Our Big Transport
Conversation
February 2024
City of York Council
Transport Strategy
Place Directorate
West Offices
Station Road
York
Introduction
This document reports the “Our Big
Transport Conversation”, questionnaire which was open between
24th November 2023 and 4th February
2024. The document also includes some comments made at
face-to-face events although further work is required on the
analysis of this material.
All materials in the consultation were written
and designed to meet City of York Council’s (CYC)
accessibility standards, and particular attention was paid to
ensuring technical information was represented in an engaging,
informative and accessible way. CYC received 1,342 online responses
to the questionnaire, plus a further 35
responses to the survey on paper. Alongside the
online/ paper questionnaire, CYC staff also organised and attended
over 50 face-to-face events. Officers used existing networks
such as ward committees but also proactively reached out to
community groups and organisations to arrange to go and see
residents in their own communities (for example lunch drop-ins at
the Foxwood Community Centre, York’s Self Advocacy Group and
the monthly Deaf Café). This ensured the consultation did
not rely solely on those who had time or access to the online
platform. Only locations which were fully accessible were
used for engagement events.
These events were a mix of drop-in sessions in
York city centre, meetings with wards facilitated by councillors
and meetings with groups who had a particular use of or interest in
the transport network. Some sessions, for example our city
leaders/ business seminar, were held online.
Special sessions were held to speak to groups
in the community who were less likely to respond to an online
questionnaire. These sessions were arranged to speak to
primary and secondary schoolchildren, elderly people, disabled
people and some other groups. Although officers held meetings
in several rural wards in York, they also travelled on the mobile
library to villages east and west of York. Consultations were
also held with large local employers, such as York University and
the NHS, and were held with business groups and tourist industry
representatives. The face-to-face consultations are estimated
to have reached over 1,000 people, with 200 to 300 hours of staff
time devoted to the events. Locations of the consultation are
shown on the map overleaf.
To
ensure the widest possible geographical spread of awareness, paper
copies of the ‘short’ version of the questionnaire, ten
policies and privacy notice were also sent out via the Explore
Libraries network, with posters to advertise the fact that the
materials were available. These materials also advertised
assistance that could be offered to those who may need different
formats or languages. In addition, an Easy Read version of the
short questions was produced and used in several face-to-face
sessions with people with learning disabilities.
There was extensive coverage of the
consultation in local media, and CYC also placed advertisements in
Facebook, Linked In and other social media platforms, collectively
seeing over 100,000 impressions. Posters advertising the
consultation were placed at bus stops across York, and shown on the
information screens at bus stops. All local councillors were
offered a suite of materials for their wards; asked to forward
information about the questionnaire to their mailing lists and to
publicise it in ward newsletters. Large employers and other
groups were asked to publicise the consultation to their employees
and members. In January 2024, to mark ‘one month to
go’, refreshed graphics were produced and pushed out to
audiences. CYC officers worked with colleagues in the communities
and access teams to ensure information – blurb, links, events
info – was sent to community groups including faith groups,
disability campaigners, childrens and family services. Many, for
example the Friends of Rowntree Park, York College and York
University, sent the information out in their own newsletters and
internal communications, further spreading the message and
encouraging people to take part. In addition, 130 emails were
received into the consultation inbox and every one of them was
responded to and logged. The questionnaire used to collect
information online was comprehensive and detailed, taking around 30
minutes to fill in (for the shortest version), and longer than that
for respondents who wished to go into the issues in detail.
Whilst this is likely to have reduced the response rate in
comparison to shorter questionnaires in York, it meant that CYC
received a very broad range of information on the topics being
considered. In this document we are combining the information
collected through the online questionnaire with some of the
insights gained through the face-to-face meetings and the detailed
representations made to CYC by groups and individuals who had
particular specialist needs of York’s transport
networks. However, at this early stage of reporting, much
work remains cross-tabulating responses by different groups and
sorting through the wealth of information in open comments in the
questionnaire and collected during face-to-face discussion.
As York’s Local Transport Strategy
progresses, we will also, where appropriate, incorporate
information gathered through other CYC transport or
transport-related consultations which take place. Whilst
these consultations are not part of this engagement they
nonetheless provide valuable insights into some of the issues
around transport in York. Separate consultations we are aware
of are about:
§ Changes to the
bus network
§ York’s
4th Air Quality Management Plan
§ Cashless
parking
An important piece of engagement to improve
access for people with disabilities is
also taking place as this document is being finalised.
This work is not reported in this document because it is ongoing,
but will be incorporated into York’s new Local Transport
Strategy as it progresses. More generally, the information
gathered in this report is only part of a developing evidence base
on transport in York and will be added to in future.
We thank all those who gave up
time to complete the questionnaire, send an e-mail or letter to us
or attend one of the face-to-face events
This document
This document has a number of sections.
Broadly:
§ Section Two
talks about the sample of people answering the online
questionnaire. It also discussed transport use in York, as
assessed through the consultation. It compares the results of
the 2023-4 consultation with a consultation undertaken in Spring
2021 (at the end of the COVID lockdowns) and draws out the
differences between the two and implications for the changing use
of transport in York
§ Sections Three
to 13 work through the 10 “Policy Focus Areas” (PFA)
which formed the basis of the online questionnaire. For each
PFA we report the results of the questionnaire, list the
representations we received and then set out the insights we gained
through face-to-face consultations. Each section is concluded
with a set of remarks about the implications the information
collected during Our Big Transport Consultation has for
York’s new Local Transport Strategy
§
2. Our sample and
their use of transport
This section of the report details the sample
who responded to the questionnaire. Overall, we received
1,342 online responses plus a further 35
responses on paper.
Characteristics of
the respondents
In terms of age, we received substantial
number of responses from the age groups above 25 years old, but
relatively few responses from people aged 24 and under. Face
to face engagement took place at primary and secondary schools,
York College, University of York and with York Youth Council to
increase their representation, and there will be a need for further
exploration of young peoples’ needs of the transport network
as the Local Transport Strategy is developed. The relationships and
connections made during the first phase will help greatly here.
Gender representation was broadly equal,
although non-white ethnicities are under-represented in the
sample.
Most respondents said that they had no
religious beliefs.
|
Ethnicity
|
Number
of respondents
|
Proportion of respondents
|
|
Any
other Asian background
|
2
|
0.2%
|
|
Any
other Black/Black British/African/Caribbean background
|
2
|
0.2%
|
|
Any
other Mixed/multiple ethnic background
|
3
|
0.2%
|
|
Any
other White background
|
80
|
6.5%
|
|
Any
other ethnic background
|
3
|
0.2%
|
|
Asian
- Indian
|
5
|
0.4%
|
|
Black
- Caribbean
|
1
|
0.1%
|
|
Mixed
- White and Asian
|
9
|
0.7%
|
|
Mixed
- White and Black African
|
1
|
0.1%
|
|
White
- English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British
|
1121
|
90.5%
|
|
White
- Irish
|
12
|
1.0%
|
|
TOTAL
|
1239
|
|
Just over a quarter of respondents said they
had a physical or mental health condition expected to last 12
months or more – comparable with Census data for York.
Of those who did consider themselves to have a physical or mental
health condition lasting more than 12 months or more, 42% said
their condition did not affect their ability to carry out day to
day activities, 45% said it affected this “a little”
and 13% “a lot”.
Around one-fifth of respondents had a carer
responsibility.
Respondent postcodes showed a good spread of
respondents across York. There were a small number of
respondents from outside York. Of those specifying postcodes,
937 were within York, a further 111 from Yorkshire, but outside
York (of which 72 were from North Yorkshire, 28 from East Riding, 9
from West Yorkshire and 2 from South Yorkshire). There were 8
respondents from outside Yorkshire.
More work will take place to assess the
differences in perception (e.g. of quality of transport modes)
between the different areas of York. This will be reported as
the Local Transport Strategy is developed. The face-to-face
engagement events made it clear that perception of the quality of
many aspects of transport (e.g. highway quality, buses, cycle
infrastructure) varied substantially between different
areas.
Respondents and
their use of transport
Respondents were asked how they travelled for
a range of journeys. Overall, walk and car use were the
most-used modes, with cycling and bus also important.
Comparison of the figures for how respondents travel to work or
study suggests (in comparison to 2011 census figures) that cyclists
are slightly over-represented in the sample – however, there
remains a fair representation of users of other modes such that we
do not think over-representation of cyclists distorts or
invalidates the results (which by and large are emphatic in any
case).
·
17% of respondents said they undertook more than 80% of their
journeys by car
·
12% said they didn’t travel by car at all
·
24% expected their car use to fall in the next 5 years, with 15%
expecting it to increase
·
61% did not expect their car use to change.
Comparing this exercise with the same question
asked in 2021 (at the end of the second lockdown period) suggests
that fewer people are now expecting their car use to fall (in 2021
over 30% expected it to fall). To some extent this is
probably reflective of different expectations about travel habits
since the end of the covid pandemic.
Within the sample there was substantial use of
different transport modes – with, for example, only around
10% of respondents not using either walk, car, bus or rail and only
about one-third not cycling. Analysis of
respondents’ preferences for travel suggests that more people
would prefer to travel by sustainable modes than currently do
(comparison of “preferences” chart with how people
currently travel). This all tallies with previous
questionnaires and surveys in York which suggest that (a) travel
behaviour in the city is fairly sophisticated with people using
several modes to get around, according to assessments of the needs
of different journeys (which includes an assessment of the
environmental implications of some transport choices) and (b)
people say they would prefer to use sustainable travel more than
they do now.
Respondent
Satisfaction with current provision
Respondent satisfaction was highest with
(respectively) pavements and walking routes, rail services, and
taxis; and lowest with cycling routes, bus routes and the road
network. There was dissatisfaction with EV charging points,
but the number of respondents to this question (187) was
significantly lower than the number of respondents to the other
questions analysed here (all between 750 and 1,100 respondents
except “taxis” (606 respondents)).
Assessment of
problems
Respondents were asked to what extent they
viewed various aspects of York’s transport network as
“problematic”. In all but one case (personal
security) the number of people who viewed any given aspect of the
system as “very serious” or “fairly
serious” problems was above the number of people who viewed
it as “Not at all serious” or “Not very
serious”. In most cases, far more of the respondents
saw the problems as “very serious” or “fairly
serious” than not serious. This was particularly true
for congestion, air pollution, noise, climate change.
3. Policy Focus Area
1: Accessibility
Respondents were asked whether they
agreed with the Accessibility vision.
Policy focus area 1:
Accessibility - Shape a
city that is accessible to everyone – so that everyone, including young people,
women, disabled people and anyone with a protected characteristic,
is able to access all the facilities which they need, and all areas
of the city, and its villages, have accessible, reliable and
affordable bus services to key
destinations.
90% of respondents either strongly agreed or
agreed with the vision. Only 5% of people disagreed or strongly
disagreed with the vision.
Over a quarter of respondents said that they
feel buses and trains in York are not accessible to them at the
moment. This is similar to the proportion of respondents
who said they are disabled.
Further work in the Local Transport Strategy – and the
associated project on Accessibility – will look into this in
more depth.
4. Policy Focus Area
2: walking, wheeling and cycling
Policy focus area 2: Improve
walking, wheeling and cycling – so that cycling, walking and wheeling become
more attractive and offer better alternatives to the car. Key to
this will be creating a continuous network of safe and high-quality
cycle, walking and wheeling routes, and giving all active travel
users greater priority on roads and at junctions. Effectively
integrating new modes like e-bikes into York’s transport
network will also be important. These changes will achieve a
doubling of active travel journeys by 2030.
85% of respondents either strongly agreed or agreed
with the vision. Only 8% of people disagreed or strongly
disagreed with the vision.
61% of
respondents said they did not walk, cycle or wheel as much as they
would like. The top 3 reasons given for not walking, cycling
or wheeling as much as respondents would like were that there were
no suitable cycle routes, that they did not feel safe and that
there was no suitable cycle parking.
Our big transport conversation was an
opportunity to test attitudes to York’s hierarchy of
transport modes, which had been in use for over 20 years. 73%
of respondents agreed with the hierarchy.
During the face-to-face consultation some
suggestions were made about possible refinements to the modal
hierarchy, including widening the current “disabled”
categories to include other vulnerable transport users (for
example, children and elderly people) and/ or uses of the highway
which did not involve movement (for example, roadworks and parked
vehicles). These will be considered further in York’s
new Transport Strategy and the York Movement and Place Plan.
Respondents were asked what improvements could
be made, including a question where they were asked to rank
improvement preferences. The respondents said that they
preferred infrastructure improvements such as cycle lanes
segregated from other traffic, continuous cycle lanes and wider
pavements. Better maintenance of road surfaces was also
considered important.
Finally, over 50% of respondents saw e-bikes
as an important future mobility option in York.
5. Policy Focus Area
3: Shaping Healthy Places
Policy focus area 3: Shape Healthy
Places: – to
encourage physical activity by ensuring that all communities in
York are inclusive, feel safe and offer all the facilities which
people need on a daily basis within easy reach whether walking,
wheeling, cycling or travelling by public transport. We will
improve district centres so that people can meet more of their
shopping, work and leisure needs locally, without having to travel
by car. We will improve streets and spaces in York to help us
adapt to future climate change and for the benefits of all users,
including people who have limited mobility, hearing or sight
loss. We will focus on planting, lighting, surfaces and the
quality and feel of streets and spaces in York. We will
improve broadband connectivity to enable people to work, study and
shop from home.
85% of
respondents either strongly agreed or agreed with the vision.
Only 7% of people disagreed or strongly disagreed with the
vision.
As with walking, wheeling and cycling,
respondents were asked to rank their preferences for action.
“Nearby key services”, ”Improved cycle routes and
parking” and “Improved walking routes and
pavements” were seen as the most preferred
improvements. More engagement on these matters will take
place through preparation of York’s Movement and Place
Plan.
Intrusion of traffic was seen as the aspect
which works least well in local areas.
Between 20% and 30% of respondents said they
would use either a deliveries or mobility hub, with around 40%
uncertain of their use. More work with the data will be
needed to assess how this varies between different areas of
York.
Developing a Supplementary Planning Document
for new developments (a Local Plan commitment) was supported by a
large majority, and a large majority of respondents also supported
applying a healthy streets approach in York.
74% of respondents supported the development
of home zones in York, with only 10% opposing this. 20mph
limits, more trees and planting and reduced on-street car parking
were seen as the 3 most useful/ important aspects of a home
zone.
The three most concerning aspects of road
safety in York were seen by respondents as “poor quality
road/ pavement surfaces”, “close passing by
vehicles” and “speed of traffic”. The
project team were also often told this during the face-to-face
consultation, with road/ pavement repair concerns being reported at
nearly all of the meetings attended.
Respondents showed high levels of support for
making Health Impact Assessments of large transport infrastructure
schemes and also supported greater use of “Decide and
Provide” methods for scoping new transport projects.
However, some respondents reported that these areas are very
technical and they did not feel qualified to reach judgements on
them. This suggests that future engagements on transport will
need to provide greater explanation of some of these concepts to
aid discussion.
6. Policy Focus Area
4: Improving Public Transport
Policy focus area 4: Improving
Public Transport: so that
all areas of the city have good and reliable public transport
access. Key to this will be extending the bus network, ensuring
effective and reliable early and late services when people need
them, and upgrading high frequency bus services – in some
cases into bus rapid transit services or possibly light rail
transit systems. We will also work to upgrade heavy rail
services where they play a local role or support our other
policies. Not only will this result in a 50% or greater increase in
bus patronage by 2030, it will also enhance the viability of public
transport and protect its future
88% of
respondents either strongly agreed or agreed with the vision.
Only 6% of people disagreed or strongly disagreed with the
vision.
City of
York Council is already advancing a significant programme of
improvements to bus services under its Bus Service Improvement
Plan. Knowledge of this amongst respondents (who would be
expected to be more engaged with transport in York than most people
in the city) is relatively low at present – but we would
expect this to increase as improvements on the bus network become
more visible (e.g. through new ticketing projects and works on the
ground).
Respondents saw the biggest issues with buses
in York being poor reliability, routes not going where respondents
wished them to go and quality of bus stops. 168 of the 1560
responses we received to this question cited
“affordability” as a problem, which is lower than in
previous surveys and likely to be a response to the £2
maximum fare policy currently in place.
Face-to-face events revealed that views on the
quality of local buses were very varied according to
location. There were particular problems in areas where bus
service levels had recently been reduced or were under threat.
48% of respondents said they would use buses
more if there was more bus priority, with 35% saying they would
“maybe” use buses more if there was more
priority. Only 17% of respondents said that more bus
priorities would not lead to them using buses more – this is
only a slightly higher proportion than the respondents who say they
do not use buses at all at the moment.
72% of respondents agreed with the principle
of providing more priority routes for buses and sustainable modes,
with only 11% of respondents opposing this.
A clear challenge for York’s new Local
Transport Strategy will be turning the overall
“in-principle” support for improving bus reliability
and providing more bus priorities into support for individual
schemes which may involve difficult choices about reallocation of
road space, which is currently available to all vehicles or used
for on-street parking, to buses or other sustainable transport
modes.
Just over one quarter (217 of 718) of
respondents said they would make use of a community transport
scheme, with nearly two-thirds (397 of 715 respondents) saying they
would use a city centre shuttle bus.
Further work on public transport options will
be needed to assess the feasibility of these types of schemes in
York.
75% of 714 respondents supported the principle
of converting the current Park and Ride terminals into multi-modal
hubs offering a wider range of transport services (e.g. access to
longer distance buses, car sharing). Projects to do this are
already being taken forward as part of York’s Bus Service
Improvement Plan programme.
In terms of bus fare measures, respondents saw
improving affordability of bus fares as being the measure most
likely to encourage bus use, followed by simplifying fares.
Amongst people who considered accessible taxis
to be important to them, 39% said that they would find more
wheelchair accessible taxis helpful, with 15% saying they
“may” find it helpful. This will be explored more
through the Council’s wider work on accessibility.
Just over one-quarter of 650 respondents said
they would use a park and sail service, with nearly half saying
they would not. This underscores that any such service would
only be of use to those who do journeys which could also be
undertaken on the River. Obviously, detailed work on
viability of a park and sail service would have to take place
before there was any commitment beyond the current Summer-only
service which operates commercially to/ from Acaster Malbis.
7. Policy Focus Area
5: Safeguarding our environment
Policy focus area 5: Safeguarding our
environment by cutting carbon, air pollution and noise - we
will encourage the take-up of electric vehicles because they have
no tailpipe emissions. However, we know that simply converting
existing internal combustion-engine trips to electric vehicle trips
will not be enough to meet Climate Change targets, reduce
congestion, or improve air quality and health sufficiently. We must
achieve reductions in the absolute number of car miles travelled
too.
74% of respondents agreed with the vision,
with 17% disagreeing with it. Whilst still a large majority
in favour of the vision, this was the lowest level of agreement
with any of the “visions” for York’s local
transport and it is possible that respondents, whilst agreeing with
the overall objective of safeguarding the environment, did not
agree with the proposed change to electric vehicles or reducing
distance driven. Achieving change in both of these areas will
be critical to delivering York’s new Local Transport Strategy
and additional engagement will be required with York residents to
understand views around these subjects more generally.
Respondents were asked what steps they could
take to reduce congestion and pollution in York. The most
popular steps proposed were “taking public transport
more”, “walking for more of my trips”,
“travelling by bike” and “shopping more locally
and ordering online for large or heavy items”
Over three-quarters of 600 respondents agreed
that public EV charging facilities should be expanded, and 59% of
respondents thought that people should be encouraged to use EVs or
hybrid vehicles. Changes to parking charges for EVs were seen
as an important lever to encourage take-up.
Nearly three-quarters of respondents thought
that “heavy vehicles” (for example, heavy goods
vehicles) should be included in the existing bus-only “clean
air zone” on and inside York’s inner ring road.
There was also overwhelming support amongst respondents for taking
carbon impacts into account when planning new transport
infrastructure, developing green infrastructure networks and that
new developments in York should support environmental
improvement.
80% of respondents agreed that tourists should
use sustainable transport to travel around York, with only 3% of
respondents opposing this. This will need to be explored in
more depth in the Movement and Place Plan. This will also
need to consider how to manage the impact of big tourist events
(for example, the Christmas Markets or Races) on York’s
transport networks. This came up regularly during
face-to-face events.
8. Policy Focus Ares
6: Movement and Place Plan
Policy focus area 6: Manage the
road network for Movement and Place – we will
develop a Movement and Place Plan which reallocates road-space to
create safe and connected networks for walking, wheeling, cycling,
public transport, cars and freight for residents, businesses and
visitors alike – helping deliver York’s economic and
environmental strategies and draft Local Plan by making walking,
wheeling and cycling more attractive and buses more reliable. The
Movement and Place Plan will also identify how best to balance the
needs of streets as travel corridors and as places where people
live, shop, go to school and enjoy their leisure. It will
facilitate all kinds of journey including trips to and from outside
of the city, and will recognise York’s place in the wider
region. A key to the Movement and Place Plan will be using
York’s new traffic models to minimise congestion, along with
new ways to manage and construct highways to minimise their
environmental impacts and work with partners to deliver any
required interventions and schemes.
81% of respondents agree with the
“Movement and Place” vision in Policy focus area 6 and
80% agreed, specifically, that York should produce a
“Movement and Place Plan”, with only 7% of the 682
respondents opposing this. This clearly indicates that a
large majority of respondents see developing a Movement and Place
Plan as a priority.
Over three-quarters of respondents said that
York should produce a network plan for each mode of
transport. This can be considered more in the emerging Local
Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan and various pieces of work
on the bus network, as well as the Key Route Network (of major
roads) being produced with North Yorkshire Council for the new
Mayoral Combined Authority.
Only 15% of respondents agreed with the
statement that York’s Inner Ring Road is “fit for
purpose”, with 70% of respondents thinking it is not fit for
purpose. Of course, there are multiple reasons why
respondents may be saying York’s Inner Ring Road is not fit
for purpose – it could be because of perceived congestion,
unreliable public transport, unsafe active mode journeys or poor
amenity, unacceptable levels of air and noise pollution or traffic
intruding into historic areas of the city. It is possible
that many respondents are seeing the Inner Ring Road as failing in
several of these areas. The Movement and Place Plan will
undertake more engagement to improve understanding in this
area.
Respondents also said they wanted the Council
to use the various network management tools at their disposal to
achieve sustainable transport objectives, particularly prioritising
sustainable modes and reducing air pollution.
71% of 588 respondents to the question
supported the introduction of 20mph zones as “a default speed
limit through residential areas, near schools, in villages and at
retail areas and parks to make the area safer for road
users”, with 29% of respondents not supporting this.
Only 20% of respondents thought the Council
were “currently maintaining our highways while minimising
disruption and delays” with many people disagreeing with
this. It is worth pointing out that there are many reasons
why respondents may be of this view – including thinking the
council were not effectively maintaining highways (earlier
questions showing that satisfaction with highway and pavement
surfaces is low). The response may also have been influenced
by recent large-scale roadworks on, amongst others, Tadcaster
Road. However, it does highlight the need to consider how
roadworks are managed in future – particularly because a
change of transport strategy for York could imply large scale
roadworks as new highways interventions (for example, segregated
cycle lanes) are introduced.
As in Section 3, a majority of respondents
agreed with adopting a “decide and provide” methodology
for new transport infrastructure and developments.
9. PFA7: Reduce car
dependency
Policy focus area
7: Reduce car dependency - we will provide safe
and comprehensive networks so that alternatives to the car are the
obvious choice for a growing proportion of transport users, whilst
enabling those who have to use motorised vehicles to get about more
easily. We will manage parking to provide access for shops and
business, while discouraging car use for journeys which could be
made by sustainable modes. New developments will be planned so that
active travel and public transport are the obvious choice. We will
also promote behavioural change by supporting people as they switch
travel modes, for example, through travel planning. Together these
changes will reduce the number of miles travelled on York’s
roads by at least 20% by 2030.
78% of 788 respondents agreed with the vision
to “reduce car dependency” with only 14% opposing
it. As the vision includes a commitment to reduce mileage
driven on York’s roads by 20%, support of the vision can be
seen as an acceptance of that target by the respondent group, which
includes large numbers of drivers (see Section 2 of this
report).
Potential interventions to reduce car
dependency were considered. Amongst respondents the most
popular bus improvements were seen to be better/ cheaper ticketing,
more extensive bus routes and more frequent/ reliable buses; for
traffic interventions more low traffic neighbourhoods and 20mph
zones were seen as important; pro-cycling interventions were safer/
dedicated/ better lit/ better maintained cycle routes with
pro-pedestrian interventions being routes away from main roads (and
better lit). Better shops and local services, and flexibility
from employers about working from home were seen as crucial in
reducing overall demand for travel.
Respondents were keen that walking and cycling
to school should be encouraged. Whilst there are many reasons
why active travel to school is beneficial, it should be remembered
that journeys by vulnerable road users such as children may need
supporting measures to enable them, such as better walking and
cycling infrastructure, reduced speed limits on the journey to
school, secure cycle parking at schools and so on.
Respondents did not see support from their
employer as being critical to their adoption of more sustainable
travel habits, although over half (276 of 543 respondents to this
question) considered that they were already travelling
sustainably.
56% of 558 respondents said they would support
more campaign work to encourage people to travel more sustainably,
with only 19% of respondents not supporting this. 54% of 524
respondents agreed that car clubs within 500m of where people live
should be supported, with only 20% opposing this.
75% of 543 respondents (overleaf) agreed that
CYC should develop a parking strategy to encourage people to use
park and ride, bus, rail and active modes, with only 14% of
respondents opposing it.
47% of 491 respondents agreed that residents
parking schemes should be extended to new areas, with 27% of
respondents disagreeing. This measure was much commented on
during face-to-face sessions and will need to be explored in
further engagement in the Movement and Place Plan.
Respondents also agreed that parking standards
for new developments should discourage car use. This will
need to be explored in the Supplementary Planning Document on
transport and new development.
A final question in this section asked
respondents where they find out about travel options. Most
respondents revealed that they found out online, with many also
using apps. The most used offline method of finding out
travel information was “bus stops”.
10. Policy Focus
Area 8: Freight
Policy focus area 8: Improving freight
& logistics - so that York’s businesses have
efficient access for their supplies, goods and services, while at
the same time reducing the impact of heavy lorries and light goods
vehicles on carbon emissions, air pollution, safety and damage to
heritage.
The freight vision was agreed with by 84% of
517 respondents. Other questions to reduce impact of freight
movements on York, increase use of cargo bikes and develop clearer
freight networks were also supported.
There will be a need to engage further,
including with businesses and the freight/ logistics industry, to
form a view about what measures can be taken forward
successfully. This will need to form part of the Movement and
Place Plan engagement. However, there is clear support
in the responses for developing a freight strategy which manages
freight movements in York more effectively.
11. Policy Focus
Area 9: Effective maintenance and enforcement and management of
streetworks
Policy Focus Area 9: Effective maintenance and enforcement and
management of streetworks – so that the condition
of York’s transport networks enables the transition to
greater use of sustainable transport. Enforcement of traffic
rules and effective management of street-works will be a key tool
in achieving our stated objectives.
84% of 592 respondents agreed with the
“Effective maintenance and enforcement and management of
streetworks” vision, with only 6% not agreeing with it.
This should be considered alongside the assessment that CYC is not
“currently maintaining our highways while minimising
disruption and delays” as expressed under Policy Focus Area
6.
Over three-quarters of respondents agreed that
effective enforcement would assist in meeting York’s
sustainable transport ambitions.
12. Policy Focus
Area 10 Monitoring the transport network and financing the
changes
Policy Focus Area 10 – Monitoring
the transport network and financing the changes – so
that the effectiveness of our policies can be monitored, and
funding attracted to deliver York’s new transport strategy as
effectively as possible.
81% of 534 respondents agreed with the
Monitoring/ Funding vision, with 295 respondents saying they would
be willing to join a transport focus group (to help develop
transport policy).
The final question (before collection of
demographic information) asked respondents what interventions they
thought should be prioritised in York. Most popular were
schemes to make cycling safer, followed by schemes to “ease
congestion” and improve bus reliability.
