ICE supplementary evidence to the Transport Committee on Better Connected

The Transport Committee is examining how government can ensure transport services and networks enable the journeys that people need and want to make in their daily lives.

This supplementary evidence sets out the ICE’s views on Better Connected – the government’s strategy for integrated transport.

It builds on the ICE’s earlier submission to the inquiry on achieving joined-up journeys.

Our supplementary evidence makes the following key points:

• Better Connected sets out helpful guiding principles and priorities for decision-makers, based around people, place and partnership. However, it is a missed opportunity not to have set out clearly the wider overarching outcomes the government wants from the transport system.
• The strategy supports integration by being mode agnostic, emphasising listening to the needs of communities and aligning with the Green Book refresh to promote place-based business cases.
• There are gaps in the strategy including defined climate outcomes, road pricing and metrics for measuring the strategy’s impact on people’s experiences of transport.
• The government must ensure local transport authorities and planning authorities have the capacity, capability and resources needed to needed to implement the priorities Better Connected sets out.