Jo Field, President of Women in Transport said:
“At Women in Transport we were disappointed to find out that due to uncertainty around long term funding, Transport for London (TfL) may have to enter a phase of managed decline in an attempt to balance its books.
“The Covid pandemic has put huge financial strain on TfL services which has meant they have needed government support and will continue to need to support in the coming years, in common with every other major transport network around the world.
“Transport should be seen as a solution to the impacts of the pandemic, boosting economic growth and creating jobs. Women are a large pool of untapped potential currently only making up 20% of the transport workforce in the UK. With the right measures and funding we can unlock this potential, creating skills and new opportunities targeting women, such as returners programmes which our own research shows are successful in attracting women into the workforce. This is especially important as we recover from the pandemic, as data shows women have been hardest hit by the pandemic.
“We recognise the need for levelling up but it should not be at the cost of the excellent progress and example of London. We therefore urge the government to listen to TfL, supply it with the funding it needs, and view our transport networks as the route out of the pandemic rather than a constant drain of resource.”
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