What future for local transport in an age of rapid change?

Setting an agenda for transport to serve a local or regional area and its economic, social, environmental and community needs has always been a challenge, but now even more so. Do traditional transport planning approaches fit the modern context of politics and public debate, and if not, how should we approach this task? Peter Stonham looks at the issues that will be under discussion at the forthcoming second Local Transport Summit and by its host location, Greater Manchester.

Local transport has long held an important place on the political agenda, though it moves up and down the rankings as other challenges and issues assert their own significance. Global level matters like Brexit, terrorism and international conflicts apart, there are things with a degree of equivalence in the political landscape – the NHS, education, policing and social welfare, for example – jockeying for position with congestion, the state of the roads (or railways), cycling,...

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