Rugby FoE > Local Campaigns > Sustainable Local Transport
Sustainable Local Transport:
Cars use roughly 1 kWh per mile, so if you drive 10 miles to work then that's 100 miles a week, or 100 kWh, and if your annual milage is 10,000 miles then that's 10,000 kWh a year, which is more than double the electricity you use in your home; With over 1.28 cars per household, Rugby's 39,000 households burn at least 500 GWh annually.
Of course, no one is average and likewise their cars use different amounts of power; The original 848 cc Mini engine produced 25 kW, whereas the 2008 Mini Cooper S produces 120 kW... and a Range Rover Sport generates 287 kW!
But then of course you don't have to drive...
you could walk:
If each car-owning household in Rugby walked 2 miles just once for each car owned then that would save the town 100 MWh or about 33 tonnes of CO2.
Or you could cycle:
For instance over 33% of children would like to cycle to school, yet only 2% do:
Sustrans is the UK's leading sustainable transport charity and with the help of many partners, they have seen the completion of the first 10,000 miles of the National Cycle Network.
Sustrans' 79 Connect2 schemes across the UK are funded by a £50 million Big Lottery Fund grant after the UK public voted the scheme the winner of the People's Millions Lottery contest on ITV1 in December 2007. In Rugby the Connect2 Leicester Road Viaduct project sweeps over both the Leicester Road and the West Coast Main Line Railway. This proposal also links the town centre to the canal towpaths and to Cawston.
Often the most practical solution is public transport:
Stagecoach buses are not cheap, but the No. 4 route is great; in a figure of eight round Bilton -Town Centre -Train Station and Brownsover - with one every twelve minutes on weekdays. Great for the kids and especially well-timed for getting home after a drink or two on Friday or Saturday nights. The No.1 route (Hillmorton-Town) also has some evening possibilities.
Which brings us on to the Railway...
Despite the building of new platforms there are less and less rail services from Rugby Station. However, Rugby Rail Users' Group (RRUG) is fighting to improve and maintain the Rugby rail service, the station and its environment.
National Rail have an online Journey Planner and also a decent map of bus destinations from Rugby. Their number for enquiries is 08457 484 950, though they also have a versatile 'TRAINTRACKER TEXT' message service on 8 49 50. You can check in advance for taxis at the far end through services such as Traintaxi and if you are going to London the Transport for London website is useful.
There are also a variety of online 'Journey Share' networks for walking, cycling, cars and taxis.
So don't just sit in your car...
...wishing everybody else would take the bus so you could get home faster.
In heavy traffic jams the air quality can be poorer inside the car than out, so get out of the car, travel smarter, reduce your own green house gas emissions, and ask for realistic alternatives to the car.
Changes in design can transform the feeling of a place:
So what else can be done to help you?
... Well, loads actually!
