Public transport isn’t just about competing with cars: it’s competing in the attention economy.

We need to upskill.

From private equity to pension funds to management buy-outs, Britain’s transport operators are now in very different hands. Part 2 explores what that means for investment, risk and the future of public transport.

The era of publicly listed transport operators is almost over, but hardly anyone has noticed it ending. This two-part post explores how PLCs once dominated public transport, and why they’ve all but vanished from the sector today.

HS2 has become a case study in how not to build infrastructure. But what if we’d taken a different path entirely?

In this post, I imagine how the Swiss would have done it: starting with the timetable, not the project. It’s a counterfactual, but it’s not a fantasy.

Bus Service Improvement Plans were the centrepiece of the National Bus Strategy. But what did they achieve for their money?

Everyone in the rail industry is waiting for a big reveal of the new structure of Great British Railways. But based on my experience (and a few hard-learned lessons), I argue that we’re starting in the wrong place.

Fix the incentives first - the structure can follow.

Coventry “Very Light Rail” promises to HALVE the cost of building new tram lines.

Is that really credible? Let’s find out.

What rural transport really needs isn’t innovation - it’s buses: properly integrated and proudly delivered, like in Switzerland.

Here’s my first-hand report from the front line of great rural transport.

"By paying us your pennies, you go about your business". A hundred-year-old MacDonald Gill poster is inspiration for today

Inevitably, humans being what they are, a consultation issued by the Government proposes that the accountability mechanism for a business owned by the Government should be the Government, with the assistance of a watchdog appointed by the Government.

Here’s how we can keep all the good stuff in the consultation but tighten up accountability a bit.

I spent half term in Switzerland. Not in a glamorous ski resort, but in ordinary towns and villages. What I found was integrated transport as it could and should be for everyone.

Here’s my report.

The French have a plan to transform regional connectivity in 24 provincial cities. Of course they have…

Last week, I commuted into both Manchester and London.

The experiences reveal why most UK cities have low productivity - and what needs to be done to deliver economic growth again

Paris is building 200 km of new Metro. That’s more new line than every addition to the tube map since the second world war - including the Jubilee line, DLR and Elizabeth line. It’s going to make Paris the capital of Europe for the 21st century.

Transport needs long-term funding through dedicated taxes. With a spending review and the creation of GBR both happening, now’s the time to ask for it.

Labour’s got off to a difficult start. Despite a good DfT ministerial team, transport outcomes are being undermined by policies made elsewhere.

My whole life has been dominated by the public v private debate. It’s not the most important question

We’re at the end of the period of privatisation. But what if it had never happened? Part 2 of an imagined history of British Rail since 1992

What if British Rail had never been privatised? Today’s post is the complete imagined history of BR from 1992 to the present day.

Bus franchising is seen as the answer, but it's not free. How much does it cost, and what does it solve?