The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) tops the rankings in a new clean transport report released by the Climate Council.

While ACT won the Clean All Rounder award for its performance on several markers of progress, New South Wales came second in the rankings and was crowned Public Transport Powerhouse based on its impressive usage of public transport. Tasmania with the Emissions Slasher Award, and Victoria with the People Powered Award, jointly took third place in the scorecard.

According to the report, the transport sector accounts for 18.7 percent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions – the third highest source of emissions, behind only electricity and stationary energy. Not surprisingly, road transport accounts for the bulk of transport emissions, with cars and light commercial vehicles alone making up 62 percent of this pollution. With personal transport listed as one of Australia’s fastest growing sources of emissions, decarbonising this segment should be the next target for Australia in its fight against climate change, the report said.

The Climate Council report compared the performance of Australia’s states and territories in driving the decarbonisation of personal transport based on factors such as transport emissions, use of public transport, adoption of electric vehicles, and policies for pedestrian and cycling infrastructure among others.

Decarbonising personal transport is not just about getting private car owners to move to electric vehicles; it’s also about shifting the focus to zero emissions public transport, and building connected and safe footpaths and bike lanes so that people have better options to move around. However, public transport systems and road networks remain within the control of governments, with most allocating less than 2 percent of their budgets on essential infrastructure for active transport such as footpaths and bike lanes.

Key highlights from the report

1. Over the last decade, Tasmania has reduced its overall transport emissions by 18 percent, the ACT by 7 percent, South Australia by 5 percent, and Victoria by 1 percent. The Northern Territory and Western Australia have increased emissions in the same period.

2. The ACT and Tasmania recorded the lowest transport emissions on a per person basis. New South Wales and Victoria are next, followed by South Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland, with Western Australia bringing up the rear.

3. South Australia leads in electric vehicle infrastructure with a high number of electric vehicle chargers per person.

4. Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory need to catch up on finding zero emission transport solutions that work across their vast distances.

5. New South Wales has the highest uptake of public transport among people commuting to work at almost 14 percent, followed by Victoria at around 10 percent. Tasmania has the lowest uptake of public transport at 3 percent.

6. The Northern Territory leads in usage of active transport options with almost 13 percent of people walking or riding bikes.

7. 8 in 10 (80 percent) Australians want governments to invest more in public transport and almost 7 in 10 (67 percent) agree governments should deliver more footpaths and bike lanes. (Source: YouGov poll commissioned by the Climate Council in 2022)

8. For transport to reach near absolute zero emissions by 2035, all states and territories need to transition to fully electric public transport by 2035 or earlier:

  • The ACT has committed to purchasing only electric buses from 2022, with a goal to electrify its entire fleet by 2040.
  • New South Wales has pledged to fully electrify its bus fleet by 2047.
  • Victoria and Queensland have promised to buy only electric buses from 2025 and 2030 respectively.
  • The Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia have not yet made any commitments for electrifying their fleets.

9. The market share of new electric vehicles in Australia increased by 65 percent between 2021 and 2022, but electric vehicles still only account for 3.39 percent of all new vehicles sold in 2022 year to date.

10. The ACT leads in electric vehicle sales with EVs making up 9.45 percent of all new car sales. New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania have around 3 percent each while the Northern Territory has the lowest uptake at less than 1 percent.

Key conclusions

By providing better access and options for public transport and active travel, Australians can get around more easily, while also helping create cleaner and healthier communities. Active transport options can significantly reduce overall transport emissions.

Governments should focus more on accelerating the uptake of electric vehicles by supporting the introduction of national fuel efficiency standards, electrifying government fleets, offering incentives or zero interest loans to purchase electric vehicles, and improving access to public charging facilities.

Image credit: Pat Whelen via Unsplash (Cover of Climate Council report)