Transport User Voice July 2024 – A new deal for passengers and road users?

05 July 2024

Priorities and opportunities

I’m writing this the morning after the General Election. By the time you read it, we will know who the Secretary of State for Transport is and may even be starting to get a feel for how they intend to approach the role.

Apart from a brief stint in a charity, I’ve spent my whole working life in the public sector but never as a civil servant. So, I know how quickly priorities can change – often determined as much by personalities as the party in Government – but I can only imagine the pressure there must be to co-ordinate and brief the new ministers in these first few days.

Whatever happens, the challenges and priorities for passengers will remain the same – whether it’s clear information during disruption or more reliable services. Almost all the people I’ve met since I joined Transport Focus seven months ago understand this, but the reality is that for a range of reasons passengers are often let down, sometimes badly and in ways that are hard to understand.

Our job is to make sure that as the new Government begins its reforms, the voice of passengers is at the heart of them. Opportunities like this don’t come around often.

 

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