Transport for the North has outlined the North of England’s shared positions as part of work to revise the Strategic Transport Plan and to enhance mobility for people and businesses. Quadrant Transport explores the updates to the plan and how they will support connectivity and economic growth in the region.
A collaborative approach to supporting spatial planning and improving rural mobility has been approved by the North of England’s political and business leaders. The policy positions are part of Transport for the North’s (TfN) work to update its 2019 Strategic Transport Plan (STP) for the region and outline the benefits to be gained from investing in transport infrastructures, such as supporting connectivity and economic growth.
Agreed by the TfN Board Members, they reinforce the importance of the north speaking with “one voice” on the need for better transport networks and will help to inform the statutory advice the Sub-National Transport Body (STB) provides to Government.
The Updates Focus On Needs Of Residents And Businesses
Chief Executive of Transport for the North, Martin Tugwell, said: “In 2019 we published our Strategic Transport Plan: this sets out an ambitious vision for the North of England, one where modern transport connections enable sustainable economic growth and support an excellent quality of life.
“As we embark on creating a revised Strategic Transport Plan it’s important that we take into account the challenges and opportunities around decarbonisation, changes in travel behaviours post-pandemic, and the emergence of new technologies.
Developing these and other policy positions, will help us ensure that the revised Strategic Transport Plan remains in-step with the needs and ambitions of the North of England’s residents and businesses.
Improvements Will Be Seen To Northern Rural Mobility
On rural mobility, the policy position sets out how TfN’s work can help support its partners as they seek to address the impact of the cost of public transport, car dependency, and limited service.
Four key roles are outlined for TfN in the rural mobility document, they are the following:
- Develop the rural evidence base and enhance TfN’s modelling capabilities to better reflect the rural need.
- Assist partners to identify the most appropriate solutions by collating a library of case studies that can be used to support scheme development and innovative ideas.
- Collaborate with other STBs – sharing knowledge and learning with the STB networks nationally to identify best practices and understand place-based solutions.
- Utilise TfN’s Monitoring and Evaluation Framework to monitor improvements in pan-Northern rural mobility.
Working Collaboratively Will Enable Holistic View
On spatial planning, the policy positions highlight the importance of TfN working with its members and partners in a collaborative approach that shares insights and experiences, enabling its members to take a holistic view to plan for transport, housing, and commercial needs.
One of the key roles for TfN when it comes to this is early engagement with partners in their development of spatial plans and working to support the identification of strategic infrastructure options.
Making TfN’s evidence base available is essential to enable a consistent baseline and approach when analysing the likely relationship between proposed developments and TfN’s strategic transport vision for the north. TfN’s Transport Decarbonisation trajectories, Northern Evidence Hub and technical analysis and modelling capabilities are included in this.
Another key focus is working collaboratively to support partners as they prepare effective policies and proposals that are sustainable, practical, and well-designed.
The updates to the Strategic Transport Plan will support connectivity and economic growth for the North of England by supporting residents and businesses.