Leave the car at home, says transport secretary


“We want half of all journeys in towns and cities to be cycled or walked by 2030.” No, these aren't the words of some limp-lettuce, tree-hugger. They come from transport secretary Grant Shapps, speaking last week to parliament's transport committee.

Last year, the government's Gear Change strategy document, launched by Boris Johnson, stated the same.

“We want to see a future where half of all journeys in towns and cities are cycled or walked,” it said, with Johnson promising to “kick off the most radical change to our cities since the arrival of mass motoring.”

Last week, Herefordshire Council put the final nail in the coffin of Hereford's proposed bypass, to the absolute outrage of many Herefordians.

The penny is yet to drop: the bypass would've be a white elephant before it was even finished.

There is a political consensus that car travel – powered by fossil fuels or electric – cannot continue at its current rate. Herefordshire Council knows it. The Conservative government knows it. Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens know it.

Half of all urban journeys in Herefordshire must not be made in a car by 2030. Now are you walking or cycling?

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