Sue Percy CBE, Chief Executive, CIHT said:

“CIHT has identified 5 key priorities for the upcoming 2020 Spending Review. Transportation is critical to economic performance and productivity and addresses many of the government’s key policy areas including carbon reduction, health, and inclusion. In making these recommendations, CIHT is also highlighting that we want to work with government to deliver on these key areas.”

The 5 recommendations are:

1) Refocussing transport to become the enabler to achieve net zero

CIHT calls for the government to develop guidance for how planning and transport should be integrated to achieve sustainable outcomes. This includes realising the opportunity to embed active travel and accelerating carbon reduction with innovative policies. If changes are not made to this area the cost from poor health, climate change and congestion will continue to rise.

2) Levelling up: empowering transport to be an enabler for change

CIHT calls for the government to manage the local highway network differently including making changes to transport appraisal, maintaining it at an appropriate level and creating healthier places for people to use.

3) Creating a national transport vision and strategy

The creation of a vision and strategy would give a clear focus for everyone involved in (and dependent upon) transport as to how to plan and invest for the future. Without one there is a real risk of business not investing or investment being wasted in the development of approaches that are not required. This includes integrating planning policy and transport to deliver the outcomes people need at a local and devolved level.

4) Improving skills and capability

CIHT calls for the government to work with CIHT and the wider highways and transportation sector to produce a clear plan for developing the workforce to deliver a National Transport Strategy. This would require companies to invest appropriately and enable the UK to export these skills and capability internationally, increasing opportunities for expansion into the global transport infrastructure market.

5) A long term strategy to improve road safety

CIHT calls for the government to develop a long-term strategy for significantly reducing the number of people killed and injured on our roads. This will require re-introducing casualty reduction targets to drive policy and behaviour change.

A new Future for Transport

Our highways and transportation infrastructure networks play a key role in everybody’s lives not just across the UK but providing key global links. The past six months have highlighted their importance as they have provided the means for most sectors to respond to the challenges posed by the Covid pandemic.

In support of these recommendations, CIHT has developed a more detailed rationale on why they should be introduced and how they can be implemented. Read more here