Fix the system

Too often, good transport policies fail to translate into workable plans or actual improvements on the ground, due to a lack of personnel, a shortage of skills, or suboptimal ways of working.

This is not the fault of the hard-working people in government and the wider transport sector. It reflects the need for investment in the people, systems and processes we need to plan, fund, deliver and operate sustainable transport.

In national governments – which set the policy, legal, funding and regulatory framework for transport – there is a need for more joined-up working. Good transport policies must be woven into the work of other departments, and they must be properly funded.

And continuing devolution of funding and decision-making to regional and local authorities is welcome, but these authorities need to be given the capacity and capability to use those resources effectively and efficiently.

Did you know…

• The last attempt to create an Integrated National Transport Strategy was made 25 years ago.
• Forty-six per cent of local transport authorities in 2023 rated their capacity to deliver local transport as very or fairly poor.

Campaign for Better Transport is working to identify capacity and capability constraints which are holding back transport improvements, to determine solutions, and to engage with government at all levels to implement them.

Our campaigning is focused on…

Integrated transport

The Government has developed an Integrated National Transport Strategy. In our unique position – campaigning across all transport modes – we are focused on ensuring that it leads to changes across the whole transport network to make it work for people, communities and the planet.

• • Our press release responded to the publication of the Integrated National Transport Strategy.

We are also campaigning for better integration between Government departments: transport should be factored into health policy, environment policy, planning policy, and the wider growth agenda.

Devolution and local government

Most journeys are local. Seventy per cent of trips are under five miles. Yet decisions about transport have historically been made far from the communities they affect.

That is beginning to change. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act and the Government’s Better Connected strategy are giving local and regional leaders greater powers, funding and responsibility for transport and other areas of public policy.

Devolution creates a major opportunity for transport. Local and regional leaders understand their communities and their transport networks. They can see where transport needs to improve, and they can bring transport together with decisions about housing, planning, economic development, public health and the environment.

But devolution is not an end in itself. The conditions need to be right in order for devolution to enable better integrated transport.

• Read about our campaign, Moving Power: integrated transport and the devolution opportunity