Experts debate sustainable transport options

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The comparative benefits of personal and public transit have been discussed at a gathering of transport experts in the House of Lords.

At a debate on Wednesday, hosted by the associate parliamentary group on design and innovation and chaired by Lord Palmer, experts from the transportation sector and the academic world voted against the motion, 'In the mega-cities of the future, personal transport solutions will never be as sustainable as public', by a majority of 18.

Lord Palmer, a crossbench peer, outlined why such a debate was necessary.

He said: "We need to think more holistically and innovatively about how we can move around our cities. Solutions require a deep understanding of the behaviour and the needs of the user."

Palmer added: "Ultimately understanding how to persuade people to choose sustainable travel options means developing options that are attractive to the 21st century urban citizen."

Speaking in favour of the motion Neil Walker, senior director at Bombardier Transportation, argued passionately for the use of public transport as a means for ensuring higher numbers of passengers can be transported in an age when more than half of the world's population are urban dwellers.

"For the first time in human history more than half of the world's population live and work in cities. This makes the need for efficient and cost-effective public transport all the more necessary," Walker said.

Adding to the call for a stronger focus on public transport options, Alex Burrows of Centro argued that mass urban transit was already a reality.

Noting that 50 per cent of commuters travelled into Birmingham via the city's bus network, Burrows claimed that the most important factor for passengers was reliability.

He said: "Mass transit systems can get people around in a fast and efficient manner at a time when people want the most reliable route – not necessarily the fastest route."

Arguing against the motion were representatives from car manufacturers BMW and Nissan, and Andrew Everett of the Technology Strategy Board (TSB).

Everett agreed that the nature of transportation was changing, but argued that it was merely shifting towards more locally focused transport needs. The head of transport for TSB stated that the creation of multi-centred cities, with different suburbs having a wide range of leisure and employment facilities, would remove the need for large numbers of commuters travelling to central areas of mega-cities, which currently monopolise social and economic opportunities.

And Olivier Paturet of Nissan urged attendees at the debate to consider the possibilities for environmentally sensitive personal transport afforded by electric vehicles.

Paturet said: "Driving electric cars is our duty to the environment. It is important to ensure that personal transport solutions can be offered for those who wish to travel by car, but that these solutions help to protect and preserve our environment."

The motion, 'In the mega-cities of the future, personal transport solutions will never be as sustainable as public' was defeated by 48 votes to 30.

Frost & Sullivan acted as joint hosts of the session.