Heatwaves show UK must do more to promote cycling and walking, campaigners say
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- Fifty-four civil society organisations, led by the Campaign for Better Transport, signed a joint statement demanding the UK government create the conditions for people to travel more by walking, cycling, public transport and shared mobility and less by private car.
- UK domestic transport was responsible for almost a third of the country's net greenhouse gas emissions last year, with sector emissions rising 2% on the previous year — more than any other sector in the UK.
- Labour had committed before the 2024 election to set targets shifting travel away from private vehicles toward public and active transport, but by this summer the government's cycling and walking strategy had dropped those broader modal-shift targets.
- The coalition's statement called for policies increasing journeys by public transport, shared transport, walking, wheeling and cycling, plus targets to shift more freight onto trains, noting the majority of journeys are under five miles.
- Ben Plowden, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, said the call's urgency was amplified by the summer's heatwaves and by oil price inflation caused by the US war on Iran.
- The Department for Transport pointed to a £2 bus fare cap, frozen rail fares, £4.5bn for cycling and walking, and £7.5bn backing the zero-emission vehicle mandate, but did not commit to new modal-shift targets.
Why it matters: Fifty-four transport, health and environmental groups are now openly challenging Labour's quiet shelving of its 2024 election pledge to set modal-shift targets, with this summer's heatwaves providing visible proof of climate costs. For the campaigners, the government's £4.5bn cycling and walking pledge plus £7.5bn ZEV mandate fall short without statutory targets pulling trips away from private cars.
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