Transport Committee to investigate achieving and measuring integrated transport
The Transport Committee has opened a call for evidence for its ‘joined-up journeys’ inquiry to investigate how the Government can achieve, and measure the benefits of better integration between transport services throughout the country.
The cross-party Committee will examine how methodologies for appraising the value for money of transport investment could be better at capturing the potential benefits of integrated transport networks, including the Government’s aims such as economic growth and reducing carbon emissions.
Specifically the Committee will look at what the planned Integrated National Transport Strategy needs to cover to be successful.
Transport Committee Chair Ruth Cadbury MP said, “In this inquiry we’re going to zoom out and look at the big picture. How can the Government do a better job of joining up the different transport options in every community so that they work to their fullest potential for the travelling public?
“If I want to get from A to B, what are the options, and are those options as efficient as they could be? Will a reliable bus service take me to the railway station before the train arrives? Can I park my bike, or hire a bike to get to the station instead? If I have access needs and want to take my car, where will I park without being left with a long walk on the other side? Is it really cheaper to drive, or to use public transport? Is time, or the ability to work en-route more important?
“The Committee’s joined-up journeys inquiry will look both at how transport integration can be achieved through better planning, more information for travellers, and by improving the services we already have. From planting those seeds, we want to see how other strategic aims such as modal shift, improvements to local economies and better quality of life, can be measured and replicated.”
The call for evidence is open until 16 October. Submissions can be made via the Committee website and the Transport Committee welcomes written evidence submissions on areas including:
What are the key features that make a transport system feel joined up to the user? How would ‘integrated’ transport look different to current services and networks?
What stops effective integration happening now, and how can these barriers be overcome?
What kinds of interventions and policy decisions are needed to provide joined-up transport, including in areas beyond transport such as planning?
How should transport integration and its benefits be measured and evaluated—including the impact on economic growth, decarbonisation and the Government’s other ‘missions’?
How should the cost of interventions needed to deliver transport integration be assessed and appraised? Will proposed changes to methodology in the Treasury’s ‘Green Book’, including the introduction of ‘place-based business cases’, change this?
Will integration in itself deliver other benefits such as wider transport options in more places, and behaviour changes such as mode shift? What other impacts could it have?
What is needed to ensure that integration is inclusive and meets the diverse needs of transport users? Will integration necessarily lead to better outcomes for accessibility?
Will the meaning of integration vary across different kinds of areas and for different kinds of journeys? (such as rural and suburban areas, and inter-city journeys)
What lessons can be drawn from attempts to integrate transport elsewhere in the UK and around the world? What examples should the Government seek to emulate?