Community engagement for sustainable transport

Widespread behavioural and system change is essential to meeting the UK’s 2050 Net Zero target. It is a critical factor in the scenarios considered in the sixth carbon budget. Effective community engagement can support and encourage these changes and help meet our climate targets.

Behaviour change on an individual and community level can play a significant role. Currently the largest single source of emissions in the country, transport was responsible for 34% of UK emissions in 2022, mainly from road transport. Supporting people to choose lower carbon transport is key to decreasing these emissions.

Community engagement can help councils understand and address local issues, ensure solutions work for the whole community and deliver socio-economic benefits. Involving and empowering communities and other stakeholders in low carbon transport projects can build local pride in an area, improve social, economic and environmental values, and improve relationships within a community, alongside supporting the decarbonisation of transport.

• Download and read our community engagement guidance for local authorities seeking to engage communities and develop sustainable and low carbon travel and transport services.

Engaging effectively with communities is important, but to achieve and sustain changes in travel behaviour, community engagement events and activities will need to employ a range of strategies to target the main factors influencing behaviour. This report explains more about the COM-B theory of behaviour change, identifies the types of interventions known to be effective and includes some case study examples of projects that have successfully developed interventions and changed behaviour.

• Download and read our behaviour change guidance on how to deliver successful behaviour change for low carbon transport for individuals and communities.

The UK government’s ambition is to improve walking and cycling infrastructure and encourage sustainable transport behaviour. In recognition of the roles that local authorities play, the Transport Decarbonisation: Local Authority Toolkit provides advice on how to deliver transport decarbonisation projects. Several sections feature specific actions on engagement, including those on lift sharing, demand responsive transport, car clubs and active travel.