Next steps for bus to net zero

Producing the material on the Bus Route to Net Zero is the easy bit.

The hard stuff starts now and is the responsibility of a wide range of community and industry stakeholders.

Principal amongst those stakeholders are politicians of all parties and persuasions.

If you were to call at the front door of any politician today to ask them, politely, how they are planning to deliver the UK’s solemn commitment at global gatherings to deliver Net Zero in 2050 and, in particular, the transport component, they are most likely to do one of two things.

Hide behind the sofa or make a break for the back door!

If you’re quick and nip round the back and catch them just before they leap the fence, you’ll hear breathless mutterings about ‘electric cars’ and ‘too early to worry about that’.

The curt response I would give to both panic answers is –

‘It isn’t!’

Delivery of the transport component of Net Zero requires a lot more than simply swopping petrol and diesel for electricity or hydrogen. It requires a material reduction in car use and traffic, a lot less new road building and a lot of effort to remodel our towns and cities for people not traffic.

Those steps involve major culture change and substantial planning and, if we start tomorrow, we might just about hit the deadline.

Politicians spending their time nit picking the detail of Net Zero to find commitments they can water down right now is simply madness.

Time to face up to the reality and move from self important declarations on the international stage to firm plans and action.

The package of proposals laid out across this website are probably the only game in town at the moment in the form of a practical, structured approach and they will certainly take up to 25 years to deliver.

If we accept that the transport component of Net Zero requires a material reduction in car use, we need a plan now, as that culture built up over seven decades won’t just melt away of its own accord.

So, I shall leave this package on the table for further thought, discussion, consideration, debate or even polite abuse!

I’m happy to participate in any debate, discussion, research to help find a better answer - if this is the wrong one.

We certainly can’t road build our way out of the problem.

If anyone sees rail investment being the solution, comprehensive enough and deliverable on time, we all know how rapidly and affordably HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail have ‘progressed’ in the last decade ….

I’ll end with an environmentally friendly transport related cliché –

‘You can take a horse to water ……..