Inventing our future Collective action for a sustainable economy

What do we
need to change?
Transport
77
Priority 1:
Creating a resilient transport system that is used effectively
and efficiently
It is possible to greatly increase the effectiveness of the existing transport
system by concentrating on measures, on both the demand and supply
side, that can lead to significant benefits at relatively low cost in short
timescales. These will reduce congestion and increase network resilience,
providing shorter and more reliable journey times.
On the demand side, it is critically important to introduce interventions
that aim to bring about behavioural change in travelling habits in the
region. In particular, we must reduce the need to travel where we can and
reduce reliance on road-based private transport. The region needs to
make best use of the wide range of hard and soft demand management
techniques available, including digital technology and employer travel
planning, to encourage behavioural change in business and personal
travel. Furthermore, land-use planning decisions should be more ambitious
in achieving sustainable travel objectives, and ensure that they contribute
to effective operation of the local and strategic regional transport networks.
On the supply side, the region needs to deliver local solutions to small-scale
bottlenecks or constraints on the existing transport network, in both rural
and urban areas. Such solutions can offer a cost-effective means of
reducing congestion at key pinchpoints.
Priority 2:
Investing in transport to maximise economic growth
In addition to making the best use of the existing network and
encouraging sustainable travel behaviour, new investment is required to
enable the region’s transport system to support the planned increase in
population, housing, employment and economic growth over the period
to 2031. A significant funding deficit is restricting development of the
region’s transport infrastructure to the standard required to compete with
other comparator international regions.
A number of major transport schemes are expected to be completed in
the lifetime of this strategy. These include Crossrail, Thameslink, the first
stage of rail improvements to the Felixstowe-Nuneaton line and several
regional transport schemes. However, the region needs long-term,
sustained investment in the key strategic economic corridors.
These include:
• Felixstowe-Ipswich-Cambridge-Huntingdon-Kettering/Nuneaton
(the A14 and Felixstowe-Nuneaton rail corridor)
• London-Basildon-Southend (A127, A13, London Tilbury and Southend
rail route)
• London-Stansted-Cambridge (M11, West Anglia main line)
• London-Chelmsford-Colchester-Ipswich-Norwich (A12, Great Eastern
main line)
• Cambridge-Norwich (A11, parallel rail route)
• London-Luton-Milton Keynes (M1, A5, rail corridor)
• Luton-Bedford (A5, Midland main line, Thameslink)
• Stansted-Colchester-Harwich (A120)
• London orbital (M25, A414, London Arc links)
• Cambridge-Bedford/Milton Keynes (A428/A421 corridor)
• London-Peterborough (A1, East Coast main line corridor)
• Peterborough-Norwich-Great Yarmouth/Lowestoft corridor (A47 and rail).