Achieving a socially just transport transition | Umweltbundesamt

Most households can cope well with the consequences of the transport transition – many even benefit from it. This is the key finding of a new ⁠UBA⁠ research report and the associated policy paper on the social impacts of the transport transition. The authors are the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, the University of Stuttgart and the Freie Universität Berlin.

However, there are groups that will be particularly affected by the transport transition: people in rural areas with long commutes, including middle-income groups, may struggle without state support. Unlike in cities, public transport in rural areas is not usually a realistic alternative to owning a car. However, electric cars are still too expensive for many people. It is therefore not surprising that many people in rural areas are more sceptical about the transport transition than is the case in urban areas.

Burying the idea of the transport transition because of this, or implementing it only in cities, is not a solution. On the contrary – apart from the climate policy requirement, the majority of those who are less privileged today would also be better off in rural areas after a transport transition. This becomes clear when looking at the current situation.

Status Quo

As a first step, the project investigated the status quo and published initial results in 2021. They showed that the current system of levies, taxes and subsidies for transport already has distributional effects that are unfair.

Who is particularly disadvantaged by the transport transition, and who benefits?

Population groups that drive a lot are more affected by measures for the transport transition:

• Commuters
• Men
• Higher income earners
• Households in rural areas

Those who have suffered the most from negative environmental impacts so far will benefit:

• Lower income earners
• Old and young people
• People with pre-existing health conditions
• People with a migration background

Instruments that impact prices risk placing an excessive burden on vulnerable households. This particularly affects people in rural areas with long commutes.

Policy recommendations for the transport transition

The scientists make recommendations for an environmentally oriented and socially acceptable transport policy: The topic Quantifying the distributional effects of the distance allowance received special attention in a document published in 2022.

Generally speaking, the recommendations can be categorised into three areas:

• Expansion of infrastructure for environmentally friendly mobility (e.g. improving public transport)
• Creating true-cost pricing for transport (e.g. bonus-malus system for cars)
• Mitigation of undesirable distributional effects for vulnerable groups (e.g. climate premium or social public transport ticket)

Conclusion

The social injustice of transport in the status quo has so far been underestimated.

Future distributional effects of the transport transition to the detriment of low-income earners tend to be overestimated in the public debate.

In cases of social hardship, the UBA recommends (specific) support for vulnerable households. People who are unable to switch to more environmentally friendly e-mobility need support. The state can generate money for the (temporary) compensation of social hardship by abolishing environmentally harmful subsidies, for example.