6 minute read
Planning and land use for better public transport
Caitlin Rollison, from UK urban policy research unit, Centre for Cities, draws upon recent research on public transport in Europe, to look at the critical relationship between land use and transport planning.
Passenger levels on public transport are yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, but public transport was in decline long before the pandemic hit, with bus trips 26% lower and 200 million fewer rail trips made than in 2013/14. Even more concerning is that this decline started from a low baseline –ridership in the UK is already low compared to Europe.
Low and declining public transport ridership should be high on the government’s priority list because transport isn’t just about getting from A to B – it matters for productivity, environment and public health, to name a few. This is particularly true for cities, where relying on private transport has significant negative impacts on the built environment, air quality and travel times. Focusing on urban areas, this article explores why transport in the UK cities has failed to keep up with European counterparts, and why planning and land use are key to getting back on track.
Why public transport matters
Politicians of all persuasions should care about reversing this decline and aim to increase ridership to European levels, because effective public transport underpins a range of other policy areas – we’ll look at three of these here:
1. Transport and the economy
Transport connects people to jobs and education and increases the pool of skilled workers available to businesses. This function is particularly important in cities – estimates suggest that if public transport usage in UK cities was similar to Europe, this would result in productivity improvements of around £23.1 billion each year.
2. Transport and the environment
Nationally, the transport sector accounts for more than a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, and nearly a third of nitrous oxide emissions.
Shifting from private car travel to public and active transport will therefore be crucial if the UK is to make progress on net zero and local air quality targets.
3. Transport and public health
Having fewer cars on the roads has two main impacts on health. Firstly, policies like the congestion charge in London and LEZ in Glasgow show that reducing the number of cars on the road can quickly improve air quality. Secondly, encouraging active travel, including in combination with public transport, brings public health benefits through improved fitness and wellbeing and lower obesity. Western countries with the highest levels of active travel generally have the lowest obesity rates, and evidence suggests that switching to active travel for short motor vehicle trips could save £17 billion in NHS costs over a 20-year period.
Where we’re going wrong
As shown in Figure 1, large UK cities have lower shares of travel by public transport than their European peers. This is despite networks in cities such as Birmingham and Glasgow being either the same size or larger than European cities.
This is because it isn’t just network size that matters, but the number of people that live within easy access of the network. UK cities are less dense than their European peers, meaning fewer people live within reasonable commuting times to the centre. As shown in Figure 2 (page 65), more people can travel to central Milan in 30 minutes than central Manchester as the former has higher density. Lower density also means cities need geographically larger networks to reach the same number of people, making it more expensive to build and run the network. This can be seen in Figure 3 (page 65), which shows areas within 30 minutes of the city centre for Birmingham and Lyon.
This lower density means that transport operators and local authorities in the UK face an uphill struggle, with fewer potential users within easy access of the network, longer journey times, and sprawling, inefficient networks. On top of this, they now face reduced demand due to changing working patterns, the cost-of-living crisis and funding cuts.
The result: a vicious circle of declining service levels, lower patronage, and lower revenue.
Planning for better transport
From fare caps and smart cards to congestion charging, there are plenty of policy levers available to encourage people out of their cars and onto public transport. But, as shown above, the success of these policies and viability of networks is held back by the less dense form of UK cities. To improve public transport and reap the benefits for productivity, health and environment, UK cities need to bring planning and transport together.
London is the only city in the UK that has levels of public transport usage comparable with European counterparts. This is no accident – London’s density levels are closer to cities like Munich and Lyon, and it actively pursues densification.
The London Plan, for example, uses public transport accessibility levels to focus development on areas with good transport connectivity. And Transport for London and Network Rail plan to build an additional 20,000 homes around stations over the next decade, and to bring 99 per cent of the population within 600m of a bus stop.
Densification policies like this don’t just make public transport more accessible and efficient; they can also be used to generate revenue to fund further improvements.
London can effectively implement this kind of strategic plan due to its local government structure and the Mayor’s ability to make both planning and transport decisions. Not all cities in the UK have this advantage, but increasing devolution to combined authorities means the benefits of London-style strategic planning is now an option in more and more places. Cities can also make use of Local Development Orders to densify around transport stops, and this will be further supported by the planning reforms included in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act.
Conclusion
London proves that cities in the UK can sustain an efficient and well-used public transport system comparable to that of European cities. By planning for density and thinking about development and transport together, other UK cities can set their transport networks up for success. And this won’t just support public transport; by encouraging densification, cities can reap additional benefits for their economies, environment and public health.
Caitlin Rollison is External Affairs Manager at Centre for Cities, a non-partisan think tank dedicated to improving the economies of UK cities.
