The past year has brought disruption to daily life in an unprecedent fashion.
The impact of Coronavirus and the subsequent lockdowns have caused growing uncertainty to all areas of society.
But during these challenges, our mission at Transport for the North to level-up opportunity through transport investment remains resolute.
As we head into a new year, we look at what spending on infrastructure and connectivity across the region would mean to businesses.
Danielle works for Bon Bloemen, a flower wholesaler in Gateshead which imports from Holland and distributes to florists throughout the North.
Once the plants arrive from overseas, the business has vans that deliver to the Scottish border, North Yorkshire and Cumbria.
Before the pandemic hit, Danielle said better transport links would improve delivery times, especially within the East to West connections.
“We need investment in transport to improve links for businesses and to make things much easier for everyone,” she added.
“We get a lot of problems with delays at the ferry ports so there could be investment there.”
Connectivity is also important to Kevin, an entrepreneur who started a business creating wall designs.
He said a better road network across the north would make it easier when restrictions are lifted for site visits, as well as for delivery drivers – allowing quicker journeys and lower costs.
“Knowing how well London is interconnected with buses, underground, and trains, I know how well it ticks over,” he added.
“We need to bring that up to the North, it can only do us good.”
Bridge Community Farms works with people who have mental health issues – helping keep them engaged and giving them more of a purpose
The business is split in two, the charity element, Bridge Wellness Gardens, and the community farm which produces organic local delivery vegetable boxes.
Founder of the farm, Francis said: “In addition to what we grow ourselves we rely on fresh organic produce grown in Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the Midlands, consolidated in Manchester.
“Better transport would facilitate more people using our services and the charity.
“It is a big factor in putting people off coming here as it is difficult to get to us. With investment we can help more people in the community.”
He said direct bus services would help users reach the farm, and smaller projects that would provide more accessible community transport would benefit rural regions tremendously.
“A lot of our older service users especially the ones with a disability would really relish that,” he added.
“It would be a really good service for them to use.”
Before Covid-19, freelancer Shobi Rae would commute to London for work from her home in Manchester.
She said she would like to see an environmentally friendly travel network she could rely on, and one she could trust to get her where she needed to be.
Her vision for transport is simple: “I think we should have investment in transport for quicker and more efficient services with less delays and cancellations.”
Singers Anna and Michaela regularly toured the UK from their homes in the North-East, before the coronavirus pandemic.
They believe investment is needed because people are missing out on public transport. They say services aren’t up to scratch and can be confusing for passengers.
But it’s spending on major road infrastructure projects that would improve accessibility for the two entertainers.
“I take a lot of equipment to the gigs so improved transport would mainly benefit me on the roads,” Anna said.
“This would mean shorter journey times so I have more time to do what I like to do.”