What environmental and logistical improvements, including those related to road freight emissions, urban air quality and congestion, could we expect to see if the planning approval decision making process were more technocratic and gave more weight to wider improvements? 

Background

The reducing environmental impacts strategic priority is in recognition that there is an environmental aspect to all transport, and therefore almost all the work of DfT. Transport is the largest emitting sector of greenhouse gases in the UK, contributing 27% of domestic emissions in 2019. Our transport system must change to deliver the government’s Net Zero ambition and DfT will drive forwards that change through our longer-term green transport agenda. On decarbonisation specifically, we published our Transport decarbonisation plan (TDP) in July 2021, which sets out the steps we will take to deliver the necessary carbon reductions across every form of transport. Sustainability will be at the heart of levelling-up. People everywhere will feel the benefits – villages, towns, cities, and countryside will be cleaner, greener, healthier and more prosperous and pleasant environments in which to live and work

Next steps

Get in touch with bridgetoresearch@dft.gov.uk

Source

This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:

DFT-Areas of research interest 2023 GOV UK

Related UKRI funded projects


  • FTCP - Freight Traffic Control (Construction) Platform

    "Construction activity is essential to ensure the regeneration of not only London but also all UK cities and ultimately all cities around the world. With growing populations and increased urbanisation there's an eve...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project specifically addresses road freight emissions, urban air quality, and congestion through a technocratic approach in the construction industry.

  • Network Emissions/Vehicle Flow Management Adjustment (NEVFMA)

    In the last 5 years, air quality has become a key consideration for the UK government agenda, as illustrated by the increasing number of Low Emission Zones (LEZ), Ultra Low Emission Zones (ULEZ, including the first ULEZ ...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project focuses on emissions-controlled zones and traffic management to address air quality concerns and their wider implications on the road network.

  • National Freight Model (Phase 2)

    The UK Freight system is extensive comprising around 195,000 enterprises, 2.5 million employees, and contributing £121 billion gross value added (GVA) to the economy. In most places, LGVs and HGVs contribute ~30% o...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project addresses the data limitations within freight and the need for a National Freight Model, which is relevant to the broader discussion on environmental improvements.

  • Low Carbon Transitions of Fleet Operations in Metropolitan Sites (LC TRANSFORMS)

    The rapid urbanisation and increase in vehicle use in East Asia has created substantial environmental and social problems. In the UK, urban transport systems face similar issues, but generally at a smaller scale and at a...

    Funded by: EPSRC

  • TransiT - Digital Twinning Research Hub for Decarbonising Transport

    Our vision for the TransiT Hub is to harness the transformative power of Digital Twinning, and associated digital technologies, to solve the most pressing problems of our age - the rapid and radical decarbonisation of tr...

    Funded by: EPSRC

  • Re:Hatch

    As we transition to a low carbon, zero-emission future, the decisions we make around transport will play a critical role. Re:Hatch is an innovative R&D project that aims to use artificial intelligence and machine lea...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

  • DecarboN8 - An integrated network to decarbonise transport

    The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2018 highlighted the need for urgent, transformative change, on an unprecedented scale, if global warming is to be restricted to 1.5C. The challenge...

    Funded by: EPSRC

  • Towards a European-wide harmonised, transport specific LCA Approach (TranSensus LCA)

    TranSensus LCA aims to develop a baseline for a European-wide harmonised, commonly accepted and applied single life cycle assessment (LCA) approach for a zero-emission road transport system. Such a European single LCA ap...

    Funded by: Horizon Europe Guarantee

  • Levelling up Freight

    **Background** Rail freight is vital to Britain. It contributes almost £2.5bn to the economy and plays a big part in reducing congestion and emissions. Rail is more environmentally friendly than road, with every t...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

  • Automated Model Build for Decarbonisation and Climate Resilience

    Our experience developing transport decarbonisation strategies indicates the need for a new generation of easy-to-access, multi-modal models (including freight) to provide the necessary, detailed intelligence to enable l...

    Funded by: Innovate UK