UK needs a ‘stronger commitment to sustainable transport’

The Department for Transport (DfT) needs a clear strategy to increase the use of ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs), reduce air pollution and deal with the VW cheat device scandal – so that it can meet decarbonisation and air quality targets, according to a stark new report from the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC).

Chair of the Committee Mary Creagh said: ‘The uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles like electric cars is too low to meet the UK’s climate change targets at the lowest cost to the public. Air quality targets that were supposed to be met in 2010 won’t be hit until 2020 at the earliest. And it's been almost a year since we discovered VW had fitted cars with cheat devices, but government has still to decide what action to take against the company.’

Creagh added: ‘We need 9% of all new cars to be ultra-low emission vehicles by 2020 if we’re going to meet our climate change targets at the lowest cost to the public. But the Department’s forecasts show it will get only around half-way to this target. The Department should also aim for almost two-thirds of new cars and vans to be ULEVs by 2030. With no strategy, we have no confidence that The DfT will meet this target.’

Data released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) show that ‘alternatively-fuelled vehicles’ held just a 3.2% share of new vehicle registrations for the first half of 2016, up from 2.7% for the same period in 2015. More than 51,000 alternatively-fuelled vehicles were registered.

So how could these figures be increased? The EAC says that local authorities and the car industry both described ways in which the Department could increase electric vehicle use over the next decade and beyond.

Creagh said: ‘Local authorities had a range of innovative ideas to drive take-up, such as supporting electric and low emission fleet procurement by underwriting risk or guaranteeing buy-back, helping workplaces invest in charging points, and introducing a national grant scheme for electric and low emission taxis. Ministers should also think about changes to vehicle taxation, including company cars, to make electric vehicles more attractive.’

On air quality, the EAC report says that in 2013 only five of 43 clean air zones in the UK met EU standards on levels of NOx, a pollutant which causes respiratory diseases. Following court action in 2015, the DfT has now produced a joint air quality plan with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Committee Chairman Mary Creagh said: ‘With the vote to leave the EU, there’s a material risk to our air quality targets. At the very least, the government should commit to keeping existing European air quality standards.’

Environmental organisations took a stronger line, with Friends of the Earth suggesting a ban on the use diesel fuel: ‘Air pollution is a public health crisis of breath-taking proportions, leading to tens of thousands of early deaths each year. In order to reduce dangerous levels of air pollution the government must be bolder. With road traffic the biggest problem and diesel the worst of all it must create a plan for phasing out diesel use on Britain’s roads. Cutting traffic levels and preventing road-building adding to the air pollution problem should also be priorities.’

• The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has confirmed plans for the first of a series of Low Emission Bus Zones – prioritising the greenest buses on the worst polluted routes. From February next year, the first route along Putney High Street will see exclusive use of hybrid or diesel buses that meet or exceed Euro VI emissions standards. The second route – between Brixton and Streatham – will be converted in October 2017. Low Emission Bus Zones are expected to reduce NOx emissions from buses along these routes by around 84%. Khan has also announced that two more bus routes – 507 and 521 – will soon run on a fleet of 51 new all-electric buses.