Transport Secretary backs working from home, but not giving up the car

Addressing a business conference in London, Hammond said on Friday the Government and business faced "huge challenges" in getting Britain's economy on a sustainable footing. Working from home, video conferencing and high-speed broadband should be encouraged as a means to reduce travel congestion and carbon emissions, he said.

However, Hammond argued there was "no realistic prospect" of displacing the private car and that he did not favour coercion as means of getting motorists to ditch their vehicles.

Hammond said for medium, suburban, or rural traveling, the car would remain the mode of transport of choice and that thanks to low carbon vehicles coming on the market, there was no need for drivers to give up their cars.

"Whether we like it or not, the ability to travel point-to-point on an individually tailored timetable is one of the great quality-of-life gains of the second half of the 20th century - and not one that people will give up without a fight," he said.

Hammond said the train offered the best solution for long-distance, inter-urban journeys and reiterated the Coalition Government’s backing of a high-speed rail service from London to Birmingham initially, and then to Manchester, Leeds, Scotland, and Wales.

For short-distance urban travel, he said the challenge was to make public transport, or walking and cycling "the most attractive options."

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