Contents

1.    Introduction

a.    How we got here

b.    The 10 policies being consulted on

c.    Aims, objectives of the consultation

d.    Language – and the word ‘wheeling’

e.    Reach & promotion (geographical and demographic)

f.     Reports produced to date (March, May)

g.    How we have shared the results with other CYC workstreams to date – eg Accessibility, LCWIP, BSIP to ensure knowledge isn’t lost?

 

2.    Consultation methodology

a.    Accessibility & inclusivity

b.    Offline engagement

c.    Online engagement

 

3.    Consultation results

a.    A note on data analysis [removing ‘not answered’ and ‘don’t know’; recognising that some policies (8, 9, 10 in particular) received fewer responses and what we did to fill any gaps [eg taxi briefing session]

b.    Summary of responses to all policies

                                          i.    Listing out emails received – subjects and numbers but nothing identifiable

                                        ii.    Listing out org names of submissions

c.    Policy by policy results, 1-10, with graph/summary for each question, including city centres, suburbs and rural areas where mapping questions were asked

 

 

 


 

Introduction

How We Got Here

In October 2023 City of York Council’s Executive committed to public engagement on a new set of transport visions and policies for the city.  Discussions between members, officers and stakeholders led to the definition both of 10 “Policy focus areas” and the use of an online platform   for  this engagement.


The Ten Policies Being Consulted on

These ten policies offer the first opportunity in over a decade to view the City as a whole, and create a network of accessible routes which reflect both York’s heritage but also its role as a thriving place to live, work, study and visit.

 

 



 



 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Aims & Objectives of the Consultation

Our Big Transport Conversation was launched at a time when transport issues dominated the headlines and political scene, from Westminster to Gillygate.  Between the start of the engagement in November 2023 and publication of the new Strategy in July 2024 there were both York and North Yorkshire Mayoral and a UK General Parliamentary Election.

It also came during the creation of the new Combined Authority and when York had recently agreed a new Council Plan, setting out four key commitments for the city. These things combined meant that it was more important than ever to consult on transport, and ensure that the key commitments in the Council Plan are upheld.

These core commitments are:

Equalities and Human Rights - Equality of opportunity: We will create opportunities for all, providing equal opportunity and balancing the human rights of everyone to ensure residents and visitors alike can benefit from the city and its strengths. We will stand up to hate and work hard to champion our communities.

Affordability - Tackling the cost-of-living crisis: We will find new ways so everyone who lives here benefits from the success of the city, targeting our support at those who need it most, supporting communities to build on their own strengths and those of the people around them.

Climate - Environment and the climate emergency: We know the race to net zero is more urgent than ever and we will understand the impact our actions have on the environment. We will prepare for the future, adapting our city to extreme climate events and enhancing our environment for future generations to enjoy.

Health - Health and wellbeing: We will improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities, taking a Health in All Policies approach, with good education, jobs, travel, housing, better access to health and social care services and environmental sustainability. We will achieve better outcomes by targeting areas of deprivation, aiming to level opportunity across the city.

The consultation unveiled ambitious transport objectives and how York could – with significant behaviour change – reach them.

The policies and consultation would need to cover every aspect of movement in the city, from tackling climate change and improving air quality, to traffic enforcement and freight movements, and offering alternatives to driving cars by improving networks for people to walk, wheel and use sustainable travel. It did not, however, go into specific detail on potential transport schemes.

Language – and the word ‘wheeling’

Clear, accessible wording was always going to be an incredibly important part of the consultation. Transport projects are complex and have historically tended to use technical language. But some phrases frequently used – for example modal shift, trip generators – are simply not engaging and interesting enough to people going about their daily lives. Our consultation needed to make transport relevant and interesting – we all do, after all, move around by some means.

The consultation also gave CYC an opportunity to raise an important issue around a phrase frequently used in travel projects. To encourage debate and discussion, we included the following invitation in the consultation materials:

In our documents you will see the word “wheeling”, which is a term used by organisations such as the Department for Transport and Active Travel England, and includes wheelchair users within their definition. 
 
 CYC recognises that wheelchair users have a unique set of mobility requirements. In using the term ‘wheelchair users’ in our materials, we are also including other users of wheeled mobility aids. We will therefore make reference to “walking, wheelchair users, wheelers and cyclists”.

 

 

Reach & Promotion

The first step was to map York’s communities and plan how to reach each one, adapting materials to suit particular interests. A Communications and Engagement Plan was written and followed, to ensure all audiences were reached, not just at the start but during the whole consultation period.

Some of these audiences and ways we reached them are listed below.

·        Children & young people: a programme of school & college outreach work to go and speak to young people directly; utilising social media; working collaboratively with the Youth Council

·        Disabled residents: a dedicated programme of activity included attending in-person events with CYC Access Team, going to visit groups rather than asking them to see us. Online materials were fully accessible and a variety of different formats (Easy Read, large print etc) were available and used

·        Commuters: to better understand commuter choices, we used social media advertising to target non-York specific media outlets. We also worked with major employers and partners in North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and East Riding to help share our materials

·        Businesses: existing networks were utilised, including presentations to the Tourism Advisory Board, taxi trades, and a dedicated online seminar

·        Specifically for the two major trip generators in the city, the hospital and universities, we worked with the internal comms teams to share the consultation, and also visited the hospital to talk in person to staff and patients.

By using an online consultation tool, Citizen Space, we were able to monitor responses during the consultation period and our in-house team able to make sure that we could target any specific communities or areas that had not responded.

Throughout the consultation period, in addition to Citizen Space, a wide range of tools were used:

·        Media work – press releases, engaging with journalists

·        Social media posts – Facebook, LinkedIn, Next Door, Twitter/X, Instagram, with messaging tailored to the different styles and audiences. In total, the reach was over 100,000 people

·        Paid advertising on Facebook, to a 15km radius around York, targeting commuters. For a £500 spend, we achieved a 82,244 reach, 46,465 post engagements and 44,099 video plays

·        Libraries and Explore centres – all York’s libraries had posters, flyers and a paper version of the consultation

·        The Explore Mobile Library team offered a ‘ride along’ where we attended sessions in rural villages

·        Sharing posters and materials with all Members and Parish Councillors

·        Working with the Communities team to reach groups, lunch clubs

·        Attending disability groups

·        Ward Committee meetings

·        Presenting to existing groups such as York Cycling Campaign, Environment Forum, Tourist Advisory Board

·        CYC’s newsletters – to residents, businesses, schools

·        Adverts on bus stop screens

·        Over 93 hours of face to face engagement events in locations across York and its villages


Reports produced to date (March, May)

 

Following the closure of the consultation on 4 February 2024, several rounds of reporting have been completed:

 

·        14 March 2024: a summary report of the consultation was issued to Executive as Annex B here: https://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=733&MId=13937

 

·        Later in March we also issued an email ‘thank you’ to those who had taken part via Citizen Space

 

·        21 May 2024: a further report was taken to the Economy, Place, Access and Transport Scrutiny Committee, where various aspects of the responses were discussed

 

The report can be read here: https://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=1063&MId=14745

 

And a webcast recording viewed here https://www.youtube.com/live/Nubi3hZn6pk

 

Sharing the results with other CYC workstreams and directorates

The ten policies being consulted on in Our Big Transport Conversation crossed over several areas of work within CYC. This includes the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP), Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), plus Enforcement and Access teams.  The results of the consultation have been anonymised and shared internally with teams working on several of these directorates, to ensure that what we’ve learnt is used in other areas.


 

Consultation Methodology

Accessibility & inclusivity

From the outset, the consultation was created around a fundamental basis; that it would be engaging, interesting, and informative. It would encourage a wide audience to take part, and convey the importance of improving the transport network for a city of over 200,000 residents.  This consultation offered one of the first opportunities to portray the transport system in York as a network, and explain to residents how the ten policies could potentially offer improvements for all, even if they don’t use a particular mode of transport.

A key priority was to provide fully inclusive and accessible language and materials, to ensure that no matter how or where someone wanted to take part, they were able to. The Communications and Transport teams worked closely with the Access Officer to ensure that not only were printed and online materials accessible, but that the consultation went out to meet and listen to disabled residents.

York also has a thriving economy & education sector, and it was important to ensure these communities were also heard, so again, a programme of outreach was launched.

An Equalities Impact Assessment was written and included;

·        Encouraging broad participation from the many different people, groups and organisations who currently do, or have potential to, use York’s transport infrastructure

·        Increasing representation that encourages as many diverse voices as possible to share their experiences

·        Being fully accessible, so that everyone who wants to contribute should have had the opportunity and means to do so.

To support delivery of the consultation, stakeholder mapping within CYC was updated and various Council teams were involved in ensuring messages were shared with as many residents and businesses as possible.

Materials were also made available in a variety of formats, including Easy Read and large print. Paper copies of the shortened questionnaire were distributed via the libraries and Explore network. CYC’s Customer Service team was also on hand to pass on messages. We also made a dedicated email address available and received 137 emails (either direct, or to Councillors who sent them on for responding to and logging). Every email received a tailored reply

Offline engagement

As detailed in the ‘reach and promotion’ section above, a significant and proactive programme of activity was drawn up for the consultation. Offline engagement formed a key part of this and the map below shows the locations of all events held in person:

Map showing locations of in-person events. ‘30’ represents city centre and online events where attendees came from all wards/areas of interest 

 

 

 


York is a diverse city and while many people do have access to the internet and are happy to respond online, we wanted to reach those who might not have considered responding otherwise. This included visiting libraries with a pop up stand, and starting conversations with visitors around their experiences of transport. We also attended lunch clubs and disability groups to ensure a variety of voices were heard; often these sessions were only loosely structured, to allow conversations to flow freely and for people present to feel they could say what they wanted to. At events such as the Deaf Café, we ensured a BSL interpreter was there to ensure we did not miss any part of the conversation.

Reaching young people was also a key priority and as is frequently found with consultations, the online responses were quite low from under 25s. To combat this, we got in touch with several schools and York College and arranged to go and see students to talk to them directly. In several primary schools we held joint assemblies with the CYC Road Safety Teams and encouraged the students to tell us their experiences of moving around the city, as well as their aspirations. We chose primary schools in different areas to allow us to get feedback from rural areas as well as larger villages.

At York College, the student liaison team kindly arranged for us to talk to nearly 100 students in one day.  We met with students who have different travel needs, and talked to them about their choices and options in life, and how the existing transport network does or doesn’t support them.

We also held a series of events in the centre of York, at the Friends Meeting House on Friargate. This venue was chosen as it is fully accessible, with accessible toilets. The events were held during week days and weekends, and during working hours as well as evenings, to ensure as many people as possible could visit and talk to the consultation team. They were well attended and the Executive Member for Transport also attended many of them, giving residents a chance to speak directly about their concerns.

The CYC Communities team also ensured that we attended all Ward Committee meetings that were requested, and this allowed us to reach communities across the city.

We are very grateful to each of the following venues and organisations where we held events or met with residents, businesses & community groups;

 


Organisation Name

20s Plenty

Acomb Library

All CYC Parish Councillors

All CYC Ward Councillors

Bishopthorpe

Blueberry Academy

Brunswick Nurseries

Bus Forum

Clifton Library

Copmanthorpe Primary School

Copmanthorpe Ward meeting

Deaf Café

Deliveroo and couriers

Dringhouses and Woodthorpe Ward committee

Elvington and Wheldrake Ward Committee

EP Operational Delivery Group

Federation of Small Businesses

Fishergate and Fulford Ward Committee

Foxwood Community café

Friends of Rowntree Park

Fulford and Heslington/ Hull Road ward committee

Fulford School

Haxby Library

Heworth Ward Committee

Huntington Library

Live Well York

Low Traffic Futures

New Earswick library

North Yorkshire Council

Online seminar for city leaders and businesses

Our City Hub

Public drop-in (x 6)

Self Advocacy Forum

St Mary's Primary School, Askham Richard

Taxi trade

Tourism Advisory Board

University of York

Walk York

York Civic Trust

York Climate Commission

York College

York Cycle Campaign

York Environment Forum

York Explore Mobile Library

York Hospital

York Older People's Forum

York Youth Council


 

 

Online engagement

The scale and nature of the ten policies being consulted on meant that a comprehensive online tool was needed. After reviewing the market and meeting with several potential suppliers, a contract was awarded to Delib, the owners of Citizen Space, which offered mapping tools, industry-leading accessibility, and an ease of use for respondents.

CYC’s Business Intelligence unit built and tested the consultation ahead of the launch.

The page was given its own dedicated URL – ourbigconversation.york.gov.uk – which allowed us to point all communications directly to the site. In addition, the information and link was presented on the regular CYC consultations web page.

In total, 1,342 people responded online and a further 34 sent in paper copies of the short version, which we inputted into Citizen Space, taking the total to 1376 respondents.

The pages had a clean look and feel to improve accessibility. Included in the home page were links to relevant documents, an explanation of the work that had proceeded this consultation, and a list of events taking place. This was updated throughout the consultation period to include new events. The home page also gave contact details of where to ask if people had

Below you can see how the consultation looked:

 

 

 

 


 

Consultation Results

The graphic below was issued in March to people who had responded via Citizen Space as a thank you for taking part in the consultation.

A note on data analysis

Please note that the percentages in the graphic above show analysis of the first question in each policy area, asking for levels of support for the policy. In our analysis of responses to provide the percentages above, we have excluded answers displaying ‘not responded’ and ‘don’t know’.

CYC is also publishing the full raw data set from the consultation. This raw data includes ‘not responded’ and ‘don’t know’ answers.

 

Summary of responses

There were two main sources of feedback from residents and businesses over the consultation period, and this paper brings them together for the first time. This report should be read in conjunction with the March and May reports.

In total, 1,342 people responded online and a further 34 sent in paper copies of the short version, which we have now input, taking the total to 1376 respondents. We also made a dedicated email address available and received 137 emails (either direct, or to Councillors who sent them on for responding to and logging). Every email received a tailored reply.

Where we have used direct quotes from the online responses in this report, we have not edited or corrected spelling and the comments are reproduced anonymously and verbatim.

A map showing the locations of respondents to the online survey is below

A map with red squares  Description automatically generated

 

 

A list of all events and forums attended by CYC officers is below, and collectively reflects over 22 hours of in-person engagement.

We also wrote to all Ward and Parish Councillors, plus the local MPs, to offer materials to help promote the consultation in their area. The project team also worked with the CYC Communities Team to facilitate transport discussions at Ward Committee meetings, as well as attending many of the events listed below.

We also held a dedicated business / city leaders seminar via Teams and this was attended by 12 representatives from across the city.

We also received submissions directly from the following organisations:

Organisation name

Clifton Ward Member

Clifton Without Parish Council

Confederation for Passenger Transport

Copmanthorpe Parish Council

Dunnington Parish Council

First Bus

Liberal Democrat Group

Sustrans

Trans Pennine Trail

Transdev

York Civic Trust Members

York Civic Trust TAG

York Disability Rights Forum

 

We also received five longer submissions from members of the public (ie not online survey or emails referenced above).


 

Benchmarking against 2021 questions

Our Big Transport Consultation, run over Winter 2023 and into early Spring 2024, was not the only consultation concerning transport that has been held in recent years. In 2021, a significant piece of work was done during Covid to assess people’s travel habits and needs in the city, and so we ensured that we repeated some of these questions in 2023/24 to evaluate any changes.

Analysis of the results of one of the key questions from the 2021 and 2024 surveys, “How serious do you think each of the following problems are in York?” yielded some important differences and results:

 


 

From this, we can see that:

• There was growth in concern for more local, social issues
 • Congestion remains the topic of most concern, although it has fallen slightly [‘very’ or ‘fairly’ gone from 90% to 86%]
 • Top 3 issues remain the same; congestion, air pollution and impact on climate change
 • Danger from traffic risen from 23% to 29%
 • Feeling cut off risen from 8% to 13%
 • Sharing: in 2024 we split pavements and roads – total answer risen from 14% to 36%
 • Difficulty getting to shops & facilities risen from 10% to 14%
 • Feeling restricted risen from 10% to 22.9%
 • Poor access for business risen from 9% to 15%
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Policy by Policy result analysis

 

Policy 1: Shape A City Accessible to Everyone

The results for this section should also be read in conjunction with CYC’s work with York’s disabled residents, managed by independent consultants MIMA, working with the Centre for Applied Human Rights.

One of the key questions asked was ‘Do you feel safe, can you go wherever you want to go in York?’

   

 

 

 

 

 

We also asked in this section about how accessible buses and trains are to everyone. In total, 67.95% of people said they do feel that buses and trains are accessible to them, and 23.3% said they do not.

Examples of comments made under this section are;

·        “Either late or cancelled. Too expensive. Trains too crowded. But can be a great and relaxing way to travel when done right. Love not having to worry about parking. Bus drivers always friendly”

·        “I use number 13 bus. Stops around 6pm and randomly changes the timetable to withdraw or merge busses and no service on Sundays”

·        “Not enough buses and always delayed due to congestion and road works”

 

We have also analysed the results of comments in this section from people who indicated that they are disabled;

·        I rarely take buses. I can usually get a seat when I do. The bus stops are 10 minutes walk from the house and the buses only really go to town. If I wanted to go to the hospital I would have to leave a good 2 hours before the appointment to have a decent chance to get there on time. Female, age 45-55, online

·        Constantly arriving at times out of line with where they say on timetables/on the app - I live relatively near the start point for the bus journey and still it's reliably several minutes late. I'm autistic and this lack of predictability can be very frustrating. Non-binary/gender variant, age 16-24, online

·        I don't use the bus because I'm worried I won't be able to get a seat (I'm pregnant and would need one). Female, age 25-39, online

·        If the lifts are working in York Central Station. They are frequently not! Male, age 56-59, online

·        inadequate wheelchair spaces on buses, reliant on the whim of drivers and pushchairs/buggies. Male, aged 56-59, online

 

 


 

Policy 2: Improving walking, wheeling and cycling

One question we asked sought to understand if people do want to walk or use a bike, wheelchair or other mobility aid more than they currently do. We asked, ‘Do you walk, cycle, or wheel as much as you would like to in York?’ and there were interesting differences between the genders, with both males and females saying they do not walk or wheel as much as they would like, but non-binary/gender variant people reporting that they do.

The starkest difference was in the female responses, with only 34% saying they do walk or wheel as much as they would like, and 64% reporting that they do not.

We also asked respondents to identify gaps in the walking and wheeling network and have analysed the responses based on a few different measures.

First, looking at respondents who told us they have a disability and within the city centre, clear pinch points were identified, particularly on Holgate Road; at the Railway Station; approaches to and from Lendal, Ouse and Skeldergate Bridges, and along Pavement and Stonebow.

A map of a city  Description automatically generated

© Crown copyright and database rights 2024 Ordnance Survey: AC0000822532

When we looked at all respondents, the Inner Ring Road can clearly be seen to be a significant area of concern for people seeking to walk, use a wheelchair or cycle:

A map of a city  Description automatically generated

© Crown copyright and database rights 2024 Ordnance Survey: AC0000822532

In addition to the pins dropped on the map, respondents also identified areas or topics of concern:

 

 

 

We also asked people to identify pinch points and areas of concern at road crossings.

Responses to this question came in from across the CYC area. This data has also been analysed by our Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan team and has helped influence the report they are producing.

© Crown copyright and database rights 2024 Ordnance Survey: AC0000822532

Looking more closely, we can see clusters of areas of concern on Acomb Road, outside the Railway Station, at Gillygate, Fishergate, and Walmgate Bar, among others:

 

© Crown copyright and database rights 2024 Ordnance Survey: AC0000822532

 

And looking at the footstreets in particular, respondents told us they have concerns largely around the inner ring road but also at the north and south ends of Ouse Bridge, around the Railway Station; Gillygate; and Blossom Street.  We have identified some of the areas of greatest concern using arrows:

© Crown copyright and database rights 2024 Ordnance Survey: AC0000822532

 


 

We also know that encouraging more people to cycle in York is not just about the routes and physical condition of the roads they’re travelling on; there must be secure, practical cycle parking. We asked respondents to identify areas of particular cycle parking demand, and in our analysis have also mapped this against locations of schools and colleges, which do of course have both pupils and students, but are also employers. In the map below, the darker red the square, the higher rate of responses were received.

 

A map with many colored squares  Description automatically generated

 

 

Policy Area 3: Shaping Health Places

We were keen to hear from residents and businesses which other towns and cities they felt do a ‘better’ job to encourage and offer transport solutions. The results, from both online and in person, will help us gather information from these cities to learn from them.

They are (in alphabetical order):


      Amsterdam

      Anywhere in the Netherlands

      Anywhere with a tram network

      Bath

      Berlin

      Cambridge

      Copenhagen

      Edinburgh

      Ghent

      Leeds

      London

      Luxembourg

      Manchester

      Oxford


 

We also asked respondents to rank a list of priorities, so that we can identify how transport projects can help deliver better places to live. The answers were as follows:

 

We then asked residents to tell us any areas they felt could benefit from being made in to a ‘Home Zone’. Among the answers were: Acomb; ‘All streets where people live’; Fulford, and Heslington Road also received mentions. We did also receive comments that Home Zones should not be introduced, but these numbered 26 out of 163 responses.

Policy Area 4: Improving Public Transport

Throughout our consultation, public transport – particularly buses – was the main topic of conversation, across online and in person events.

 

 

 

We asked people online to help identify key issues they face when trying to use public transport. The results were as follows – with routes and affordability being the key areas of concern:

Under ‘other’ responses, key issues can be summarised by:

·        Not enough services from the village to York, late night service got removed so limited with times of day we can travel

·        Poor timetable, not regular enough, not at times needed to use for regular commute to work. No evening or Sunday services

·        Tied to reliability, they are generally stuck in car traffic a lot

·        Timing at night, and feeling safe on a night bus

·        Departure screens, where provided, need to be accurate and show actual, not timetable times always

·        Exposure to the weather, especially when it's wet or cold

·        Lack priority over vehicles meaning they get caught up in peak-time traffic and do not provide a viable alternative to driving

·        The lack of integrated through ticketing - different operators and fares. Multi-service trips becoming tricky etc

We also met with business leaders in the city, including hosting our own seminar online and presenting to the Tourism Advisory Board. Key comments from these groups were:

·        As an employee, you make a choice; one example was to get a train from Garforth to Leeds is a third of the price of Garforth to York. So choosing where to work – transport has an impact

·        Younger generation can’t afford car insurance so are having to rely on public transport and have to make a decision about where they work – are we making York less economically attractive?

·        Example given of Castle Howard; many of their seasonal (and younger) staff come from far away, but the first bus to the estate arrives at 10am.  We’ve had to model our shift patterns around bus timetables

·        Hospitality staff often need to get home late at night and can’t do this via public transport

·        Allowing overnight parking at the Park and Ride would undoubtedly help visitors leave their cars outside York

·        Many major events are well managed and are good for the city, the economy, and for industry. But some don’t go well and cause gridlock. Coordination of major players is key. Need to keep cars away! Need to plan well ahead with all stakeholders

·        “We should position York as the green tourism city”

We also asked people about their experiences booking accessible taxis in the city, and there were many examples of people not being able to get where they needed or wanted to go, due to a lack of a suitable vehicle:


We also mapped the postcodes of people who said that they have issues with bus reliability in York, with the blue dots below showing clusters of respondents:

 

 

Throughout the consultation period, both at in person events and online, we received large numbers of comments about the bus network. In our analysis we have mapped the postcodes of respondents who identified issues, and the map below shows their geographical clustering. The blue dots represent issues of reliability, and the red dots, issues over routes serving destinations people need. York’s suburbs, outer areas and rural villages can clearly identified:

 

 

A map with many red and blue dots  Description automatically generated

 

Policy 5 – Safeguarding our environment by cutting carbon, air pollution and noise

Please note this section should also be read in conjunction with the results of the recent Air Quality consultation

 

Residents told us that they have already made steps to reduce their impact on the environment:

 

But some residents did raise caution:

·        “I have actually gone backwards, I was car free for environmental reasons for 3 years. I have had to buy a car and use it to commute as rail travel isn't an option anymore”

·        “Walk when I can but infrequent or no buses some days means I use car more than I want to”

·        “This question annoys me. It suggests it’s the residents that are at fault for too much car use.

Until there is a bus service available, or safe cycle routes, or a walking route or a P&R service that doesn’t stop half way through the evening, what viable alternatives do residents have?”

·        “I would love to switch to an electric vehicle but in our terraced street there are no charging facilities and nowhere to install any”

We also asked respondents to suggest locations for Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points, and the results demonstrated a wide geographical need across the whole CYC area:

 

© Crown copyright and database rights 2024 Ordnance Survey: AC0000822532

 

We also asked respondents to what degree they agree or disagree with including large vehicles in the current Bus Clean Air Zone, and in total, over 68% of people said they agree or strongly agree:


 

 

 

Policy 6 – Manage the road network for movement and place

It is important here to refer back to the benchmarking questions at the start of this document, and reflect on the concern from residents that they are not able to access facilities, healthcare and the benefits that York could bring them, due to transport constraints.

The answers to questions under Policy 6 will help us understand how much people support changing transport networks to better support the communities in which we live. Broadly, people were supportive but some did comment that this will ‘take too long’, or is ‘all talk and no action’;

·        Only if resident interests hold sufficient influence

·        Necessary document but action needed now not in ten years time

·        There are far more important things to be focussed on than this.

·        An over-arching plan for the city is important, as otherwise we get piecemeal and sometimes counter-intuitive developments.

·        Place matters - we need people to be able to walk and cycle anywhere without fear of fast traffic

·        Lots of talk not much action

·        It sounds like a good idea but I would not prioritise this over actually doing the work of making York more sustainable. It could end up being a plan for the sake of a plan.

·        Long overdue. Look at Ouse Bridge - packed with pedestrians, yet dominated by cars carrying just a few individuals.

A key issue that came out not only in the online response but also in person when speaking to residents, was the Inner Ring Road and congestion causing delays, pollution and detracting from the city centre.

We asked, “to what extent do you agree or disagree that the Inner Ring Road is fit for purpose”. In total, 67% of people said they disagree or strongly disagree, and 14% of people said they do agree that the IRR is fit for purpose;

 

We were also keen to understand what levels of support there may be for 20mph zones in those parts of York that don’t already have them. The results did show a level of support is strong;

 

 

 

 

 

Policy 8: Improving freight and logistics

 

In this section we were keen to hear from residents and businesses who were directly affected by freight issues; this could be by living near to depots, on major routes or running a business which depends on deliveries.

 

Overall, the vision received strong support, with 80.6% saying they agreed or strongly agreed:

 

There were a range of comments made, including:

 

·        Trucks struggle to get into Morrisons acomb, and deliveries for Morrisons daily on Gale lane cause chaos and danger for traffic, especially when school kids around - Male, aged 16-24, online

·        I am a bus driver. Lorries should be banned from inner ring road between 8am-6pm
If the place where deliveries are dropped has a rear access, there should be no deliveries made through the front – Male, age 40-55, online

·        Designated loading areas are often used as ordinary parking, creating a knock-on effect for the lorry and wider traffic – female, aged 25-39, online

·        I depend on cars and vans to earn a living, my wife if also disabled; us car-dependants will not go down without a fight. We care about protecting our freedom and independence. Once we lose these we'll never get them back. We also do not believe York Council has resident's best interests at heart. Introduce a "Councillors Question Time" (not BBC or PMQ) and let them face the wrath of York Residents who feel hard done by over the decades. – Male, aged 40-55, online

·        As an emergency engineer I struggle to get through the city at times when deliveries are being made and during pedestrian time. – male, aged 60-64, online

·        Electric cargo bikes will play a large role in freight deliveries inside the outside ring road. Male – aged 25-39

·        fossgate and goodramgate are sometimes really dangerous to walk up on a morning – female, aged 16-24, online

·        I work for Evri. Due to economies of scale, home delivery is generally the lowest carbon option for your shopping. Evri's drivers typically cover less than 100m between stops. There is no advantage to consolidating deliveries as our drivers will already pass pretty much every address in York every day. – male, aged 40-55, online

 

A related issue was raised at the city leaders online summit, where one respondent said that the number of schemes/projects and temporary traffic lights in the city, and lack of coordination with utilities, causes additional disruption for local businesses.  While this is not a problem exclusive to York, it did seem to the respondent that there’s a sense that it is worse here, due to our challenges of lack of space and diversions available. It was recommended that CYC needs to be better at live management and planning.


 

 

Policy 9: Effective Maintenance and enforcement and management of streetworks

 

Many of the earlier questions in the survey sought to understand the issues that people face with the existing transport network. In policy 9, we sought to look more specifically at how we can deliver change in practical terms, and identify the types and locations of particular issues.

 

One of the questions we asked was ‘Do you agree that effective maintenance of the network, and enforcement of traffic rules, will contribute to delivering our sustainable travel ambitions?’, and in total, 77.43% of people agreed or strongly agreed that effective maintenance and enforcement would help to deliver a more sustainable transport offer. A graph showing the full results is below:

 

 

We then wanted to find out about specific locations where respondents experience issues caused by traffic not abiding by the rules, and the results show issues across the CYC area:

© Crown copyright and database rights 2024 Ordnance Survey: AC0000822532

 

Going in to more detail on this in the suburbs and villages, we have analysed several of the clusters identified by respondents:

A1079 – Hull Road; residential streets in Rawcliffe; Woodthorpe and Acomb, as well as South Bank and Fulford Road. Issues were also identified at the junction at the A64 and A19 to the South of York, and to the north, along Wiggington Road.

© Crown copyright and database rights 2024 Ordnance Survey: AC0000822532

And looking at the city centre, Gillygate & Lord Mayors Walk junction, The Mount / Blossom Street, the North and South ends of Ouse Bridge, Walmgate & Foss Islands junction, were all identified, among others, which largely reflects the responses to earlier questions around locations where respondents experience issues.

© Crown copyright and database rights 2024 Ordnance Survey: AC0000822532

 

In addition to dropping pins to indicate areas of concern, respondents were also encouraged to leave comments, and some of these are below:

 

·        Red light jumping at Gillygate/Bootham junction. Speeding traffic on Burton Stone Lane despite the new chicanes – female, age 65+, online

·        Traffic often encroaches cycle lanes on Nunnery Lane and over Skeldergate Bridge making it feel dangerous to cycle. – female, age 65+, online

·        On main routes from Moor Lane Dringhouses to Acomb (Lidl area) cars often park over the cycle lanes, and have to drive in the cycle lanes to pass vehicles coming the opposite way. – female, age 65+, online

·        Ashkam Lane - some terrible driving including regular breaking of the speedlimit, also come in to contact with a number of cars that have almost caused me to fall of my bike on this round (and I am a confident cyclist). Female, age 25-39, online

·        Holgate, outside the One Stop at the Fox junction: cars regularly park illegally outside the shop, simultaneously in a bike lane, on double yellow lines and on the footpath. Acomb, opposite the Regent, cars regularly parked on double yellow lines, and sometimes the footpath, outside York Medical Group – male, aged 65+, online

·        Most taxis, some buses and many cars seem to think that it is fine to ignore ASLs. The fact that they are often very worn and not painted inside the box does not help. Examples are many: bottom of Micklegate; pedestrian lights at the junction with Coney Street; junction of Pavement and Coppergate. – male, age 65+, online

 

At our online seminar for city leaders, one respondent said “theft is a barrier to people cycling, we need safe places to leave a bike. Need a large scale bike parking facility.”

 

When we visited Brunswick Nursery, several people with learning disabilities say they feel unsafe when cyclists use pavements to go past them.

 

 

 

Policy 10: Monitoring the transport network and financing the changes

 

 

In this policy area we sought to hear from businesses and residents about their priorities. Knowing that we need to prioritise the schemes which will bring the greatest benefit to the people of York, within limited budgets, we were keen to understand what we can do to best encourage residents to make more sustainable journeys.

 

The graph below shows the results of the question ‘Many of the changes we need to make will require significant sums of money. We will have to choose which schemes to prioritise based on cost-effectiveness and maximum benefit. Which type of transport schemes would you like to see prioritised?’

 

The top three priorities identified by respondents were:

·        Schemes that make cycling safer

·        Schemes that will ease traffic congestion

·        Schemes that will improve the reliability of buses

 

 

Some comments from this section include:

·        Better consideration of residents of villages just outside the CYC boundary – male, aged 40-55, online

·        The outer ring road. Sorting this will move traffic out of the centre and reduce congestion – male, aged 40-55, online

·        Schemes that prioritise pedestrian confidence – female, age 65+, online

·        Schemes that integrate public transport including park & ride hubs, rail, river and bus transport male, aged 56-59, online

·        Stop punishing motorists, If we could live without a car we would but unfortunately we need our cars. – male, aged 25-39, online

·        Scheme to look at transport accessibility in the villages – female, aged 56-59, online