UK cities need million more bus and rail users

Britain’s big cities should significantly increase public transport commuters to catch up with European counterparts, says Centre for Cities think tank

 
The UK’s big cities outside of London are outliers and would need nearly one million (963,000) additional workers taking public transport to work to bridge the gap with other cities overseas

 
The number of people taking public transport to work in the UK’s large cities is much lower than European counterparts and catching up will require doubling the number of regular commuters using a bus, train or tram according to the Centre for Cities think tank.

The UK’s big cities outside of London are outliers and would need nearly one million (963,000) additional workers taking public transport to work to bridge the gap with other cities overseas. 16% of Manchester residents and 18% of Birmingham residents commute to work using public transport, compared to 40% in Hamburg and 33% in Lyon, two European cities of similar size.

In a new report published in partnership with Go-Ahead, Gear shift: International lessons for increasing public transport ridership in UK cities, Centre for Cities says the gap is due to the smaller average transport network size and less dense residential neighbourhoods in the UK’s big cities, meaning they will need help to achieve this ambition.

Evidence shows there are fewer car journeys done in large European cities thanks to their greater reliance on public transport compared to the big cities in the UK. For example, if Liverpool were to perform like Leipzig (a city of similar size), there would be 33,000 fewer workers commuting to work using a car or taxi, a reduction of 20%.

It’s vital that modern, dynamic cities encourage more people onto public transport if they’re to tackle congestion and pollution

Miguel Parras, group chief executive of Go-Ahead, said: “It’s vital that modern, dynamic cities encourage more people onto public transport if they’re to tackle congestion and pollution.”

Parras continued: “Easy to navigate transport hubs, bus priority measures and better planning around stations can make a big difference, as the Centre for Cities’ report points out.

“Any successful public transport system needs to blend clear thinking from a central transport authority with the entrepreneurial flair of private operators – whether that’s on bus, rail or light rail. In some cities, that can mean franchising, while in others it might simply mean a close, co-operative partnership between public and private, working towards a common goal.”

 
Centre for Cities outlines several policy measures drawing evidence from London and cities overseas that have higher levels of public transport use (see below).

“What these policy recommendations are aiming for is finding that extra gear so we can bring more people into our city centres during working hours, quicker and, preferably, cheaper too,” said Andrew Carter, chief executive at Centre for Cities.

In order to get there and find that extra gear, we need to look at different policy measures from around the world, look at how they are funded, look at where we can bring in extra revenues

“In order to get there and find that extra gear, we need to look at different policy measures from around the world, look at how they are funded, look at where we can bring in extra revenues, and do that in ways that also help us invest in our public transport networks for the long term.

“What you see in other big cities around the world is more people take public transport and the network is serving its purpose in the regional economy: large cities can use their space more efficiently and a greater number of workers can reach the city-centre to access opportunities there.”

Policy measures

Develop the density of commercial property in city centres to increase the concentration of jobs in existing commercial locations.
Improve residential density and the use of Local Development Orders to create new mid-rise developments near public transport stops.
Bring responsibilities for running a city’s public transport services together under one body similar to Transport for London.
Where existing commercial partnerships are not working, consider using new bus franchising powers created by recent legislation to improve the integration of services, including integrated ticketing and daily fare caps.
Provide cities with transport-related revenue-raising powers such as congestion charging or workplace parking levies that provide cross-subsidies to fund investment in transport networks.

 
This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.

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