Do major transport projects only benefit the wealthy, national paper asks

Transport appraisals overlook the negative social impacts of major projects whilst overplaying their benefits for wealthy commuters, an article on The Guardian website suggests.

The article quotes the Campaign for Better Transport as saying that governments tend to "only fund projects you can see from space," as opposed to the "local infrastructure that actually matters to most people". The lobby group makes the argument in the article that appraisals should be reformed so that it is clear which societal groups benefit from proposals, not "broad assertions that everyone will win".

It also quotes Richard Wellings, head of transport at the Institute of Economic Affairs, who asserts, similarly to the otherwise politically-contrasting CBT, that low-skilled populations in areas around the High Speed 2 rail project to Birmingham "may struggle to exploit any benefits" whilst lower-income private renters and social renters are not compensated. He says that the transport spending at Canary Wharf has "not trickled down".

The article comes during the continuing political controversy over the likely beneficiaries of transport investment in the Garden Bridge in London and of the cable car over the Thames that the London Mayor Sadiq Khan threatened to close down as he seeks savings.