Transport improvements are vital - but how do we achieve them?

A fresh study has highlighted the need to improve Birmingham’s public transport system.

The report by property consultants GVA Grimley arguably downplays the importance of improvements to Birmingham’s New Street station, which will provide a vastly superior gateway into the city.

The complaint that the M6 Toll road is “regionally focused” is bizarre. What’s good for the West Midlands as a region is good for Birmingham, even if it doesn’t necessarily help people get from Kings Heath to the city centre in the morning.

But it is nonetheless essential to find ways of cutting congestion, right across the West Midlands.

The issues raised by business leaders when councils were examining the possibility of introducing road pricing are as valid as ever.

Crowded roads are costing businesses billions of pounds annually, thanks to time and fuel wasted in traffic jams.

An effective transport system would also allow the city to offer a better quality of life to all its residents, who have little desire to spend half the day stuck in a slow-moving car.

What is remarkable is the level of consensus which exists on these issues - and the lack of progress dealing with them.

When local authorities rejected road pricing, it was immediately obvious that there was no plan B.

Indeed, as any scheme would have depended on funding from the government - which is only available to regions introducing road pricing - it is hard to see how any alternative plan would be possible.

So the proposals to extend the Midland Metro still languish without any sign of funding becoming available. Birmingham City Council has put forward proposals to improve public transport in the city, but these have been little more than pipedreams while no cash has been made available to put them into effect.

However, better transport links are essential to the city’s future prosperity which, in turn, is essential to the prosperity of the nation.

Particularly worrying is the finding that Birmingham suffers worse problems than other major cities in Britain.

It would be wrong to exaggerate the extent of the problems the West Midlands faces - it is one of the best places to do business in the country - but neither is there room for complacency.

Any existing or future government which wants to prove a commitment to the cities outside London must make improving transport a top priority.