The Urban Mobility Partnership (UMP) has called upon the Chancellor 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 multi-modal, sustainable travel.
UMP is calling for:
- £90m Government funding to incentivise local authorities to take transport policy decisions and provide investment into Mobility-as-a-Service solutions, including the development and delivery of trials.
- £100m 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 Government to allow businesses to provide employees with tax free mobility credits for their travel to and from work.
UMP’s submission focuses on policies which are accessible, reach beyond the metropole, and support multi-modal transport. These proposed policies are aligned to the Government’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan and will support overall ambitions to change the way 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, multi-modal travel system.
“In order to achieve the transport decarbonisation plan, the 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 the Department for Transport has published over the last 12-months, including the transport decarbonisation plan, bus back better strategy and the cycling and walking strategy, and ensure that local authorities and industry are able to develop the multi-modal transport systems of the future.”
