Young will be left behind unless their transport needs are met, says new report from Sustrans and UWE

New research from Sustrans and the University of the West of England (UWE) Bristol says that young people will be left behind and denied access to work and educational opportunities, as well as social events, unless their needs are taken into account when planning transport policy.

The findings come at a time when there has been a sharp fall in the number of young people obtaining a full driving licence, with just one in four of those aged 17-20 currently doing so, compared to half of the same age group around 30 years ago.

The Sustrans and UWE Bristol research, which was funded by the Health Foundation, focused on people aged 16-24 and found that they make 21 per cent fewer trips than other working age adults, ie 25-64s, and that the gap has widened during the past two decades.

Their report, Transport to Thrive: Why we shouldn’t ignore the transport needs of young people, which they describe as “groundbreaking,” with the transport needs of this age cohort not previously examined in such detail, highlights the barriers that young people face in their work, study and social lives as a result of poor transport provision.

It says there is a risk of economic and social exclusion for young people without access to a car, good public transport, or cycling, with availability and cost of transport cited as the two principal barriers to travel, with a number of people interviewed citing one or both of those factors as having prevented them from pursuing work experience opportunities or taking up employment.

The report, which notes that young people are less likely than older age groups to rely on a car and instead use a range of travel options including public transport and cycling, urges policymakers to:

1 – Ensure that the needs of young people are better recognised in transport planning
2 – Provide long term dedicated investment for walking, cycling and public transport and
3 – Help young people to walk, cycle, use public transport and use shared mobility.

> Removal of bike lanes hits the young the hardest, says Cycling UK

Sustrans’ head of policy, Tim Burns, commented: “This report shows national and local transport policies are denying young people opportunities to education and work. This has a knock-on effect on our future economy and in our communities, which will be profoundly damaging.

“Investment will be key to removing barriers, especially those identified by young people, including improving the quality of public transport, and access to cycles and safe cycle routes.”

Dr Kiron Chatterjee, Professor of Travel Behaviour at the UWE Bristol added: “There has been little research on the ways that young people manage to get around using the transport system and the barriers they experience.

“This report is a crucial step in showing how young people, a key demographic for everyone’s hopes of achieving net zero, are affected by the transport system in place. The situation for young people is worsening and we need to see a change in transport policy that prevents further decline. The findings make the way forward very clear.”

The findings have been published shortly after figures from the Department for Transport revealed that the vast majority of young people are putting off trying to obtain a full driving licence, whether for lifestyle reasons, cost, or a mixture of both.

Three decades ago, around half of people aged 17-20 had a full driving licence, but that has now fallen to around a quarter.

According to The Times, one of the chief reasons for deferring the decision is the rising cost of motoring, including driving lessons, while younger drivers also exposed to higher insurance premiums due to the increased risks associated with that age group.

But as the Sustrans report highlights, awareness of the environmental impact of driving is also a factor influencing many, who choose to use other means of getting around.

Notwithstanding the fall in interest in driving among the younger generation, a petition currently hosted on the UK Parliament’s website is urging for the legal driving age to be reduced from 17 to 15 or 16, and has currently amassed more than 95,000 signatures.

Matteo Joseph Shirley, who created the petition in June, wrote: “I would like the Government to change the legal driving age to 15 because I believe that 15 and 16 year olds can be trusted to drive a car and should be able to get a driving licence. I belief the current situation is unfair, and inconsistent with the Equality Act 2010.”

Should the petition reach 100,000 signatures by the time it closes on 27 December, it will be considered for debate by the House of Commons Backbench Business Committee.

However, in its response to the petition once it had passed 10,000 signatures, the government said in October that it “has no current plans to lower the legal driving age. This is because young drivers remain as one of the highest fatality groups.”

The government added that “in terms of population and in the number of miles driven, 17-24-year-olds remain as one of the highest road casualty risk groups, especially male car drivers,” and that “decisions on the minimum driving age requirements have been taken and maintained based on years of detailed evidence.”