Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the the Institution of Civil Engineers and All-Party Parliamentary Group on Infrastructure report entitled What are the public behavioural changes required to meet net zero?, published in February 2024, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his polices of the finding that funding safe active travel infrastructure may support people looking to change their behaviour to reduce carbon emissions; and what steps his Department is taking to incentivise transport choices that reduce carbon emissions.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government’s approach to decarbonisation is not to stop people doing things, but to enable people to do the same things differently and more sustainably. The Government set out its plans for decarbonising transport in its 2021 Transport Decarbonisation Plan (TDP) and has continued to build on these plans.
The Government agrees that funding safe active travel infrastructure can enable more people to choose walking, cycling and wheeling for short journeys, and that this in turn can reduce carbon emissions. The TDP includes an assessment of the carbon savings that are projected to be delivered by the Government’s current and projected future support for active travel. This support includes the investment of around £3 billion over the current Parliament, much of which will directly support the roll-out of safe and attractive active travel infrastructure.