Why people, not technology, will decide Wales’ low-carbon transport future

Wales is racing to cut transport emissions – but the biggest challenges aren’t technological. They’re human.

During Wales Climate Week, transport leaders warned that Wales won’t hit its climate targets unless the shift to low-carbon travel genuinely works for the people who rely on it every day. From rural bus users to families without driveways, speakers explored how real-world barriers - not future innovations - will determine the pace of Wales’ transport transition.

The message was clear: while moving to low-carbon travel offers enormous opportunities, it also presents complex challenges for many - that need to be addressed.

Discussions centred on four key themes:

Making transport easy to use for everyone
Systems in place
Working together
Community-led solutions

As Jim Cardy noted, “Transport is one of the more challenging sectors to decarbonise, but it’s definitely one of the most exciting to work in at the moment.”

Making transport easy to use for everyone

If we are to move forward on our journey to low-carbon transport solutions across Wales, we need to ensure everyone can take advantage of the technology and benefit from the changes.

Suggestions included:

Involving isolated groups in discussions.
Recognising the different experiences of people living in rural and urban areas.
Communicating the benefits of low-carbon transport.

Systems in place

The main challenge is not having systems in place to support the use of an electric car, not being able to access public transport due to living in a rural community, or a lack of cycle or walking pathway networks connecting towns and villages, preventing active travel.

With people consistently opting for the simplest, easiest and most convenient option, the importance of well-planned charging points and strong links between rail, bus and active travel networks was emphasised at the building phase.

Working together

Echoing themes from the housing day, speakers also stressed the need for organisations to work together.

Partnerships across communities, businesses, councils, housing developers, transport providers and car manufacturers will be essential to improving the movement towards an effective low-carbon transport system across Wales.

As Jarrad Morris put it, “Collaboration puts savings back into the public purse and strengthens a just transition.”

Community-led solutions

Finally, many speakers also stressed the importance of developing solutions that are tailored to meet the specific needs of each community.

What happens next?

Insights and evidence from these discussions will shape the policies and investments needed to speed up progress towards a greener, fairer and more prosperous Wales, where active travel and low-carbon transport are the everyday norm.

If you’d like to catch up on sessions from day one of Wales Climate Week 2025, you can do so here.