The Department for Transport’s Better Connected strategy, published at the start of April 2026, sets out a long-term vision for the future of integrated transport in England.

Its message is not groundbreaking, but it’s something we can all get behind: Transport should work better for people. Journeys, regardless of the combination of modes, should be simpler: easier to pay for, easier to understand, more reliable and more accessible.

The strategy is something we welcome, confirming a direction of travel for all stakeholders. For local transport authorities, it sets the tone for investment and delivery. For operators, it raises expectations around passenger experience and integration. For technology providers, it confirms an essential role turning policy into real outcomes.

A shift from modes to journeys

One of the most important parts of the strategy is the shift in mindset.

Rather than planning transport as separate systems for bus, rail, road and active travel, the government wants it to be designed around how people actually move through places. That means thinking about the whole journey, from planning and payment, to accessibility and connection.

It modes the focus away from transport modes being planned and managed in silos, towards really addressing the lived experience of travel. It raises the bar for integration, with joined-up transport becoming the basis for how performance and value will be judged.

The key themes in Better Connected

While the strategy is broad, a few priorities stand out.

1. Simpler payments and information: This includes integrated ticketing, easier fares, more contactless travel and access to accurate, up-to-the-minute travel information where and when it’s needed. The aim is to remove the micro points of friction that make journeys feel more complicated and fragmented than they should.
2. Safe and dependable journeys: Reliability remains one of the biggest drivers of passenger trust. The strategy links this to better maintenance, stronger disruption management, improved performance monitoring and better real-time information.
3. Accessibility and affordability: The proposed Accessible Travel Charter, continued bus fare support and the rail fare freeze are welcome steps to embedding accessibility in design, making public transport services more equitable.
4. Transport as a lever for wider public policy goals: The strategy is not only about movement. It is also about healthier communities, cleaner air, local growth, housing delivery and better access to jobs, education, services, and social connection.
5. Essential role of data, technology and devolution: The strategy makes it clear that local leaders are expected to play a bigger role, but they will need the right systems, funding structures and technology partners to succeed.

How the government plans to deliver its goals

Better Connected’s delivery model rests heavily on devolution. The government is moving further towards giving mayors and local transport authorities more power over local networks, alongside longer-term and more flexible funding. This makes sense as leaders in our regions are better placed to understand local journeys, barriers and priorities.

But even with this local focus, successful delivery will depend on structure and technology. The strategy points to a set of must-haves: integrated contactless ticketing, stronger open data, better real-time passenger information, improved bus performance monitoring, more joined-up planning and a more consistent approach to appraisal and investment.

Integration won’t happen through policy statements alone, but when governance, funding, operations and technology work together to put these elements together.

That is where the strategy becomes especially relevant for transport technology providers like Vix. The government is clear that the private sector has an important role to play in helping local authorities and operators embed these changes in our transport networks.

Why ticketing, payments and real-time information matter so much

The Better Connected strategy is emphatic about the practical improvements needed to make the passenger experience of paying for and navigating travel better.

It asserts that passengers should be able to move through the network with confidence they are not overpaying. To achieve this, it supports integrated, account-based, and contactless ticketing in major city regions, more flexible payment models and clearer fare structures.

It’s also insistent that all passengers should be able to access accurate, up-to-date information where and when they need it, especially throughout journeys where trips using one transport mode needs to connect seamlessly with another.

The strategy acknowledges that a network can only feel integrated if both the payment experience and the delivery of information are working well. A journey may involve high-quality services, but it will still feel disjointed if the passenger has to navigate multiple tickets, inconsistent fare rules or poor information when services change.

That is why ticketing, payment and passenger information infrastructure matter so much, as core parts of the passenger experience. For authorities trying to build connected local networks, they are the clearest places to reduce friction and improve confidence.

How success will be measured

The strategy also sets out how success will be measured. This is important because it shows what the government will value over time. We’re pleased to see that the focus is not just on delivery, it’s on outcomes for passengers and places.

The key performance indicators include confidence in travel information, satisfaction with payment options, overall user satisfaction, disabled people’s confidence when travelling, feelings of safety on public transport, levels of walking and cycling, emissions and connectivity to key destinations such as work, education and healthcare.

This reflects a more realistic view of transport’s relevance and value, based on whether people find it usable, affordable, reliable and well-connected.

What Better Connected means for local authorities and operators

For local authorities, the strategy creates both opportunity and pressure.

Stronger policy backing for integrated local transport, more support for devolution and a clear national vision for passenger-first delivery are all great opportunities.

However, authorities will need to show they can turn funding, powers and intent into real improvements for users. That will require multi-modal thinking and collaboration.

Operators face a similar challenge. The strategy points towards a growing passenger expectation for networks to work together more smoothly, for information to be more transparent and for the experience of multi-operator, multi-modal journeys to be seamless.

While this creates space for innovation, it also raises questions around systems interoperability, data quality and sharing, which have been viewed as blockers in the past.

How Vix can help

At Vix, we see Better Connected as an important step in the right direction.

The strategy’s priorities align closely with the practical challenges many authorities and operators are already trying to solve. Greater Manchester and Wales, for example, have made great strides towards achieving the vision of truly integrated transport.

There’s already been a lot of work done around overcoming barriers to integration by making payments simpler, supporting more integrated local travel, giving passengers a more consistent experience across modes and operators, keeping people informed when disruption happens, and building systems that work today while preparing for the future.

This is where Vix can help. Our focus is on helping transport organisations build the digital foundations for integrated journeys. That includes modern ticketing and fare collection, support for contactless and account-based models, and systems that reduce complexity for both operators and passengers. Alongside this we provide real-time information systems that improve confidence, support accessibility and make public transport easier to use.

We understand that integration is not just a technical challenge. Solutions need to work within local governance structures, and address local priorities and delivery constraints. They need to be scalable, interoperable and robust enough to support long-term change.

The bigger picture

Better Connected envisions a future for transport where journeys are simpler from start to finish. It positions integrated transport as integral to how the government thinks about growth, inclusion, and local delivery.

It’s encouraging to see that the next phase of transport improvement in England is likely to depend less on standalone projects and more on getting systems to work together. Ultimately, success will be down to whether people notice the difference.

In everyday travel, can they plan a journey more easily, pay without confusion, travel at the planned time, and access reliable real-time information at every stage? If the answer is yes to these questions by the close of this decade, Better Connected can count that as a win.