The government should be proactively encouraging increased use of public transport and Businesses should undertake regular reviews into their workforce travel patterns, eventually making it common practice.

Those are just two of the recommendations from a report that looks at building back better on public transport from the CBI and KPMG.

How people get to and from their workplace has undergone a radical shift in light of the global pandemic, presenting policymakers with a perfect opportunity to provide greener, more affordable and more flexible public transport solutions in the future the report says.

Presently, public transport operators remain under huge strain as passenger numbers remain low across UK-wide networks. As more employees return, new CBI research suggests that ensuring adherence to government guidance including social distancing and mandatory use of face coverings is essential if people are to travel with confidence.

In addition, Government will need to intervene further to ensure public transport services remain viable over the next year while demand is constrained, working with operators to transform services for a new normal beyond 2021.

The crisis has also presented opportunities to embed greater flexibility and sustainability through public transport networks, improving experiences for commuters now and over time.

Sharing and enhancing data flows about public transport use between operators, businesses and consumers, and accelerating the roll-out of “tap in and tap out” style ticketing are important steps to innovating our way back from this crisis.

The report recommends that for the railways this should include extending and revising the Emergency Measures Agreements for rail services for a further 18 months.

The agreements should incentivise efficient service delivery by the private sector and promote greater collaboration between Network Rail and Train Operating Companies.

For bus operators, a carefully targeted approach should be taken to support, providing operators with the stability they need to provide services notwithstanding slow recovery in demand.

As a starting point, government should create a one-off fund of £90 million to support the roll-out of high capacity digital ticketing systems on rail services. This should come alongside the roll-out of “tap in and tap out” style “multi-modal” fare options across the UK.

Local authorities should work closely with Local Enterprise Partnerships to plan the allocation of new active travel infrastructure, such as walking and cycling, in a way that will see the greatest uptake by commuters and support public transport networks.

Government should scale up investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure in those localities where the market will not deliver and introduce a ‘net-zero mobility credit’ scheme to incentivise the switch to low emission transport, including zero-emission vehicles.

Launching the report, Tom Thackray, CBI Director of Infrastructure, said:

“As lockdown conditions ease and more of the economy reopens, public transport networks will need to adapt to new travel patterns, starting with putting people’s safety first to rebuild public confidence.

“Beyond the crisis people will want to work more flexibly, using public transport that is more responsive, reliable and sustainable. Services must be transformed to meet this need.

“Investment must focus on better passenger experiences and improving local accountability will be critical to providing greener and more flexible public transport solutions that will stand the test of time and contribute to the UK’s Net Zero goals.”

Ed Thomas, Head of Transport at KPMG UK, said:

“The return to a “new normal” in the wake of COVID-19 is likely to be gradual. However, in the long term, transport infrastructure will continue to be integral to the UK’s economic performance. In building back from the crisis. Government should work with operators to address issues around reliability, efficiency and the passenger experience that were evident before the crisis. Investment should be accelerated to support the recovery, but it should also be re-prioritised both to reflect the likely shift in commuting patterns and to support long term sustainability goals.”

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