Public transport still trails behind cars at new housing developments

New housing developments remain car-dependent, with minimal improvement in access to essential services by walking, cycling, or public transport, reveals a joint research report by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and LandTech.

An analysis of the last decade under the previous National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), reveals that, despite its focus on sustainable development, accessibility from newly approved homes stagnated from 2012 to 2021.

Public transport continues to trail behind car travel, with journeys taking, on average, 1.5 times longer than by car, says the report.

Although 96% of those at new homes can reach a town centre within a 20-minute drive, only 66% have the same access using public transport and 47% within a 20-minute walk, researchers estimate.

GPs and primary schools are the most accessible destinations, with secondary schools, town centres and employment centres further away, and hospitals the least accessible to new homes. Driving is the fastest mode of transport, followed by cycling, public transport and walking.

Researchers found that access to amenities remains unequal. When comparing different regions’ access local services, residents of new developments have the shortest journeys in London while residents in the South West and the East of England have the longest journey times. “There are inequalities between rural and urban areas – journey times from new rural developments are twice as long as their urban counterparts,” the report says.

The authors argue that accessibility is a crucial issue at new housing developments, citing that large and compact settlement patterns support economic productivity by reducing the distances between homes and jobs and making efficient use of infrastructure networks.

“Settlement patterns and urban forms that promote sustainable mobility play a critical role in reducing transport emissions, with larger settlements, higher densities and mixed land uses reducing the need to travel by car,” the report says.

Larger settlements with higher densities and mixed land use also improve public health by increasing physical activity, which “helps to address the prevalence, severity and cost of chronic lifestyle-related diseases”.

Victoria Hills, Chief Executive of the RTPI, said: “It is essential that planning policies truly serve communities by creating environments that support health and sustainability. Planning should work for the people it impacts, ensuring communities flourish in healthy, well-connected places.

“To avoid repeating the mistakes of the past decade, the new NPPF must prioritise housing development in areas that reduce car reliance, bridge regional accessibility gaps, and support genuinely sustainable, vibrant communities. The time for policymakers to act is now.”

Harry Quartermain, Head of Research at LandTech, said: “Having accurate and reliable data in our planning system means that we can see the impact that our placemaking decisions have on the people that do, and will, live in these places.

“As the planning system evolves it is vital that we build in efficiencies to allow our planners to do more with the resources that are available. We do this by building-in consistent and reliable data points, and then harnessing these data to make robust and predictable decisions. As the saying goes, ‘you can’t manage what you can’t measure’.”

The Location of Development 4

Sustainable transport and the location of residential planning permissions, 2012-2021