Rachel Reeves is right: A better commute means a stronger economy
4 June 2025, 13:15
A big package of spending on local public transport services in the big cities is a hugely welcome sign Government has opted for a city region-led approach to growing the economy.
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Our big cities are important assets to the national economy and helping people get around our big cities, where a quarter of the country lives, is essential for raising living standards. Comparisons with European countries tell the full story. The number of people who can commute into Britain's big cities like Manchester and Birmingham within 30 minutes by public transport is far lower than those who can get into European cities of the same size. Birmingham’s public transport network would need to carry an extra 213,000 commuters to match cities of the same size in Europe, like Hamburg or Lyon.
Investment in public transport networks in our city regions will allow more people to access jobs and education opportunities more easily. That will help spread prosperity and opportunity to many more parts of England.
To make the most of the transport upgrades, we need to emulate another attribute of successful European cities like Lyon and Hamburg. They are built at high density, with many people living close to transport stops. That means shorter commutes and more people able to reach the city centre.
Metro mayors can prioritise housing and economic development in the places benefiting from new transport links, provided Government devolves strategic planning powers to them.
Better transportation and more housing would help address the underlying economic challenge that big cities face – the lack of sufficient firms that create good, high-paying jobs.
Firms in sectors like AI and life sciences are crucial to maintaining high levels of exports overseas, bringing in higher wages. Major city centres should provide ideal conditions for these cutting-edge firms to grow and hire new staff – such as a good supply of high-quality office space and access to big public transport hubs where lots of people can commute in and out every day.
The UK’s big cities should be major centres of innovative business, but they have far fewer of these firms than they should for places of their size. That has contributed to a productivity problem, and it's key to understanding why living standards in the North and Midlands lag behind those in London.
To regain their competitive edge, our cities must become better places to do business. Getting around Britain's big cities is too hard, so it’s important that the Chancellor has committed to tackling this.
The cutting edge of the economy should also be a key target for the Government’s new Industrial Strategy, also due this month. All our big cities like Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield need to have an economy so that people living in their wider regions can get higher wages. That would speed up Britain's progress to a more modern, productive and richer place.
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Andrew Carter is Chief Executive of Centre for Cities.
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