MOTOR traffic levels have increased by 40% in many areas over the last 15 years, figures from the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) have revealed.
These increases have made transport the fastest-growing source of domestic carbon emissions, the CPRE added.
The group's statistics were published at a time when the Department for Transport is considering requests for transport funding made by English regional authorities.
The CPRE said it feared the requests would lead to a situation were it was "bulldozing as usual".
It also added that most regions had failed to work out whether individual transport schemes would increase or decrease carbon emissions.
CPRE senior transport campaigner Ralph Smyth said: "With the Climate Change Act 2008's legal targets to slash carbon emissions, it should not be 'business as usual' for rural areas if the regions are to tackle growing car dependence effectively.
"It is clear that regional decision-makers are reluctant to face up to the incompatibility of rising traffic levels and lower carbon emissions.
"We need urgent investment in rail, bus, walking and cycle routes to give people in all areas real choices for low-carbon travel."
The CPRE said that although there had been improvements in some areas, most regions have carried on before with transport priorities drawn up before the credit crunch and the Climate Change Act.
Spending on road building ranges from 45% of transport funding for major schemes in Yorkshire & Humber to more than 80% in south east England, it added.
Mr Smyth said: "Transport ministers should not accept the regions' wish-lists unchanged. We need a dramatic increase in the proportion of sustainable transport schemes to make up for the regions' failure to take carbon cuts seriously."
A Department for Transport spokesman said: "We are committed to ensuring sustainability is at the forefront of transport planning, which is why regions have been asked to consider and estimate the environmental impacts of any new proposals made to the department."
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