Student Takeover Season: The challenges of Sustainable Transport

In this student takeover episode  of the Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton we explore how sustainable transport may not be as sustainable as it is made out to be. Understanding that sustainability is more than just lowering emissions, this podcast critiques public transport, a low-emission transport option, which is difficult for certain members of society to use or access. In addition to this, the episode looks at some problems faced when trying to reduce emissions and how different members of society may have different attitudes towards travelling sustainably. The episode rounds off with a look to the future, explaining the innovation which may be required when planning future transport options.

Episode host: Samuel Atkinson
Episode guests: Joseph Brazington, Rebecca Dyer, Maisie Hancock, Saanvi Jiteendra, Danielle Marshall

This episode is part of the Student Takeover Season on the Meliora Podcast, and is a group project from the University of Southampton 'Global Sustainability Challenges' module. 

Transcript

Student Takeover Season: Sustainable Transport

Summary:

This podcast explores how sustainable transport may not be as sustainable as it is made out to be. Understanding that sustainability is more than just lowering emissions, this podcast critiques public transport, a low-emission transport option, which is difficult for certain members of society to use or access. In addition to this, the podcast looks at some problems faced when trying to reduce emissions and how different members of society may have different attitudes towards travelling sustainably. The podcast rounds off with a look to the future, explaining the innovation which may be required when planning future transport options.

Episode Transcript:

Sam: Hello, and welcome to Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton. This episode is part of the Global Sustainability Challenges module student takeover season. My name is Sam and I’m delighted to be joined by my colleagues Dani, Saanvi, Maisie and Becky to discuss some of the problems which sustainable transport (ST) faces, and we will also question whether ST is actually sustainable, when looking at sustainability through a more holistic lens than just climate. But first, I’m going to ask our panel what ST is and what ST systems are out there and functioning.

Dani: Thank you, Sam, for introducing us. So, ST is all about encouraging high level of public transport engagement, and also active transport, like walking and cycling (Kadlubek, 2015). There is also a debate over whether we should slow down car routes and deter people from high emission transport or just speed up public transport and encourage people to use cleaner, greener routes. (Paulsson, 2018).

Saanvi: There’s also quite a divisive technique which is currently being

 rolled out and used in cities across the UK, such as Oxford, called a low traffic neighbourhood, or LTN for short. A low traffic neighbourhood uses a carrot and stick analogy. The ‘stick’ comes from the slowing down of car routes, by blocking off roads or increasing speed limits to slow down journey times. On the contrary, the carrot comes in, with other, cleaner transport methods being encouraged, such as walking or cycling on now less busy roads (Laverty et al., 2021). LTNs also saw a benefit from COVID-19, with more space needed for walking and cycling routes due to social distancing measures; walking and cycling became more attractive as footpaths and cycle lanes are now wider (Mason, 2021).

Sam: So really to me it appears ST is really looking at reducing emissions, but also there might be knock-on positive impact on public health, and this relates to SDG 3, of good health and wellbeing. So not only do we increase air quality in our cities by reducing pollution, yet also by encouraging people to get moving and walking and cycling we can improve public health. Are there any problems which currently being f in trying to reduce emissions?

Saanvi: Yes. Unfortunately there may be due to the economics of the oil market, if we end up reducing our oil usage, then the price of oil will react, and might encourage oil-based, carbon emitting transport in the future. Really we need global treaties to reduce oil usage, and with arguments still going on about climate targets, that’s very unlikely. (Eliasson and Proost, 2015).

Becky: Also, with public health in mind, it’s really important that policy makers globally do get these emissions reduced, because only last year, big car manufacturers were able to persuade the EU to allow higher emissions in new EURO7 engines than they had originally planned, with knock on effects which could lead to 35000 premature deaths (Transport and Environment,2023).

Sam: Wow. So one thing that I have already said that this is really focussed around emissions. Obviously emissions are really important when we are looking at SDG 13 being climate action, but so far it appears that have we forgotten about all the other SDGs. Now I’d like to move this s conversation away from climate and emissions, and look at how ST fares when looking at some of the more social SDGs?

Dani: That’s a really good point. So, for public transport to be considered sustainable, it must be inclusive. It should ensure that it doesn’t cause social exclusion, even if it doesn’t intend to. It should be able to sufficiently service the needs of the wider population whilst also accommodating the needs of those previously excluded. Sustainable public transport should recognise that each individual they are servicing in the community has different needs, but this shouldn’t inhibit their ability to engage and access public transport. This is so important when you consider that SDG 10 is reducing inequalities

Dani: Public transport is often linked to the concept of social mobility and can determine levels of social progression. It can be quite divisive when marginalised people are sidelined when investment and policy making occurs. Access to public transport can influence the ability to reach jobs or institutions like universities; so if this is neglected, it can really inhibit social inclusion and reinforce cycles of deprivation. This hopelessness regarding limited social progression can lead to mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression which is highly unsustainable for the collective community health.

Sam: Wow, so that’s really interesting and it’s really good to be educated and look at transport from a different, sociological perspective. You mentioned Dani that some people may feel marginalised so are there any particular groups who are more marginalised when using pubic transport?

Becky: Yes so, the elderly can be one of these groups. For instance, in the UK more elderly people live in rural areas than urban (ONS, 2020), and who might not have access to a car or good public connections. They then face this double burden as their mobility is restricted; and the geographical isolation can result in social exclusion again, exacerbating the epidemic of loneliness in older populations (Banks et al., 2002).

Becky: Poor signage as well, that is an organisational barrier that often influences the way many women have interacted with public transport just because of the way it makes us feel unsafe when we’re less secure in knowing where we are and how to get home.

Sam: Wow, there’s lots of groups of people who seem to face issues on public transport, and I’m sure we haven't covered them all. For me as a young mobile male, this is something that hadnt really occurred to me before. With mental health being such a hot topic in this day and age, are there any problems facing people who suffer from mental health conditions when using public transport?

Maisie: Yeah, so often public transport can be an oppressive space that neglects the needs of those with mental health conditions. This has been a reported issue for people with sensory overload issues and anxiety. The constricted layout of buses, tubes and trains coupled with flawed air circulation and bright lights can often cause sensory overload issues, feelings of claustrophobia and panic attacks. People in this situation feel there is no escape which only worsens this feeling of despair. 

Maisie: These infrastructural and organisational barriers can be a deterrent to public transport, which reinforces social isolation and exclusion. Looking to the future, this issue will be worsened by climate change and high temperatures on public transport, which is projected to interfere with the effectiveness of medicine for mental health conditions (Hauger et al, 2019). 

Maisie: So to effectively create an inclusive system, the needs of marginalised people need to be effectively accommodated, whilst the system is sustainably developed. The community should feel confident in their trust in the public transport system.

Dani: So, creating a safe, secure environment on public transport can be as simple as supporting self-distraction like having mindfulness posters up, dimming harsh white lights to reduce their sensory impact or implementing safe rooms in every train station where people can go if they need to. Rush hour combined with congested spaces can be deterrents for wheelchair users or people with claustrophobia, so investing in more open layout designs in public transport can increase engagement.

Sam: So that’s really interesting and on a personal level even the other day I ended up on a cramped tube that was very unpleasnt, and I ended up virtually in a strangers’ armpit, and I can’t image how this would impact someone who suffers from something like claustrophobia. As public transport is encouraged in more sustainable transport networks, there needs to be a focus on making sure that sustainability is seen not just through the eyes of reduced emissions, yet also through reducing social inequalities; Something we see in SDG 5. It needs to be accessible to all people

Sam: Now, to come away from this problem, and be a bit more critical. A question I’d like to post to the panel is will people care about travelling more sustainably?

Becky: And when considering public opinion and people’s changing attitudes towards sustainability and climates, we should also note that there's such a huge disparity between the travel attitudes of celebrities and the wealthy to the general population. This is often forgotten when thinking about changing personal behaviours of provate travel because of how these ultra-rich and famous have been put on a pedestal by us as a society. Recently though there has been major spotlight on the topic after Taylor Swift's flight footprints came to light.

Maisie: Yeah, there's similar situation with Rolling Stones actually, who accumulated a carbon footprint from jet travel that is greater than an individual making the London-New York flight in economy class 1500 times (Goodier and Hoog,2023) . There is this pattern where celebrities seem to disregard their environmental impacts when it comes to travel-intensive events.

Becky: Although to be fair it is not all; Coldplay have been an example of a group who've become cognizant of the sustainability costs of touring- and they're actively doing something about it. They have worked with MIT Professor John Fernandez who is the director of the university's Environmental Solutions Initiative and together they managed to reduce Coldplay’s carbon equivalent emissions by about half since there previous tour (Coldplay, 2023). And that's not all, because they are trying to switch to using 100% renewable energy for their shows through electric battery powered kit. They also then try and travel by more sustainable alternatives to standard fossil fuel vehicles such as alternative fuels and EVs. 

Maisie: I also think another issue to consider is the general perception within some communities that transport like cycling is “lesser” or for working class people. Taiwan has seen a remarkable increase in bike usage in recent years compared to the 60s where this mindset was the case. Alot of this changing perception is thanks to the go-green initiatives looking to benefit the environment and community health.

Sam: So I guess what we’d say to those of you listening, is that it’s about your attitude and how you behave, there may be some brilliant celebrity role-models out there, but really travelling more sustainably can be down to individual choices, and we really urge you to think about the modes of transport which you're using.

Sam: So then, to round things off we’re going to have a look to the future. As mentioned earlier, Oxford is rolling out LTNs, and recently the council made a decision to retain these LTNs, which was much to the disappointment of some residents, and they feel that LTNs are racially discriminatory however the council strongly refutes this. My final question to the panel is how can stricter policies be implemented, without increasing inequalities and these how can policies be viewed as being widely successful? 

Saanvi: Policy must be effective, credible, and publicly acceptable. Adaptation strategies, have been used and gained credibility when doubts arose about sustained global cooperation in regards to climate change. Some agreements have been made; such as the Montreal Protocol which successfully combated deterioration in the Ozone. The beauty of adaptation lies in its local benefits, offering incentives for every region to invest in resilience.

Saanvi: When people in New Zealand were asked what they would like to see in the future for sustainable transport; they all agreed for an integrated multi-modal transport system which means different transport options for different length of trips and targeting transport options to the size and density of the population. This would require working on SDG 9: Innovation and Infrastructure.

Dani: Additionally, there are governments and architects looking to build sustainable cities such as “THE LINE” in Saudi Arabia which, as the name suggests, is planned to be a 170 km long futuristic city shaped like a line, with towns and amenities stacked on top of each other. The city will be surrounded by mirror-like walls and it will have no roads, so people can’t use cars. The first phase is expected to be ready by 2030 (NEOM, 2022).

Becky: Yeah- that sounds insane, and kind of dystopian. While a futuristic city like this would be beneficial in some way to the environment, we still must consider these social factors. If some people feel caged up with using LTN’s in Oxford, how they would react if they lived in cities like THE LINE.

Sam: Thats a brilliant point- I’m afraid that we’re coming to an end now, it’s been really interesting to hear the problems which sustainable transport systems are facing and also to hear a few solutions to how transport systems can be improved to become more sustainable. It sounds to me that policy really do makers have a difficult job in implementing the correct policies for future transport systems.

Thank you for listening to this Global Sustainability Challenges student takeover episode of the Meliora Podcast. Thank you to Dani, Saanvi, Maisie, and Becky and also to Joe who is helping behind the scenes on research and production. We hope you will join us again to listen to further fascinating discussions on a range of sustainability topics delivered by our undergraduate colleagues at the University of Southampton. From us, Goodbye…”

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