Ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget on 30 October, ITS UK has published its submission, with five key priorities for the industry.

The document, submitted to HM Treasury yesterday on 10 September calls for Government to:

1. Deliver a roadmap to the introduction of mobility pricing, that incentivises the fairer and sustainable use of the transport network.
2. Leverage technology to achieve the UK’s ambitions for the Strategic Road Network, through the maintenance and the renewal of current technology, alongside the introduction of new solutions.
3. Support Demand Responsive Transport by putting it on an independent regulatory footing with equivalent VAT treatment to other modes of public transport.
4. Provide a different approach to the procurement of transport technology that supports funding for operational expenditure for local authorities.
5. Support a strategic approach to the integration of transport, both through support for mobility as a service and smart ticketing technologies.

Max Sugarman, Chief Executive of ITS UK, said: “The upcoming Autumn Budget will be a critical moment for the UK’s transport ambitions. Technology has a key role to play in enabling the safer, greener and more efficient movement of people and goods, but it needs support from Government in order to deliver.

“In our Autumn Budget Submission, ITS UK calls for changes that will support a growing, high-tech industry, as well as our vital transport system. We’re calling for a national mobility pricing scheme; placing Demand Responsive Transport services on an independent regulatory footing; investment in technology on the Strategic Road Network; support for local authorities in procuring technology services; and backing an integrated transport system that utilises smart ticketing and mobility as a service.

“We believe that through these changes, the Chancellor can achieve her goal of delivering economic growth in all corners of the country, by backing a key sector for the UK.”