Bus and Coach Operators Announce Plan to Take One Billion Car Journeys Off the Road

LONDON -

News Conference Venue: One Birdcage Walk, 1 Birdcage Walk, Westminster, London SW1H 9JJ Date: Tuesday 15 September Time: 10.00am. Coffee and refreshments from 09:30

Britain’s biggest bus and coach operators have joined forces to respond to the challenge of climate change by developing an action plan aimed at taking one billion car journeys off UK roads.

The Greener Journeys campaign is recommending a raft of policy initiatives to encourage modal shift that would deliver 50% more savings in transport CO2 emissions than currently planned under existing Government policies.

Details of the plan will be announced by senior representatives from the UK’s major public transport groups, including Sir Moir Lockhead (CEO, First Group) and Brian Souter (CEO, Stagecoach Group), as well as transport expert Professor David Begg.

Greener Journeys will launch the One Billion Challenge, demonstrating that switching from car to bus or coach for just one journey in 25 would mean one billion fewer car journeys on our roads over the next three years.

In an unprecedented joint call for action, bus and coach operators will stress that technological advances alone are not enough to achieve the carbon reductions required to tackle climate change and modal shift must be a key priority.

Greener Journeys, whose objectives are being backed by influential figures such as Sir Rod Eddington and Jonathon Porritt, will be lobbying Government and other stakeholders to support the plan.

A full news release will be issued at the press launch (15 September 2009)

Notes to editors

1. Greener Journeys is an initiative of the UK Bus & Coach industry aimed at reducing CO2 emissions from transport by delivering unprecedented modal shift from the car. It is funded by the big 5 bus owning groups Arriva, First Group, Go-Ahead, National Express and Stagecoach.

2. Greener Journeys aims to take one billion car journeys off the road in just three years. This would amount to a reduction of 2 million tonnes of CO2 and would deliver an additional 50% reduction in CO2 from domestic transport to the reductions planned over the same period by current Government policies (Low Carbon Transport: A Greener Future, Department for Transport, July 2009).

3. Greener Journeys has been developed with the support of the Confederation of Passenger Transport UK and Forum for the Future, and is endorsed by The Prince’s May Day Network, Business in the Community.

Source: Greener Journeys

Contact: For further information contact Claire Haigh, +44-207-257-2520