Public Attitudes to Urban Transport

Summary

The public support urban transport projects that mean something to them; projects with direct, tangible benefits. But, there is a disconnect between the reasons for investment and the perceived benefits of projects at both a national and local level. The public understand the macro-economic argument for investing in national transport infrastructure projects, such as heavy rail; but they often aren’t supported in identifying the wider benefits of the investment and how it will improve their future quality of life. Reasons for this include a lack of clarity around the priorities and criteria that make up investment decisions; and a failure by developers to clearly articulate the wider project benefits during the planning phases (Public Attitudes to Infrastructure 2017).

However, the investment-benefit disconnect is reversed in the case of local urban transport infrastructure (trams, for example). The public have a clear understanding of how urban transport projects could benefit them directly and they feel ownership of these benefits, but may not recognise the upfront costs and necessary level of investment. Project promoters need to create a national narrative when communicating the benefits of transport infrastructure projects, but will fail to get local buy-in if they retell this story on a local level. Instead, communications strategies need to be micro-targeted both locally and nationally to communicate the direct benefits that matter most to different people.