Campaign for Better Transport (United Kingdom)

{{Short description|UK advocacy group}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}} {{Use British English|date=February 2017}} {{Infobox organization | name = Campaign for Better Transport | formation = {{Start date and years ago|1973|February|6|df=y}} | full_name = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | logo = CampaignBetterTransport.svg | logo_size = 300px | logo_alt = | logo_caption = Campaign for Better Transport logo | map = | map_size = | map_alt = | map_caption = | map2 = | map2_size = | map2_alt = | map2_caption = | abbreviation = CBT, CfBT | nickname = | pronunciation = | pronounce_ref = | pronounce_comment = | named_after = | predecessor = Transport 2000 Trust Campaign for Better Transport Ltd | merged_into = Campaign for Better Transport Charitable Trust | successor = | founders = Eric Robinson and Sidney Weighell | founding_location = Hotel Russell, London | extinction =  | merger = Road Block (1 January 2007) | type = Nonprofit | vat_id = | registration_id = Charity 1101929<ref>{{cite web |title=How we are run |url=https://bettertransport.org.uk/what-we-do/how-we-are-run |website=Campaign for Better Transport |accessdate=22 May 2020 |archive-date=8 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708190359/https://bettertransport.org.uk/what-we-do/how-we-are-run |url-status=dead }}</ref> Company 04943428 | status = Active (incorporated 24 October 2003) | purpose = Promote sustainable transport | professional_title = | headquarters = 7–14 Great Dover Street, London, United Kingdom | region_served = England and Wales | coordinates = {{coords|51.4998|-0.0928|type:landmark_region:GB}} | origins = Liberal Party National Union of Railwaymen Railway Industry Association | products = Research and campaigns | services = Consultancy | methods = Advocacy | fields = Transport and environment | membership = | num_members_year = | owner =  | secretary_general =  | leader_title = Chief Executive | leader_name = | leader_title2 = | leader_name2 = | leader_title3 = | leader_name3 = | leader_title4 = | leader_name4 = | board_of_directors = Board of trustees (12 as of 2020)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/04943428/officers |title=Company number 04943428 |website=Companies House |publisher=UK Government}}</ref> | key_people = Michael Palin (1986–2019) Stephen Joseph (1988–2019) Rebecca Lush (2007–2012) Siân Berry (2011–2015) | main_organ = | parent_organization = | subsidiaries = | secessions = | affiliations = European Federation for Transport and Environment | budget = {{down}} £311,397 | budget_year = 2020/2021 | revenue = {{up}} £517,143 | revenue_year = 2020/2021 | disbursements = | expenses = | expenses_year = 2020/2021 | endowment = | endowment_year = | num_staff = 5<ref>{{cite web |title=Our Team |url=https://bettertransport.org.uk/about/team_members |website=Campaign for Better Transport |accessdate=22 May 2020}}</ref> | num_staff_year = 2020/2021 | num_volunteers = | num_volunteers_year = 2020/2021 | num_students = | num_students_year = | website = {{Official URL}} | remarks = | former_name = Transport 2000 (renamed 1 September 2007) | footnotes = | bodystyle = }} '''Campaign for Better Transport''' is an advocacy group in the United Kingdom that promotes sustainable transport, particularly bus and rail services. It was launched as '''Transport 2000''' in February 1973 by the National Union of Railwaymen with the Railway Industry Association, the Liberal Party Environmental Panel and others. In January 2007 it absorbed the Road Block anti-road building campaign led by Rebecca Lush and campaigned for less expenditure on road building. The organisation changed its name from Transport 2000 to Campaign for Better Transport in September 2007.

==History== ===Transport 2000=== Transport 2000 logo|thumb Transport 2000 was launched on 6 February 1973 with a press conference at the Hotel Russell, London. It initially had offices at 30-34 Buckingham Gate, Westminster.<ref>{{cite book |date= 1973 |title= Your Environment, Volume 4, Issues 1-2 |page= 62}}</ref> The formation of the organisation was a reaction to the newspaper disclosure in October 1972 that one of the options in a report for the Department of the Environment was the possible closure of a large part of the rail network.<ref>{{cite news |title=Big cuts in rail services urged in confidential report |work=The Times |date=1972-10-09}}</ref> The organisation was formed by the National Union of Railwaymen and included the Railway Industry Association and the Liberal Party Environmental Panel, as well as environmentalists, amenity groups, trades unions and other transport groups.<ref>{{cite web |title=Single or Return - the official history of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association: The Campaign to save the Railway Network |url=http://www.tssa.org.uk/about/single-or-return/chapter28.htm |website=TSSA |publisher=The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514092733/http://www.tssa.org.uk/about/single-or-return/chapter28.htm |archive-date=14 May 2011 }}</ref>

The creation of the group was described in March 1973 as "Yet another transport pressure group has appeared on the scene; known as Transport 2000, it has the backing of railway and environmental sections of the community. The Chairman is Mr. Eric Robinson, a member of the Liberal Environmental Panel, and he described the new group as the most comprehensive and ambitious transport lobby in Britain".<ref>{{cite journal |journal=The Journal of London Underground Railway Society |volume=12 |issue=3 |title=News Flashes |page=37 |url=http://www.lurs.org.uk/UN135%20MAR%201973.pdf |date=March 1973 |archive-date=1 July 2020 |access-date=1 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701045416/http://www.lurs.org.uk/UN135%20MAR%201973.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

From launch in 1973, Transport 2000 campaigned for the UK Government to form a national transport policy. They identified too many vehicles in the wrong places, the threat of rail closures, damage done by large lorries and concerns over Concorde and a proposed third London airport as their initial focus.<ref>{{ cite book | title= Transport 2000 Press Conference | date=6 February 1973}}</ref>

In 1974 the organisation proposed a single ticket system for railways, Underground and buses and a single passenger transport authority for London.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=The Journal of London Underground Railway Society |url=http://www.lurs.org.uk/UN152%20AUG%201974.pdf |volume=13 |issue=8 |title=News Flashes |date=August 1974 |archive-date=2 July 2020 |access-date=2 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702125642/http://www.lurs.org.uk/UN152%20AUG%201974.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1984 they proposed reopening the Snow Hill Tunnel between Blackfriars and Farringdon (i.e. Thameslink), more services on the West London Line and a rail tunnel between Euston and Victoria (later known as Crossrail 2).<ref>{{cite journal |journal=The Journal of London Underground Railway Society |url=http://www.lurs.org.uk/UN269%20MAY%201984.pdf |issue=269 |title=From the Papers |date=May 1984 |archive-date=2 July 2020 |access-date=2 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702135222/http://www.lurs.org.uk/UN269%20MAY%201984.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1998 Transport 2000 was part of a coalition of organisations which jointly launched the Slower Speeds Initiative which campaigns in favour of traffic calming, lower speeds and better enforcement of existing speed limits.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.slower-speeds.org.uk/about |title=About us |access-date=28 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912221432/http://www.slower-speeds.org.uk/about |archive-date=12 September 2009 |df=dmy-all |website=The Slower Speeds Initiative}}</ref> Although a founding member, the organisation now focuses less on speed reduction in favour of other campaigns.<ref name=campaigns>{{cite web |url=http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/campaigns |title=Campaigns |website=Campaign for Better Transport |accessdate=27 September 2009}}</ref>

A linked charity was registered in 2003: the Campaign for Better Transport Charitable Trust.<ref>{{cite web |title=Campaign For Better Transport Charitable Trust |url=https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/4004656 |access-date=17 August 2022 |website=Charity Commission}}</ref>

The organisation criticised ''Top Gear'' in 2005, saying that it was "irresponsible, out-dated television designed to give comfort to boy racers, 'petrolheads' and those from the 'get out of my way' school of driving."<ref>{{cite news |title='Petrolheads' under attack |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4432279.stm |access-date=2 July 2020 |work=BBC News |date=12 April 2005}}</ref> In 2006 the group accused David Cameron of being a hypocrite, "conning people about the environment" because he was pictured cycling to work, but had his car follow with his briefcase.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hypocrisy claim over Cameron bike |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4953922.stm |access-date=2 July 2020 |work=BBC News |date=28 April 2006}}</ref>

In January 2007 Transport 2000 absorbed Road Block, an organisation which supported local groups that were resisting road schemes.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

===Campaign for Better Transport=== In September 2007 the organisation changed its name to Campaign for Better Transport.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Campaign for Better Transport is 50! |url=https://bettertransport.org.uk/about/50-years-of-campaign-for-better-transport/ |access-date=2023-11-14 |website=Campaign for Better Transport}}</ref> In 2011 the bus, rail and roads campaigns were given names and individual branding as ''Save our Buses'', ''Fair Fares Now'' and ''Roads to Nowhere''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bettertransport.org.uk/sites/default/files/research-files/11.09.08.annual-review-lr.pdf |title=Annual review of our work for the year ending 31 March 2011 |website=Campaign for Better Transport}}</ref>

== Key people == Michael Palin was appointed chairman in 1986. In 1987 he wrote and appeared in ''The Chairman'', a programme made by Central Television about the work of Transport 2000.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.macearchive.org/films/chairman-eco | title=The Chairman (Eco) }}</ref> He subsequently retired as chairman and was made president.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.themichaelpalin.com/biography/ | title=Michael Palin Biography}}</ref> In 2006 ''The Times'' reported that Palin was facing moves to oust him as president because of his use of long-distance air travel; it was calculated that he had flown more than a quarter of a million miles in the previous 17 years while making his six TV series.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article788287.ece |title=Globetrotter Palin brought down to earth by eco-lobby |date=14 January 2006 |first=Ben |last=Webster |work=The Times |accessdate=11 January 2008}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The organisation denied any such suggestion, saying "Michael Palin brings popular appeal, wisdom and a sense of proportion to the transport problems we as a society face today".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4612556.stm |title=Green group backs Palin on travel |work=BBC News |date=26 January 2006 |access-date=11 January 2008}}</ref> ''The Daily Telegraph'' also covered the story in their motoring section, initially claiming that over half of the organisation's funding came from the bus and rail sector, but then correcting the figure to 20%.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml=/motoring/2006/02/04/mntrans04.xml |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913163930/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml=/motoring/2006/02/04/mntrans04.xml |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 September 2012 |title=Funding leads to another |work=The Telegraph |accessdate=20 April 2008 | date=4 February 2006}}</ref>

Stephen Joseph was appointed as executive director in 1988. He received an OBE for "services to transport and the environment" in the 1996 Birthday Honours.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/54427/page/12/data.pdf | title=Supplement to The London Gazette| date=15 June 1996}}</ref> The House of Commons Transport Select Committee took evidence from Joseph regularly for many years,<ref>{{cite web|date=10 July 2012|title=Rail 2020 - oral evidence|url=https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/transport-committee/inquiries/parliament-2010/rail-2020/oral-evidence/|accessdate=30 June 2020|website=www.parliament.uk|publisher=UK Parliament}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HgmDmv50AjsC&q=Stephen+Joseph+OBE&pg=PA71|title=Transport and the economy|date=30 November 2010|publisher=House of Commons|pages=69–73|accessdate=30 June 2020}}</ref> and the organisation was described in 2018 as "the country’s leading transport NGO."<ref>{{cite web |title=Stephen Joseph OBE, Advisor, Campaign for Better Transport |url=http://olderroaduser.org/2018-agenda-speakers/stephen-joseph-executive-director-campaign-for-better-transport/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703125942/http://olderroaduser.org/2018-agenda-speakers/stephen-joseph-executive-director-campaign-for-better-transport/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=3 July 2020 |website=Older Road User Conference |accessdate=30 June 2020}}</ref> In the same year he was given a 'Lifetime Contribution to Transport' award.<ref>{{cite news |title=Lifetime Contribution to Transport award goes to Stephen Joseph OBE |url=https://www.transporttimes.co.uk/news.php/Lifetime-Contribution-to-Transport-award-goes-to-Stephen-Joseph-OBE-330/ |accessdate=30 June 2020 |work=Transport Times |date=19 October 2018}}</ref> He stepped down after 30 years in the post.<ref>{{cite news |title=Transport loses 'staunchest advocate' as Joseph steps down |url=https://www.transport-network.co.uk/Transport-loses-staunchest-advocate-as-Joseph-steps-down/14838 |accessdate=30 June 2020 |work=Transport Network |date=21 February 2018}}</ref>

In 2007 Rebecca Lush, who had led Road Block and was a long-standing roads campaigner, was appointed as roads and climate campaigner. From 2011 to 2015 Siân Berry, who was Green Party candidate for Mayor of London in 2008, 2016 and 2021, worked as a roads and sustainable transport campaigner for the charity.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://bettertransport.org.uk/media/june-7-sian-berry|title=Sian Berry joins Campaign for Better Transport|work=Campaign for Better Transport media release| location=London | date=7 June 2014}}</ref>

Jenny Agutter, Steve Norris and Tracy Marchioness of Worcester are patrons.

==Finances== For 2020/2021 its income was £517,143 (up from £358,000 in 2019/2020) and expenditure was £311,397 (down from £425,850 in 2019/2020).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/4004656 |title=Campaign For Better Transport Charitable Trust |website=Registered charities in England and Wales |publisher=UK Government|access-date=7 February 2023}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

==External links== *{{Official website}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campaign For Better Transport (United Kingdom)}} Category:Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom Category:Public transport in the United Kingdom Category:1973 establishments in the United Kingdom Category:Transport advocacy groups of the United Kingdom Category:Charities based in London Category:Environmental organizations established in 1973 Category:Transport charities based in the United Kingdom Category:Organisations based in the London Borough of Southwark