Do you have any views on the on the "transposition of Directive 2008/57/EC on the interoperability of the rail system"? Do you know what it means? If so the Department for Transport (DfT) wants to hear from you. There is no need to hurry, you have until 29th May to respond.
Unfortunately, you have just missed the deadline to tell the DfT what you think about "The Pedal Bicycles (Safety) Regulations 2003 - Proposed amendments". And you had better get your skates on should you wish to communicate your thoughts on "Modernising Trust Ports". That one closes on 7 April.
These are just some of 20 or so DfT consultations that are open for comment. Over the past year, the department has issued around 60 invitations to comment on aspects of transport. The department's web site archives more than 400 consultations.
One consultation asked about "proposals for the roads to be included in the Olympic Route Network (ORN), to be designated by the Secretary of State for Transport by statutory instrument". Then the DfT sought views on "the draft regulations which are necessary to allow private hire vehicle (PHV) owners to use the provisions in the Local Transport Act 2008 which allow them to provide local bus services". Of more general interest, perhaps, was "Delivering a Sustainable Transport System".
And that is just the work of the DfT. Consultation is rampant throughout Whitehall. Brussels also plays the same game, with consultation on its own ideas.
For engineers, it makes sense to respond through organisations like the IET. The institution even has a well-oiled machine of sector panels that can convene at the drop of a consultation.
The IET's sector panels welcome what Paul Davies, the institution's Head of Policy, describes as "informed contributions and evidence from experts in the field". You can even sign up for email alerts whenever another of these consultations comes whizzing by. The IET has also archived responses to earlier consultations, more than 30 last year alone, not all on transport.
Far be it from me to deter anyone from contributing to the IET's own cogitations on consultations, but these are bound to come up with a collective view of headline issues. If nothing else, a personal submission can include details, anecdotes even, that don't fit into a joint view.
You may have to duck and weave a bit to make your views fit into the sometimes rigid "consultation questions" that government departments seem to enjoy.
Take the current consultation on "Reforming the framework for the economic regulation of UK airports". (This one closes on 1 June.) There are more than five pages of "Questions for Stakeholders".
Some questions are best left to expert deliberations. But there are times when an individual has specific insights that could stave off some pottier policy ideas, or at least warn of possible unintended consequences.
In these cases it makes sense to join in the collective view but also to chip in personally. It shouldn't take long to read the reports that accompany every consultation and to look for gaping holes.
After all, these policies are supposed to consider the lives of real people. So let's have some input from those at the receiving end of all this meddling.
If nothing else, when you do that you can bask in the warm glow of knowing that you have done your bit. The DfT might even listen to you.
www.dft.gov.uk/consultations
www.theiet.org/publicaffairs/panels/index.cfm
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