Australia is moving towards cleaner and cheaper transport, but new analysis by the Climate Council has found big differences in progress being made by states and territories.
The council’s Are we there yet? Clean Transport Scorecard tracks each state and territory’s transport emissions and examines how they are faring on a variety of clean transport solutions – public transport, walking and riding, and uptake of electric fleets.
Supporting Australians to make the switch to these cleaner, cheaper options is an easy way to cut household petrol bills and transport emissions at the same time, the council explains.
Rankings are rated from the most to least progress.
1. ACT (Clean All-Rounder award)
2. NSW (Public Transport Powerhouse award)
3. Equal third place – TAS (Emissions Slasher award) and VIC (People Powered award)
5. SA (Charging Ahead award)
6. QLD (Fleet Footed award)
7. WA (High Hurdler award)
8. NT (Active Mover award)
The ACT is the clear frontrunner, with the nation’s capital leading on many clean transport metrics, says the Climate Council.
But each state and territory is forging ahead in some areas over others, with even the last-ranked Northern Territory coming out on top on the share of people walking and bike riding, it adds.
“Cleaning up transport is a huge priority as we work towards getting emissions plummeting this decade,” says Climate Council advocacy head Dr Jennifer Rayner.
“What’s at stake here isn’t just a race between Australia’s states and territories, it’s a race against the devastating effects of fossil fuel emissions on our climate.
“Australians want clean transport options that are accessible, reliable and better for our hip pockets and climate., she says.
“This includes well-connected networks of footpaths and bike lanes, zero emissions public transport and affordable electric vehicles.
“State and territory governments are putting their wheels in motion but our analysis shows they really need to hit the accelerator.”
The Climate Council’s People and Transport National Poll 2022 highlights the popularity of clean transport, finding that 80% of Australians believe governments should invest more in public transport, 70% are keen to see Australia’s entire bus fleet electrified and run on renewables as soon as possible, and more than 67% of Australians think governments should invest more in footpaths and bike lanes across the country.
“Transport is one of Australia’s fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and the sector is our third biggest source of climate pollution,” says climate councillor and energy expert Greg Bourne.
“There has been a lot of focus on electric vehicles recently, but we won’t achieve our climate targets or address broader challenges within the transport sector purely by replacing dirty petrol cars with electric ones.
“Investment in clean public transport and making our towns and cities pedestrian and bicycle-friendly must also be part of the solution. This will deliver huge benefits for our health, hip pockets and the liveability of our communities – as well as being better for the climate.”
Bourne says states and territories must step up on clean transport policies to help Australians free themselves from expensive, polluting fossil fuels.
The Climate Council earlier released 10 game-changing actions Australian governments could do to help Australia move to zero emissions.
It suggests Australia should aim to reach net zero emissions by 2035 to help limit warming in line with the Paris Agreement and avoid a full-blown climate catastrophe.
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