Five things I learned for urban transport at Conservative party conference
Grayling’s plan for rail Chris Grayling was expansive in setting out his thoughts on the future for rail at a rail industry fringe… – He previously thought evolution not revolution was right approach for rail but recent events have shown that this isn’t the case. The system is broken and needs fixing. – However the rail review […]
Five things I learned at Labour Party Conference for urban transport
1.About towns For many years the dominant argument has been that all policy focus should be on cities, as they are where the economic action is. Now that hegemony is breaking down. Think tanks like Centre for Towns and Wigan MP, Lisa Nandy, have been challenging the implicit assumption (and were doing so across Labour […]
Civilising the City of London
In his latest article for Passenger Transport Magazine, our Director Jonathan Bray writes how the City of London is one to watch in terms of taming traffic and creating an attractive and enjoyable environment.
Rail review can get rail devolution back on track
At last week’s National Rail Awards, Merseyrail (which is fully devolved to the transport authority Merseytravel) won Passenger Operator of the Year and two others awards, becoming the first single train operator to win three awards at the event. It’s hard to remember now, but before powers over the Merseyrail Electrics network were delegated to […]
Stormy weather looms over transport
In his latest article for Passenger Transport Magazine, Jonathan Bray writes that big shifts are going on – crises for bus and rail, ‘big tech’ reined in and an active travel revolution is underway in Greater Manchester.
What if rail has reached its peak?
In this piece for Rail Review, Urban Transport Group’s Director Jonathan Bray responds to an article on rail passenger demand trends by Matt Lovering, Senior Managing Director at Teneo Consulting. Jonathan argues that rail’s future depends on the wider choices the UK makes on housing and land use. Read ‘What if rail has reached its peak?’ […]
A vision for the future of 'Rail Cities'
In his latest article for Passenger Transport Magazine, Jonathan Bray explains with the crisis on Northern and Thameslink shows how important rail is for cities – and opens up a space for some bigger thinking.
Active travel: solutions for changing cities
Over the last decade promoting active travel has moved from the fringes of urban transport policy to a much more central role in the planning of cities and their transport networks. This is because the promotion of active travel, and the creation of places and streetscapes where people want to walk and cycle, is such […]
Time is right for fresh thinking on future of urban rail
The recent meltdowns on Northern and Thameslink not only left many passengers besides themselves with frustration about not being able to get to work on time – or at all – it also led to a firestorm of criticism and condemnation from politicians and media alike. With the immediate shock of that first Monday morning […]
In the silence of my lonely room
In his latest article for Passenger Transport Magazine, Jonathan Bray asks as the government wants to tackle loneliness, is this the opportunity for public transport to be part of the solution to another problem?