stoll, director of the Clean Cities Campaign. ‘Air pollution is a silent killer and it continues to poison our urban environments and city leaders must act immediately to protect people’s health. This research shows that there are workable solutions for them to ensure that vulnerable communities are supported in the switch to zero emission transport during this cost of living crisis’.