Ensuring major transport projects integrate with the local transport in the cities is critical to reaping investment benefits, says Centre for Cities analyst Zach Wilcox.

With HS2 nearly through Parliament, the Northern cities banding together for a £530M integrated transport project, and talks of Crossrail 2 in London, there are a lot of big, exciting projects on the table. But the national debate often misses the big piece that will make or break all these plans:  how to ensure the major transport projects are integrated with the local transport in the cities they link, so their full benefits can be realised.

What will happen when 1800 peak morning commuters come through Birmingham’s Curzon Station after HS2 is complete? Will the average rider know which bus, tram, or commuter train to take, and how will they pay for it? And will existing public transport routes within these cities even take them where they need to go?

"Central Government must come to the party, committing to minimum five-year revenue funding settlements for transport, and minimum 10-year settlements for major projects."

Without building better transport networks in cities to accompany these multi-billion-pound investments, the UK risks squandering their true potential.  Yet, Government is not focused on this link, and city councils do not currently have the appropriate powers and resources to fully get transport right. 

Government and councils alike need to take some bold and important steps to ensure cities’ public transport networks of today and tomorrow can support business, workers and residents to get where they need to go. If they get this right, it will support local economies to grow.

One of the best ways to get cities delivering better transport systems is, first, to remove short-term politics from long-term transport projects. That can best be done at a city-region level—such as through combined authorities—because politicians can put the onus on the combined authority or Integrated Transport Authority. 

Second, cities need to harness the power of integrated ticketing. The pervasiveness of contactless payment cards means transport operators and banks could work with transport authorities to implement integrated ticketing systems for customers. The success of the integrated Oyster card in London shows how such initiatives can increase public transport usage, and make multi-mode travel (from bus to train to tram to tube and back again) much easier and more efficient for consumers.

"We need to get cities working better together - both within and outside their communities."

Next, we need to get cities working better together - both within and outside their communities. This means sharing skills and capacity so that cities’ leaner transport departments can keep innovating and deliver new projects.

All city-regions should also develop strategies to make sure their integrated transport actually matches the geography of how people commute. Both of these will require cities to find new ways to work in partnership—to look past their political boundaries and beyond the transport realm to link their initiatives with housing, energy, and jobs.

Finally, central Government must come to the party, committing to minimum five-year revenue funding settlements for transport, and minimum 10-year settlements for major projects. Funding certainty helps cities plan better, better engages the private sector and can reduce the costs of borrowing and delivering projects.

This funding certainty will be easier to offer if it is better linked to cross-departmental funding from DCLG, BIS, DWP and DECC. Since transport is a major enabler of growth in housing, jobs, and other infrastructure, the costs and rewards of transport investment should then be shared across Whitehall departments.

These changes may seem a tall order in aggregate, but they are manageable as individual steps. All of them will be absolutely essential to ensure we truly make the most of these ambitious inter-city projects and the cities they aim to connect, and this will be critical to achieving future economic growth and regeneration across the UK.

Zach Wilcox is an analyst at the Centre for Cities and recently worked with consultant Mace to produce a report setting out his seven priorities for better transport in cities (attached).