Joined-up journeys: achieving and measuring transport integration

Status / emerging findings

• Psychological barriers outweigh physical ones: 42% of people report 'no real choice' in transport despite options existing; cost perception (hidden driving costs vs. visible fares) systematically distorts modal shift
• Fragmented funding by transport mode prevents integrated solutions; local authorities receive siloed DfT grants incompatible with holistic multi-modal delivery residents demand
• Life-course moments (moving house, job change) and price shocks are powerful behaviour-change levers, yet underutilised in transport planning and behaviour-change strategies
• Integrated transport could unlock £17 billion in productivity gains by connecting 1.2 million more people to city centres within 30 minutes, but requires complementary measures (congestion charging, through-ticketing, data-sharing)
• Critical data gaps on harassment, safety, and intersectional impacts (especially women, disabled passengers) mean real barriers to transport use are invisible in cost-benefit models

Why it matters

Transport integration directly affects whether 1.2 million people can access economic opportunity and whether public transport is a realistic choice or aspiration only for the wealthy and able-bodied—but current fragmentation makes it almost impossible to achieve.

Tone arc

Started procedurally focused on measurement and coordination mechanisms; shifted toward critical examination of psychological, financial, and equity barriers once behavioural and equity evidence emerged in later sessions; committee increasingly frustrated by fragmented governance and funding structures blocking obvious solutions.

Key witnesses

Professor Charisma Choudhury (University of Leeds), Professor Greg Marsden (transport modelling, accessibility), Pete Dyson (University of Bath), Chris Hillcoat (KPMG), Grahame Bygrave (Norfolk County Council), Rory Davis (Transport for West Midlands), Lucy Jacques (Kirklees Council), Dan Simpson (Walk Wheel Cycle Trust)