Better Transport

The manifesto (pdf) says the next Government should:

Provide sustainable jobs

• Support 'smarter choices' initiatives and rolling out the proposed sustainable travel city pilots, support a rural pilot project and ensure that local authorities mainstream smarter choices in their local transport plans
• Invest in projects which will deliver high-quality new off-road walking and cycling routes, which can often be built by people gaining new skills through regeneration or training schemes
• Continue investment in greening the bus fleet with commitment to a second round of the green bus fund and through incentives for greener vehicles through existing or reformed Government support for bus services. This can support UK bus constructors to innovate and lead the world in developing low- and zero-emission buses and other public service vehicles

Tackle climate change

• Introduce a 'transport test' for all new Government policies as part of the impact assessment process so that new policies don’t lead to people having to travel further, particularly by car
• Introduce a 'walkability test' for public services like post offices, schools and NHS facilities with specified population catchments able to walk to services. In more thinly populated rural areas, innovative means of delivering services, such as mobile services and community hubs, should be developed
• Reduce car travel for commuting and business (responsible for over a third of car emissions) through tax incentives for workplace travel plans for private companies. These have been demonstrated to reduce car use for commuting by an average of 18%. This can be done through: enhanced capital allowances for investment to support sustainable travel (such as provision of cycling facilities, work minibuses, bus shelters or the purchase of cycles) and; travel plan tax credits for revenue expenditure, similar to current credits to support research and development. This could include paying for travel plan coordinators for larger companies, contracts with public transport operators to enhance public transport services or supporting car sharing schemes
• Reduce emissions from the public sector through a shift to the use of teleconferencing across Government; requirements for workplace travel plans to reduce the number of journeys to work by car; reduced car mileage allowances for public sector staff; and health trusts and other public sector bodies becoming model cycle-friendly employers

Increase opportunities

• Tackle social exclusion and help people back to work by supporting WorkWise programmes, with funding from the Department for Work and Pensions to match investment from local partnerships. Passenger Transport Executive-led WorkWise schemes already offer travel advice and personalised journey planning for unemployed people, as well as free or discounted tickets and passes and bike hire schemes, while rural transport partnerships have offered Wheels to Work schemes

Improve people's health and quality of life

• Continue dedicated funding for school travel plans to support a vision so that by 2020 every child who can walk or cycle to school is doing so. The Department for Transport and Department for Heath should work with the Department for Children, Schools and Families to build on current initiatives to encourage walking and cycling to school like Walk Once a Week and Safe Routes to School, and the DCSF should ensure that all pupils have the choice to cycle to school by requiring schools to provide sufficient secure cycle parking and make time available for cycle training
• Encourage health trusts to promote walking and cycling in their areas through their health promotion activities, through their involvement in local strategic partnerships and specifically by promoting walking and cycling programmes as forms of exercise on referral for patients who need to become more physically active
• Make 20mph the standard speed limit for streets where people live, work or shop by changing guidance on setting local speed limits to specify just the types of road where it is not normally appropriate
• Improve driving standards through effective public awareness campaigns backed by stronger and better enforced road traffic laws to tackle careless and inconsiderate driving in particular, and increase the priority given to traffic policing

Connect communities

• Provide transparent and comparative information on local bus performance by commissioning Passenger Focus to assess and benchmark bus services – by operator and local transport authority – using criteria that matter to passengers, including fares, frequency and reliability. The published results would enable local people to drive up the standards in their area
• Act now to stop train fares rising above inflation every year by reviewing fare regulation to reduce ticket prices and simplify ticket structures so that railways don’t become a service just for the rich
• Support local authorities to create new demandresponsive transport and taxiplus services across rural areas to link into upgraded limited-stop interurban buses and coaches