The Route Ahead to Sustainable Transport

Was held on July 30th 2022 from 10am – 1pm – Stokesley Town Hall and Environs

We all know that transport is responsible for considerable emissions of carbon dioxide, so how we travel needs to change. For “The Route Ahead to Sustainable Transport” we brought together lots of travel methods that will allow us to make the transition to more sustainable transport. We had everything from making walking possible to new zero emission vehicles.

Stokesley Town Hall Brunton Room

MoorsBus – MoorsBus allows you to get from Stokesley to the four corners of the North York Moors – leave your car at home and help to reduce traffic on the moors.

Hambleton Bus User Group – HarBus is working to make bus travel in Hambleton and Richmond more useful.

Esk Valley Railway – Find out more about the rail service between Middlesbrough and Whitby, calling at the three stations in our area: Great Ayton, Batterbsy and Kildale. Chat with members of Friends of Great Ayton Station group.

RedCar Project – the RedCar project is designing a car which by being based on wood will have minimal embodied carbon and be a prototype for future sustainable vehicles.

Walking and Cycling – walking and cycling are the ultimate zero carbon travel, but are not always the easiest way to get from a to b even for short distances. At “The Route Ahead to Sustainable Transport” we will see what is possible and how we are trying to make active travel more possible locally.

How to use your bicycle for shopping even when you are buying more than just a newspaper.

Taking a folding bike on buses or trains allows you to go further than you could cycle, but still have the convenience of having your own transport when you are far from home, without having to bring your own car or rent a car. We will have a standard Brompton and a converted electric Brompton bike for you to see.

OpenNorthYorkshire – Open North Yorkshire is a North Yorkshire County Council programme originally funded in 2017 by the Department for Transport’s Access Fund to promote sustainable and active transport in Harrogate, Scarborough and Skipton. The programme has now been expanded across North Yorkshire and since 2021 has been supporting schools, businesses and the public to walk and cycle more across North Yorkshire.

Find out more about the 20s Plenty for North Yorkshire campaign.

Short Film – See what other areas are doing to make active travel more possible for example the Glasgow Bike Bus.

Bus Companies – find out what the different bus companies that operate locally are doing to improve bus options.

Outside on the Plain (area in front of the Town Hall)

Event Vehicles: (parked on the right hand side as you look out of the Town Hall doors)

Electric Cars: are making an increasing proportion of the UK’s vehicles, they offer a zero emission route to travel if charged from renewable electricity, while currently still more expensive than petrol / diesel cars they are cheaper to run, so when you active or public travel is not possible, what’s stopping you from using an electric car.

A number of electric vehicles and their drivers will be on hand to tell about what it is like to own an electric car, how real is range anxiety, how easy / difficult they are to charge, and to answer any of your questions. We are expecting a number of different electric cars including: Peugeot 208e, Nissan Leaf, Skoda Enyaq, Volkswagen ID.3, Jaguar I-Pace.

Hybrid Cars: plug-in hybrids offer the reassurance of old technology with the possibility of reduced emissions. We will have a Kia plug-in hybrid and a Toyota “self-charging” hybrid – the difference being that the Kia uses both petrol fuel and mains electricity for power, whereas the Toyota while using only petrol fuel is more efficient than a pure petrol car as when braking some of the energy can be captured and used to drive the car. Both types of hybrid cars have smaller batteries than EV so can only drive for short distance purely on electric energy.

Hydrogen Vehicles: big projects are currently underway in the UK to produce hydrogen and feasibility studies are looking into how a hydrogen supply system can be set up, including on Teesside as part of NetZeroTeesside. So in future hydrogen vehicles may be a practical form of low carbon transport even in Stokesley.

Two hydrogen cars will be available to see, both are hydrogen fuel cell cars where hydrogen is used to generate electricity which provides the motive force, so they drive like standard electric cars. Present will be a Hyundai Nexo and a Toyota Mirai.

Range of Electric Bikes – on the left hand side of the Plain as you look out from the Town Hall doors.

Electric bikes make cycling practical over longer distances. Many different models of electric bike are available.

Local company Labman have invested in some electric bikes, Bergamont E-REVOX, to allow their employees to easily travel from Seamer into Stokesley and beyond. “The attractive E-MTB hardtail is based on the UNIVERSAL CHASSIS CONCEPT, making it possible to select from the new, fully integrated Bosch PowerTube and the tried-and-tested PowerPack without making any compromises. The E-REVOX is in its element when ridden off-road. The sophisticated, field-tested geometry ensures the handling is spectacularly confident. The new Bosch eMTB mode offers top performance and control through intelligent power metering.”