text: North South transport divide sees North East commuters left suffering - Chronicle Live
  North South transport divide sees North East commuters left suffering
  An elected mayor in the North East should try to ensure no residents face more than one hour commute by bus a think tank has claimed
  14:42, 10 MAR 2016
  Updated 14:43, 10 MAR 2016
  Traffic build up on the Washington Highway A1231 on the approach to the A19
  The North-South divide adds hours to North East commutes every week, a think tank has found.
  Currently it takes nearly 90 minutes to travel between Middlesbrough and Newcastle - a distance no further than between Reading or Guildford but in central London which takes just 57 minutes by public transport.
  Think tank IPPR North said commutes within major cities should be cut down to no more than an hour ahead of an elected mayor taking control of transport in the region.
  If six of the seven councils across the North East opt in for the government's £1.3bn devolution offer an elected mayor will take control of the region's transport infrastructure in the next couple of years.
  Voters in major cities and surrounding areas, including Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, Sheffield, the West Midlands and the North East, will head to the polls to elect these new metro mayors who will be handed powers Boris Johnson-style transport spending powers.
  A new report by IPPR North said mayoral candidates should guarantee no resident with a job within their region will have to commute for more than an hour by bus.
  Bus fares for young people, job seekers and lowly paid workers should be reduced by 2017, and businesses could face a tax on parking spaces to raise vital transport funds, a report on devolved transport powers has said.
  Researcher Luke Raikes, said: "From next year a new wave of these metro mayors will sweep England's cities - with London-style powers to invest fresh billions and make daily commutes quicker, cheaper and greener.
  "In the long-term this could underpin stronger, more inclusive economic growth and prosperity for our major cities and the wider UK economy."
  For far too long the UK's transport policy has lagged behind similar countries, the report found, and the North East should be looking to the Netherlands, and Malmö, Sweden, for lessons on how to run public transport well.
  The only way regional transport will be improved is if devolution goes head and money is handed to Metro Mayors to distribute, IPPR has said.
  Local authorities have been grappling with millions of pounds worth of cutbacks in recent years, leaving little in squeezed budget for transport investment.
  The report says: "Resources are scarce across the public sector, and especially for local government. Fiscal devolution is increasingly recognised as being vital to the effective exercising of devolved powers."
  Other "innovative" ways to boost transport cash suggested in the report include a tax on car parking spaces for businesses and a 2p levy on business rates.
  Newcastle could follow in Nottingham City Council footstep's and charge employers £379 per space per year if they provide more than 11 parking spaces for staff in an attempt to encourage people to use public transport more.