In LTT magazine, LTT912, available for subscribers to access.
Nine months on from the General Election, we are approaching the first electoral test of opinion, and the impending local council and mayoral elections provide a prompt for some of our news coverage as the Prime Minister has been speaking regularly on transport-related policy matters in a bid to shore-up his Party’s support.
We look in detail at his announcements made relating to addressing potholes and supporting motorists, delivering rail investment in The North, the go-ahead for the Lower Thames Crossing,
Other news stories concern open access rail, bus service quality, bus franchising in Wales, regulating e-bikes, electric vehicle charging, barriers to accessibility, and changing travel behaviour. We report an interesting move to clarify supervision of the use of drones for both deliveries and to facilitate what the Government describes as ‘flying taxis’.
Our major contributing columnist in this issue is Professor Stephen Glaister, who looks hard at the Government’s detailed plans for reforming the rail sector. From his special position as a former chair of the Office of Rail and Road, he expresses concern about conflicts in decision making between Government and the new rail delivery body, GBR, and the efficient use of resources and control of costs.
We continue with our Local Transport Today Deep Thinking initiative, with a contribution from Keith Mitchell, urging steps to be taken towards provision of ‘car light’ developments for a new generation of transport users and their housing.
Related to this, we are delighted to announce details of our promised summer event related to new thinking on transport matters — Future 2050: Breaking the Mould of Current Thinking. This will provide a new space for consideration of the landscape for transport amid the social and technological changes over the next 25 years. Taking place on the 10th June in the relaxed environment of Regent’s College, and mixing discussion and social networking, LTT subscribers will have the opportunity for priority booking. We believe this event will provide a special opportunity for those who want to think beyond immediate horizons.
In his Editorial Opinion, Peter Stonham examines what he believes to be an overlooked matter in transport policy and the beneficial deployment of resources — the optimisation of the condition and capacity of existing assets rather than the current emphasis on creating new infrastructure. He looks at the evidence that rates of return from this approach are hugely higher than those for new construction.
To read the new LTT and all the valuable material in it, simply go to lttmagazine.co.uk/edition/. If you are a subscriber, you can log in to read the issue in full and/or print out a copy.
For anyone who is not a subscriber, there is a facility to quickly purchase access for either an individual issue or a monthly or annual subscription to LTT. And you will see that we have brought in attractive new lower prices, as we have promised, to reflect the switch to digital delivery. It is now just £75 to subscribe to LTT for a year as an individual or £7.50 per month.
The next issue will appear on 16 April 2025.
Local Transport Today has been providing a unique service of news, analysis and comment about everything relating to transport at urban, conurbation, rural and regional levels in Britain for over 30 years.
Founded as a magazine in 1989, it quickly became required reading for planners and transport managers in local authorities, transport service providers, consultants and specialist suppliers and all those researching and studying the challenges of providing mobility and accessibility for people and businesses all around the UK.
Over the years, conferences and seminars, online information resources and other networking and knowledge exchange activities - including an annual Local Transport Summit - have been added to the mix.
During the Covid-19 lockdown this year, LTT introduced a regular fortnightly series of online conversations which became must-attend discussions for those tackling the impacts of the pandemic on local transport.
The most recent innovative step has been the switch to digital publication including the LTT digital platform, providing an enhanced reader experience for you in accessing LTT content. This brings together the opportunity to read the complete copy of the magazine digitally - and print it out if required - with the facility to explore its contents as individual items. This platform is designed to suit both desktop and handheld devices. There are also direct links to all featured websites and email addresses mentioned in the magazine.
For those who still want to read the magazine as a paper product, we have designed it in an A4 print-friendly format, ready for you to print at home or in the office. You can print a whole issue or select and print certain pages.
The LTT digital platform includes a paywall — though for existing subscribers this will not affect access. All it requires is to simply log in with an email that is registered with LTT and click on ‘Forgotten?' to receive a new password to access your account.
For anyone who is not a subscriber, there is a facility to quickly purchase access for either an individual issue or a monthly or annual subscription to LTT. And you will see that we have brought in attractive new lower prices, as we have promised, to reflect the switch to digital delivery. It is now just £75 to subscribe to LTT for a year as an individual or £7.50 per month.
This full exceptional collection of material is not available anywhere else and continues the well-established LTT mission to be the only authoritative source for UK local transport professionals and practitioners!
The UK Local Transport Eco-system at a Glance(!)
Transport issues and challenges are now a complex overlapping web of different localities, activities, modes, professional disciplines, technologies and financial and governance models. The LTT team uniquely understand this matrix and how all the different elements fit together.