Climate Corner: The transport problem that's driving us crazy

Between work, sport, chores and holidays, most of us would struggle to get by without a car.

But as the second-largest source of carbon emissions after electricity production, the way we transport ourselves will have to change if we’re to have any chance of reining in climate change.

Professor Tim McCarthy, Director of the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre at the University of Wollongong says the first thing we have to change is our perspective.

“Any journey less than four kilometres should be taken on foot or by bike,” he said.

“We seem to have lost the art of just walking, but most of the time if you’re within a kilometre of where you want to go you’re going to choose to walk.

“We need to get used to adding a couple of extra kilometres to that radius – if you have good mobility a four-kilometre journey is about a 45-minute commitment.

“We’ll feel better for it, as well as being the better option for the environment.”

The next step is to look for opportunities to take public transport.

It’s not always possible, and services could be better than they are.

Professor McCarthy said there were good examples in Europe of fully integrated public transport systems, with regular, reliable bus or tram services between residential areas and train stations, making getting about without a car a breeze.

We’re not quite there yet in Australia – but the more services are used, the more investment they get.

“One bus replaces about 30 cars on the road,” Professor McCarthy said.

“Your ability to take public transport is going to be affected by where you live and the availability, and we need to design newer subdivisions with that in mind.

“We need more bus routes, and for the bus schedules to align with train timetables.

“Ideally, we need to allow bikes, scooters and even pets on public transport to enable people to use it to do the things they need to do.”

If you have to have a car – and plenty of us do – make the switch to an EV or a hybrid.

They still cause traffic and cost resources to make and run, but they are much cleaner day-to-day.

Beyond those steps, Professor McCarthy said there were a few changes to our infrastructure that were worth advocating for a cleaner, easier transport network.

“We need to make sure there is adequate infrastructure for people to walk easily and safely from their homes to shops and bus or railway stations,” he said.

“We also need to change our road layouts to segregate walking transport infrastructure from infrstructure for e-bikes, e-scooters and skateboards.

“That will make it much safer than having all these different types of transport vying for space with pedestrians.

“Designated bus lanes with priority at traffic lights, as well as more frequent services would make public transport more practical than personal vehicles.”

He said we also need to keep our minds open to modes of transport that don’t exist yet.

“Ten years ago we wouldn’t have dreamt of the explosion of e-scooters – we were just seeing the birth of e-bikes,” he said.

“The technology that controls where they can go and the speed they can travel at is something we couldn’t have imagined 10 years ago.

“So in 10 years there will be something we can’t imagine now. We need to plan for the future with that in mind.”