Segregated cycle lanes make people feel safe on a bike and more likely to cycle, leading to better public health
This article was first published online by The Sunday Times on 26 November 2017.
Scotland’s air quality crisis cannot be solved by waiting for new technology to improve public health.
The government’s planned Low Emission Zones (LEZs) need to look not just at the type of vehicle in cities, but at how they can reduce the number of cars congesting cities and polluting our air.
Today, the majority of journeys in Scotland are made by car (67%) and, in areas where pollution exceeds legal limits, 80% of harmful nitrous oxide gas comes from transport.
Many people feel they have no choice but to travel by car for their every day journeys because of a lack of walking and cycling routes or because there isn’t any affordable public transport.
Even in urban areas where there are typically better public transport links, 41% of us still drive to work in Glasgow, and 44.5% in Edinburgh.
This sheer weight of traffic on our roads is a major cause of air pollution. Congested space in cities leads cars, buses, vans and good vehicles to sit in traffic, constantly polluting the air and costing money in wasted time and fuel.
Yet, government at every level has avoided action to address this. Instead, it has waited for a technological solution in order to avoid any difficult decisions. But is the technological solution working?
According to the International Council of Clean Transportation, engine efficiency in real world conditions has only improved 2% in the last five years. Electric or low carbon vehicles offer an end to exhaust emissions, but they are, at best, a partial fix for air pollution.
Electric vehicles do not take away the problem that 45% of harmful particulate matter is released by brakes and tyres, which the World Health Organisation say there is no safe level of exposure to.
In fact, particulate emission from this source is likely to worsen, due to the extra weight of electric vehicle batteries. There is the risk that, like diesel cars before, we are being sold a new technology that won’t solve the problem – or the obesity and physical inactivity crisis, which is estimated to cost Scotland as much as £4.6 billion each year.
Government needs to roll-out LEZs in a way that lowers the total number of vehicles in urban areas, rather than just focussing on the type of vehicle.
Cutting vehicle access to city centres creates a need for alternatives modes of transport, and the space created on our streets should be given to people on foot, to public space, and especially to segregated cycle lanes.
A recent survey of Edinburgh residents found 4 out of 5 wanted more space for segregated cycling, even at the expense of space for cars. Segregated cycle lanes make people feel safe on a bike and more likely to cycle, leading to better public health.
Reducing the dominance of cars won’t just create space for walking and cycling. Decreasing congestion would allow clean buses to complete journeys more quickly, and there are improvements to emissions for large vehicles not having to stop and start repeatedly in traffic.
The truth is that the health problems caused by cars and physical inactivity are widely known and accepted, but difficult conversations around reducing car access are still to begin. There are signs of the bravery and leadership necessary to deliver the towns and cities that people want, but action on air pollution cannot wait.
Read the Sustrans Scotland Low Emission Zone consultation response
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