Active Travel
Resources
Submission to the Comprehensive Spending Review 2020
Building back better on urban transport
As the network of transport authorities serving the largest city regions in England, we worked together to keep the wheels of public transport turning during the lockdown so that key workers could get to where they needed to be.
With the release from national lockdown we have ramped up public transport, and prioritised cycling and walking, to support a green and just recovery.
In this paper we set out how, with the right policy framework from Government, we can meet that challenge.
Future of Transport Regulatory Review
What next for urban transport?
This report - published to coincide with the 2019 Autumn Party Conferences - identifies four urban transport challenges and four solutions needed to overcome them.
It also details what transport authorities need from Government to bring about these changes.
On launching the report, Stephen Edwards, Chair of the Urban Transport Group and Executive Director of South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, said: "There is much more that needs to be done if transport is to contribute effectively to meeting the many challenges that city regions face, from the climate crisis to public health challenges associated with a lack of physical activity. The right policies can help overcome these challenges."
Number crunch 2019: Urban transport trends in changing times
We are living in rapidly changing times. Big shifts are taking place in urban transport trends.
Number crunch 2019 is the second in our Number crunch report series and provides an updated overview of the key trends over the last ten years, as well as taking a look at what the new and most recent data is telling us. The report also investigates some new issues – including housing need and social inclusion.
In these changing times, the case for coordinated and integrated transport planning at the city region level is stronger than ever. So is the case for long term funding frameworks for local urban transport rather than stop-start funding as is currently the case.
The place to be: How transit oriented development can support good growth in the city regions
This report examines ‘transit oriented development’ - the principle of putting public transport front and centre in new residential and commercial developments, with the aim of maximising access by public transport, encouraging walking and cycling, and minimising the need to own and use private cars.
The report suggests that transit oriented development has the potential to meet housing need without undermining the green belt or creating more traffic congestion and sprawl. It also examines other areas where it can deliver wide-ranging benefits, such as to local economies; air quality and carbon emissions; social inclusion, employment and skills; health; and public transport patronage.
The place to be sets out a five point plan on how to realise more building developments which are based around sustainable, public transport and active travel.
About towns: How transport can help towns thrive
This report examines the key role that transport interventions can play in supporting post-industrial towns.
It features case studies from the UK and the wider world of how different types of interventions - from transport’s role as an ‘anchor institution’ for local economies and as an employer, through to how transport interchanges can act as ‘gateways’ and sources of civic pride and renewal - can achieve results.
A key finding of the report is that isolated capital interventions in transport infrastructure are insufficient in themselves. Instead, more co-ordinated programmes of transport capital and revenue investment and support are needed if towns are to truly thrive.
Active Travel Inquiry
Future of Mobility
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Building back better on urban transport
As the network of transport authorities serving the largest city regions in England, we worked together to keep the wheels of public transport turning during the lockdown so that key workers could get to where they needed to be.
With the release from national lockdown we have ramped up public transport, and prioritised cycling and walking, to support a green and just recovery.
In this paper we set out how, with the right policy framework from Government, we can meet that challenge.
What next for urban transport?
This report - published to coincide with the 2019 Autumn Party Conferences - identifies four urban transport challenges and four solutions needed to overcome them.
It also details what transport authorities need from Government to bring about these changes.
On launching the report, Stephen Edwards, Chair of the Urban Transport Group and Executive Director of South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, said: "There is much more that needs to be done if transport is to contribute effectively to meeting the many challenges that city regions face, from the climate crisis to public health challenges associated with a lack of physical activity. The right policies can help overcome these challenges."
Number crunch 2019: Urban transport trends in changing times
We are living in rapidly changing times. Big shifts are taking place in urban transport trends.
Number crunch 2019 is the second in our Number crunch report series and provides an updated overview of the key trends over the last ten years, as well as taking a look at what the new and most recent data is telling us. The report also investigates some new issues – including housing need and social inclusion.
In these changing times, the case for coordinated and integrated transport planning at the city region level is stronger than ever. So is the case for long term funding frameworks for local urban transport rather than stop-start funding as is currently the case.
The place to be: How transit oriented development can support good growth in the city regions
This report examines ‘transit oriented development’ - the principle of putting public transport front and centre in new residential and commercial developments, with the aim of maximising access by public transport, encouraging walking and cycling, and minimising the need to own and use private cars.
The report suggests that transit oriented development has the potential to meet housing need without undermining the green belt or creating more traffic congestion and sprawl. It also examines other areas where it can deliver wide-ranging benefits, such as to local economies; air quality and carbon emissions; social inclusion, employment and skills; health; and public transport patronage.
The place to be sets out a five point plan on how to realise more building developments which are based around sustainable, public transport and active travel.
About towns: How transport can help towns thrive
This report examines the key role that transport interventions can play in supporting post-industrial towns.
It features case studies from the UK and the wider world of how different types of interventions - from transport’s role as an ‘anchor institution’ for local economies and as an employer, through to how transport interchanges can act as ‘gateways’ and sources of civic pride and renewal - can achieve results.
A key finding of the report is that isolated capital interventions in transport infrastructure are insufficient in themselves. Instead, more co-ordinated programmes of transport capital and revenue investment and support are needed if towns are to truly thrive.
Policy futures for urban transport
The latest edition of Policy futures for urban transport emphasises how a new deal on funding and powers is essential to keep the UK's cities moving forward.
The report sets out the 10 key policy changes that are needed to make cities healthier, fairer and more prosperous.
These include further devolution of rail services; greater funding for buses; reform of taxi and Private Hire Vehicle legislation; an ambitious strategy to encourage more cycling and walking; a long term investment plan for urban rail services; and a visionary national policy framework on air quality.
Active Travel: Solutions for changing cities
Over the last decade promoting active travel has moved from the fringes of urban transport policy to a much more central role in the planning of cities and their transport networks. This is because the promotion of active travel, and the creation of places and streetscapes where people want to walk and cycle, is such a good fit with where cities that are going places want to be.
In this report we take a detailed look at how active travel schemes can transform cities for the better – from Bristol to Inverness and from post-industrial Northern cities to the heart of the City of London.
Number crunch: Transport trends in the city regions
Our report, Number crunch: Transport trends in the city regions, identifies some of the most defining patterns of the past decade (and projected future trends) that are changing the face of the UK’s city regions, and the way that people travel within them.
Ageing urban populations, rapid bus passenger decline and huge growth in private hire vehicles are just some of the dramatic shifts taking place in UK cities.
The report draws on data from our unique, free and interactive online tool ‘Data Hub’, which allows users to generate bespoke analysis, graphics and charts of transport, economic and population data.
Policy Futures
Policy futures for urban transport sets out how, with more focused governance in place, the city regions are delivering major investment programmes including on public transport, highways and active travel, and smart ticketing. The report says that - with the right national policy framework - further and faster progress can be made, including:
- ensuring that the benefits of transformative technological change are maximised including new ways of paying for access to transport, connected and autonomous vehicles and data;
- that barriers between different sectors are broken down so that the benefits that transport can bring to achieving wider policy goals - in areas like health, employment and education - are fully realised.
The Case for Active Travel
This report sets out the fivefold economic benefits of greater investment in active travel: saving costs to the health sector; the economic value of active travel trips; the economic benefits of an improved urban realm; promoting inclusive growth; and direct employment and spend.
The report also sets out a concise and accessible summary of the wider evidence base for investing in active travel which urban transport planners and practitioners can use as a basis for building the case for policies and projects.
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Pavement parking: options for change
Submission to the Comprehensive Spending Review 2020
Future of Transport Regulatory Review
Active Travel Inquiry
Future of Mobility
Last mile: a Call for Evidence on the opportunities available to deliver goods more sustainably
Urban Congestion
Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy Consultation
Cycling Delivery Plan
National road and rail networks: draft national policy statement
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City regions must be “at the heart” of Government’s Green Industrial Revolution
UTG launches ‘Urban Transport Next’ - a new series of lunchtime conversations on the future beyond COVID
Urban Transport Group (UTG) has launched the first in a series of free online lunch-hour conversations to explore the future of urban transport as we begin to look beyond the COVID-19 pandemic and tackle the climate emergency.
Empower urban transport authorities to build back better from COVID-19, urges report
Transport authorities can play their part in shaping a positive legacy of COVID-19 for the UK’s city regions, provided they are given both the funding and powers they need to respond to the challenges that lie ahead.
Urban Transport Group responds to Government’s plans to boost walking and cycling
The Urban Transport Group has responded to the Government’s plans to overhaul walking and cycling in England.
Jonathan Bray, Director of the Urban Transport Group, said:
Critical challenges and solutions to improving transport in city regions identified ahead of party conferences
The challenges to improving transport in the UK’s city regions and the solutions needed to overcome them have been set out by the Urban Transport Group today.
Championing active travel can deliver “win-win for people and planet” says Urban Transport Group
The Urban Transport Group has responded to calls from MPs for Government to provide the leadership and ambition required to increase levels of walking and cycling.
Changing travel habits in UK’s cities revealed in new data report
National Infrastructure Commission is right to make devolved transport funding for cities a key test for Government’s future infrastructure plan
The National Infrastructure Commission’s call for Government to make devolved funding for urban transport to cities a key test of the Government’s forthcoming National Infrastructure Strategy is hugely welcome, says the Urban Transport Group.
Climate advisors’ ‘clear route map’ for tackling transport emissions welcomed by city region transport authorities
Urban Transport Group strengthened as Northern Ireland’s public transport provider joins up
Membership of the Urban Transport Group has received a significant boost today as Translink, Northern Ireland’s main public transport provider, has joined as an Associate Member.