A public consultation on making public transport more accessible and inclusive is underway.

Transport for the North (TfN) is consulting on its so-called Socially Inclusive Transport Strategy (SITS), which provides an evidence-based policy agenda for achieving more equal, effective, and inclusive transport system across the north of England.

The strategy builds on the research that TfN published in September 2022. 

This research revealed that 3.3million people from across the North live in areas where there is a significant risk of social exclusion because of transport issues.

This means being unable to access opportunities, key services, and community life, and facing excessive time, monetary and well-being impacts from using the transport system.

This issue can affect anyone, but particularly impacts those on low incomes and in insecure work, carers, and people with disabilities.

Those living in smaller towns, on the edges of the North’s major cities, and in coastal communities are also particularly likely to be affected.

A lot of the railway stations on the Cumbrian coast served by Northern are some of the least used in the country, such as Nethertown, with the line featuring frequent request stops.

Bus services in Cumbria are also well behind other places in the North.

The consultation has run from November 7, continuing until December 12, 2022.

Martin Tugwell, chief executive of TfN, said: “Income, social, and health inequalities are widely seen as defining challenges of the 21st century.

“As such, inclusive growth should be at the heart of public investment – delivering a transport network that works for all areas and communities.

“Working with our partners, TfN’s SITS identifies transport interventions that can deliver inclusive economic growth, improve health and wellbeing, and benefit all communities.

“Only by investing now will we make it easier to connect people and places with services and opportunities and address the barriers within our transport system that create inequalities in society.”

TfN will work with local authorities, DfT, National Highways, Active Travel England, and Network Rail to share evidence and provide statutory advice to the government to achieve a more socially inclusive system.

By doing this, TfN intends that the social benefits of improving transport and infrastructure are fully considered when investment decisions are made.

It’s all part of a major push by the North’s transport body to make the region’s transport networks greener and more inclusive.

For more information about the public consultation and to respond, visit https://transportforthenorth.com/social-inclusion/.

READ MORE: MP asks Gov about emergency waiting times amid rural ambulance limbo