Tools to encourage low-carbon travel

Author: Rosanna Hine

This discussion paper assesses how different travel incentive schemes affect consumer travel choices, and explores how policymakers and the private sector can support innovative low-carbon incentives to help drive down emissions in the transport sector.

Headlines

• Behavioural changes are a key dimension of decarbonising the transport sector, and incentive schemes provide a way forward for encouraging low-carbon travel choices.
• With appropriate support and actions from government, businesses, civil society and others, low-carbon incentive schemes can increase in scale and reach a greater part of the public, leading to more significant emissions reductions.
• Low-carbon schemes rely on parallel public, or public-private, investment in infrastructure. Financial support for businesses supplying the market with low-carbon transport alternatives may also be important.
• High-profile travel rewards schemes such as Air Miles currently have adverse effects on emissions and are likely to require stricter regulation and corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments to facilitate a shift to low-carbon modes of transport.
• The UK government has an opportunity to become a leader in supporting innovative low-carbon transport incentive schemes in the run-up to COP26 and as part of a green recovery from COVID-19.