Agenda item

To receive a report from the Director of City Development which presents the results of public consultation into bus priority in York City Centre and requests approval to deliver bus priority on George Hudson Street and Micklegate (between Micklegate / George Hudson Street and Micklegate / Skeldergate / North Street / Ouse Bridge junctions) on an experimental basis.

Resolved (unanimously):

That Executive

a)   Allocates £2m of BSIP1 funding and £350k of YNYMCA Bus Grant funding to implement the Rougier Route on an experimental basis.

Reason: To deliver bus journey time and reliability improvements

and to enable the potential benefits and disbenefits to be fully

evaluated prior to a permanent decision being made.

b)   Delegates authority to the Director of City Development to implement the Rougier Route Proposals on an experimental basis allowing exemptions initially for buses, emergency services, Blue Badge holders and Hackney Carriages.

Reason: To ensure expedient delivery of the project.

c)    Delegates authority to the Director of City Development to amend the conditions of the Traffic Regulation Orders associated with the Rougier Route project during the trial period if required.

Reason: To allow the Traffic Regulation Orders to adapt to

evidence gathered during the trial period.

d)   Notes the contents of the petition.

Reason: To consider the views of petitioners when making a

decision on the Rougier Route project.

e)   Approves the City of York Council Parking and Moving Traffic Offences Enforcement Policy.

Reason: To update the policy in line with the powers the Council

now holds.

The Director of City Development submitted a report which presented the results of public consultation into bus priority in York City Centre and requested approval to deliver bus priority on George Hudson Street and Micklegate (between Micklegate / George Hudson Street and Micklegate / Skeldergate / North Street / Ouse Bridge junctions) on an experimental basis.

The following annexes were attached to the report:

·      Rougier Route Proposals Plan

·      Rougier Route Consultation Summary

·      Traffic Modelling Summary

·      Human Rights and Equality Assessment

·      Parking and Moving Traffic Offences Enforcement Policy.

Tom Horner, Head of Transport, Policy and Travel Behaviour, presented the report.

The Executive Member highlighted the issue of congestion. It was reported that 80% of respondents to the consultation had identified congestion as their top concern in the city. To accommodate growth and support a vibrant visitor economy there was a need to address this issue. One of the main ways of dealing with this issue was enabling more people to use public transport. Currently buses were stuck in the same traffic as everyone else with average speed in the city centre at less than four miles per hour. Areas had been identified where the proposed bus priority scheme would bring the most widespread benefit.

The Executive Member acknowledged that there was congestion in other areas of the city but pointed out that there was a need to start somewhere. The Rougier Route would deliver the greatest benefits. Slow bus speeds resulted in higher running costs for bus operators and that in turn resulted in an increase in ticket prices for passengers. People were unwilling to travel on unreliable and expensive buses. An investment in the Rougier Route was much needed. It would increase bus reliability, reduce bus operating costs, and enabled bus operators to add more services, reduce ticket costs, and increase passenger numbers.

Officers were thanked for the level of thought, detail and time that had gone into this piece of work. It was also the result of an extensive consultation exercise. Over 2,000 people had responded to the consultation, which included drop-in sessions with stakeholders and included individuals that had attended today’s Executive meeting to speak. It demonstrated that people in the

city were engaged and had provided valuable feedback. As a result of the feedback, some adaptations to the plans had been made.

The Executive Member report that there were still some outstanding concerns to resolve. It was stressed that it was a trial scheme and that approval of the recommendations enabled

officers to start looking at the detail of how the scheme works. It was anticipated that some adjustments may be required with some unexpected consequences and tweaks needed. It was advised that for the first six months there were to be no fines. Warning letters were to be issued to people who had made a mistake and did not know about the scheme.

Resolved (unanimously):

That Executive

a)   Allocates £2m of BSIP1 funding and £350k of YNYMCA Bus Grant funding to implement the Rougier Route on an experimental basis.

Reason: To deliver bus journey time and reliability improvements

and to enable the potential benefits and disbenefits to be fully

evaluated prior to a permanent decision being made.

b)   Delegates authority to the Director of City Development to implement the Rougier Route Proposals on an experimental basis allowing exemptions initially for buses, emergency services, Blue Badge holders and Hackney Carriages.

Reason: To ensure expedient delivery of the project.

c)    Delegates authority to the Director of City Development to amend the conditions of the Traffic Regulation Orders associated with the Rougier Route project during the trial period if required.

Reason: To allow the Traffic Regulation Orders to adapt to

evidence gathered during the trial period.

d)   Notes the contents of the petition.

Reason: To consider the views of petitioners when making a

decision on the Rougier Route project.

e)   Approves the City of York Council Parking and Moving Traffic Offences Enforcement Policy.

Reason: To update the policy in line with the powers the Council

now holds.