Industry experts believe that a nationwide transport revolution is required to mitigate the climate crisis, and that smart technology could transform the way we travel. Travel apps are making sustainable transport options more accessible to the growing number of people keen to change their travel plans to reduce their environmental impact.
Latest government figures show that transport is the largest sector for UK greenhouse gas emissions (27%), having recently overtaken the energy supply sector, which accounts for 24% (PDF). Within the transport sector, road transport accounts for more than 90% of emissions (PDF) while rail travel by electric train is the lowest-impact mode of transport in terms of CO2 emissions.
Seventy percent of Britons want more urgent action to tackle the climate emergency, and new research by Trainline demonstrates a deep-rooted willingness across the nation to fundamentally change travel habits. Sixty-five percent of the nation are willing to adapt their journeys to benefit the environment but the biggest barrier is lack of knowledge about how to do this, while travel apps help 36% of Brits to make more informed, environmentally friendly travel choices.
Tools include the calculator at EcoPassenger, which directly compares energy consumption and carbon emissions of planes, cars and trains for any journey. Meanwhile, Lime’s new electric bike and scooter sharing scheme is taking off in London and Milton Keynes, and Europe’s leading train and coach app, Trainline, is making greener travel more hassle-free for customers globally by investing in technology to help make train and coach travel across 45 countries more accessible.
“Our long-term vision is to enable everyone to travel from A to B much faster and more efficiently, in a way that’s better for the environment,” says Clare Gilmartin, CEO of Trainline. “We use artificial intelligence and advanced mobile technology so that, via our app, customers can travel by train and coach seamlessly, with on-the-go access to real-time journey information, using digital tickets to skip queues and with access to clever features like BusyBot, which harnesses crowdsourced data to help people find a seat on a busy train. We believe smart tech has a crucial role to play in encouraging and enabling people to travel sustainably.”
This drive for change comes at a time when thinktank Transport for Quality of Life found that the transport sector’s emissions have increased by 10% since 1990. Mike Childs, head of science, policy and research at Friends of the Earth, says that in the UK transport is the big problem sector where emissions continue to increase. He encourages the government to do more.
The government has invested £1.5bn in grants between 2015 and 2020 for electric plug-in vehicles and schemes to kickstart the rollout of charge-point infrastructure, while pledging that all new cars and vans should be zero-emission by 2040, according to its Road to Zero strategy. Childs insists this is not enough: “The only way we can make the scale of reductions we need fast enough is by having a revolution in transportation.”
Friends of the Earth has released a new study (PDF) that indicates that for the UK to reach its net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target, at least a 20% reduction in car travel is necessary by 2030, all new cars need to be electric, and flights must be reduced by 18%. But there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Childs urges that “we just need to play catch up with our European neighbours”. In Oslo, ferries, taxis, trams and 60% of cars are electric, and a pioneering “climate budget” monitors CO2 emissions, with targets to reduce greenhouse emissions by 95% by 2030.
Lisbon has one of the world’s largest electric vehicle charging point networks, while Estonia and Luxembourg have introduced countrywide free public transport. “Free public transport is transformational, not only for the environment – it’s also socially progressive,” adds Childs. Trainline found that a quarter of young Brits would reduce time behind the wheel to be more sustainable, and Friends of the Earth is calling for the government to make bus travel free to under-30s to reduce the need for young people to buy cars and help people switch to public transport.
“Cities are changing fast – and so are solutions for mobility,” says Jaanaki Momaya, general manager at Lime UK, the UK operation of the US-based dockless travel startup. “More than 75% of the European population now live in cities, and as populations grow, more people are embracing the sharing economy.”
Since Lime launched in June 2017, more than 15 million people have signed up to use 100% carbon-free, affordable and easily accessible electric bikes and scooters through this app. With more than 65m rides globally, Lime has eliminated more than 20m miles of car travel and more than 8,000 metric tons of carbon emissions. Smart technology has been key to its growth in more than 25 countries and across five continents.
By driving positive change through technology, travel apps help create a more sustainable and efficient transport infrastructure, enabling a smoother transition to lower carbon-impact travel, within the UK and beyond.
Book travel in and across 45 countries today with Trainline, Europe’s leading train and coach app
