City Transport and the Recession - tough choices ahead

Date: 08/12/2009

A Centre for Cities cross-party Question Time event, in association with Regional Cities East

Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP, Minister of State for Transport

Stephen Hammond MP, Shadow Minister for Transport

& David Howarth, Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge

Tuesday 8 December 2009, 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Local Government House, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HZ

How vulnerable are transport budgets in the spending squeeze - and how should cities respond?  Should transport funding be ring-fenced?  Is a new era of high-speed rail a realistic aspiration in a spending squeeze - or are local connections more important? How can we better connect UK cities - both large and small?  What's the future for congestion charging, now that Cambridgeshire has decided in favour of a scheme?  Should City Regions like Greater Manchester get their own "Transport for London" model, and devolved transport budgets? How could a National Infrastructure Bank help finance future transport projects? 

Dermot Finch (Chief Executive, Centre for Cities) chaired the session, with a welcome from Neil Darwin, Director, Regional Cities East. 

See some highlights from the event on Linstock Youtube.

David Howarth and Stephen Hammond also gave us their reactions to Centre for Cities' Cities Manifesto.