How people get to and from their
workplace has undergone a radical shift in light of the global
pandemic, presenting policymakers with a perfect opportunity to
provide greener, more affordable and more flexible public
transport solutions in the future, a new CBI/KPMG report
says.
Presently, public transport operators
remain under huge strain as passenger numbers remain low across
UK-wide networks. As more employees return, new CBI research
suggests that ensuring adherence to government guidance including
social distancing and mandatory use of face coverings is
essential if people are to travel with
confidence.
In addition, Government will need to
intervene further to ensure public transport services remain
viable over the next year while demand is constrained, working
with operators to transform services for a new normal beyond
2021.
The crisis has also presented
opportunities to embed greater flexibility and sustainability
through public transport networks, improving experiences for
commuters now and over time.
Sharing and enhancing data flows about
public transport use between operators, businesses and consumers,
and accelerating the roll-out of “tap in and tap out” style
ticketing are important steps to innovating our way back from
this crisis.
This report is the first of a series of
papers by CBI/KPMG focussing on the future of the commute which
lays out a number of quick steps that can be taken to safely
manage demand, as well as the longer-term measures required to
help public transport networks adjust to the ‘new
normal’.
Launching the
report, Tom Thackray, CBI
Director of Infrastructure,
said:
“As lockdown conditions ease and more of
the economy reopens, public transport networks will need to adapt
to new travel patterns, starting with putting people’s safety
first to rebuild public confidence.
“Beyond the crisis people will want to
work more flexibly, using public transport that is more
responsive, reliable and sustainable. Services must be
transformed to meet this need.
“Investment must focus on better
passenger experiences and improving local accountability will be
critical to providing greener and more flexible public transport
solutions that will stand the test of time and contribute to the
UK’s Net Zero goals.”
Ed Thomas, Head of Transport at
KPMG UK, said:
“The return to a “new normal” in the wake
of COVID-19 is likely to be gradual. However, in the long term,
transport infrastructure will continue to be integral to the UK’s
economic performance. In building back from the crisis.
Government should work with operators to address issues around
reliability, efficiency and the passenger experience that were
evident before the crisis. Investment should be accelerated to
support the recovery, but it should also be re-prioritised both
to reflect the likely shift in commuting patterns and to support
long term sustainability goals.”
The report lays out ten
recommendations:
Recommendation 1:
While maintaining a health first approach, the government
should proactively encourage increased use of public
transport.
Recommendation
2: Businesses should undertake regular
reviews into their workforce travel patterns, eventually making
it common practice, and communicate these findings with local
decision makers.
Recommendation
3: At a national level, the
Department for Transport should play a coordinating role in
centralising real-time public transport data for public
distribution.
Recommendation 4:
The government should continue supporting transport
operators to keep services running as demand recovers from the
crisis.
-
For the railways this should include
extending and revising the Emergency Measures Agreements for
rail services for a further 18 months. The agreements should
incentivise efficient service delivery by the private sector
and promote greater collaboration between Network Rail and
Train Operating Companies.
-
For bus operators, a carefully targeted
approach should be taken to support, providing operators with
the stability they need to provide services notwithstanding
slow recovery in demand.
Recommendation 5:
The government should continue to accelerate infrastructure
investment plans, as outlined in the March 2020 Budget, with
decisions drawing on findings of the Green Book Review to ensure
additional spending delivers long term value for
commuters.
Recommendation
6: The Devolution White Paper should be used
as an opportunity to consider how local decision makers can be
empowered to plan, design, and deliver transport systems that
work for residents and business.
Recommendation 7:
As a starting point, government should create a one-off
fund of 90 million to support the roll-out of high capacity
digital ticketing systems on rail services. This should come
alongside the roll-out of "tap in and tap out" style
“multi-modal” fare options across the
UK.
Recommendation 8:
Local authorities should work closely with Local Enterprise
Partnerships to plan the allocation of new active travel
infrastructure, such as walking and cycling, in a way that will
see the greatest uptake by commuters and support
public transport networks.
Recommendation
9: Government should scale up
investment in electric vehicle
charginginfrastructure in those localities where the
market will not deliver and introduce a ‘net-zero mobility
credit’ scheme to incentivise the switch to low emission
transport, including zero-emission
vehicles.
Recommendation
10: The government must publish
its Decarbonisation of Transport Plan and National Bus Strategy
by the end of the
year.
