Reports & Responses

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December 2005

Response to the West Midlands Local Transport Plan

Birmingham Friends of the Earth welcomes the opportunity to comment on the West Midlands Local Transport Plan 2005.

Introduction

Birmingham Friends of the Earth is pleased to have the opportunity to respond to the Local Transport Plan. The Plan represents an important moment in determining how we improve the region's transport networks in line with competing demands.

We would like to emphasise the importance of incorporating environmental sustainability into all of the plans - a requirement of PPS1. PPS1 recognises that environmental issues should be integrated into all regional plans. Traditional 'trading-off' environmental issues in the face of economics gains is no longer acceptable. Longer-term environmental impacts also have to be considered.

Birmingham Friends of the Earth is a local group and as such, we are responding on behalf of many supporters in the local area. Our specific objective in this response is to ensure that environmental and social well being - as well as economic - issues are comprehensively considered in the plan.

Summary

Birmingham Friends of the Earth welcomes the key messages and in particular the vision of the Local Transport Plan. We are pleased to see the recognition of the:

• Inclusion of climate change and in particular the 'vision for cleaner air and less congested traffic conditions'…'Climate change and other environmental concerns make dealing with congestion all the more imperative.'
  
• The need for 'high-quality public transport is the norm and walking and cycling are common-place '
  
• Need for 'improvements in bus infrastructure, such as bus lanes, although we would stress that not only do we need more bus lanes but we must ensure they are properly enforced.

Responses to Consultation Paper

Firstly we would like to give our support and echo the comments and suggestions from the West Midlands Friends of the Earth response to the LTP.
In particular we would like to draw your attention to the following:

• our support for the broad principle of the TIF bid for a 'feasibility study to look at congestion and options for tackling congestion, including better road pricing'
  
• our support for 'the LTP's aim to "make better use of road space for all users". We would envisage that this would mean real allocation of road space to mass transport such as buses and community transport vehicles. However we would not like to see bus lanes opened up to cars with more than one occupant. This would make enforcement very difficult, and would not help to reduce congestion and pollution.

We also share West Midlands Friends of the Earth's concerns:

• disappointment that there is no reference to ecological footprint work
  
• that the 'LTP is unambitious in terms of its treatment and consideration of the roles of walking and cycling and indeed that of traffic reduction'
  
• about the proposal for the Longbridge link road … we find its inclusion within the LTP detrimental of much of what is good about the LTP.
  

We would like to make specific comments under the four themes from the Transport Shared Priority.

Reducing Congestion

We feel more focus should be given to addressing the need to travel and that accepting the forecast rise will not meet the necessary cuts in carbon emissions.

That to this end we must give greater priority to mass occupancy vehicles and invest more in the growth of bus services. An estimated growth of 6% in bus travel is very worrying and hugely unambitious for this transport plan considering the vision for the LTP. We will come back to public transport later in this response.

Improving Accessibility

We feel that accessibility planning will reduce people's need to travel and therefore meet all four themes, and we would encourage that this LTP places more emphasis on this.

Improving Air Quality

Transport is a major contributor to CO2 emissions and this LTP lacks any real recommendations as to how these necessary cuts will be made. A limited growth in public transport is not satisfactory and a 15% estimated growth in private car by 2011 is unacceptable in the face of climate change. A combined global response to climate change can and must be made through local action such as promoting the shift from private car journeys to public transport.

Improving Road Safety

We support this theme, we would also like to recommend implementing a 20mph limit in residential areas, as it would improve road safety with immediate effect.

Public Transport - The Key to Tackling Congestion.

We support a comprehensive, integrated and efficient public transport. We feel this would meet all the themes of the transport shared priority and work towards the vision of this LTP.

• We think this LTP is unambitious in its attitude towards buses, although we support the predicted increase in rail use, we maintain that buses remain the real option for the majority of public transport users.
• Every full commuter bus has the potential to remove 70 single-occupancy cars from our congested streets. We would like to draw your attention to the visual representation of the 'congestion - busting' power of buses. And this represents not even a half-full bus!
  

The estimated growth by 2011 from 325 to 365 million in buses is appallingly low for this LTP and leaves us with grave concerns for the future of public transport in Birmingham.

Also worrying, is the low level of bus satisfaction of 57% to 60% by 2010. In the absence of a regulated bus service in Birmingham standards are simply not high enough in terms of reliability, cleanliness and frequency. Some transport accountability for performance standards should be considered as part of the drive to increase bus usage.

• We support the development of bus showcase routes as long as these don't mean that resources are diverted to the detriment of other less popular routes. New resources should be made available for this. In addition we would object to the widening of roads for showcase routes as this will do little to discourage single occupancy car usage, the single most significant cause of congestion in Birmingham.

Generally Birmingham has a highly developed road system and the 'law of diminishing returns' renders investment in road widening and road builidng schemes as poor value for money compared to maximising multi - occupancy on the existing network and on other less developed infrastructure such as rail and cycling. Returns here, will be much greater.

• We also support red routes as long as plans include improved pedestrian facilities such as additional and improved crossings and improved cycling provision, and do not necessitate the development of car parking spaces in green areas.

The school run causes considerable bottlenecks around the area particularly when it coincides with the commuter run. A concerted effort at schools, both public and private, must be considered with targets to attempt to reduce the car-run impact being experienced at present.

• We welcome suggestions to extend the Metro through Birmingham City Centre. Although road space would be lost we support the notion that as part of an integrated public transport network this would make better use of our road space and would increase the volume of passengers and would be beneficial to tackling congestion.

We fundamentally object to the allowed growth of road traffic mileage by 7%. This contradicts the objectives underpinning this LTP.

Cycling and Walking

We feel that the estimated growth for cycling and walking is a poor reflection on the council's ability to promote growth in this area. We need a modal shift of more than 5%. In order to achieve this there must be a greater shift towards accessibility planning, as well as addressing and reducing through planning, people's need to travel longer distances.

Final Comments

The Regional Spatial Strategy wants Birmingham to have world class status, for this we need a world class public transport system. An integrated public transport system must be our priority.

Congestion must be addressed, the vision of this LTP recognises that and yet 'accepted' growth is forecast for private car journeys. Buses are still not prioritised let alone given real investment.

Cycling and Walking must become the first option for journeys, our streets must be made safer for this.

Response coordinated by:
Maud Grainger
Birmingham Friends of the Earth
54-57 Allison Street
Digbeth
B5 5TH
0121 632 6909
info@birminghamfoe.org.uk