Transport
how Lancaster City Council is tackling climate change
Changes to the Council waste and recycling collections to reduce carbon footprint
Changes to waste and recycling collection day are helping to reduce our carbon footprint as part of ongoing work to tackle the climate emergency. The introduction of route optimisation is maximising the efficiency of our collection vehicles and sees crews using more direct, cost effective and environmentally friendly routes to pick up your waste and recycling.
Around 60% of the emissions produced by our diesel vehicles are generated from just 26 refuse collection vehicles so their replacement will go a long way in our journey to net zero. The new refuse vehicles are in addition to the electric pool cars being used by staff as part of their duties, and the 14 electric vans that were purchased earlier this year for our repairs and maintenance department.
What the Council is doing about transport emissions?
Across all sectors in the Lancaster District there has been a 34% reductions in carbon emissions since 2005.* For transport there has been a 3% reduction over the same time frame. This highlights that transport emissions are an area we really need to focus on reducing.
The Council is working on reducing the emissions from its fleet and has an approved 4-year fleet electrification programme. The Council purchased 28 electric vans in 22/23 to replace diesel vehicles. 15 have been delivered and we’re waiting on the remaining 13. CO2 savings are expected to be in the region of 49 tonnes p/a. A 27-tonne electric bin wagon has hit the streets of the Lancaster District in 2022.
As of November 2024, 31% of the council’s fleet are now EV and we’re aiming for this to be 100% by 2030, subject to the availability of specialist vehicles.
If you want to see for yourself how the fleet electrification programme is reducing the Council's Emissions, check out our live carbon dashboard.
Live carbon dashboard
*Data range 2005-2019. Data is available from BEIS to 2020 however it is not yet certain which emissions reductions from 2020 are due to meaningful reductions vs impacts of the pandemic.
The Council's shared transport scheme?
Lancaster City Council is making it easier for people to make the switch to using more sustainable modes of transport and reduce their reliance on privately owned vehicles. View the Council press release here . Would you like the convenience of having a car without needing to own one? Or have you thought about downsizing from two cars to one but don't want to give up the flexibility of having two cars? Or maybe you are thinking of buying an electric car but want to try one out first? The council has appointed national car share scheme Hiyacar Club to manage bookings for its fleet of 11 pool cars, the majority of which are electric.
The Council is supporting the expansion of a public electric vehicle charging network?
Are you thinking of making the switch to an electric car? Lancaster is a great place to go electric thanks to its over 160 public Electric Vehicle charge points across the District. There are 113 charge points per 100,000 residents, almost 3 times the national average and almost 5 times the average for the North West. You won't need to worry about where you can charge! If you want to find a charger check out Zap Map.
As mentioned above the council has appointed national car share scheme Hiyacar Club to manage bookings for its fleet of 11 pool cars, the majority of which are electric. If interested you can check out the Council owned and supported EV charge points plus the data about EV charging across the UK .
Take up of electric taxis
The council wins government £54,576 funding to encourage take up of electric taxis through behaviour and awareness campaign and a discounted leasing scheme. Development of local taxi policy which will support the uptake of electric vehicles.