A researcher at the Centre for Cities has concluded that there are lessons for every part of the country in what some cities in Yorkshire are doing with regards to transport – and in some cases still need to do.

Xuanru Lin suggests that transport is the “wiring that keeps urban economies running”, but in many of the UK’s largest cities, that wiring is faulty. 

“Sheffield and Leeds are among the worst connected, with fewer than 40 per cent of residents able to reach the city centre within 30 minutes by public transport, compared with 87 per cent in Marseille, a similarly sized European city.”

In her blog she says:

“With the Government putting devolution at the heart of its plan to ‘rewire the state’, there are lessons for every part of the country in what Yorkshire cities are doing on transport and still need to do.  

“Better integrated transport networks could connect thousands more people to jobs and opportunities, helping to improve living standards overall. Facing similar access issues, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire have been taking steps to remedy them by building locally controlled transport networks.  

In terms of public transport, Ms Lin points to the success of the Bee Network in Manchester, South Yorkshire’s People’s Network and West Yorkshire’s Weaver Network (pictured) as examples of how to make public transport function as a joined-up system. Those schemes are, she says, “designed to bring together buses, rail and active travel under a single public identity, supported by integrated customer information, wayfinding and journey planning. Table 1 summarises their rollout plans and timelines. Public transport integration could help address access issues in city regions, but its impact depends on how competitive it is with driving.”  

In conclusion, Xuanru Lin suggests that the relative ease of driving limits the additional connectivity gains that integration can deliver in South and West Yorkshire.

“South and West Yorkshire have taken an important first step towards ‘rewiring’, but closing the connectivity gap will require more than branding and bus franchising. Mayors will need to use the powers they already have to make better use of limited road space, while central government must ensure after their statement last week that devolution really will allow mayors to rewire buses and local rail.”  

(Picture: WYCA)