Leading think tank highlights need to speed up sustainable transport delivery in Wales

A new report by a leading think tank has recommended a raft of policies to help speed up sustainable and affordable transport delivery in Wales.

The Next Step for Transport in Wales: Achieving a Sustainable Transport System for People and Planet was organised in partnership with the Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) and Arup – a collective of engineering and sustainability consultants, designers, architects and experts.

It emphasised the importance of the Welsh Government’s role in putting forward positive incentives to accelerate the transition to a decarbonised transport system.

The report says that recent debates on the 20mph default speed limit have shown that the transformation required to bring transport up to speed with the realities of climate change remain divisive across the nation.

Initiatives

The report recommends:

• Widespread investment in behaviour change initiatives.
• Community- and citizens-informed policy development.
• The setting of stronger targets to direct transport policy.
• Supercharge transport data collection to demonstrate the effectiveness of investment.
• Accelerate the transition to transport-oriented development across all levels of government .
• Utilise newly incorporated Corporate Joint Committee’s to maximise regional transport planning aligned to Wales’ sustainable transport vision

The IWA report also calls for a “shared and value-driven” vision for transport which balances policy carrots and sticks, and brings Wales’ communities on board.

It lays out that transport policy should also act as a means to tackle inequality rather than exacerbate it.

Wales’ second Carbon Budget commits the nation to a 22% carbon reduction from passenger transport by 2025 and 98% in 2050.

Emissions from transport have fallen by 6% since 1990.

Many Welsh communities depend on cars – with a third of the population living rurally.

Wales has a lower number of electric vehicles and limited charging infrastructure.

19.4% of households do not have access to a car at all.

Train links tend to be closer to more affluent communities while bus links are often located near poorer communities.

Bus travel is under-subsidised, leading to transport poverty and gender inequality as more women use public transport.

In 2004-05, local buses covered 129km, down to 84km as of 2022.

In England, data is collected annually on national transport.

In Wales, the next National Transport Survey is due in 2024 – but none has been undertaken in a decade.

The full report is available here.