First up @Paul_Swinney explained the continued importance of cities, even in a post-lockdown world. You can see here how city centres accont for 0.1% of land but 14.4% of jobs. 👇

So how do they get to work currently? London, Edinburgh and Glasgow have the most commuters by 🚐🚋🚆 Telford, Swansea and Blackburn have the fewest commuters public transport 🚗

Cities that are currently reliant on public transport face a big challenge due to social distancing. 😷 ↔️ 😷 How can they continue to get people to work?

Cycling 🚴 and walking 🚶‍♀️ is one solution. But not everyone lives close enough to their workplace to allow them to do this.

What are the other solutions? 🛴 Legalising e-scooters 😷 Compulsory mask wearing 🧼 Disinfecting public transport 📜 Better transport planning #CovidTransport

Next up @lmshoaf , Executive Director for Transport in the West Midlands, tells us what she's been doing.

Her big priorities: 👮‍♂️ Keeping staff stafe 👫Keeping customers safe 👩‍⚕️ Getting key workers to work

With social distancing the number of people that can get on a West Midlands tram falls from 280 people to about 40.

She tells us that the West Midlands is ready to ramp up the transport network to help get people to work.

But there are things we can do to limit the negative impact of this, for example car sharing, and electric cars.

On devolution, he tells us that we need better communication between various Government departments and cities.

Now for the questions... How can we restore public confidence in the safety of public transport❓ @lmshoaf says that passengers want to know that the vehicles are clean, that people are wearing face coverings, and they maintain social distancing.

How do we make the temporary transport measures that we've seen (e.g. cycling) more permanent❓ @Jonathan__Bray says that many politicians who previously weren't so interested in active travel are now more committed. He also suggests that working patterns may change.

How can we better integrate transport in future❓ @lmshoaf tells us that outside London transport is deregulated. This doesn't help with co-ordination. But we are seeing moves towards integration. Devolution of transport powers would help do this more in future.

Are e-bikes part of the solution❓ And how can we implement policies to benefit lower income people❓ @Paul_Swinney says that e-bikes could increase the distance that people are willing to commute. @lmshoaf says that the West Midlands is going to trial an e-bike pilot.

Is there a role for district centres to facilitate agglomoration outside the city centre❓ @Paul_Swinney says it's a great idea in principle but we've tried it previously and it hasn't worked. He expects to see similar commuting patters to city centres in future.

What does Government need to do to improve public transport❓ @Jonathan__Bray says it comes down to devolution and funding. @lmshoaf says that the Government should let city regions take their own decisions as the city regions know their customers and their networks best.

... @Paul_Swinney says Government needs to focus on transport within city regions, give them all TfL style-powers, and invest in infrastructure where it's needed.

And that's it for this week. Thank you to @lmshoaf from Transport for the West Midlands, @Jonathan__Bray from the Urban Transport Group and @Paul_Swinney from Centre for Cities for taking part.

You can join us online next Thursday at 11.00 when @MagriniElena will be talking about how Covid-19 is affecting the labour market and unemployment. Sign up here 👇