So you want to change the world?
My presentation (PPT and notes) to the Urban Transport Group leadership programme session on influencing in April 2023
Leadership and strategy
Wales is providing real leadership on transport for their best of the UK. From pulling the plug on most of its road building programme to getting behind 20 mph zones. And from transforming the nation’s rail network to bringing its buses back under public control. I’m delighted that I will be playing my part as […]
Why car-free leisure travel is the ultimate Good Journey
Is this the ultimate no brainer? Everyone agrees that leisure traffic is the growth market for public transport. So, how about the public transport sector works with visitor attractions to promote car-free travel? How hard can it be? Not so hard now we have the well-established non-profit company Good Journey to bridge the gap between the sectors. […]
The changing face of rail
Sam Sherwood-Hale, Editor of Rail Professional magazine, spoke to Jonathan Bray, outgoing Director at the Urban Transport Group, about how rail transport has changed throughout his career, the nature of public vs. private, and some of the issues that rail reform will encounter. Sam Sherwood-Hale: You joined the Urban Transport Group 20 years ago, when it was […]
Chisinau – ash grey days in a Mercedes Benz
‘Chained to the centre of the cross, at the meeting point of the mad ambitions of the East and West…an empty space geometrically defined, but with its meaning never clarified’ ‘The protagonist of the future should lose the narcissistic demeanours that ultimately lead to a lethargic state of being, a primordial, passive state. Instead of […]
Everything’s going yellow
There was something different about this normally routine journey from Liverpool Central to Kirkby. Not just that it was a new train (the first of the new generation) but the way people were reacting to it. There was genuine excitement from some of the regular passengers. And the staff looked pretty pleased too – chatting […]
A breakthrough that has taken 20 years
As the clock winds down to zero on my time at Urban Transport Group I thought I’d look back at the people and trends that have made the biggest difference to urban transport in the 20 years I’ve been at UTG and its predecessor body, pteg. On the people who made the biggest difference, I’m […]
Making progressive change happen
Stopping a roads programme I was one of the founders and coordinators of ALARM UK – a successful national coalition of anti-road protest groups in the 1990s. Here’s an extract from ‘Road Block – how people power is wrecking the roads programme’ which told the story of the campaign. The full text of the booklet can […]
Effective urban transport governance
This report sets out the many benefits of metropolitan areas establishing empowered transport authorities and provides a guide to the issues and options for those areas who are considering setting one up. Written by Urban Transport Group Director, Jonathan Bray for the global public transport body, UITP, the report shows how transport authorities have been able […]
If you come at King Car, you better not miss
On 8th September 2000, the Stanlow Refinery in Cheshire was blockaded by Farmers for Action protesting about the cost of fuel. Two days later, fuel protesters were on site seeking to shut down six of the countries’ nine oil refineries and four oil distribution terminals triggering panic buying. Just six days after the protests began, […]