Destination Zero report

Priority 4: Encourage low carbon travel

Transport is the sector that generates the most carbon emissions across our district and it continues to grow. Encouraging people to swap their petrol or diesel car for an electric or other low emission vehicle and to use more sustainable modes of travel, ie walking, cycling, buses, car-sharing,  will be crucial in meeting our ambition.

There are currently 48,000 cars on the district’s roads. Just 274 are ultra low emission vehicles (electric or other), although this is predicted to grow significantly year on year. By 2030 it estimated there will be 37,315 electric vehicles on the district’s roads saving more than 67,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. National and international developments will support this growth. The UK government has announced it will ban petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040 and the French government by 2030. As car manufacturers are unlikely to make different vehicles for different markets, it is likely we will see the phasing out of petrol and diesel vehicles in the UK at a much faster rate.

We have a role in supporting this growth by ensuring the electric vehicle charging infrastructure is in place. We will do this through a combination of incentivising the private sector to install charging points and installing more charging points in our car parks. There are currently just 12 EV charging points available across Malvern Hills District.

Provision of public bus services across the district is limited and has reduced in recent years. Across Worcestershire the number of bus passenger journeys has fallen by more than 4 million over the last decade. We will need to lobby and work with both Worcestershire County Council and commercial operators to reverse this trend, as well as promoting and incentivising alternatives such as community transport, car-sharing clubs, etc.

We will also have to engage with taxi drivers locally to encourage and support them to switch to low emission vehicles.