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Urban Mobility Partnership calls for long-term funding for the creation of new transport systems

Posted: 15 October 2021 | | No comments yet

The Urban Mobility Partnership is calling on the UK government to provide funding that would support a shift towards multimodal, sustainable travel.

Urban Mobility Partnership calls for funding for new transport systems

The Urban Mobility Partnership (UMP) has called upon the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, to provide clear long-term funding to create new transport systems, with a significant focus on driving the public away from private car usage and towards multimodal, sustainable travel.

The UMP is calling on the UK government for:

  • £90 million in government funding to incentivise local authorities to make transport policy decisions and provide investment into Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) solutions, including the development and delivery of trials
  • £100 million in government funding to expand the mobility credits scheme, which would allow consumers who are unable to upgrade their vehicle to still be able to move away from older, more polluting vehicles to sustainable modes of transport
  • The UK government to allow businesses to provide employees with tax-free mobility credits for their travel to and from work.

The UMP’s submission focuses on policies which are accessible, reach beyond the metropole and support multimodal transport. These proposed policies are aligned to the UK government’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan and will support overall ambitions to change the way that people move around, shifting away from private vehicle usage and towards public, shared and active travel. These proposals also target some of the major barriers to greener transport, including accessibility and the use of grey fleet. 

James Lancaster, Chair of the Urban Mobility Partnership, said: “Our proposals for the Comprehensive Spending Review reflect our aims and the government’s, to encourage more people to shift to a sustainable, multimodal travel system. In order to achieve the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, the UK government must fully commit to supporting policies that can drive behaviour change and incentivise consumers to shift away from private vehicle use. As we recover from COVID-19, now is the opportune moment to not just go back to our old ways of moving around but to encourage people to move away from the most polluting forms of transport and into public transport and shared mobility solutions. We encourage the Chancellor to provide the funding required to deliver the ambitious strategies that the Department for Transport has published over the last 12 months – including the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, the Bus Back Better Strategy and the Cycling and Walking Strategy – and ensure that local authorities and industry are able to develop the multimodal transport systems of the future.”

James Lancaster, Chair of the Urban Mobility Partnership, will be speaking at Transport Innovation Summit 2021 (15-19 November) about the way that the public and private sectors are coming together to collaborate on new mobility services and establish new, sustainable business models to support the future or urban mobility.

Interested in hearing him speak? Find out more here.