Is Your Community Travel Energy Aware?
Being aware of the real environmental and economic cost of travel is a potentially important way to save energy . That doesn’t, of course, mean that you shouldn’t ever go anywhere or do anything, but it does mean that with a little bit of thought, changing our transport habits can have a major effect on our overall energy consumption and help us drive our carbon footprint down. Magnify up the savings that every individual makes and that soon becomes a significant source of serious energy saving on a community-wide basis.
So, is your community travel energy aware? Work your way through the following dozen simple questions, work out your own neighbourhood’s score and find out!
Although there are points for each answer, there’s no “right” or “wrong” response; the final score is only intended to give a general idea of the community’s attitude to travel and the local conditions that affect it – so have fun!
- a) Rural/remote
- b) Village
- c) Town/city
- a) Regular buses / good rail links
- b) Few buses / no local station
- c) Don’t know
- a) Yes
- b) No
- c) We have an informal arrangement of sharing lifts.
- a) Sometimes
- b) All the time
- c) No, never
- a) In their own parent’s car.
- b) In a car full of other kids.
- c) Walking or cycling.
- a) Hire a bus or minibus?
- b) Arrange car sharing or joint taxis?
- c) Mostly travel in separate cars?
- a) Drive to out of town supermarkets.
- b) Buy locally as much as possible.
- c) Online and use delivery services.
- a) Long haul destinations
- b) European resorts
- c) British resorts
- a) Yes – and a long waiting list to get one!
- b) No – but most people grow their own vegetables at home anyway
- c) No; there’s no call for them.
- a) Hardly anyone ever does.
- b) Yes, all the time.
- c) Yes, but mostly only when the weather’s good.
- a) Yes, once
- b) Yes – often
- c) No, not at all
- a) Often
- b) Occasionally
- c) Seldom
1. Which best describes your community’s location?
2. How good is public transport?
3. Is there a car pool in your community?
4. Do you often see supermarket vans delivering to your community?
5. How do most kids get to school?
6. If you go on a school/club/community trip, do you:
7. How do most people in your community shop for food?
8. Where do most people in your community go for their holidays?
9. Are there any allotments in your area?
10. Do many people use the cycle-ways and footpaths?
11. Has your community ever held a campaign for any transport related issue?
12. How often do you hear the likes of food miles, eco-driving or carbon offsets being talked about in your community?
Scores
1. (a)3 (b)2 (c)12. (a)2 (b)3 (c)1
3. (a)3 (b)1 (c)2
4. (a)2 (b)3 (c)1
5. (a)1 (b)2 (c)3
6. (a)3 (b)2 (c)1
7. (a)1 (b)3 (c)2
8. (a)1 (b)2 (c)3
9. (a)3 (b)3 (c)1
10. (a)1 (b)3 (c)2
11. (a)2 (b)3 (c)1
12. (a)3 (b)2 (c)1
