Transport March 2026: movement without milestones

We led the delivery of an important discussion in Parliament in March. Working with Waymo and Women in Transport in our capacity as secretariat to the APPG for Women in Transport to help deliver a high-level panel session exploring the impact of autonomous vehicles women’s safety in the UK. The event brought together voices from technology, politics and road safety regulation to explore what services like Waymo’s driverless cars could mean for the safety of women and girls as AV deployment accelerates in the UK. Notable reflections included emerging research showing that some women feel safer in a vehicle without a driver present, the importance of co‑design and collaboration to ensure diverse voices shape both technology and policy, and a wider recognition that safety in autonomous transport is as much a social question as a technical one. 

Active travel

• Transport for London (TfL) has named ten of its Santander-sponsored bikes in honour of the most inspirational women cyclists named in London, to celebrate International Women’s Day. The judging panel selected nine contemporary “unsung heroes” – Annahita Benbow, Carol Summers, Emily Chappell, Harjit Kaur Lakhan, Jean Dollimore, Dr Jenny Drife, Naomi Rumble, Samra Said, Terry Clarke and one historical pioneer – Tessie Reynolds.
• Construction is due to start this week on a new active travel scheme in the Bath city centre. The new route will connect to existing and proposed routes across Bath and  involves the construction of 300 meters of new cycle paths, eight new crossings and improving 800 metres of pavements, roads and drainage.
• TfL has confirmed £94.8 million in funding for London boroughs in 2026/27 to expand active travel infrastructure and deliver safer streets. Distributed to the capital’s 32 boroughs and the City of London, the funding marks the second year of a three-year programme designed to improve road safety, increase walking and cycling and support the Mayor’s Vision Zero strategy to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on London’s roads by 2041.
• Proposals to deliver more than 54km of priority walking, wheeling and cycling routes by 2032 have been set out by Glasgow City Council. The routes sit at the heart of a refreshed approach that unifies the City Network and the Liveable Neighbourhoods programmes as part of ‘Connecting Glasgow’ to speed up delivery and better connect communities. At the centre of the six‑year plan is a fully connected orbital route looping around Glasgow, linking neighbourhoods from Dennistoun and Maryhill to Govan, Shawlands and Calton.

Public transport

Buses

• London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan is spending an extra £20m to encourage more people to use buses. TfL will use the fund for “fares innovation” which may include reducing fares at certain times and even making some services completely free when they first launch. Bus passenger numbers fell for the first time since the pandemic last year, from 1.869 billion journeys to 1.842 billion, which London’s transport watchdog said was down to sluggish bus speeds.
• This International Women’s Day, Stagecoach reaffirmed its commitment to closing the gender gap in the transport sector with plans to launch a new mentoring scheme for its Women@Stagecoach network. The company is calling on mentors from across the business (both women and men) to volunteer their time to help mentees build the skills, confidence and experience needed to thrive.
• Greater Manchester is set to expand its zero-emission bus fleet after Mayor Andy Burnham confirmed an order for 55 new electric buses from Northern Irish manufacturer Wrightbus. The latest purchase forms part of a wider £66 million investment in the Bee Network and takes the total number of Wrightbus vehicles either already in service or being built for Greater Manchester to 293. By the end of 2026, around half of all buses operating in Greater Manchester are expected to be electric, with the region aiming for a fully electric fleet by the end of the decade.
• The introduction of 159 electric buses to serve the Oxford area has led to significant reductions in air and noise pollution. Provisional data suggests that bus fleet electrification has reduced roadside citywide nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations across Oxford by an average of 10 per cent from 2023 to 2024, and up to 24 per cent in areas of high bus traffic. The transition from diesel to electric buses also cut roadside traffic related noise in central Oxford by an average of 5.1 decibels – comparable to the reduction in noise you would experience by moving three times further away from a road.
• Bus Users UK has commended the announcement from the Department for Transport that £73.2m is being made available to deliver 484 new zero emission buses across England. The investment will replace older diesel vehicles, cut harmful emissions and improve journeys for passengers travelling for work, education, healthcare and leisure.

Rail

• Network Rail is reminding everyone that when it comes to saving a life, you already have a life-saving kit available to you – your words. Samaritans’ annual Small Talk Saves Lives campaign, in partnership with Network Rail, British Transport Police and the wider rail industry, launched across the country earlier this month, encouraging people to start a simple conversation if they think someone doesn’t look okay. There were 215 life-saving interactions on the Network Rail’s East Coast route in 2024/25, new figures have shown – an increase of 57% compared to 2021/22.
• Arup has enlisted Tony Gee as a strategic partner for the Coventry Very Light Rail programme. An 800-metre twin-track city centre demonstrator route will operate in live traffic, marking a further step in the testing and integration of the CVLR system. The CVLR programme aims to showcase a rail-based public transport option at less than half the cost and in half the time of conventional light rail systems, whilst providing similar benefits to passengers.
• Five new railway stations across the West Midlands (Willenhall, Darlaston, Moseley Village, Kings Heath and Pineapple Road) are preparing to open to passengers, marking the completion of a £185 million infrastructure programme designed to reconnect communities to the rail network for the first time in generations. Supported by substantial UK Government investment, the project will give residents faster, greener travel alternatives while easing road congestion and revitalising local economies.
• A new study published in Social Science & Medicine provides evidence that access to high-speed rail networks can significantly improve the cognitive health of middle-aged and older adults. The findings suggest that large-scale transportation infrastructure acts as an unexpected tool for public health, offering mental well-being benefits alongside pure economic efficiency. By reducing depression, lowering air pollution, and boosting personal income, high-speed trains appear to offer a unique pathway to healthier aging.

E-mobility

E-vehicles

• The NHS in England will roll out hundreds of new electric vehicle charging sockets after securing an additional £4m in government funding, part of an extension to the Department for Transport’s NHS Chargepoint Accelerator Scheme announced on 27 February 2026. The funding aims to support the electrification of NHS fleets, including ambulances and other medical vehicles, reducing fuel and maintenance costs while accelerating decarbonisation across the health service’s 20,000-strong vehicle fleet.
• There are now over 118,000 public chargepoints in operation across the UK, according to EV infrastructure information service Zapmap. Last month, 1,592 net new EV chargers were added to the Zapmap database. This means that at the end of February 2026 there were 118,321 EV chargers, which are sited on 89,842 devices across 45,561 charging locations around the UK. These chargers span those used on-street, destination and for en-route charging.
• The Scottish government has announced an extra £17.8m in 2026/2027 for incentives aimed at encouraging drivers in the country to take up electric vehicles. The packages are mostly focused on efforts to boosting charging infrastructure, including an initiative to install up to 1,000 charge points in rural and island locations, money for people who live in flats to get plugs installed, and further grants for people without off-street parking to install pavement charge points. 

E-scooters

The latest data from TfL has reported that from September 2024 to September 2025, there has been a 54% increase in total shared e-scooter trips, increasing from 1.3 million to over 2 million. From its data collection, TfL has revealed that the shared micromobility mode is being increasingly incorporated into London’s transportation network in facilitating first- and last mile connectivity.

E-bikes

• A new electric bike hire scheme in Aberdeen is to hit the city’s streets in the spring, it has been announced. An initial roll-out of 350 ebikes from established ebike hire company Voi are to be available all over the city for people to hire on a pay-as-you-go basis via a smartphone app.
• Glasgow’s fully electric cycle hire scheme has recorded over 170,000 rides since its launch late last year. The early momentum reflects the success of the city’s new partnership with Swedish operator Voi – with ride numbers up 114% compared with the same period a year ago. Collectively, Glasgow’s Voi riders have travelled over 520,000km – the equivalent of thirteen laps around the globe.
• Shared micromobility operator Lime has launched its monthly subscription model across several UK markets. The ‘LimePrime’ subscription offers users flat-rate rides of up to 20 minutes for a monthly fee, with pricing varying by city. The service is rolling out in London, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Manchester and Nottingham.
• Lambeth Council is aiming to tackle the problem of e-bikes being abandoned on pavements by converting more than 130 kerbside car-parking spaces into bike parking. Lambeth has signed a multi million pound deal with the capital’s three biggest e-bike firms (Lime, Forest and Voi) that will require their bikes to be parked in designated bays.
• Lime has unveiled a smaller e-bike that is much easier to ride. The new bike has smaller (and wider) 20in wheels, a lower frame – making it easier for smaller riders to “step through” – and is much easier to handle, due to the battery being relocated to behind the seat post. About 2,000 of the bikes will be added to Lime’s UK fleet, the majority of which will be available for hire in London.
• Canterbury’s new e-bike hire scheme is up and running, offering residents and visitors access to affordable and convenient cycling facilities across the whole city. The city council has joined forces with leading national micromobility company Beryl Bikes to launch the project. It is the first scheme of its kind in Kent and is being funded by a combination of government Levelling Up funding and developer contributions. Beryl has a fleet of 100 e-bikes available, with bike parking bays in several locations and more to follow in the coming weeks.

Accessibility

• Transport for Wales helped a record 75,339 passengers through its Passenger Assist service in 2024/25. The figure represents a 23% increase on the previous year and is the highest number of assistance bookings recorded on the Wales and Borders network. The Passenger Assist service is available for all customers who need the additional support to complete their journey safely and efficiently. Staff are trained to assist passengers with both visible and non-visible disabilities, helping with journey planning, purchasing tickets, and getting on and off the trains. They can also assist with manageable luggage for customers with reduced mobility or visual impairments, in line with National Rail guidance.
• Millions of disabled and older people are excluded from public transport systems due to inconsistent accessibility across the UK, according to new research from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. The report, En route to inclusive public transport, calls on the Government to redirect funding towards fixing stations, vehicles and interchanges that actively block travel, rather than announcing new schemes that leave old ones untouched. It adds that ‘shiny new trains’ alone won’t fix the broken transport system, as millions are still locked out by outdated stations and networks. What is needed is to integrate the retrofitting of stations and disabled access points directly into the procurement process.
• Disability activists in Glasgow are calling for more accessible stations on the city’s Subway line. Just two out of Glasgow’s 15 Subway stations are accessible – Govan and St Enoch – which are fitted with lifts for wheelchair users to get down to the platforms. However, protestors from Access2Transport, a local group advocating for better public transport options for disabled people and wheelchair users, believe every station should be made accessible, deeming Glasgow’s Subway a “disgrace” for its “unacceptable” lack of accessibility.

Air Quality

• London has been named among 19 global cities, across nine countries, which have slashed levels of two airway-aggravating pollutants by more than 20 per cent in the last 15 years, a new study has found. This was driven by policy interventions such as cycling infrastructure, the increased use of electric vehicles, and the implementation of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), restricting the use of high-polluting cars, according to the report by Breathe Cities. According to the group’s analysis, between 2010 and 2024, London’s nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels were cut by almost 40 per cent.
• Southampton City Council has announced a 30% reduction in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels, following years of sustained improvement in air quality across the city. The latest assessments by the Government’s Joint Air Quality Unit confirm that Southampton has met the conditions of their NO2 programme, with NO2 levels across the city now well below the national legal limit of 40 micrograms per cubic metre.

Transport Safety

• A new national driver training programme designed to help tackle violence against women and girls and strengthen passenger confidence on public transport has been launched. The initiative, led by the Confederation of Passenger Transport was unveiled at an event hosted by First Bus in Basildon. The programme introduces a dedicated Driver Certificate of Professional Competence module designed to equip drivers across the country with the awareness, confidence and practical tools to recognise, safely respond to and report incidents of harassment or violence.
• New government guidance will be issued to councils nationwide to help them consider how to make their streets safer for women and girls, Active Travel England (ATE) has announced. New polling by YouGov released this month has found that almost 9 in 10 (88%) women have felt unsafe while walking at night, while 7 in 10 (71%) have changed their route to avoid walking in the dark during winter or darker months. New government guidance will be published in 2026 alongside training sessions in the spring, outlining how local authorities can design their streets to be safer for women and girls.