Campaign for Better Transport (United Kingdom)

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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] 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".[7]

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.[8]

In 1974 the organisation proposed a single ticket system for railways, Underground and buses and a single passenger transport authority for London.[9] 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).[10]

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.[11] Although a founding member, the organisation now focuses less on speed reduction in favour of other campaigns.[12]

A linked charity was registered in 2003: the Campaign for Better Transport Charitable Trust.[13]

It attacked 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."[14] It 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.[15]

In January 2007 Transport 2000 absorbed Road Block, an organisation which supported local groups that were resisting road schemes.

In September 2007 the organisation changed its name to Campaign for Better Transport. 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.[16]