Global Transit Body Ramps Up Fight Against Car Use In Cities

The International Association of Public Transport (UITP) has launched a campaign to urge decision makers to recognise the major role urban transit plays in combatting climate change. UITP’s “ONEPLANet” campaign was started September 16 at the beginning of European Mobility Week and will conclude at the COP25 Climate Change Conference being staged at the end of the year.

The Brussels-based Union Internationale des Transports Publics promotes mass transit over the use of private motor cars in cities. It also recognizes the benefits and synchronicity of active mobility: “Walking and cycling should be the first choices for mobility within a city, based on an integrated public transport system,” argues the organization, founded as a trade body for international tram firms in 1885.

The ONEPLANet campaign urges politicians to take four steps, starting with prioritizing “breathable and walkable streets through urban planning.” The second step is to “strengthen public transport’s role as the backbone of all mobility services.” Lobbying for financial incentives for an “emission transition” is UITP’s third ask, and the fourth is to ensure that “clean energy sources are accessible to reduce carbon footprint further.”

Some cities are already well ahead on that final ask. For instance, Stockholm’s buses, metro trains, trams, and trains are all powered by fossil-free fuels.

Getting more people on transit, and discouraging urban car use, is an obvious solution to both climate change and to local clean-air, says UITP, so it wonders “why are only 35% of the state actors involved in the Paris [Climate Change] Agreement in 2015 including public transport as part of their climate action plans?”

The organization is partnering with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to highlight its campaign asks at the Santiago Climate Change Conference taking place in Chile from December 2 to 13.

“If … decision-makers, are serious about tackling air pollution and climate change” they should create a “modal shift to public transport and sustainable urban mobility modes,” states UITP campaign materials.

“In 2020, when national governments are expected to resubmit new climate action plans, there should be no exception: public transport must appear on every plan,” asserts the organization.

UITP secretary general Mohamed Mezghani stressed:

“Transport represents 40% of CO2 emissions in our cities. We all know which mode of transport emits the most on our streets and we certainly all know that public transport together with walking and cycling is the most efficient combination to fight against the climate crisis.”

He called on politicians to “take ambitious decisions to reduce individual car use in our communities and invest into cleaner and less-energy consuming solutions for their citizens.”