Transport for Quality of Life director Lynn Sloman told a webinar that such hubs “would contribute immeasurably to a 21st Century vision of a connected and convivial” society.

She also called for cycle superhighways to be installed alongside every A and B class road on the approach to major settlements to allow people to use electric bikes to get to work. Personal road mileage must be cut significantly to reduce carbon emissions and public transport services should run from 6am until midnight, seven days a week, Lynn added.

The ‘fireside chat’ webinar on Thursday, titled ‘What have the roads ever done for us, and what would we like them to do from now on?’ also heard from Rees Jeffreys Road Fund trustee Ginny Clarke, who urged professionals in the sector to be more ambitious in how they engineer roads and called for the greater use of innovation, not only to make travel more convenient but to help improve air quality and reduce noise and congestion associated with highways.

Consultant WSP’s head of UK transport Rachel Skinner said the pandemic has offered the transportation sector an “opportunity for a rethink” and said it now has a chance “to get more things right going forwards”. A huge amount can be done, she added, to improve connectivity to help communities left behind, to improve transport in the first and last mile and to better manage the use of kerb space.

Natalie Chapman, the head of urban policy for the Freight Transport Association – soon to be renamed Logistics UK – said that roads are and will continue to be vital to the movement of goods, pointing out that you “cannot have the cafe culture without the coffee beans”. She claimed that freight is too often taken for granted and said the pandemic has “shone a light on how vitally important logistics is to our everyday lives”.

Engineering firm Ricardo’s practice director Sujith Kollamthodi told the event that now might be the time to speed up a transition to new technologies, with more investment in on-street charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. He also suggested that the freight sector could benefit from battery charging depots for trucks or more use of hydrogen to power heavy vehicles.

The fireside chat was hosted by Steve Gooding of the RAC Foundation.

Photograph: Jevanto Productions / Shutterstock