Five tests for integrated transport

The announcement of the vision for an Integrated National Transport Strategy on 28 November 2024 marks the first time in decades that England has sought to join up different ways of getting about. This is a welcome move as the last government failed badly in this area¹. However, just publishing a vision will not automatically deliver the change needed, so Transport Action Network (TAN) is setting out the following tests to judge whether this strategy could make a real difference, both for people and businesses. 

1) Seek significant shift in how people and freight travel

Alternatives to driving have been massively suppressed by decades of fragmentation and underinvestment. Real change requires leveraging investment from, as well as updating the culture in, both the public and private sectors. Only by signalling a bold ambition through strong modal shift targets, for moving freight and people differently, will mindsets be changed and the necessary funding unlocked. Building momentum at this early stage of the government is essential.

2) Make integrated transport the better value option

Since the Transport Decarbonisation Plan in 2021 promised change to “make buses and trains better value and more competitively priced”, fuel duty has been cut while public transport fares have seen inflation busting increases. Rebalancing is long overdue and needs to address simplified ticketing, including across modes. Even in London, taking a journey by bus then tube, or even overground to National Rail, requires paying separate fares, in contrast to many European cities. However, it also needs to embrace wider incentives to encourage sharing cars, especially electric ones, to help those who currently have no realistic alternative to driving.

3) Flex funding out of the roads silo

Billions of pounds of transport funding are locked into the roads programme (RIS2) and local road building, while there are no equivalent national funding streams for rail enhancements², trams or buses. Shifting roads funding into regional integrated transport budgets would open up a wider range of solutions to maximise the value of scarce public funding. If these budgets were long-term and backed by law, they would help leverage private funding too. 

4) Integrate different levels of government and transport

Most mileage comes from longer journeys that are between places, rather than simply within them. Integration, with a few exceptions, is largely dysfunctional while standards are applied inconsistently. Britain has world leading live bus data, for instance, but this doesn’t cover coaches. Meanwhile local authorities are encouraged to cut carbon emissions but National Highways gets an easy ride. A national strategy requires coherence between short and long journeys, as well as between local and national operators. The missing link is regional, requiring giving sub-national transport bodies real powers and duties.

5) Integrate wider objectives not simply transport

Integrating different forms of transport can be a challenge but the real benefits come when  wider objectives are integrated, like social mobility, clean air and water, nature restoration and climate resilience. This requires working across different government departments and funding streams. With many statutory ambitions set to be missed by the end of the decade, failing to change how things are done is not an option.

Conclusion

A credible integrated transport strategy is not just crucial for delivery of the DfT’s bus and rail reform agendas but all the government’s five missions. Yet Christmas will only come early for communities left stranded and desperate for integrated transport if ministers act decisively to shift funding out of roads silos into multi-modal regional budgets. The proof of the pudding for the new strategy will be how much investment shifts. If funding remains tied to past trends rather than a future vision, we won’t be able to move forward.

1. Q32 in Public Accounts Committee  Oral evidence: Active travel in England, HC 1335 (2023) ↩︎
2. Pipeline visibility: Key Asks, Rail Industry Association ↩︎