Cycling short distances instead of driving could save million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year, transport charity says

At a time when average cycling distances are falling to their lowest levels in a decade, one million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions could be saved every year if people who currently travel short distances by car cycled instead, a transport charity has claimed.

New research undertaken by shared transport charity Collaborative Mobility UK (CoMoUK) has found that millions of daily commutes by car owners in England and Wales could be easily completed by bike or e-bike.

At the moment these short car journeys amount to one per cent of the emissions caused by domestic UK travel, prompting CoMoUK to point out the potential for shared transport initiatives, such as cycle hire schemes, to make a “significant contribution to the drive for net zero”.

As well as encouraging people to swap their car for a bike for everyday trips, the charity called for “urgent action” in the wake of new Department for Transport statistics which revealed this week that greenhouse gas emissions from transport are rising steadily.

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The DfT’s data, which was released on Thursday, confirmed that UK domestic transport emissions were on the rise again in 2021 and 2022, following a huge reduction caused by Covid pandemic-era lockdowns.

In 2022, domestic transport accounted for 28 per cent of the country’s total domestic emissions, making it the largest emitting sector of the economy by a considerable margin.

Meanwhile, domestic transport emissions have fallen by a paltry 12 per cent since 1990, compared to 50 per cent for the UK’s total domestic emissions over the same period.

And in 2022 alone, domestic transport was responsible for 113.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent being released into the atmosphere, a two per cent rise compared to 2021.

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Faced with these alarming figures, CoMoUK’s chief executive Richard Dilks said that the transition to, and government backing for, active travel and shared transport is crucial to “drive down emissions”.

“These figures are clearly worrying, as they show that with the exception of the pandemic years, emissions from domestic transport have stayed stubbornly high for 30 years,” Dilks said.

“If we are to have any hope of reaching net zero, it is imperative that domestic transport emissions fall sharply, but instead they are rising. This simply has to change.

“Our research has shown that a national expansion of shared transport provision could help governments and local authorities across the country drive down emissions.

“There is enormous and unrealised potential for this innovative sector to take more cars off our roads, cut traffic congestion further, improve our air quality and help us reach net zero.

“It was heartening to hear transport minister Simon Lightwood say at the CoMoUK conference last week that shared transport is ‘central’ to the government achieving its aims – we now need to see firm action to back that sentiment up.”

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While cycling has been viewed as pivotal to the fight against climate change, this recent rise in emissions has also coincided with a fall in cycling levels in the UK.

In August, think tanks and campaigners urged the Labour government to act quickly on their active travel promises after official figures revealed that distances cycled annually in England have fallen to their lowest levels in a decade, while car journeys continue to rise.

According to figures released by the Department for Transport as part of its annual National Travel Survey, cycling accounted for two per cent of all trips made in England in 2023, and one per cent of distance travelled on average.

The average person made 15 cycling trips throughout the year, the same number as 2022, but down from the high of 20 annual trips in 2020.

Cycling’s decline in England since its pandemic-related boom four years ago was also strikingly evident in the average cycling miles travelled, which fell to levels last seen in 2013. According to the DfT’s figures, the average person in England cycled 47 miles during 2023, just over half of the high-water mark of 2020, which saw 88 miles travelled on average by bike.

However, 2023’s average distance was also 17 per cent down on the previous year’s figure of 57 miles per person, and below the pre-pandemic average of 54 miles in 2019.

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Meanwhile, the distance travelled by car, while still lower than 2019, continued to climb in the post-lockdown era, according to the DfT’s stats. Car trips, either as a driver or passenger, made up 78 per cent of the average distance travelled in 2023, an increase of almost 500 miles per person since 2022.

Responding to the survey’s findings, Catherine Woodhead, the chief executive of active travel group Living Streets, said at the time: “It’s clear there’s work needed to help get more of us walking and wheeling. The government needs to invest in making streets both safer and more welcoming for everyone, and that includes an end to pavement parking.”

“It’s great to see more people embracing walking as transport, but the plateau of cycling figures suggests more needs to be done to improve our cycle network, improving health, and reducing the burden on NHS,” added the Campaign for Better Transport’s Michael Solomon Williams.