Northern plans for transport – Transport Focus response
16 January 2018
A 30-year vision for the future of transport in the North has been unveiled today.
Transport for the North has published its draft Strategic Transport Plan for the public to comment on.
David Sidebottom, director of the independent watchdog Transport Focus, said:
“Transport users across the north will be pleased to hear the commitment to keeping them at the heart of plans to develop the transport network. Transport can deliver all kinds of economic and social benefits – but it has to work for the people using it. We look forward to seeing further detail on how Transport for the North will work with transport users to best capture their needs, measure their satisfaction with services provided and then build services that best serve them in the future.”
The watchdog will continue to work with Transport for the North to drive change for transport users. Recent work has included:
- smart ticketing research to shape a pan-northern smart product
- two rail franchises (TransPennine Express and Northern) both have National Rail Passenger Survey targets within them, and we have a dedicated stakeholder manager on the ground working on local issues
- tracking bus and tram passenger satisfaction across all the combined authorities
- we have a presence on local bus partnerships/alliances in Liverpool and West Yorkshire and continue to look for more opportunities to do this
- influencing Highways England and partners with our work on the Strategic Road Network.