Hi John,

If you've ever waited in the rain for a bus that never arrived, tried to cycle along a dangerous route, or walked your kids to school along a heavily polluted, traffic-filled road - you'd know that our transport system needs a lot of work.

But instead of focusing on fixing these problems, the UK government is about to spend £27bn over the next five years on the largest ever road building project. This will only create more traffic, more air pollution, more emissions and destroy nature.

Can you help call on the government to use public money to fix our transport system instead, so everyone in the UK has access to affordable and sustainable transport options?

During lockdown we saw how much transport affects our lives. It's not only important to help key workers get to where they are needed most, it has an impact on the air we breathe, nature and the climate.

Across the world people talked about how air was clearer, the birds were louder and the sky seemed bluer. Transport is one of the biggest sources of emissions and air pollution in the UK. [1] So when people were told to stay safe at home, naturally both air pollution and climate emissions plummeted.

It was something the government promised to learn from and act on as we rebuild the economy.

But instead of delivering on a green recovery, the government is pushing forwards with its outdated plan to spend £27bn on building 4,000 miles of brand new roads. The kicker is, building roads doesn't actually reduce traffic - it makes the problem much worse. [2]

The good news is, this money was set aside before the pandemic. And things in this country are very different now. Over the next few months, the government will be making big decisions about where to put public money. Everything will be on the table - including the roads project.

We need to show the government that their voters don't want more traffic and pollution - but massive investment in sustainable, affordable and safe travel for the entire UK. For starters this means switching to electric vehicles and giving people real alternatives to driving by investing heavily in public transport, walking and cycling.

Can you add your name?

Right now walking, cycling or taking public transport is not possible for a lot of people. If you live outside a major city it's likely that there's no choice but to drive. And while we are still in a pandemic people are also understandably hesitant to get back on buses and trains - meaning more people may opt to drive.

Moving to electric vehicles sooner will help - but it won't fix everything. [3]

For a lot of people, having a car simply costs too much. And because of unreliable, expensive and poor transport, they can't access things like healthcare, or are unable to go for jobs that require a commute.

Investing in transport that works for everyone is going to be crucial to rebuilding better, healthier communities - especially as we recover from the recession. It's also one of the best things we can do as a country to bring our climate emissions down and start tackling the climate crisis.

It will improve the air we breathe, and keep nature and wildlife safe from more motorways - it just makes sense.

Can you add your name to the petition and call on the government to spend public money repairing the roads we've got, fixing potholes, and investing in public transport, walking and cycling - cutting traffic, cleaning up our air and giving people a real choice in how to get about?

After signing the petition, you'll hear from me again.

To get the government to deliver on a green recovery, we'll need to get thousands of people from every constituency pushing their MP to advocate for sustainable transport.

We'll also need to push councils and governments to work together and make sure a cleaner, better, transport system is inclusive and accessible for everyone.

Until then, thanks so much for being a part of it.

Sam

Greenpeace

PS: There are so many reasons why building brand new roads is a bad idea. I sadly couldn't go into them all here (it would have been an even longer email!). But I've laid them out on the Greenpeace website. You can check it out here: https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/people-dont-want-more-traffic-so-why-is-the-government-spending-27bn-on-roads/

[1] UK government: Air pollution at a glance.

[2] Better transport: New roads create new traffic

[3] Climate change: Road plans will scupper CO2 targets, report says

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