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.
In this paper we set out how, with the right policy framework from Government, we can meet the challenge of ramping up public transport and prioritising cycling and walking to support a green and just recovery.
(Updated version June 2021)
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.
Our report, White van cities: Questions, challenges and options on the growth of urban van traffic, shows how van traffic is the fastest growing sector of road traffic with growth forecast to continue.
However, the evidence on what is driving growth in van traffic is limited and under researched.
This report explores the scale and nature of the growth in van traffic and the impacts on city regions across a range of policy areas, each of which play a key role in determining whether our cities are the kinds of places that people want to live, work, invest and spend time in.
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 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:
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.
In this paper we set out how, with the right policy framework from Government, we can meet the challenge of ramping up public transport and prioritising cycling and walking to support a green and just recovery.
(Updated version June 2021)
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.
Our report, White van cities: Questions, challenges and options on the growth of urban van traffic, shows how van traffic is the fastest growing sector of road traffic with growth forecast to continue.
However, the evidence on what is driving growth in van traffic is limited and under researched.
This report explores the scale and nature of the growth in van traffic and the impacts on city regions across a range of policy areas, each of which play a key role in determining whether our cities are the kinds of places that people want to live, work, invest and spend time in.
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 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:
This report sets out our vision for how future UK urban transport policy could unfold in a way that enables the nation’s urban areas to deliver smart and sustainable growth that has far-reaching benefits. It looks at the great strides our city regions have already made and proposes fifteen ways in which national government and transport authorities can work together to create the transport networks urban areas need in order to fully realise their potential.
This report aims to provide decision makers with a guide to the implications for urban transport of transformative social and technological change and how they can best respond.
The report (which was produced in collaboration with Arup Foresight) identifies four key overarching trends:
This report highlights the essential role of urban freight in ensuring the effective functioning of the UK economy and presents a fresh vision designed to safeguard this role as well as protect the environment and quality of life for communities. It envisages that every opportunity should be taken for freight to make its way to urban areas by rail or water, either directly into those areas, or into the major distribution parks that serve them. It argues that those distribution sites should be located so that it is practical for goods to travel the last mile(s) into urban centres using zero/low emission modes. These last mile journeys should be achieved as safely, unobtrusively and with as little environmental impact as possible. The report explores a number of ideas that could assist in achieving this vision and calls for a broader, nationwide freight strategy to provide direction and leadership to the industry and its stakeholders.
Aimed at city region authorities, this toolkit provides an accessible overview of the issues and options for tackling air pollution associated with transport.
This report shows how regional rail is allocated a disproportionate share of the railways' overall costs which distorts the wider debate about its value for money. The report sets out how an alternative fairer, more defensible and rational system would halve regional rail's share of government support.
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.
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.
Stephen Edwards, the Executive Director of South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE), is the new Chair of the Urban Transport Group.
His appointment follows the end of the two-year term of outgoing Chair Tobyn Hughes, Managing Director at Nexus.
Further devolution of rail services, greater funding for buses and reform of taxi and Private Hire Vehicle legislation – these are just three parts of a new deal on funding and powers that is required to keep the UK’s cities moving forward.
The significant growth of van traffic in the UK is creating ‘considerable challenges’ for cities and urban areas, from poor air quality to congestion - a new report from the Urban Transport Group finds today.
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, a new report from the Urban Transport Group reveals today.
Following on from the EU referendum, the formation of a new Government and with the start of the party conference season, the Urban Transport Group has set out a vision for how UK transport policy could unfold in a way that will enable the nation’s largest urban areas to deliver inclusive growth
- Report identifies four key trends to watch for urban transport –
