Interview

Decarbonization

When it comes to mobility, what should be our primary focus?

  • Brian Caulfield

    Brian Caulfield

    Professor in transportation and Head of Department at Trinity College Dublin, Expert to the National Transport Authorithy (Ireland)

10 April 2024

In this extract, Brian Caufield, Professor and Expert at the National Transport Authority, answers the question: What should be our priority when it comes to mobility?

I think the on-demand mobility that everyone has, which allows us to get out of our homes and straight to where we want to go, is what has locked us into the carbon emissions we’re facing.

Public transport and active mobility are not as demand-driven. That’s why we need to get away from this idea that we can go wherever we want. We need to start planning and thinking things through, because mobility by car in its current state is simply not sustainable. Continuing to invest in this mobility, as opposed to electric vehicles, doesn’t solve the problem.

We have a limited amount of road space in our cities, and this space needs to be available for people who move together, rather than those who move separately.