Mr. John Martin:

It is important to note this relates to the total number of kilometres. We should bear in mind that some of the public transport or active transport journeys we are trying to promote would be typically over a shorter distance. We will still have people driving over much longer journeys in their private cars. In many cases that would be logical because there may not be an alternative to such a mode of transport. The total number of kilometres would still be impacted in the context of private car use.

The average length over which ICE cars or cars powered by fossil fuels are on the road is approximately 14 years. We are looking at getting a fairly significant number of electric vehicles on the road by 2030, with a total of 940,000 when we look at light vans as well, but there will still be many cars sold down the years up to that point powered by fossil fuels. They will remain on the road even after cars powered by fossil fuels cease being sold at all, and there will be a residual.

The 10% reduction in kilometres may at first glance appear to be quite small, but all the modelling and analysis we have done, and even looking at the modal shift from cars to active travel and public transport and the transition from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles, indicates it is quite an ambitious target. If we meet it, we will be well on our way to meeting the abatement targets set out in CAP21.