{{Short description|System of seamless, integrated transport}} {{use dmy dates|date=August 2024}} [[File:Oyster-Reader.jpg|thumb|upright=1|London's Oyster card system is an example of an integrated transport network<ref>{{Cite conference |last=Potter |first=Stephen |date=January 2010 |title=Transport integration - an impossible dream? |url=https://oro.open.ac.uk/19719/ |conference=Universities Transport Studies Group Annual Concerence |pages=5 |via=Open Research Online}}</ref>]] {{Sustainable transport sidebar}}
An '''integrated transport network''' is a transport system that allows travellers to have a seamless, rapid public transport experience.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/322961468019179668/public-transport-service-optimization-and-system-integration |title=Public transport service optimization and system integration |last=Fang |first=Ke |last2=Zimmerman |first2=Samuel |date=March 2015 |publisher=World Bank |location=Washington D.C.}}</ref> Journeys are optimised to have as little interchange as possible, services are scheduled to minimise waiting times, and ticketing or other administrative tasks are reduced to the minimum. The concept may be applied to single transport modes or to combinations.
== History == One of the first integrated transport networks was the Rede Integrada de Transporte in Curitiba, Brazil. Opened in 1974, the RIT was one of the first systems to merge multiple aspects of a metropolitan transport network into one.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reed |first=Drew |date=2015-05-26 |title=How Curitiba's BRT stations sparked a transport revolution – a history of cities in 50 buildings, day 43 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/26/curitiba-brazil-brt-transport-revolution-history-cities-50-buildings |access-date=2024-08-02 |work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-17 |title=Curitiba: 50 Years of Lessons from the World’s First 'Bus Rapid Transit' — Streetsblog USA |url=https://usa.streetsblog.org/2024/10/17/curitiba-50-years-of-lessons-from-the-worlds-first-bus-rapid-transit |access-date=2025-09-28 |website=usa.streetsblog.org |language=en}}</ref>
In the UK, the concept of "integrated transport" was first publicised by Tony Blair's 1997 Labour government in a 1998 white paper, titled "A New Deal for Transport: Better for everyone".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grayling |first=Tony |date=January 2004 |title=Whatever Happened to Integrated Transport? |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-923X.2004.00568.x |journal=The Political Quarterly |language=en |volume=75 |issue=1 |pages=26–33 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-923X.2004.00568.x |issn=0032-3179|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A response to growing concerns around traffic congestion, it suggested that improving and better "integrating" existing public transport systems would reduce overall congestion.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Montague |first=Simon |date=1998-07-14 |title=Better late than never |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/131885.stm |work=BBC News}}</ref>
== Planning == In order to achieve an integrated network including different modes of transport, all agencies responsible for the various modes must work effectively together. If they are fragmented, and especially if they are in direct competition with each other, effective joint working is unlikely.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Committee |first=Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cVfnWO9pC8oC&pg=PA150 |title=Integrated Transport: The Future of Light Rail and Modern Trams in the United Kingdom; Tenth Report of Session 2004-05 |date=2005-08-10 |publisher=The Stationery Office |isbn=978-0-215-02573-9 |language=en}}</ref>
== Traveller information == Prospective travellers must be able to access information about their possible journey. For public transport services, travellers should be able to access real-time information on services, or should (in high-use areas) be confident that the next service will arrive very shortly.
== See also == * Transit-oriented development
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:Intermodal transport Category:Sustainable urban planning Category:Sustainable transport Category:Transit-oriented developments