Public transport 'needs to be prioritised in environmental legislation'

The public transport system in the UK needs to be made a priority in UK environmental legislation, it has been suggested.

According to Jason Torrance, policy manager at UK charity Sustrans, more needs to be done to encourage people to use public transport over driving their cars.

He stated that the recent environmental legislation developments which revealed the government will help local authorities and bus companies fund electric buses is "excellent news".

The Department for Transport confirmed earlier this month that £15 million will be put into green buses across the UK.

However, Mr Torrance commented that to motivate people to use the buses and reduce the level of carbon emissions in towns and cities, the government needs to provide "efficient, cheap services".

If the government can make buses a more popular mode of transport, then the environmental legislation could help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced due to road transport - a figure which the Department of Energy and Climate Change estimated to come to 113 metric tonnes over 2010.

Posted by Claire Manning