INSIGHTS: Taking on board the INTS

Earlier this year, many of us were in the midst of responding to the DfT on the development of an Integrated National Transport Strategy (INTS). As we now await the outcome, alongside the CSR and strategies for industry and infrastructure, at Midlands Connect we have begun to think about how this new policy framework will shape our future priorities and transport corridors.

As we highlighted in our response to the INTS, there are some common themes that will be at the heart of this work: 

• The user must be at the heart of an integrated system. Most people don’t think about the intricacies of transport regularly; however, they do want to know that they can reliably get to work, appointments or wherever else on time, affordably and with minimal fuss.
• It needs to support the vision that key stakeholders have for a ‘place.’ We always talk about transport being the enabler of other goals. As we move to a world with greater devolution and more local decision-making alongside national policies for industry and infrastructure, we have greater opportunity to cut across silos and work towards an integrated system.
• Freight needs to be built into our planning. It’s often in the ‘too difficult box’ but its efficient functioning, and decarbonisation in the longer term, is integral to our economy and the way we now lead our lives.

What underpins some of this are also more challenging questions about how we prioritise who uses the network and how we manage demand for it, especially as we know that we can’t build our way to a bigger network. Even if financial budgets were to allow it, which of course they don’t now, our carbon budgets won’t. In the Midlands Connect response we have urged that the strategy places a “vision led” or “decide and provide” approach within it, so we can have a transport network that works for all and decides how the network will allow us to reach the wider outcomes that we want to set for places in the Midlands and beyond.

Talking about prioritising who uses the network, and how we achieve this is always going to be difficult. Those working in transport planning want to ensure that choice remains at the heart of the system, but understanding how we maintain and make the most of the infrastructure we already have has to be central to how we plan for an integrated transport network, nationally, regionally and locally. 

At Midlands Connect, we’re looking forward to the publication of the various consultations we’ve fed into in recent months and the direction it sets for our next regional strategy. We’ll be using the evidence base we’ve been drawing together for freight and passenger movements and the current position of the strategic transport network to support this work. We look forward to working with partners and others to discuss some key questions that are at the heart of forming an integrated transport network.  

Jason Copper is Strategy Sponsor at Midlands Connect and Alexandra Dodds is Policy Lead.