Report demonstrates public support for transformative North East transport policy

Members of the Common Sense Policy Group at Northumbria University have released a new report with Insights North East which presents cutting-edge evidence on regional public opinion on the future of transport policy in the North East.

The report, Delivering regional renewal: public support for bold change in North East transport policy, presents analysis of a survey on transport policy in the run up to the May 2024 North East Mayoral Election which was led by researchers from the Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing. Insights North East (INE) is a collaboration between Newcastle and Northumbria Universities, the NHS and local authorities.

The research used a conjoint survey method. This establishes people’s preferences between various policy features, the trade-offs people are willing to make and the optimal version of a policy. It allowed the research team to uncover underpinning drivers for policy preference among the public.

The results suggest:

• High levels of support for taking transport back into public ownership and control and strong opposition to the current privatised system

• Deep concern about the impacts on health from the current transport system

• Preference for funding reform through wealth, carbon and corporation tax increases

The report found an average level of support for a bold programme of reform of 79 per cent, with justifications for that programme grounded in reducing transport poverty and inequality particularly popular in persuading people to increase their support. Importantly, it suggests that people are particularly concerned about the effect of the transport system on avoidable deaths through congestion and pollution, but don’t tie that to the need for more active travel through cycling, walking and creating bus lanes. The report presents means of bringing those two concerns closer together.

The report is part of the group’s Act Now project aimed at designing public policy to rebuild Britain.

Dr David Littlefair, Deputy Head of the Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing at Northumbria University, said: “This evidence-based research demonstrates the desire of the people of the North East of England for a reliable, cheap, safe and integrated public transport system. This would bring economic, social and environmental benefits to the region. Such a public transport system should be a fundamental right rather than an aspiration of society.”

Publication of the report coincides with an ongoing consultation by the North East Combined Authority on a new transport strategy to deliver a devolved, integrated transport system across the region. 

Chair of the Common Sense Policy Group, Professor Matthew Johnson, explained: “This report ought to give courage to our new North East Combined Authority to deliver real change. Transport was absolutely critical to our region’s historical development and it is just as important to regional renewal now.

“We cannot persist with the same broken system that leaves people who desperately want to do their bit by giving up their cars unable to do so because the lack of services and unreliability of those services mean they cannot guarantee that they will get to work even vaguely on time. I’ve lived in several parts of the world with reliable and affordable transport far in advance of that in our region – the consistent theme in each of those systems was that they were publicly owned, controlled and directed to the economic needs of those societies. We need the common sense courage to act on the evidence, know that there’s public support and deliver the change that the region is crying out for.”

Discover more and read the full report on the Insights North East website: https://insightsnortheast.co.uk/reports-and-resources/delivering-regional-renewal/