Lobby group, the Campaign for Better Transport has published European research showing that UK cities are some of the most car dependent in Europe, with London Cardiff and Edinburgh firmly in the bottom half of the table.
The European Car Dependency Scorecard looks at the impact of infrastructure and transport policies of 13 European capitals scoring ease of access to public transport, public attitudes to car use, congestion levels and the side effects from cars to rank the capital cities.
Swedish capitol Stockholm was deemed the least car dependent city because of low levels of car ownership, good public transport and a high percentage of people walking and cycling. Rome came bottom thanks to the highest percentage of car ownership and road deaths, as well as low public transport passenger satisfaction.
Poor air quality, high levels of congestion and, with the exception of Cardiff, the high cost of public transport, were the factors that penalised the UK’s cities.
London has the worst air quality and congestion of all the cities in the study. Londoners are also subjected to the highest fares. Public transport in Cardiff is cheaper than in the other UK capitals, but the city has the second lowest number of public transport trips per day and the lowest number of people commuting by public transport. Edinburgh was second only to London for congestion and worse than Rome or Paris. Belfast finished bottom of all the UK capitals despite having the longest cycling and public transport networks.
The scorecard revealed the best European cities to get around without a car are:
- Stockholm
- Helsinki
- Prague
- Paris
- Berlin
- Amsterdam
- Madrid
- London
- Cardiff
- Dublin
- Edinburgh
- Belfast
- Rome
Talking about the findings, Stephen Joseph, Campaign for Better Transport’s chief executive, said, “Car dependency damages communities, affects our quality of life and has huge environmental consequences, so the UK cities’ poor standing should be of major concern to politicians. To catch up with the best in Europe the UK Governments need to recognise the economic benefits of good air quality and road safety, and ensure public transport, walking and cycling are comparable to car use in terms of cost, journey time and quality.”
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