Travel and Transport

1. Travel and Transport By Sophie and Annabelle

2. What are the problems of transport? Some of the problems that we have with transport now is that . . . • Lots of people drive cars and that causes traffic jams. • People are more likely to get run over because there is more traffic. • Traffic congestion slows down emergency vehicles. • More CO2 is being spread by the 27 million cars on the road. • The cars don’t help people with asthma because of the exhaust.

3. Interesting things about transport? Fewer people use public transport now a days, and this is predicted to continue. If each person in the cars in the picture used a public bus, only one bus would be needed. Think how little pollution that would cause in comparison! More people are buying cars because it is cheaper. The car is now widely considered an essential part of modern life. During the 1980's some £12 billion was spent on road building programmes. Despite major road building programmes, congestion in cities like Birmingham has increased. In 1985, the average running cost per week for one car was £12, In 1995, this figure had nearly doubled to just over £22. Most of this has come through the increase in petrol prices set by the Government.

4. What new methods are emerging? There are several new things coming into action. There are…… • In Edinburgh the government are building trams which will hopefully help with traffic. • Worldwide, there are many light rail and rapid train systems in operation. Some are more famous than others, for example the London Underground. Rapid trains are not uncommon around the world. In Japan, there is the Shinkansen (Bullet) and in France, the TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse).In the UK, research shows that for more than 50% of people, the nearest railway station is a 25 minute walk away. The trains and Metros of today are efficient, and generally reliable. • Train tickets can be booked over the Internet (see The Train Line ), and operators are constantly reducing the cost of medium distance travel. The use of Park and Ride in Birmingham has increased over recent years. The train is rapidly becoming a faster way to travel, especially over distances above 100 miles. Despite the reduction in air travel costs, rail is still the cheapest way to travel.

5. New cars called the Nissan Leaf are coming outin 2013; it is powered by electricity alone and can go up to 100 miles without needing to be charged. The maximum of the Nissan leaf speed is 99mph which is about as fast as a normal car. The car takes 8 hours to fully charge but there are quick charge points that can restore the battery to 80% in 30 minutes. The cost of fuel for 100 miles costs £13 for the Qashqai but £2 for the Leaf. Nissan Leaf Charging point

6. Whatcanwedotohelp? We can help by. . . . • Walking places. • If places are too far to walk take the bus. • Cycle places. • Instead of driving to places such as Scotland take the train. • instead of driving to South Shields you can take the ferry.

7. Our trip to the Nissan factory The trip to the Nissan factory was very interesting. We started with a small video about how they make the cars and then played three games on how to make the cars. Our team won all the three games. After that we were given a tour of the factory by Collin who had been working there for 22 years. As we went round he told us how everything worked and what everybody who worked in the factory did. We had lots of interesting questions that Collin managed to answer.

8. Thank you for watching. We hope you enjoyed it.