Current Projects
The ITC prides itself on its commitment to high quality research investigating the key questions that will shape transport and land use in the years to come. This long term perspective, combined with our independence, allows us to explore many issues which are beyond the scope of most research and development bodies, and permit us to take the lead where government cannot.
Underpinning our research programme is a belief that we need to understand better the fundamental dimensions of movement and travel. We explore both practical questions affecting the industry, and those behavioural, demographic and economic issues which will enable us to better prepare for change in the decades ahead. Our research is constructive, apolitical, well-researched and relevant.
Research Programme 2024
Our research programme is designed to address key long-term strategic challenges in transport and land use of critical importance. Current research work being undertaken by the ITC includes five major projects, as listed below.
The Longer-term impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic
ITC Pandemic report (2024)
In the wake of the global Covid-19 pandemic, which had the most serious impacts upon domestic and international travel since the Second World War, the ITC has been exploring the effects upon transport and land use policy. The longer-term impacts of the pandemic on behaviours and travel habits have been significant, and this project has been examining what the effects of these changes have been on transport, travel and land use. The project has included an industry-wide consultation and has resulted in two major reports on the longer-term impacts of the Pandemic.
Aviation Strategy
Image courtesy of Caribb via Flickr Creative Commons
The UK’s aviation infrastructure is at a crossroads: a number of different models and scenarios have been proposed, depending on whether strategic policy focuses on the development of regional airport nodes, the maintenance of a UK hub airport, or on the reduction of air travel.
The ITC has a strong record of research in the aviation field, and has partnered with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Strategic Aviation Special Interest Group (SASIG) to commission a study exploring the policy implications arising from widespread adoption of new aviation technologies, such as unmanned automated aircraft and electric propulsion. The research will provide new insights and guidance for policy makers, regulators and legislators to help address the disruptive challenges arising from these new technologies.
Decarbonising road vehicles: the social impacts
Image courtesy of Karol Franks via Flickr Creative Commons
One of the ITC’s core interests has been the future of our roads, and we have undertaken a range of research work in this field. The future of our roads is now at a critical juncture. Faced with the prospect of high oil prices, falling levels of fuel duty, and a desire to accelerate the number of electric vehicles on our roads as a result of decarbonisation targets, policy makers are considering a range of measures to encourage the rapid adoption of Electric Vehicles and phase out conventional combustion engine vehicles on our roads.
Against this background the ITC has commissioned a new research project exploring the socio-economic impacts of plans to decarbonise our roads, in order to assess how zero carbon objectives can be implemented equitably. This work is being generously supported by the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund.
Why Travel? Understanding our need to move
Image courtesy of Michael Garnett via Flickr Creative Commons
Movement is one of the fundamental behaviours that underpin human life and society, yet we still understand too little about its nature, its importance, and how human travel and mobility might be changing in response to technological and social developments. This project aims to research the fundamental motivations to travel using as wide a range of insights as possible. Our book, Why Travel? Understanding our Need to Move and how it shapes society was published by Bristol University Press in 2021. The second phase of the study will involve a series of workshops on key policy themes arising from the book.
Low Carbon urban mobility
Image courtesy of Joelle Van Dyne via Flickr Creative Commons
The UK Government has set ambitious targets for becoming a net zero carbon economy by 2050. This will entail substantial reform of urban infrastructure to enable the population to move towards low or no carbon forms of transport and lifestyle. Such a transformation will require a radical rethink of our cities but also provides an opportunity to ‘level up’ urban areas outside of London and attract new investment.
This project has been exploring how we can achieve net zero carbon targets in our cities, and the policies that need to be adopted in order to develop a successful roadmap to meeting this aim.
Past Projects
On the Move? Changing trends in UK Road and Rail travel
Since the dawn of the 21st century we have seen marked changes in land-based travel trends. In the UK these changes have included a stagnation in per-capita car travel demand and substantial growth in rail travel that has exceeded earlier forecasts. Such travel trends have important consequences for transport policy and demonstrate the need to upgrade current assumptions. This ITC project is investigating the reasons behind these phenomena in Britain and also whether they will continue.
A research group led by Professor Peter Jones at UCL was commissioned to undertake the first part of this study. The initial report, partnered with the ORR and the RAC Foundation, used National Travel Survey (NTS) data to demonstrate the extent of these changing travel behaviours. The second phase of this study explored the factors that have been underpinning these shifting trends, using attitudinal research and collecting empirical evidence. An update to the original report, using fresh NTS data, demonstrating how these travel trends have continued since the Great Recession, was published in early 2017 to widespread acclaim.
The ITC has since been exploring more deeply what has been driving major travel changes in rail and bus use. First, we examined a range of factors external to the rail industry that have affected rail travel growth over the last 20 years, including residential location, employment structures and job location. This report was published in early 2019 and demonstrated the extent to which policy decisions on housing, planning and industrial strategy have boosted the market for rail commuting.
Second, we have been examining the causes of the decline in bus travel over the last decade. In particular, we are comparing areas that have seen a decline in bus usage with those that have seen an increase, to determine why such variation exists in bus trends across England. This work was released in early 2020.
The Spatial Effects of High Speed Rail
There is considerable uncertainty over the spatial effects of High Speed Rail on our cities and regions. It will be important to understand these economic and social effects more clearly if we are to ensure that High Speed Rail investment brings optimum benefits for the areas it serves. This ITC work stream commissioned research that drew from case studies in Europe as well as the UK’s experience of High Speed One, in order to offer fresh expert guidance on these spatial effects.
The research work involved a Call for Evidence, city workshops, and international study visits to collect evidence on the experience of HSR investment in NW Europe. The ITC’s report covering the research and the lessons applicable to the UK was entitled Ambitions and Opportunities, and was launched in late 2014 by the Secretary of State and Sir David Higgins. The ITC’s work was widely praised has also been quoted in Lord Deighton’s Growth Task Force review. The concluding phase of this study took the lessons from the research out to the major English city-regions through a series of day workshops. The result was a major report covering the city regions released in Summer 2016 and the establishment of an HS2 Cities Forum.
How should we pay for Roads and Road Use?
The ITC has a strong record of research exploring how we might best pay for our road infrastructure, as well as the economic effects of different policy options. The importance of these issues is increasing as we gradually move towards alternative forms of vehicle power, as the revenue from fuel duty declines, and as technology advances. Yet the public acceptability dimensions of such reform still needs to be explored and tested. Supported with a generous grant from the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund, this study is examining the numerous policy options available and the critical issues surrounding their implementation, particularly public attitudes towards how we manage and pay for our roads.
In 2012 the ITC commissioned a report, Pipers and Tunes: Putting the Road User in Charge, looking at ways of reforming the governance of our roads and how we pay for them. The study, initiated by the ITC Steering Group chaired by Steve Norris, and with Phil Carey as lead researcher, recommended a number of ways forward, and explained the need for further work on public attitudes.A scoping report has been completed as well as a study of the European experience of motorway vignette systems. In phase two, we undertook a preparatory study looking at the European experience of introducing motorway charging systems, which showed that these were sold to the public by framing them as a means of taxing foreign vehicles. A relatively small proportion of vehicles using UK roads are foreign, so a different approach would be necessary here.
We concluded by running a major consultation exercise together with Social Research Associates looking at the acceptability of road reforms and a ITC Paying for Roads Technical Report. The data from this research provided new evidence that the public is much more accepting of reform of paying for road use if adequate information is provided about the impacts and benefits from any such changes.