Transport back in the spotlight

Sep 3 2008 by Richard Bottomley for The Journal

THIS week sees the start of a new school year – something I’m sure I don’t need to remind anyone who has driven to work this morning.

After six weeks of smooth, unhindered journeys, the arrival of September brings back all that missing traffic to the roads, whether it’s parents doing the school run, or just going back to the office after time off with the children.

And so it also brings back our painful awareness of the inadequacy of transport infrastructure in certain parts of our region.

That’s something that businesses, politicians and officials alike will need to grapple with over the next few months, following the Government’s announcement during the summer of a new round of Regional Funding Advice. This is a system by which the North East is given a transport budget for the next decade and asked for its opinion on how the Government should use it.

Some hard-headed decisions therefore have to be made. It’s easy for us all to focus on the journeys we make every day – or in politicians’ case, the journeys our voters make – and immediately place these at the top of our priorities.

But that’s a recipe for spreading a thin layer of money right across the region and barely making a difference anywhere.

Instead, we need to work out which improvements will have the biggest economic impact.

Will a better road open the way for extra business developments, attracting new companies and jobs to the region? Will an extra bus route give more people access to existing job opportunities, opening up an extra pool of skilled workers for North East businesses? Will a new transport interchange attract more people into a city, increasing the opportunities for retailers?

These are the questions we need to find solid answers to – not simple sentiment based on which are the most convenient or politically acceptable.

But there are some things this process will not be able to change. Some are too big – fixing the Western bypass, for example, is way beyond the scope of this budget and requires decisive action from central Government, similar to that it has already taken on Metro reinvigoration. The recent Multi-Area Agreement in Tyne and Wear should bring that a step closer, but continued pressure will be required.

Others need more than money alone. NECC is committed to the Work Wise North East campaign, which requires an attitude shift from us all to think how we can maintain or even increase productivity without driving to and from the office in rush hour each day.

Our local authorities could make a huge difference to that by being a bit more creative with school start times. By this time next year the first week of September need not be quite so painful.

Richard Bottomley is president of the North East Chamber of Commerce.