April 2026 kicked off with a burst of ambition. The launch of Better Connected set out the government’s vision for a more joined‑up transport system – simpler to use, easier to understand, and better aligned with how people actually travel day to day. After a long stretch of uncertainty, it was reassuring to see a clear strategic statement on the table.
But as ever, ambition is only the first step and turning strategy into reality remains the harder part, with many of the reforms needed to support that vision still very much in progress. The shift towards rail nationalisation under Great British Railways continues, but at a steady pace, leaving much of the system operating in a familiar halfway house.
That sense of fragility has been reinforced by another round of industrial action on parts of the London Underground, which disrupted services across several days in April. These disputes highlight just how sensitive the network remains, and how dependent it still is on unresolved questions around pay, staffing and operating models.
At the same time, wider affordability pressures are influencing travel behaviour. Continued volatility in global energy markets, driven in part by events in the Middle East, has kept fuel costs high on the agenda and sharpened concerns about the cost of car travel. For many households, this now influences day‑to‑day travel choices as much as infrastructure or policy ever does. It also raises a recurring issue in UK transport policy, where short‑term pressures often pull travel behaviour back towards established habits, reinforced by policies such as the ongoing Fuel Duty freeze.
All of this is unfolding against an increasingly febrile political backdrop as local elections approach. Transport has been firmly in the spotlight in local debates, from bus reform and road maintenance to active travel schemes and road space. Changes in political control rarely transform transport systems overnight, but they do affect pace, tone and how willing leaders are to stick with projects that are difficult, disruptive or slow to show results.
April 2026 paints a picture of a transport system under multiple pressures – big ambitions running ahead of delivery, continued operational fragility, and economic pressures shaping everyday choices in ways policy can’t ignore. Change continues to be heralded, but April was a reminder of how often events intervene, and how familiar issues and behaviours can make progress slow and difficult.
Below we take a look in more detail at what’s been happening in our core policy areas of transport, decarbonisation and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
If you need help influencing policy, managing scrutiny, building reputation, delivering change, or winning the support needed to deliver complex projects, email us at info@jfgcomms.co.uk.
Supporting GBRX in delivering the launch of Artificial Intelligence in Rail: The Industry Action Plan
JFG Comms was proud to support GBRX in delivering the launch of Artificial Intelligence in Rail: The Industry Action Plan at the Science Museum’s Information Age Gallery this month. The stunning surroundings provided a fitting backdrop for a forward-looking discussion on how AI can shape the future of rail. It was great to hear from Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, Lord Hendy and Sarah Schlobohm, as well as Toufic Machnouk – whose clear call to action urged the industry to move from ambition to delivery. It was a brilliant event and a privilege to support.
Active Travel
- Children across England are set to receive free cycle training as part of a new £108 million active travel funding package. The funding, revealed by Active Travel England and transport minister Lilian Greenwood at the end of March, will be rolled out over the next three years to “deliver hands-on training, community programmes and school initiatives”.
- A three-year Active Travel project has been delivered by local councils to enhance walking, wheeling and cycling across Worcester. Worcester City Council and Worcestershire County Council have joined forces to invest £1.5m into creating new routes in the city for more active travel, and bringing safer routes, improved accessibility, and more sustainable travel choices to residents, commuters and visitors. This boost to active travel has been made possible by Worcester City Council securing a major Towns Fund grant from the government, which has been invested under the Worcester Town Investment Plan.
Public Transport
Transport for London (TfL) is stepping up efforts to cut employee absence as part of a government drive to keep people in work. The transport authority has joined the Keep Britain Working Review – with mental health support being flagged as a key focus at TfL. A report from 2025 found the transport body’s overall sickness rate stood at 6.3%, accounting for almost 418,885 sick days. Long‑term sickness made up the majority of days lost at TfL, with 286,673 days recorded. The average length of all sickness leave was 11.81 days. The transport body says it is already taking action to support staff, including offering physiotherapy, addiction services and trauma‑focused counselling.
Buses
- Traffic congestion is “quietly” costing Glasgow bus passengers £24 million a year, a study has found. Researchers at the University of Glasgow found delays on five key bus routes “significantly” stretched peak time journeys and make the service less reliable for people trying to access work, education, shopping and healthcare. It found the city’s Pollokshaws Road is the worst pinch point for buses, with an estimated 375,577 passenger hours lost each year – valued at £7.45 million. The report concludes measures such as dedicated bus lanes, bus gates, and traffic signal priority are proven from other cities to deliver substantial improvements.
- Nottingham City Transport (NCT) is celebrating a major milestone, with its electric bus fleet surpassing 5 million kilometres travelled. The achievement comes two years after NCT’s first electric buses entered service in April 2024. NCT completed the rollout of its fully electric city single deck fleet in December 2025, with all 62 buses now in service. The project was delivered in partnership with Nottingham City Council, with £12.3 million secured through the Department for Transport’s Zero Emissions Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme, alongside £17.7 million invested by NCT.
- An industry-leading partnership which brought 159 electric buses to Oxford has won a prestigious award for reducing harmful vehicle emissions. A consortium made up of Oxford Bus Company, Oxfordshire County Council and Stagecoach secured an £82.5m deal in January 2023. This was a key part of the wider Oxfordshire Enhanced Bus Partnership to deliver the electric vehicles, along with the necessary charging equipment to support them. The scheme has now been named the winner of the Best Public Transport Decarbonisation Award at the inaugural Decarbonising Transport Awards.
Rail
East Midlands Railway (EMR) has launched new station guides designed to make information clearer and more accessible for passengers of all abilities. EMR (which is operated by Transport UK) is the first official Symbol-Friendly operator in the UK and worked with visual communication experts, Widgit Software, to create the guides. It said the guides used simple language alongside clear, recognisable Widgit Symbols to support understanding and confidence when travelling. With Widgit, each symbol represents a word or concept that can be put together to create a visual sign or sentence, allowing individuals to navigate their way around a station more easily or ask for help. EMR said autistic people, individuals with additional needs, or anyone with a communication challenge who may become anxious when travelling could use the guides in advance to understand what to expect from their journey.
E-mobility
E-vehicles
- New electric cars now cost less on average than a new petrol car, according to data from Autotrader. The average price of a brand-new electric car is now £42,620, compared with £43,405 for a brand-new petrol car. This marks the first time that passenger EVs have been cheaper than petrol cars and the shift has been attributed to government incentives and dealer discounts. EV advocates say the latest news marks the end of one of the biggest barriers to EV adoption – higher up-front purchase costs.
- Britain now has more vehicles on its roads than ever before, with the total fleet rising by 1.4% to 42,549,649 vehicles in 2025, according to new Motorparc data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Fleet renewal across all vehicle types is helping to decarbonise road transport, as more drivers switch to low- and zero-carbon technologies. One in nine (4.5%) vehicles on the road are now electrified, with around one in 22 (10.9%) completely zero emission.
E-scooters
- More than 2,000 new bikes and e-scooters have hit the streets in the West Midlands to mark the start of a new deal. Lime vehicles are now available in Birmingham, Coventry and Solihull, with a roll out to the Black Country (Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton) to follow in June. Earlier this year, Transport for West Midlands selected the micromobility provider to take on the management of the scheme following a competitive bidding process.
- Rentable e-scooters will remain in Norwich for at least another two years, after an experimental trial was extended. The trial, which has seen the number of e-scooters increase from an initial 100 to 500, has been hailed for helping people get to education, training and employment and cutting emissions as an alternative to cars.
- The rollout of an e-scooter trial has been approved by Brighton & Hove City Council. The scheme will make 400 e-scooters available to hire from 37 hubs across the city, possibly as early as this summer. It follows a six-week consultation last year, which generated almost 1,300 responses.
E-bikes
A new electric cargo bike is set to be introduced on the streets of Sunderland as part of ongoing efforts to promote sustainable transport and reduce emissions. The initiative, delivered by Sunderland City Council in partnership with the city’s Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), will see the e-cargo bike used across key locations including the city centre, Sheepfolds and the seafront. Equipped with a large storage compartment, the bike is designed to carry equipment and support a variety of activities. These include litter picking, street cleaning and wider community-focused work carried out by local street rangers.
Roads
Government is backing councils across England to fix crumbling bridges, failing flyovers and deteriorating tunnels as the new Structures Fund has opened in the latest move to back drivers. Decades of neglected infrastructure have led to weight-restricted crossings adding miles to everyday journeys and deteriorating flyovers, leaving communities unsure when the next closure will come. The new fund will put money directly into the hands of councils to tackle the most pressing cases they cannot afford to fix alone. The fund is now open for bids and will inject cash into repairing critical structures across England, ensuring transport infrastructure is more resilient to extreme weather, while making everyday journeys safer, smoother and more dependable.