2006-2011 LTP Annex 2

Background

Warwickshire’s Public Transport Strategy provides the strategic framework for the public transport mode specific strategies covering Buses, Passenger Rail, Community Transport, Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles.  The Public Transport Interchange Strategy and the Bus Information Strategy are also crucial to delivering better public transport.

The purpose of this strategy is to set out what is needed in Warwickshire to ensure excellent public transport services and facilities which will address the needs of both current and potential passengers in Warwickshire and deliver the transport objectives of the Government and the County Council.

The target audience for this strategy includes a wide range of stakeholders comprising the residents of Warwickshire, public transport passengers and representative organisations, voluntary groups, the Department for Transport, the Council’s local authority and regional partners, bus operators, Network Rail, train operators, the Highways Agency and regulatory bodies.

The County Council is convinced that the underlying principle of the Public Transport Strategy must be to provide for the travel needs of passengers. Customers’ needs should come before the operational and commercial requirements of the public transport providers.

The timescale of the strategy is primarily the period 2005-2011, but it also provides a medium term framework for the future development of public transport up to 2016 and a less detailed longer term direction for the period after 2016.  This forward-thinking approach is crucial as the delivery of public transport initiatives involves a wide range of stakeholders and the timescales for the schemes and measures will need to be flexible to take advantage of the implementation opportunities as they arise.

An effective transport network is essential in order to give people, in both the urban and rural areas of Warwickshire, access to the opportunities and benefits that contribute to the enjoyment of a better quality of life. Public transport needs will continue to be met by bus, passenger rail, community transport services or similar initiatives or any appropriate combination of these modes.  Each of these activities and modes have interlinked strategies and common aims and their provision will be integrated to provide the most effective transport service.

The effectiveness of transport links extends, not only to its provision, but also to difficulties in physically accessing what is provided, and other equally important issues such as the level of fares, journey time, personal security and comfort.

A further aspect, which needs to be taken into account, is that peoples’ travel needs are not constrained by administrative boundaries.  This strategy therefore considers cross-boundary services and services operating wholly within Warwickshire on an equal basis.  This approach, in terms of delivery, makes effective partnership working with adjoining local authorities, regional and other stakeholders, users and transport providers absolutely essential.  The County Council is committed to this way of working and partnership is a recurrent theme through the Public Transport Strategy and the public transport mode specific strategies.

Coaches

The Bus Strategy deals specifically with the contribution bus services make in providing an effective transport network.  However, the term ‘bus’ should be read to include scheduled coaches as these play an important role in providing a more direct, express-type, service which can be appropriate for some local travel demands.

Coach facilities exist in the main towns.  In Stratford upon Avon, there are two designated coach parks, one of which (Windsor Street) has limited capacity, while the other (behind the Leisure Centre) has space for over fifty coaches.  Existing coach parking facilities are generally under utilised in Rugby, although the reasons for this are unclear, improved facilities may improve utilisation to the wider benefit of the town centre.  In Warwick, coach parking facilities are limited with only one express stop in the town centre, although new facilities to support the tourist market and to provide layover facilities are to be provided as part of the St Mary’s Land development.  A coach drop-off and collection point is provided in Leamington town centre although no layover facilities are provided.

Coach Parking is considered in Policy P7 of the Parking Strategy:

We will support the provision of coach services as part of an integrated public transport system, support Warwickshire’s tourist industry and manage the impact of coach parking on the highway network by:

• Providing safe and convenient access to coach services in a way which also minimises adverse impacts on traffic operation; and,
• Working with District and Borough Councils to identify and provide suitable off-street layover facilities for coaches.

It is intended to incorporate a coach interchange at the proposed Park & Ride site for Leamington Spa and Warwick, and facilities to interchange with National Express at Warwick Parkway.

Public Transport Strategy Objectives

The starting point for this Public Transport Strategy is the overall transport objectives of the Local Transport Plan 2005 which have been developed to reflect national, regional and local policy which are:

• To improve accessibility through the transport system in order to promote a fairer, more inclusive society;
• To seek a transport system which will promote full employment and a strong, sustainable local and sub-regional economy;
• To reduce the impact of transport on the environment through the management and control of adverse impacts; and
• To improve the environment and safety of people when they are using the transport system; and
• To encourage the integration of transport, both in terms of policy planning and the physical interchange of modes.

The Public Transport Strategy will contribute to achieving the objectives in the LTP by promoting a public transport network, which:

• Offers accessibility through the public transport system, both in terms of physical access to transport and its availability, to the widest cross section of the population;
• Gives people (including those who do not have access to cars) more travel choices to access work, services and leisure activities;
• Offers affordable fares to passengers;
• Provides an attractive and sustainable travel alternative to the car thereby helping to reduce traffic congestion and pollution levels and improving air quality and the environment; and
• Encourages integration with other modes of transport.

The Strategy

The vision of Warwickshire County Council’s Public Transport Strategy is:

‘An affordable, accessible, safe, convenient, environmentally sustainable and integrated public transport network, capable of attracting an increasing market share for public transport thereby contributing to the achievement of the objectives in the Warwickshire’s Local Transport Plan 2005’.

The aim of the Public Transport Strategy is to grow the market for public transport by making the product attractive both to existing and potential users alike. It will achieve significant improvement in the provision of public transport services and facilities to the people of Warwickshire by following a customer-driven approach designed to identify and overcome barriers to the use of public transport.

The Public Transport Policies

Criteria for the Provision and Financial Support of Essential Transport Links

Introduction

An effective transport network is essential in order to give people, in both urban and rural areas of Warwickshire, access to the opportunities and benefits that contribute to the enjoyment of a better quality of life.

To enjoy a balanced lifestyle and to take advantage of opportunities, which arise, people need to be able to access a wide range of facilities, including work, education, training, healthcare, shopping, social activities and leisure. 

For people without access to a car, the lack of appropriate transport links restrict the possibilities of benefiting from these facilities and opportunities.

In this context, the ‘appropriateness’ of transport links extends, not only to its provision, but also to difficulties in physically accessing what is provided and other equally important issues such as the level of fares, journey time, personal security and comfort. 

The County Council is committed to meeting its responsibility to improve accessibility in order to reduce both the perception and reality of this type of social exclusion in Warwickshire.

This document deals specifically with the contribution which conventional bus and rail services, voluntary and community transport schemes, flexible transport services, demand responsive systems and other innovative transport initiatives will make in promoting social inclusion and how the County Council will provide and financially support essential transport links.

In this document, the use of the term ‘public transport’ (as opposed to ‘private transport’) includes the range of transport services and initiatives, which are referred to in the preceding paragraph.

Policy Background

The overall objectives of the Local Transport Plan 2005 have been developed to reflect national, regional and local policies and the Public Transport Strategy 2005 seeks to contribute to the achievement of those objectives through the individual public transport mode strategies. 

This criteria sets out the County Council’s priorities in providing financial support for public transport services.  It is anticipated that this criteria will be refined to take account of transport needs identified through the strategic and local accessibility assessments as set out in The Accessibility Strategy.

The Criteria

The criteria reflect the focus of accessibility policy documents on access to destinations rather than access to transport.

The criteria are based on five principles:

• Social exclusion can occur in urban as well as rural areas;
• A minimum level of accessibility through the provision of essential transport links should be provided for all the residents of Warwickshire.  The criteria do not seek to constrain higher service levels nor to reduce existing higher service levels to conform with this criteria, but establishes the provision of the minimum level of service for all as a first priority.  Focused spending to achieve specific accessibility targets is essential in the context of constrained funding;
• The criteria are not designed to be prescriptive and are envisaged as a first step in developing them to be more finely attuned to peoples’ needs for essential transport links.  It is proposed to undertake reviews regularly to ensure they are not only delivering improvements in transport provision but are enabling greater levels of access for the residents of Warwickshire;
• Accessibility levels should reflect levels of transport need at a local level. There is a wide range of complicated factors which give rise to transport need including age, income and health.  With the object of producing simple easily understood criteria, the level of car availability has been used as a proxy for the effect of these various factors.  As a result, the transport links for settlements of roughly the same size will differ, depending on the level of car ownership; and
• The most effective option or a mix of options will be used to provide essential transport links, including conventional bus and rail services, voluntary and community transport schemes, flexible transport services, demand responsive systems and other innovative transport schemes, which may be developed in the future.  This approach follows Government guidance that the potential for voluntary or community transport should be maximised as part of an integrated public transport network.

The new criteria will consider the need to provide additional transport links by assessing existing transport provision in terms of:

• Affordability;
• Accessibility;
• Availability;
• Acceptability; and
• Simplicity of Use.

How the Criteria Operate

The criteria takes as its baseline the number of households in distinct settlements and communities, derived from the 2001 Census.

The appropriate level of accessibility for each settlement or community is based on a ‘Weighted Household Index’.  This takes into account the level of car ownership as well as size of population.

The weighting reflects the results of the West Midlands Travel Survey in respect of Warwickshire that households without a car are four times more likely to use a public transport service.

Destinations have been classified as ‘Main Service Centres’, which provide a range of employment, retail, health (including a general hospital) and leisure opportunities and ‘Service Centres’ which provide basic employment, retail and health (GP surgery and pharmacy) opportunities.  The classifications are shown in Table 13.3.

Essential transport links for each settlement and community are defined on the basis of the ‘Weighted Household Index’. In very broad terms, the categories of essential transport links coincide with small settlements, larger settlements, small villages, large villages and towns.  However, there will be exceptions that will reflect the level of car ownership in those particular settlements and communities.

The standards are shown in Table 13.1:

The accessibility standards that are defined as being appropriate for each community and settlement following the above process will be compared with the existing transport provision to establish any shortfall.

This comparison is based on whether the existing transport link is:

Affordable

• The adult single or return fare should not exceed the full cost of the equivalent journey by car unless this can be justified as a premium fare in respect of a significantly faster journey time.  The cost of the journey by car will be calculated in accordance with the current AA Petrol Car Running Costs for a car costing £10,000 with an annual mileage of 15,000; and
• A concessionary fare scheme should exist which, for persons entitled, should reduce the ‘affordable’ fare for the journey by at least 50%.

Available

• The existing provision should comply with the essential transport link that is appropriate for the specific community or settlement; and
• The access time to the vehicle providing the transport link should not exceed thirteen minutes.

Accessible

• The vehicle providing the transport link and the point of boarding and alighting should enable the passenger to access the vehicle unaided or with assistance; and
• Pedestrian and other routes to the point of boarding should accord with the standards set out in the Local Transport Plan Walking Strategy and the Cycling Strategy.  The access to the point of boarding by people who have difficulties because of health or mobility problems should be addressed.

Acceptable

• The transport link should be of sufficient quality, particularly in terms of reliability and punctuality, that a potential passenger should be confident in relying upon it;
• The vehicle providing the transport link should provide (i) an acceptable ride in reasonable comfort, (ii) appropriate heating and ventilation for the season of year, and (iii) both a reality and perception of personal security and safety;
• Staff operating the transport link should have received appropriate driver training, be helpful and courteous and have received customer service training;
• The length of the journey in time by the transport link should be similar to the equivalent journey by car using substantially the same route unless this can be justified by a significantly reduced fare.  The length of the journey in time will exclude the access time to the vehicle providing the transport link; and
• The length of stay at the destination enabled by the transport link should, as a broad guide, be approximately two hours for a retail or health visit and approximately three and a half hours for an Evening or Sunday visit.

Simple to Use

• Timetables, routes and fares should be easy to understand and be simple to use.
• In cases where the minimum accessibility standard is not met the County Council will seek to secure an appropriate service.

Indicators and Monitoring

Classification of Destinations