Great Transport Debate Public transport and sustainability: challenges for the next government Stephen Joseph, Campaign for Better Transport

Great Transport Debate Campaign for Better Transport Charitable trust promoting sustainable transport Support from wide range of interests Co-ordinates environmental and other NGOs concerned with transport Commissions and publishes research Conducts public campaigns Promotes pilot projects and good practice

Great Transport Debate Challenges for next government Improve everyday transport Smarter transport spending, pricing and taxation If high speed rail goes ahead, maximise its sustainability

Great Transport Debate Principles Transport should play its fair share in reducing greenhouse gas emissions With budget constraints, focus on improving and maintaining what we have Give people real transport choices including reducing need to travel

Great Transport Debate Improving everyday transport Provide sustainable jobs Tackle climate change Increase opportunity Improve health and quality of life Connect communities

Great Transport Debate Provide sustainable jobs Support smarter choice initiatives: mainstream in local transport plans Invest in off-road walking and cycling routes Green buses Continued rail investment

Great Transport Debate Sustainable Travel Towns – can these be rolled out? Darlington Car use Public transport Cycling -11% + 14% +79 % Worcester Car use Public transport Cycling -12% + 22% + 36% Peterborough Car use Public transport Cycling -13% + 13% +25%

Great Transport Debate Tackle climate change A “transport test” for all new government policies and measures A “walkability test” for public services (as with post offices) Cut car travel for commuting and business with real tax relief for greener commuting; public sector should lead by example (teleconferencing, travel plans, car allowances)

Great Transport Debate Where’s the carbon? Mainly single car drivers

Great Transport Debate Opportunity: removing transport as a barrier to employment Workwise programmes Wheels to Work Support bus pathways projects like Merseyside’s

Great Transport Debate Health and quality of life Continue funding for school travel plans so that by 2020 every child who can walk or cycle to school is doing so Make walking and cycling part of health promotion and anti-obesity strategies Make 20 mph the standard urban speed limit where people live work and shop Improve driving standards and increase traffic policing

Great Transport Debate Connect communities Provide transparent and comparative information on local bus performance Review rail fares regulation Support demand responsive transport and taxiplus services across rural areas

Great Transport Debate Door to door public transport Information: needs to be high quality, accurate, real time and easily available Network-wide ticketing/ national smartcard Guaranteed connections Marketing: “metro” maps, branding etc Personal security: CCTV, policing priority Good interchanges and access to stops/stations End to end bus priority Above all treat public transport as a priority network that decision-makers and car users might want to use

Great Transport Debate Smarter spending “Fix it first”: give priority to improving and maintaining the transport networks we have Shift from capital to revenue funding Join up local budgets with more devolution (local rail?) Save the bus! Reform transport appraisal: reliability, carbon, distributional impacts Continued rail investment : new/refurbished trains, freight upgrades and grants Rail reopening not closures: they save little (and nobody ever proposes shutting rural roads, telecoms, water, energy!)

Great Transport Debate Why spending on big roads is poor value Inaccurate forecasts and modelling Poor cost control Latest appraisal downgrades roads and makes other investment better value In particular, spending £1.3bn next year on upgrading 21 miles of the A14 looks questionable

Great Transport Debate Price is critical Past trends show motoring and aviation costs have fallen in real terms, public transport costs have increased Any transport policy taking carbon seriously must reverse this

Great Transport Debate Fares and costs -If fares were reduced by 20%, a level more in line with the European average, bus travel would increase by 13% and rail travel by 17% by Reducing bus and rail fares and increasing motoring and aviation taxes could cut carbon emissions from transport by 13% by Review regulation of rail fares (including RPI+1%) -New offers: “green miles”, carnets, smartcards, tax relief for greener commuting

Great Transport Debate New opportunities for transport taxation and funding Lorry road user charging Tax fuel on domestic flights Per plane taxes Business flights New forms of transport funding such as tax incremental finance

Great Transport Debate High speed rail – can it be sustainable? Extra funding, not abstracted from existing transport spending Accompanied by measures to restrain rather than expand road and air travel Linked to local regeneration and upgrades of local transport City centre stations not parkways Linked to upgraded services on existing lines and land use policies to focus development on those Part of existing rail network, not separate from it Landscape and biodiversity impacts must be avoided/minimised How high speed is high speed?

Great Transport Debate Conclusion ►Focus on everyday transport, not just big schemes ►Join up transport with other measures, policies and budgets ►Smarter spending, pricing and taxation needed ►Accept that new communications technologies will change travel demand and can be used to improve travel for users: seamless door-to-door journeys And remember: transport isn’t a high profile political issue – but it can bite (Railtrack, road and fuel protests) and is a big local issue

Great Transport Debate For more information Campaign for Better Transport bettertransport.org.uk