Transport East welcomes Government strategy to boost rural mobility
Transport East welcomes the launch and findings of the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Future of Transport: Rural Strategy.
Within the strategy, the DfT has made a pledge to work with Transport East as the STB Centre of Excellence for rural mobility. The work will identify opportunities to deploy some of the initiatives outlined in the strategy, including technologies and innovations emerging from the transport sector, and how rural areas might benefit from their introduction.
Transport East will continue to work with local authorities, the private sector and academia to identify and support the delivery of future innovations that help tackle common rural mobility issues. This includes as high level of car dependency and limited public transport options.
The strategy recommends the need for new models of working, providing better data and analysis and encouraging the private sector to roll out new innovation to improve connectivity for rural communities.
Andrew Summers, Chief Executive of Transport East, said: “The Future of Transport: Rural Strategy further illustrates the importance of ensuring people and businesses in rural communities receive the investment and infrastructure needed to thrive. I welcome the pledge from the DfT to work with Transport East to identify and deploy rural mobility solutions, helping to level up rural communities across England.
“Within the East, one in three people live in a rural area. Transport East has proved its commitment to improving rural mobility through our stakeholder engagement and making the case for investment by providing transport officers with tools and evidence to support decision making and funding bids.
“Whether that’s investigating the benefits of implementing demand responsive transport or ensuring rural areas receive public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, we will keep pushing for innovative solutions and opportunities for rural mobility.”
Further information
The full name of the DfT strategy is Future of Transport: Helping local authorities to unlock the benefits of technology & innovation in rural transport and is available here. The pledge to work with Transport East is on p56.
Learn more about Transport East’s role as STB lead in rural mobility and the centre of excellence here.