Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has laid out plans to strengthen connectivity and harness digital in a better integrated transport system.
It has outlined its priorities for the next three years in its corporate plan, with the headline ambitions of a London style integrated transport system, a green industrial revolution and a fair and inclusive economy.
The plan’s section on building a connected city-region takes in digital and physical connectivity, accompanied by enhancing the role of transport and infrastructure.
Specific plans include the installation – already underway – a 212km full fibre, gigabit-capable network across the city-region, the development of a transport plan that integrates walking and cycling with the use of buses, trains and ferries, and an upgrade to the smart ticketing system with a transition to contactless technology.
There is also an intent to digitalise concessionary travel and distribute all of the committed £172.5 million Transforming Cities Fund on projects that improve the transport system.
It points to an increased effort to harness digital technology in supporting the transport system. The document says there is a need to manage and improve operational transport assets and services and continue to develop and deliver projects and programmes.
Other sections of the plan focus on making the city-region fairer, stronger, cleaner and vibrant, with initiatives in areas including education and skills, increasing the role of the third sector, attracting more inward investment into the local economy, a big housing retrofit programme and the decarbonisation of public buildings.
Firing all cylinders
Commenting on the whole plan, Mayor Steve Rotheram said: “If my first term was about building the machinery to deliver, then is about making sure that it fires on all cylinders, rapidly increasing the speed and scale of delivery.
“This plan is the roadmap for a greener, stronger and more equal future for our region, with better public transport, more opportunities for local people and real action to tackle climate change. Working together we’ll build a region with no-one left behind.”
Image from iStock, emfoto776
