Chairman of West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority, Cllr Gary Clarke, is the new Chair of the Passenger Transport Authority Special Interest Group. The group brings together leading Councillors from the six English Passenger Transport Authorities.

Cllr Clarke said:

‘This is an exciting time to become Chairman of the group of Passenger Transport Authorities as in January we become Integrated Transport Authorities (ITAs) with new and enhanced duties and responsibilities.

The Local Transport Bill process has been a long one but we are very pleased that through a constructive dialogue with Government we have legislation which puts the ITAs right at the heart of the Government’s wider strategy for tackling urban transport problems.

As locally accountable politicians we understand what matters to local residents on transport. As the secondary legislation and regulations that follow on from the Bill emerge, we intend to use these new powers to bring about the improvements that local public transport users want to see to their local bus and rail systems.

2008 marks the fortieth anniversary of the creation of the PTAs and over that time the PTAs have saved and developed their local rail networks, brought back the tram to city streets and invested in some of the country’s most outstanding interchanges. Under the Local Transport Act we intend to build on those achievements to give our city regions the high quality, integrated public transport networks they need and deserve.’

ENDS

For more contact Jonathan Bray on 0113 251 7445 / 0781 804 1485