A car shouldn’t be essential to experience the wonders of our National Parks

These are interesting times for the transport sector. Advances in technology have resulted in the launch of lots of new initiatives in recent months including dockless bike hire schemes and pre-bookable shared services such as the Chariot bus routes in London. Most of these are in urban areas and there seems to have been little discussion so far of the role that innovative transport services could play in rural areas. Perhaps that is because there is an assumption that all rural households have access to a car. Even if that were true it ignores the needs of non-car owning visitors to the countryside, something that is of particular concern to the Campaign for National Parks. We want to ensure that our National Parks are available for everyone to enjoy, including the quarter of households nationally who do not have access to a car.

National Parks are our finest landscapes and are recognised for their natural beauty, wildlife, cultural heritage and the recreational opportunities they offer. They are national assets, created for the benefit of the nation and financially supported by the taxpayer so everyone should have an opportunity to visit them. 

The cuts to rural bus services in recent years mean that it has become increasingly difficult to reach many parts of the National Parks without a car. Not only do the limited transport options mean that many people are excluded from visiting, but high volumes of traffic can have a negative impact on the landscapes and wildlife, the very things that attract people to the Parks in the first place. 

Research by the Campaign for Better Transport last year found that over 500 bus routes in England and Wales had been either reduced or completely withdrawn in 2016/17 and there had been a 33% cut in funding for bus services since 2010. This includes large cuts by local authorities covering National Parks such as the Lake District and the Peak District. Weekend services are usually particularly badly affected by cuts. Sundays are the most popular day for visiting but this is often when public transport access in many National Parks is most limited and is also the most common day for engineering work on the railways. It seems that the needs of visitors are a low priority for most local authorities and transport operators. It is little wonder then that the vast majority of visitors to National Parks travel by car – 93% on average. 

There are many reasons to improve the options for car-free access, particularly to ensure that those without cars have the same opportunity to benefit from what National Parks have to offer. There is increasing recognition of the advantages of spending time in nature for our physical and mental health and National Parks provide a place to escape from the stresses of everyday life.

There are also strong financial arguments for increasing car-free travel to National Parks. The DfT report Value for money of tendered bus services, published in 2016, found that supported bus services are really good value for money and there is evidence that visitors arriving by public transport spend more than those arriving by car. There are also various local surveys providing evidence on the contribution that bus passengers make to the local economy. For example, MoorsBus users in the North York Moors spend around £10 each on average on food and drink locally.

Finally, of course, reducing the number of people who travel to National Parks by car and the associated impacts in terms of carbon emissions, noise pollution, road danger and blight would deliver significant benefits for the environment, local communities and visitors. 

Despite the significant cuts to rural buses in recent years, there are a number of examples of successful services that continue to operate in National Parks. One service, DalesBus, has used some innovative approaches to secure finance in recent years such as crowdfunding and sponsorship. There are also signs that the bus industry is starting to consider the potential to use new technology to deliver flexible on-demand shared journeys for visitors. Harrogate-based Vamooz can be used for pre-bookable shared journeys to the Yorkshire Dales with the cost per passenger decreasing as more people book.

But there is much more that needs to be done, particularly as governments in both England and Wales have aspirations to increase the annual number of visitors to National Parks. We support these aspirations but we want them to be achieved in a way that ensures that the beautiful landscapes of our National Parks are available for everyone to enjoy both now and in the future. 

Over the last year we have been examining the evidence on sustainable transport initiatives and we will shortly be publishing a report that identifies options for improving car-free travel to National Parks. This considers a wide range of different options including e-bikes, on-demand app-based shared services and community transport, and also looks at issues such as information provision, integrated ticketing and demand management. While our main focus is on National Parks, much of what is in the report will be relevant to other parts of the countryside, particularly those that attract a lot of tourists. We want to ensure that the needs of rural areas, and their visitors, are not forgotten in the new mobility world.  

Ruth Bradshaw is policy and research manager at the Campaign for National Parks, the only national charity dedicated to campaigning to protect and promote all the 13 National Parks of England and Wales. For more information visit www.cnp.org.uk

Ruth Bradshaw is policy and research manager at the Campaign for National Parks, the only national charity dedicated to campaigning to protect and promote all the 13 National Parks of England and Wales. For more information visit www.cnp.org.uk