The Government’s Commission for Rural Communities has suggested that making cuts in carbon emissions of 60% by 2050 will require ‘significant reductions in travel’ in rural areas.

A study for the Commission by MVA Consultancy found that, even with technological advances to vehicles cutting CO2 by 50%, travel would need to be slashed in rural communities under the national targets.

Local transport authorities would need to promote modal shift to cap the proportion of commuter trips made by car to 30% and ‘severely curtail’ car trips to schools, the consultants found.

This would require councils to allow the development of more local jobs, schools and leisure facilities, and promote delivery consolidation centres so that everything a village needs each day is made in a single delivery.

There would also need to be a 20-30% modal shift from the car to public transport, walking and cycling for tourism-related trips within the rural communities.

Its study, Rural Life without Carbon, recommends measures that include small-scale public transport improvements, including flexible routing and ‘mini’ park and ride, electric bike hire provision, improved rights of way and road closures.

The Commission, in a separate study, found evidence that campaigns promoting modal shift can work in rural areas. One such campaign encouraged 81% of pupils to walk to a school in Devon.

However, Brian Smith, president of the County Surveyors’ Society (CSS), said: ‘To expect equal carbon cuts in rural and urban areas must be wrong.’ ‘It is the CSS’s view, as reflected in its report, Travel is Good, that people want – indeed need – mobility, and the challenge is to balance this with our need as a society to reduce our carbon footprint.’