Focus of work
Campaign for Better Transport was founded as Transport 2000 in 1973 in response to an increasing trend for private cars to be placed at the centre of transport policy. With a focus on coalition building, a solid research base and engaging with the public, Campaign for Better Transport now has eight employees, over 20,000 supporters, and an influential role in transport policy and delivery.
There are four main strands to Campaign for Better Transport’s work:
1. Conducting research: Campaign for Better Transport’s research aims to understand transport problems and identify solutions. Recent reports have explored how bus stops can be improved and how to shift journeys from plane to train.
2. Engaging with national decision makers: Campaign for Better Transport engages with ministers, MPs, peers and civil servants to get policy ideas directly onto the government’s agenda. It responds to relevant consultations and regularly appears before the Commons Transport Committee – recently it succeeded in getting its key asks included in the Committee’s Buses Connecting Communities report.
3. Engaging with local decision makers and actors: Campaign for Better Transport meets with and advises local authorities and works closely with transport operators, non-governmental organisations, businesses, think tanks, passenger groups, communities and individuals to promote sustainable transport solutions.
4. Championing public transport through social and traditional media: Campaign for Better Transport appears in thousands of articles and broadcast interviews each year. Its annual Better Transport Week, launched in 2023, encourages people to give sustainable transport a try.
Impact
Campaign for Better Transport’s work has delivered noticable change in transport policy and practice, making a real difference to the lives of all transport users.
It has helped defeat plans to close large portions of the rail network and persuaded the government to fund the reopening of rail lines and stations. Some of its key asks are also reflected in the government’s ongoing rail reforms.
Campaign for Better Transport has helped secure vital funds for buses, moving them up the political agenda. It has successfully campaigned for a cap on bus fares and to keep London’s Day Travelcard. It has also helped thousands of local campaigners oppose bus cuts.
Campaign for Better Transport has also helped the government recognise cyclists and pedestrians as part of the transport mix; helped reform some transport taxes, including disincentivising polluting company cars; and helped secure other government funding pots for sustainable transport.
It’s website contains a wealth of research, case studies and policy papers that span all modes of travel.