Campaign to get Norwich car drivers onto buses

This [below] is a promising initiative that could act as a gateway to the modal shift toward public transport that we badly need. If combined (in places like Norwich) with changes such as Quality Bus Contracts and moving toward the kind of effective and impressive regime for bus-control that there is in London, it could make a difference.

 

Campaign to get Norwich car drivers onto buses

Plans to reduce a billion car journeys

 

A three-year campaign has launched today and all eyes will be on Norwich as it becomes a pilot region for the campaign to shift a billion UK-wide car journeys to buses by the year 2014.  If successful, a massive 2 million tonnes of CO₂ will be saved.

 

And while it might seem like a big ask for the city's car-lovers, organisers of the campaign say this can be achieved if just one in 25 trips nationwide are switched from the car to the bus

 

The campaign is the initiative of Greener Journeys, a coalition of bus companies, including FirstGroup for the Norwich region. To help make the vision a reality, a million free bus trips are being given away nationally to get car drivers on board.

 

"A recent survey found a fifth of motorists would be prepared to swap to public transport for reasons to do with the environment. Just one double-decker bus can take 75 cars off the road, considerably reducing emissions levels," said Claire Haigh from Greener Journeys.

 

And it's not just the environment that could benefit from the positive impact of fewer cars on the road.

 

A recent scientific experiment conducted by Greener Journeys which measured the stress levels of 30 commuters when taking similar journeys by car and bus showed just how much mental  stress drivers face when they get behind the wheel.

 

Subjects experienced 33% less stress when taking the bus compared to when driving their car.

 

"The improvement in the comfort of modern buses might be a reason the bus is less stressful when compared to congestion, traffic jams and the cost and difficulties of finding parking," Ms Haigh said

 

                                                               

For more information, or for your chance to win bus tickets visit www.greenerjourneys.com