The Urban Mobility Partnership (UMP), a coalition of sustainable transport providers, has called on the chancellor to provide clear long-term funding to create new transport systems, with a focus on driving the public away from private car usage.
UMP’s budget submission has called for £90m government funding to incentivise local authorities to make transport policy decisions and provide investment into Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) solutions, including the development and delivery of trials.
It would also like to see £100m allocated to the expansion of mobility credits schemes. This 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.
Furthermore, UMP is urging the government to allow businesses to provide employees with tax free mobility credits for travel to and from work.
UMP said its 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.
UMP also look to target some of the major barriers to greener transport, including accessibility and the use of grey fleet – the use of personal vehicles for business purposes.
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.”
