Increasing school choice: sustainability paradox

The UK government wants school travel to be safer, healthier and more environmentally friendly-with more pupils walking and cycling. In addition in 2005, it published the 14-19 Education and Skills White Paper. One of the key aims of the paper was to improve school choice for all pupils. This is to be achieved by giving more choice to disadvantaged children; and promoting fair admissions in order to give parents access to a wider range of schools. Allowing parents to look further than their local catchment area school is likely to result in greater numbers of children traveling longer distances. Therefore, as this paper illustrates, if school choice is really to be open to all, school transport must be included as part of the tool kit promoting choice and targeted at those who need it most.

Sustainable freight: impacts of the London congestion charge and low emissions zone

This paper assesses whether two sustainability policies currently in effect in London, a congestion charge zone and a low emission zone, have affected freight operations and reduced vehicle kilometers travelled. It investigates responses by freight operators, including re-timing, re-routing, or reducing the number of trips, or replacing vehicles. Freight traffic trends from 1994 to 2012 were identified using road traffic estimates, cordon counts, and vehicle speed data and supplemented by interviews with freight industry experts and operators. Findings indicate that freight traffic increased throughout London during this timeframe, but declined in the central boroughs partly within the congestion charge zone. The congestion charge may have time-shifted some light goods trips, but most freight trips face a variety of constraints on operators’ delivery window. No evidence was found of re-routing of freight traffic or avoidance traffic around the charged zone. The low emission zone spurred higher levels of operational change than the congestion charge zone, and it was effective at spurring freight vehicle replacement. The paper also discusses freight operators’ perceptions of these policies and how they could be improved.