Efficient travel

People need to get around. But how we do it has a huge impact on the communities we live in and the global climate. The types of transport we choose shape how clean will be the air that we breathe, how safe are the streets where children walk and play, how convivial our towns and cities are. Vitally, it also determines whether affordable, safe and clean mobility is available to everyone who needs it.

Globally, in recent decades, the resource-hungry and energy inefficient private car has been favoured by politicians and planners. High levels of street pollution, divided communities, and deaths and injuries have been the cost, not to mention the contribution to global warming.

But attitudes to travel and transport show signs of turning a corner. Modern mass urban public transport is increasingly seen as an answer to congestion, poor air quality, and economic revival. And, where travel for tourism is concerned, interest in slow travel and the ‘staycation’ is changing attitudes. In the global North and South, cities are reinventing how we get around so that our choice of transport doesn’t drive us over a climate cliff.