Philip Meikle, Transport Strategy Director at Transport North East, explains how making small changes to the way we travel can help the region reach its net zero target.

Here in the North East, road transport is now the largest source of carbon emissions in our region.

The biggest emitter by far is the car, and that’s why reducing our reliance on cars can have one the biggest impacts on our ability to become carbon neutral and reach net zero.

Approximately 63% of journeys in the North East are made by car, and it’s estimated that 21% of those journeys are under two miles. If we could encourage more people to walk, cycle or use public transport - particularly for shorter journeys - we could help create a greener, fairer and more sustainable region that delivers for everyone.

Often when we talk about net zero and transport, people’s minds immediately go to electric vehicles and EV charging points. Whilst the move to electrification will have a significant impact on our collective carbon emissions, there’s something else we can do; something that’s more cost effective and more immediate – and it’s as simple as putting one foot in front of the other.

If more people across our region chose to walk shorter distances than reach for the car keys, it would dramatically reduce our carbon emissions. At Transport North East, our challenge to people in the region is to ask before every journey; can I walk? If I can’t walk, can I cycle? If I can’t cycle, can I use public transport? If I can’t use public transport, can I use my car for just part of the journey instead? What we’re trying to do is change people’s behavior when it comes to using the car.

And it’s not just residents that can help reduce our reliance on the car; businesses can play an important role too. We want to see employers making it easier for employees to use public transport and incentivising its use within the workplace. How easy, for example, is it for employees to claim back bus tickets instead of mileage when attending meetings? Are employees given the flexibility to walk to and from meetings if they choose to? And how engrained is the commitment to promoting sustainable travel, is it part of the company’s vision and values.

I’d like to make it clear Transport North East is not anti-car, we completely understand for many people it’s a vital mode of transport. What we’re encouraging businesses and residents to do is try and reduce car usage – even if it’s one day a week. That one small change would drastically reduce transport emissions in our region.

We benefit from an extensive public transport network that stretches right across our region. Investments are being made to ensure our Metro, buses, and local rail services support our journey to net zero.

Over £400m of investment is being made in the Tyne and Wear Metro to improve efficiency and performance. The line to South Shields is being dualled and a new energy efficient Metro fleet is being introduced across the network which we estimate will cut the amount of high voltage power Metro needs by 30%.

The bus fleet in the region is becoming cleaner and greener too. We have new low emission vehicles being rolled out, as well as major improvements to Durham Bus Station and a new North Shields Interchange transport hub to improve accessibility to bus services. And in the coming weeks government will release £163.5m of investment for our region’s bus network which will be spent over the next three years on delivering more frequent services, improving provision, and introducing multi-modal fares.

Of course there are challenges to making our transport network carbon neutral, and it won’t happen overnight, but the targeted investment we’re seeing will have an impact.

One of the biggest things we can do right now to reduce emissions is to change our mindsets. We need to own the problem and change our behavior when it comes to how we travel.

In the coming weeks Transport North East and the North East Joint Transport Committee (JTC) will be publishing its ‘Making the Right Travel Choice’ Strategy, which encourages car users to switch one journey a week to walking, cycling, or public transport; and for people who don’t have a car to continue travelling sustainably.

We’re also going to publish a new active travel strategy to support more people across the region to use cleaner, greener and more sustainable modes of transport.

As we launch Net Zero North East England and signal our shared commitment to drive forward a greener, fairer and more sustainable region, I’d encourage everyone to consider the positive impact they can make by simply changing how they travel. We can help the North East become carbon neutral literally one step at a time.