By David Bicknell
From an environmental point of view, one of the areas that government is going to have to get to grips with is transport with respect to carbon emissions.
It’s well-documented in this post by ecoXchange on its greeninblackandwhite blog. The piece discusses why the focus of central government and the Mayor’s Office in London is only on four-wheeled electric cars, and why these authorities are failing to take on board the benefits of two wheeled electric bikes, which might be the ideal solution to the likely transport problems facing visitors to the Olympics in 2012.
There’s an economic aspect here too. Rising costs, for business or individual use are a major headache – whether transporting product or people. Overall transport costs have risen by nearly 25% in the last year and are likely to rise by another 30% or more, over the next three years. And that means increased transport subsidies from companies to their commuting employees.
Electric or electric/hybrid cars may help reduce emissions, but will do nothing in terms of reducing congestion, over-crowding or journey times. This debate urgently needs to go beyond the recharging electric cars argument.