Efforts to ‘build back better’ from the Covid pandemic should not seek to limit mobility but rather focus on helping people to make better informed decisions about more sustainable ways to travel, a panel discussion heard yesterday.
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The discussion took place as part of the Traffex event and saw panellists asked whether emphasis after Coronavirus restrictions lift should be on reducing the need to travel or making the way in which people undertake journeys more sustainable.
Midlands Connect chief executive Maria Machancoses said: “I really fight back when people say we will not need to travel as much.
“Let’s not restrict mobility,” she continued. “Let’s maximise the opportunity to help people make informed decisions about how they travel and give them as many options as possible. We must not limit the ability for people to interact with each other.”
WSP head of future mobility Giles Perkins described himself as a “firm advocate” for greater blended working in the future between home and office, but urged: “We must not forget that as humans we are very social animals; we like to see new places and have experiences.”
He added that travel should be looked at through a “greener lens” with people encouraged to think more about using the “right mode for the right journey at the right time”, and reduce reliance on single occupancy vehicles.
The conversation also heard about a need to revisit the case for building projects and programmes drawn up prior to the pandemic. Giles Perkins said: “We need to ask serious questions about whether those schemes are relevant for what we are going to be experiencing in the future.”
For example, he suggested a number of road schemes may no longer be appropriate in light of climate ambitions. “Let’s take a quarter of a step back, look at our infrastructure programmes and ask how else could we get the same outcomes.”
Highways England’s director of complex infrastructure Chris Taylor said he believes roads to be “part of the solution, not part of the problem” to building back greener. “Yes we need to understand what the bigger picture looks like post-Covid,” he said. “But let’s not lose heart and let’s not stop making sensible investments and improvements to strategic infrastructure.”
The discussion also heard that new talent will need to be brought into the sector to address the carbon and digital agendas. “I think it’s a phenomenally exciting sector to be involved with but we need to sell that story and make ourselves attractive to a much broader range of people,” said Chris.
Funding was also discussed, with Maria Machancoses emphasising that a ‘stop-start’ approach to investment will not allow proper planning.
Future Highways Research Group director Simon Wilson added: “We are finding it difficult to believe that post-pandemic there will not be some constraints on future spending. Being capable of finding alternative revenue sources through addressing the climate emergency might be a really good idea,” he added. “We need to explore that moving forward.”
The discussion was chaired by Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport president Paula Hewitt.
(Photograph: Transport for London)
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