Zero carbon transport plan for Leeds underway

A detailed project is underway to determine how the Leeds City Region can decarbonise its transport sector and become a net zero carbon economy by 2038 at the latest.

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership are working with partners in North Yorkshire to develop the Zero Carbon Transport Roadmap, part of a wider programme which will identify policies and strategies needed to decarbonise all sectors including power, construction and industry.

Transport is the region’s biggest producer of harmful emissions and that level has been forecast to rise by 28 per cent over the next 20 years if no action is taken. The Zero Carbon Transport Roadmap will cover all forms of transport including buses, the railways, cars, walking and cycling as well as taking into account forecasted changes to demand and capacity within communities across the City Region.

The roadmap will cost £65,000 and is partly funded by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy through the North East, Yorkshire and Humber (NEYH) Local Energy Hub. The results of the Zero Carbon Transport Roadmap project are expected to be published in May 2020.

Susan Hinchcliffe, chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leader of Bradford Council, said: “Decarbonising our transport system is arguably one of the biggest challenges we face in realising our ambition to be a net zero carbon City Region by 2038 at the latest. This project will begin with a wide-ranging review of all our existing transport strategies and will then produce a timeline of actions needed in order to create a zero carbon transport system which works for everyone, regardless of where they live.”

Meanwhile, Kim Groves, chair of the Combined Authority Transport, has welcomed the installation of the first rapid electric vehicle charging points in the Wakefield district as part of its programme to provide a network of 88 rapid chargepoints across West Yorkshire. Normanton’s West Street car park is the location of the first new rapid charging point, powered by 100 per cent renewable energy, with a second coming online at High Street car park in Horbury, from the end of November.