Challenges and Opportunities

1. Challenges Opportunities

2. Approach
"Summarise the top 3 transport challenges and top 3 opportunities forWest
Yorkshire and set out why you think they are the priority for us to consider"
Strategic role ofWestYorkshire Combined Authority in transport
Constructive critique of Transport Strategy 2040
Recurrent patterns are indicative of priorities
Understanding the meta issues better frames practical policymaking

3. Meta Issues
The Local National
Any-which-way-Mobility
Managing Expectations

4. The Local National: Funding Hierarchy
Transport Strategy 2040's Executive Summary says:
Opportunities
Contribution
to Northern
Powerhouse
HS2
…nationally focused
Challenges
Spending balance
across diverse
geography
lack of
network
capacity
commuter
car pollution
…rather local

5. The Local National: Policy Balancing
• Global wealth generation = local job
growth? Ownership trumps work?
• Preston?Todmodern?
Economy
• Clean Air Zones - local dilution of
national edict?Environment
• Places differ - emphasise or normalise?People & Place

6. Aside: PublicTransport Connectivity Index
Ward-level population connected directly by scheduled terrestrial public transport. Connected
population weighted for local service frequency expectation. Averaging is population-weighted.
Great Britain
average = 100 70
115
91
26 36
127
203 51
108
78

7. Versus that predicted by population density
Across Great Britain, public transport connectivity broadly correlates to population density, giving a
linear trendline from which to predict “normal” connectivity for a given density.
+35%
+64%
+90%
-26% 0%
+111%
+194% +38%
+85%
+49%
+ = % actual
connectivity above
predicted connectivity
based on GB trendline

8. The Local National:
Challenge & Opportunity
Transact both up and down the local-
national hierarchy
DfT in disarray + new Northern MPs
need quick local wins

9. Any-which-way-Mobility: Flexibility?
"Should prepare for a more flexible and technology-assisted future…"
…patronage targets for bus, rail, cycle…

10. Any-which-way-Mobility: Flexible and Stable
sense of personal freedom
transport demand becomes more flexible
environment perceived as more complex
fear of unknowable complexity
transport solutions demanded are more stable
stable is inevitably less flexible

11. Any-which-way-Mobility: Policy Risk
counter-
balancing policy
seeks state of
stability polarises debate
to the absolutes
frames humans
in absolute…
not in life
integrated
network
punctuality
binary
public
politics
trust
Google

12. Any-which-way-Mobility:
Challenge & Opportunity
Perpetual rebalancing (without
undermining state authority)
Early, pre-normalisation, stages of
technological change

13. Managing Expectations: Predict and Provide
"Fundamentally, our transport system is under pressure.”
2020s railways = 1990s highways?

14. Managing Expectations: Growth
financial markets, property,
expectations of "better",
transport planner optimism
transport services, engineering,
work, local government finance
virtual
perception
finite reality
InflatingGrounded
Stinger: Regular experience inhibits deception that perception = reality.

15. Managing Expectations:
Challenge & Opportunity
Managing the inflating expectation of
a relatively finite transport system
Climate change "emergency" is
bringing this tension to a head

16. Summary
Issue Challenge Opportunity
The Local
National
Transact both up and down
the local-national hierarchy
DfT in disarray + new
Northern MPs need quick
local wins
Any-which-
way-Mobility
Perpetual rebalancing
(without undermining state
authority)
Early, pre-normalisation,
stages of technological
change
Managing
Expectations
Managing the inflating
expectation of a relatively
finite transport system
Climate change
"emergency" is bringing this
tension to a head