Sustainable transport is better for jobs than the motor industry

20/07/2010

A new report, launched yesterday (Monday July 19th) shows there are now over 450,000 jobs in sustainable transport industries in the UK. It also finds that investing in more sustainable transport modes (like rail) creates more direct and indirect jobs than investing in less sustainable modes (like the motor industry). With transport slated to take a big hit from public spending reductions the report highlights what could be at stake for jobs as transport budgets are re-shaped.

The report by Ekosgen (and commissioned by pteg, Campaign for Better Transport and Sustrans) is the first study in recent times to take a comprehensive look at the jobs that are created by investing in different forms of transport.

It finds that:

a reduction in car travel and a transfer to public transport would result in a net increase in employment
the creation of 100 direct rail jobs supports 140 indirect and induced jobs, compared with 100 direct motor industry jobs which creates 48 indirect and direct jobs
Research into transport investment in America provides evidence that investing in public transport creates twice as many jobs than investing in roads.
The report concludes:  ‘The evidence shows that the employment impacts of rail and bus services are considerable and that increasing public transport journeys at the expense of car journeys would result in additional employment.’

It also finds that: ‘It is widely accepted that sustainable transport is at the heart of tackling congestion, in delivering important international commitments on climate change and bringing about the change to a low carbon economy.  In addition, this research firmly demonstrates that the sustainable transport sector also employs significant numbers of people (estimated at almost half a million jobs) which can make an important contribution to the economic recovery and growth. Such employment compares favourably with investment in the motor industry. The research also shows that the sector employs a diverse range of skills and occupations in a variety of transport and non-transport roles.’

The full article is available at Act Travelwise.

Source: http://www.acttravelwise.org/news/1555