Rural Transport Priorities for New Labour Govt

Kier Starmer walks into 10 Downing Street today having overwhelmingly secured a mandate from UK voters for "change". However, when he sits down at his desk for the first time and looks at his bulging in-tray, he may be forgiven for curling up into the fetal position and wishing he was somewhere far, far away.

However, as our new Prime Minister, Sir Kier has accepted the responsibility of working with his Government to improve the lifes of the ten of milliions of people who have seen its quality deteriorate since the Great Recession in 2008. Overall, we are poorer, less healthy (physically and mentally) and less hopeful about the future. Without hope, the levels of apathy and cynicism towards government and big business will continue to increase.

Declines in the the quality of public transport services and infrastructure is one of the reasons why the general public are feeling poorer and disinfranchised. Transport poverty bleeds into everyday lived experiences. It marginilises those who don't have access to a car due to financial or health reasons, disconnecting them from employment opportunities and social connections. It contributes to poor health.

When our transport infrastructure crumbles, when trains, buses and ferries are cancelled (at short notice), and when our roads are congested and too dangerous to cycle on, the net result is lower economic productivity. The Labour Government will be offered many prescriptions to boost productivity. It would be well advised to prioritise fixing our broken transport systems.

Broken transport systems are experienced by members of urban and rural communities. As a champion for improving rural and island transport services, I would urge Sir Kier to remember that there are many rural constituencies around the UK who didn't vote for Labour because they don't believe that Labour really gets rural.

Just look at the new electoral map and you'll quickly see large clusters of blue (Tory) or Orange (Lib Dem), or even Aqua (Reform) in predominantly rural areas. In spite of the numorous failings of the Tory party, voters in these areas trust them more than Labour.

While Labour may not get rural now,, they'll need to get up to speed very quickly. Here are a couple of reasons why this is a "must do", not a "nice to do".

First off, rural contributes approx.15% (￡253 Billion) to total UK GDP. This contribution doesn't materialise by magic. It depends on a transport system that enables people and goods to move efficiently from point A to point B.

Secondly, the people who live in rural communities are on average older than their urban counterparts. This may explain why many of these areas chose to stick with the Tory party. The more older people we have living in rural communities, the more support they will need as they lose the ability to live independently. This necessitates that transport services are available when they need them so they can get to doctors appointments or social events. Without them, healthcare costs increase further as their mental and physical health declines.

If Sir Keir was smart, and playing the long game (beyond this Parliament), I recommend that he encourages, indeed mandates that his MPs and Local Councillers spend more time listening to the people living in rural communities. This includes constituencies represented by MPs from other parties. Show that you are genuinely interested in the everyday issues of these people.

So far, I've taken a fairly high level view of the rural transport agenda that the Govt is confronted with. Now, let's get more specific.

• Buses - One of the bright ideas that the Tory Govt implemented was the ￡2 cap on bus journeys in England. North of the border, the SNP introduced free bus travel for under 22's. Both are moves in the right direction but they don't go far enough, particularly for residents of rural communities. Capped or free bus travel is only of value if there are buses available when you need them. Try to travel to or from many rural communities by bus outside of a small window of hours during the week or at the weekend, and you'll be disappointed. in 2024, this is unacceptable for the reasons outlined above. Every rural community should have a guaranteed level of service. How this is achieved is for another day. Options are available. The point is that the investment in introducing a guaranteed service level will pay itself back in the long run because it will reduce healthcare costs, improve productivity and reduce emissions.
• Cars Part 1 - The current direction of travel is towards a future where there are the same if not more cars on our roads. Our appetite to drive remains strong even if it's just to pop a mile along the road to the supermarket. Of course, if you live in a rural community and had an ambition to leave your car at home and take a bus or walk/cycle to the supermarket., this is a non starter because it's not within easy reach by either forms of these more sustainable modes of transport. The car wins every time and will continue to do so unless better, more convinient and affordanble alternatives are available. From a policy perspective, the Labour Govt should recognise the reasons why levels of car dependency are so high in rural communities, and deliver interventions that reduce the financial premium that comes with owning a car and livng in a rural community.
• Cars Part 2 - By the end of the new Parliament, 2028 or 2029., the expectation is that a significant % of the cars on our roads will be battery electric or hybrid electric. Sales of EVs have plateaued over the last 12 months as the transition is made from early adopters to the market. Time will tell whether the cost of EVs drops quickly enough to see the next burst of new and 2nd hand sales. How many of these sales will be to people living in or regularly visiting rural communities rests on the availability of good quality public charging infrastructure. Yes, many rural properties have the benefit of off-road parking but it's far from universal. Using Moray in North East Scotland as an example, Moray Council estimate that 32% of all proprties in the area don;'t have off-street parking and wouldn't be able to (easily or affordably) install a home charger.

This is a picture that will be mirrored in many other rural areas across the UK. Assuming the Labour Govt plans to follow it's predecessor, and continue to invest in acclerating the roll out of charging infrastructure, it must avoid the mistakes made with 4G and 5G mast roll outs where rural communities (especially remote) ones were left right at the back of the queue. Where owning a car is a necessity not a luxuary, and when the ambition is to transition to a low/zero carbon transport sector, the opportunity to own an EV shouldn't be out of reach just because you live in a rural community.

• Active Travel - Let's be honest, you need to be a pretty confident to walk or cycle on rural roads. Over the last couple of months with support from other members of the team at Scottish Rural and Islands Transport Community , we've completed a comprehensive review of 80+ publications that either exclusively or in-part include content related to transport plans and policies. These publications originate at a national, regional and local levels across Scotland. One insight that stands out like a sore thumb is the desire at all 3 levels to increase levels of active travel because the health as well as environmental benefits are clear. However, at a local/community level, the barrier to participation is a poverty of infrastructure. Govts can bang out about getting more people out of cars and onto bikes but until the infrastructure arrives, it's not going to happen. Investing in infrastructure means not only off-road paths or on-road segregation but also more spaces on trains and more racks on buses for bikes, and more vehicles equipped for wheelchair users. Again, while the money needed to deliver these improvements isn't trivial, the long-term upsides are considerable. Healthier and happier communities that are more productive.
• Ferries - Last but not least ferries. Sure, they are not used as much as cars, buses and trains but they are a lifeline service to islanders. Moreover, they are very close to my heart as I grew up on and island which is still home to my elderly parents, brother and other close relatives. If you live outside of Scotland, you likely hear much less about the failing ferry network. Most of the failing has happened under the SNP controlled Govt in Scotland. I could write a book about all of these failings as there are many stories to be told. The bottom line is that the SNP have made a pigs ear of replacing the ageing fleet of ferries that operate on the West Coast network. The result is that these elderly ferries that should have been retired years ago are frequently breaking down. The knock on effects being felt by not just anyone who is trying to travel to and from the island but the general taxpayer because it's costing millions of ￡ to source spare parts and repair these ferries. Moreover, and compounding matters, 2 new ferries that were commissioned in 2016 to serve one of the busiest routes (Ardrossan to Arran) are still docked in the shipyard, over 6 years late, and costing over 3 times the original budget. As transport is devolved to the SNP Scottish Govt, there is a limited amount that the new Westminster one can do to address these matters. However, Labour do now have a much stronger position to work from in Scotland so I hope that as a priority, they pressure the SNP to really up their game when it comes to the management of these ferry services which are all tax payer funded and publically operated.

Right that my starter for six. My expectations for the new Govt aren't particuarly high. They have a long, tough road ahead, and many battles to fight. I dare say that fixing rural transport sits well down Sir Kier's in-tray. Nonetheless, as I've tried to outline above, there are goods reasons why his team (including the new Transport Minister) should make sure that it gets pushed further up his priority list.

Feel free to add your own perspectives as with this new dawn breaking, I'm keen to learn about what you think the rural transport priorities shoud be.