Public transport across the West Midlands is getting a new look.
Expect to see a lot of blue and grey, as vehicles and signs are re-branded.
It’s meant to suggest that the various forms of transport available in the region are part of one integrated system, designed to get people where they need to be.
Instead of bus companies doing their thing and rail companies doing something else, they’re all meant to be working together.
Of course, painting the trams blue is only a cosmetic change.
But it represents a new approach to transport, according to West Midlands Mayor Andy Street.
The body co-ordinating all this is called Transport for the West Midlands. It’s part of the West Midlands Combined Authority, which is chaired by Mr Street.
This is the body responsible for the Midland Metro light rail system. It also helps oversee local rail services, works closely with bus companies and runs schemes to encourage cycling.
The aim is for Transport for the West Midlands to play a similar role to Transport for London, which oversees public transport in the capital and brings together everything from the London Underground to ferries down the Thames.
Mr Street has even paid a visit to the London Traffic Control Centre, to learn more about how Transport for London operates.
The traffic centre gives staff an overview of everything happening on London’s roads, with traffic numbers visible in real time and CCTV cameras providing live images.
But despite the name, it doesn’t just deal with traffic. The centre is connected to public transport operators, allowing Transport for London’s experts to stay on top of everything going on.
Mr Street was shown around by Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, and the two transport bodies have signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” agreeing to share best practice.
One goal is to discover how London coped with the 2012 Olympics and the influx of visitors it attracted. Mr Street thinks the West Midlands can learn valuable lessons ready for Coventry’s year as City of Culture in 2021, and the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Specific proposals for the Commonwealth Games include getting a “sprint” bus service up and running in Dudley Road, which links central Birmingham with the west of the city and the Black Country.
Sprint is a sort of souped-up bus service, and the experience is said to be more like using a light rail scheme than getting on a bus. Where possible, it will have its own separate road space, rather than simply using a bus lane on a main road.
There are also plans to upgrade Perry Barr rail station, which will serve the athletes’ village. However, there is some doubt about whether this project will be completed by the time the games take place.
But in general terms, the West Midlands simply wants to learn how it’s done.
London has developed some clever tricks designed to make travelling easier, which most of its residents won’t even be aware of. For example, cameras at certain pelican crossings count the number of pedestrians waiting to cross the road - and if there’s a lot of them, the green man stays on for longer.
Mr Street is keen for the West Midlands to have its own transport control centre, although he says this could be a virtual centre, with staff from different parts of the transport network staying in their current offices but plugging into the same IT system.
The possibility of bringing people together at a central location hasn’t been ruled out.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan insists that the two regions are forming a genuine partnership, and London will be looking to learn lessons from the West Midlands.
One area where we lead the way is in the design and testing of cars that drive themselves, known as autonomous vehicles.
They’ll be a common sight on the roads one day, but that’s likely to mean changes have to be made to the road network to ensure the vehicles operate as intended, and are safe.
The West Midlands has received government funding to carry out the research needed to make this happen, which means it will have expertise to share.
Mr Street said: “In the next few years, the West Midlands will be playing host to huge events requiring us to be at the top of our game in terms of managing transport, particularly on our public transport networks.
“Transport for London has a wealth of experience in accommodating extra travellers and we’re keen to tap into this knowledge ahead of the Commonwealth Games and Coventry City of Culture.
“This Memorandum of Understanding is an important first step in making sure all future events are remembered for the show the West Midlands puts on, not for any challenges the transport networks might face.”
