uMove
Supporting Bedfordshire Council to achieve ambitious sustainability plans
July 15th, 2023
UrbanTide is working with the Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) to support them towards achieving their active travel and transport targets outlined in their ambitious Sustainability Plan 2020-2030.
The Council’s initial vision is to become carbon-neutral in its own operations by 2030, with an overarching vision to make Central Bedfordshire a net-zero county by 2050.
As users of our innovative travel data insights solution, uMove, CBC are able to collect and monitor vast amounts of real-time travel data that they can use to inform decision-making and target investment where it is most needed. Data plays a pivotal role in the Council’s progress towards its ambitious Sustainability Plans.
Central Bedfordshire’s travel and transport sustainability plans
UrbanTide is specifically supporting the Council in achieving its goals related to sustainable traffic infrastructure, including supporting active travel and improving public transport.
The Council’s approach to achieving its 2030 targets involves reducing emissions from its own operations, as well as working with local businesses, residents and other organizations to encourage a shift towards more sustainable modes of transport.
The specific actions being taken by the Council include:
- Increasing the use of electric vehicles in its own fleet, including refuse collection vehicles, street sweepers and other council vehicles.
- Investing in active travel in the form of cycling and walking infrastructure. By developing new cycle routes and improving pedestrian crossings, they aim to encourage more people to choose sustainable modes of transport.
- Encouraging the use of public transport, including supporting the development of new bus services and investing in the local rail network.
- Promoting car-sharing schemes and car clubs to reduce the number of cars on the road and encourage more efficient use of vehicles.
- Working with schools and colleges to promote sustainable travel to and from school, including walking, cycling and public transport.
- Encouraging the use of low-emission vehicles, including electric and hybrid cars, by offering incentives such as reduced parking charges and priority parking.
How uMove is supporting this drive
Our travel data insights platform, uMove, supports CBC towards these sustainability plans by providing a single source for collecting, tracking and monitoring all travel data across the county.
uMove aggregates billions of rows of data from multiple traffic sources, funnelling it through a single-source platform. This gives the Council access to accurate, real-time travel data that provides an evidence base to inform decision-making on transport infrastructure planning.
By freely sharing this open data, can accelerate progress towards their Sustainability Plan targets.
Carbon reduction potential of these plans
If Central Bedfordshire Council successfully achieves the active travel and transport targets outlined in its Sustainability Plan, this could have the following impact on their CO2 emissions:
- Increasing cycling commutes by just 26% by 2030 could generate carbon savings of more than 400t CO2 per year
- Taking 1,000 commuting cars off the road every year could save 2,000t CO2 annually
- Plans to switch 435 taxis to EVs over 5 years could save over 300t CO2 every year
- By switching council vehicles to EVs, the CBC can reduce its own fleet emissions by up to 66%
- By increasing the uptake of EVs by 3% per year across Central Bedfordshire, the Council can save up to a minimum of 1,750t CO2 per year.
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