English transport devolution, or contracting, is delivering real change across major cities, from enhancing connectivity to boosting housebuilding, but must go “further and faster” to unlock additional economic growth, according to report by the Urban Transport Group (UTG), the UK’s network of transport authorities, which charts the history and success of English transport devolution to the present day and sets out recommendations on how to fully realize the benefits it offers for future growth.

The report, which was published to follow the Government’s English Devolution White Paper (released last December), includes transport case studies from UTG’s member city regions — from the new, yellow franchised Bee Network buses on the streets of Greater Manchester and the publicly owned and operated Supertram network in South Yorkshire, to London’s Elizabeth line, the fastest growing railway in the UK.

The Benefits of Devolution (Contracting) 

Outside of the capital, devolution has so far seen around $37 billion of public spending devolved to metro mayors through increasingly flexible and long-term funding arrangements. 

Most mature Mayoral Combined Authorities are now in line to receive a fully integrated multiyear funding settlement, with Greater Manchester and the West Midlands first to receive this in 2025/26.

Yet, the National Infrastructure Commission has found that a lack of effective transport infrastructure is limiting the productivity of city regions.

Still More Work to Do

To fully capitalize on the devolution prize, the report — “The pathway to a brighter transport future: Delivering growth through transport devolution” — recommends that the Government should:

• Work with city regions to deliver a sustainable long-term solution to funding to all tiers of local government.

• Commit to enabling further devolution by providing city regions with greater local investment levers, such as land value capture mechanisms and infrastructure investment funds.

• Offer funding certainty to Transport for London to enable it to properly maintain and renew transport assets and to honor existing contracts to deliver upgrades to the network.

• Deliver on devolutionary commitments around regulating micromobility (such as e-bikes and e-scooters), rail reform and highways powers in the forthcoming English Devolution Bill.

“Transport devolution is changing England’s major city regions for the better — improving our public transport networks, boosting growth and setting ambitious plans for more homes,” said Jason Prince, director of the Urban Transport Group. “However, the devolution journey is far from complete. To fully deliver the government’s Plan for Change and realize the benefits of economic growth, transport devolution must go further and faster. Building on the Government’s White Paper, greater priority should be given to working with devolved areas to deliver sustainable investment solutions whilst also expanding powers in critical policy areas such as micromobility and rail integration.”