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An increasing number of people are turning to alternative forms of transport for everyday A to B journeys, according to Sustrans’
A fairly obvious statement, yet the figures suggest that 354 million trips were made on the Sustrans’ network in 2007, a near five per cent increase. Of those trips, half the journeys were made by bike. According to a release on the Sustrans website, had these journeys taken place by car some 232 million litres of fuel would have had to have been purchased, costing roughly £269 million. The environmental impact of these journeys would have been equivalent to 450,000 tonnes of CO2.
Malcolm Shepherd, Sustrans’ CEO is pleased to see the increasing number of trips made: “Despite 2007’s wet summer this is the eighth year in succession that usage has risen and with around one in ten cyclists on the Network being new or returning to cycling it shows that the UK’s appetite for healthy, environmentally responsible travel is increasing. We are delighted that people are using the routes for all sorts of reasons, from taking the children to school, to getting to work, to enjoying their leisure time."
The Sustrans’ Change Your World campaign is playing a large part in the uptake of cycling. The scheme encourages people to seek alternative forms of transport to the car.
If everyone made one less car journey a week then car traffic would be reduced by ten per cent.
Many organisations and local authorities joined Sustrans in the campaign, including, Good Energy, I Count, The Association of Cycle Traders, The Council for National Parks, The Big Green Switch, Chain Reaction Cycles, Madison, Liftshare, Halfords, the Woodland Trust, the Caravan Club, Centro (Network West Midlands) and Abel & Cole. And last weekend’s Glastonbury Festival also encouraged a changed world with hundreds of festival goers-making a pledge to swap.
