Shaping Birmingham’s Transport

I realise that some of you are still contemplating attendance to the event or are unsure about submitting entries to the superb competition opportunity! I hope that the hot and great updates below will help you make the right decision about getting involved and shaping your city’s transport system.

Firstly, The HOT News!!! The Leader of the City Council, Councillor Mike Whitby, has confirmed to attend the conference, as has the BBC Midlands Today’s Transport Correspondent, Peter Plisner. Remember that if you do decide to enter for the competition and your entry does make it to the final round, you will be presenting it to ‘important’ people  in the city which now includes Cllr Mike Whitby and Peter Plisner from the BBC!

Furthermore, for those who are worried that they will not be able to get involved because of time constraints, after our meeting yesterday it has been agreed that the Competition deadline be extended to 19^th March 2009!!! This gives you longer to get your group together and submit an entry. Go to ‘Tips and Advice’ for more information on how to make your entry successful. Remember: you can be as creative as you like but it is always a good idea to keep it simple!!!

With a month to go until the competition entry deadline, it seems transport has never been a bigger issue on the public agenda. This month the Transport Steering Group made the front cover of the City Council’s ‘Forward’ Newspaper, delivered to every house in Birmingham, showing the scope of interest and progression in ameliorating the current system.

The issue is also the focus of the UK Youth Parliament who are holding an upcoming summit discussing the accessibility and affordability of public transport. Brendan McGowan, Interim Head of Programmes, explained: “Our aim for the Fares Fair event is to bring together young people from across the country and support them to share and learn from other 11-19 year olds how they’re shaping transport services where they live- whether this is about customer services training for drivers, more affordable trains and trams or a reliable bus to get you to school, work or to see your mates.”

 Also in the news this week a Facebook group campaigning specifically about Travel West Midlands’ fares which continues to grow by at east 1,000 people per week. We spoke to group creator Michael Burke about why he set the group up: “I felt that there was no real way of people getting their opinions across to TWM, and that starting this group would be a good way for those people to voice their concerns. And the group has been very successful in doing this.”

As the awareness of the problems with Birmingham’s public transport system and suggestions for future developments continue to grow, what better time to submit an entry to our competition!