York Local Transport Strategy 2024-2040
Our journey to be healthier,
more sustainable and better connected.
Contents
Foreword
3
Introduction: Our Journey starts
here
4
The 10 Year Strategy: Our Direction of
Travel
8
York and its Transport Challenges
13
The Opportunity for
York
17
A new Transport Strategy for
York
23
Our
Policies
27
The Next
Steps
48
Foreword
It’s my pleasure to introduce York’s Local Transport
Strategy and to endorse its ambitious approach; to connect all of
our communities with high quality sustainable travel options,
setting out a path to enable our city to grow, adapt and thrive
over the next sixteen years.
Core to this strategy is the understanding that transport is not
simply about getting people from A to B; it’s about what
happens along the way. Rethinking how we move around gives us an
opportunity to create valuable new public spaces, highlight our
heritage, bring birdsong to our neighbourhoods and help our city to
prosper.
This transport strategy and the policies within it have been shaped
by the feedback we received from residents, visitors, businesses
and community organisations during our Big Transport Consultation.
We’re hugely grateful for the time that people gave and the
valuable insights they provided, all of which have helped us to
enhance and strengthen the strategy.
Now we’re developing an inclusive and sustainable travel
network, increasing connectivity by prioritising walking, wheeling,
cycling and public transport, whilst maintaining accessibility for
essential car journeys and moving goods around our city. Delivering
this transport transition will also reduce carbon emissions, clean
York’s air and help people live healthier and longer lives.
Our streets will be safer and our communities will be better
connected, bringing genuine sustainable travel choices and greater
independence for everyone, including residents, people who work in
the city and visitors.
This Local Transport Strategy also recognises that our journeys
don’t stop at the city’s boundary. As part of the
Combined Authority of York & North Yorkshire we have an
exciting opportunity to expand our horizons and strengthen
connectivity across the north of
England.
York is on the cusp of an exciting transition. I’m looking
forward to seeing the city rise to the challenges we face and
evolve to meet the needs of people today, tomorrow and over
centuries to come.
Cllr Kate Ravilious, Executive Member for Transport
Introduction: Our journey starts here
York
is renowned for its unique heritage and beauty.
Recognised
as one of the best places to live in the UK, York is a friendly and welcoming city, home to
around 200,000 residents with 8m visitors a year. York is a city of
many layers: delve a bit deeper and you will find diverse culture,
innovative research for public good and strong communities in
distinct neighbourhoods nestled between protected open green
spaces.
Our
city’s architecture has seen the city evolve over time, with
Viking and Victorian, Georgian and Modernist sitting side by
side. Yet despite this ever changing landscape, we have
successfully retained our character and size over the centuries.
Our built environment is one of our greatest strengths. Many
of our city’s streets, gates and snickleways date back to
Roman times, when horses and chariots ruled the streets, and the
way people lived in the city was very different to how we live
today.
This
is a city that does not sit still, instead we are a city of
continual change.
Today,
projects like York Station Gateway, the upgrade of the A1237, York
Central, Castle Gateway, Haxby Station, upgrades to the bus network
– and the improved integration of land use and transport
planning implied by York’s emerging Local Plan - give scope
for us to consider how the city’s transport might function in
the future within the context of a changing and growing
city.
Looking
ahead, in 15 years, we will welcome another 30,000 people to proudly call York
home, new sustainable houses in new communities will be built
across the city and most vehicles will be electric. York
Central will be completed and the city centre will be a vibrant,
family-friendly accessible and iconic place where everyone feels
welcome.
Yet
we know in 2024 the rhythm of
residents’ lives is dictated by the roads and networks that
dominate our city. Whether nipping to the shops, sitting in
congestion on the outer ring road, or getting to work on time, our
compressed streets constrain our lives, creating traffic
congestion, poor air quality, noise pollution and acting
as artificial barriers that influence how we connect with our
neighbours and neighbourhoods.
This
cannot go on.
How
we live, our health and wellbeing and the way we connect with each
other is far too precious to be dominated by how our road network
developed, when investment prioritised car travel above people.
We
have to change. Our city. Ourselves.
We
have already set ambitious objectives.
To
be net zero by 2030 requires a 20% reduction in car use.
To
achieve World Health Organisation targets for air quality requires
us to go further.
“One
of the greatest single public health interventions any city can
make is to prioritise people above cars – very few other
actions simultaneously benefit individual, community and planetary
health.” Peter Roderick, Director of Public Health,
York
Join
us on our journey to deliberately put residents’ health above
vehicles.
For many people in York, our streets serve as front gardens, to
meet, chat and play, but increasingly parked cars have dominated
this space. Instead of seeing roads as simply places
for vehicles, let’s look at roads
differently.
By
looking at our roads, footstreets and footpaths as places for
people, rather than places for vehicles, we will collectively see
our city for what it could be.
Picture
a city that becomes more beautiful as our built heritage becomes
more accessible, with fresh clean air, more green space, more
places to connect with our neighbours, and easier ways to get
around.
A better transport system will make it easier for people to travel
on foot, bus, mobility scooter or cycle. It will be easier
for disabled people to get around, for children and young people to
get around, for you to get around.
More effective bus services will connect people to jobs, training,
shopping, leisure and healthcare. Good rail services will
improve longer distance travel. Needing to own a car will be less
important – freeing people from the expense of having to own
and run a car if they do not want one and can no longer afford
one.
By reducing vehicle traffic, we will make York an even better place
to live – attracting investment and employment to our city
and helping residents live longer, happier, healthier
lives.
There is huge opportunity for York. The newly established
York and North Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority brings new
powers and new funding for transport. The cancellation of the
northern section of HS2 potentially releases over
£100m
of new funding for transport in York.
By listening and learning from residents across the city about what
matters to them, we can create a York that is open and accessible
to everyone, with affordable and healthy transport options no
matter where people live.
We want our transport networks to enhance our wonderful city and
its villages by actively improving the health of residents,
supporting a thriving economy, enhancing green spaces and
respecting York’s heritage. And all of this will happen with
an eye to the future; ensuring that our transport systems are
resilient to the changes ahead and helping to tackle climate
change.
This new Transport Strategy maps how our health, how we live, where
we work or study, and what we value can be improved by changing how
we travel.
Central to this will be our new “Movement and Place
Plan”, giving us permission to take bold decisive action to
create a healthier city, that makes the best use of our streets and
spaces so we can be healthier, more sustainable and better
connected.
The Plan will set us on a bold journey that will see us steer a
radical new approach for York. One which will reduce car
dependency; improve walking, wheeling, cycling and buses so that
owning a car is less important as other transport becomes more
attractive.
York’s Long-Term Plans: Our direction of travel
In December 2022, the council adopted a 10-Year Strategy and Policy
Framework. This comprised of three interdependent 10-year
strategies, together with a 10-Year City Plan co-designed by city
partners.
The 10-year strategies were informed by existing or emerging
national and local policies and set the foundation for the
council’s Strategy and Policy Framework for the decade
ahead. They take a sustainable development
approach to the city and recognise the interdependencies between
health, the economy and the climate.
In tandem, city partners worked with the council to develop a
10-Year Plan that drew on the ambition set by the 10-Year
Strategies to agree York 2032 - a vision and shared priorities for
the city.
By 2032, York will be a vibrant, prosperous, welcoming and
sustainable city, where everyone can share and take pride in its
success.
The guiding principles for our strategies
Our Transport Strategy will be guided by the same five principles
which guide our Climate Change and Health Strategies. You
will see these applied throughout the delivery of the Transport
Strategy, in the actions we take, the relationships we build and in
how we openly share plans and data to help others change the way
they move through the city:
1.
We
will increase collaboration and cooperation by working with
partners to encourage changes in the way we travel and transport
choices we make. We will create partnerships among businesses, the
public sector, civic organisations and our institutions in higher
and further education to ensure that new, action-oriented knowledge
is generated and effectively shared to benefit all.
2.
We
will continuously adapt to change, taking bold action by
trialling new and emerging technologies. We will be pragmatic,
focusing on reducing emissions and improving health by prioritising
actions that deliver the best outcomes.
3.
We
will build inclusive, healthy and sustainable communities by
promoting the positive social and health benefits of changing our
transport networks and by supporting individuals who need the most
support to travel. With more green spaces, less air pollution
and greater tree canopy cover we will support the health and
wellbeing of our residents and increase biodiversity.
4.
We
will create new employment and investment opportunities,
strengthening the economy through our work with local suppliers to
change our transport networks. We will proactively seek alternative
funding streams and attract additional investment.
5.
Good
governance
and evidence-based planning will guide our actions ahead. We will
take accountability for delivering actions. We will provide
accurate information that allows us to review progress and adapt
actions if required. We will regularly review and publish key data
to track progress against our ambition, updating our action plan in
response.
How we have engaged with you: Our Big Transport
Conversation
Between 24th November 2023 and 4th February 2024 City of
York Council ran an in-depth public consultation to inform the new
Local Transport Strategy for York. This was the largest
transport engagement in York for 12 years and quite possibly
longer.
During the consultation we spoke to between 1,000 and 2,000 people
at more than 50 consultation events across York and its
villages. We also received 1,376 responses to our
questionnaire – either online or on paper. We had
meetings with many people and organisations involved in
York’s transport network – for example, taxi drivers,
the Police and bus operators - and we placed information on the
consultation in libraries, at bus stops and in many other places
across York. We were careful to reach out to groups who,
whilst they have an important stake in York’s future
transport, tend to be under-represented in transport
consultations. This included schoolchildren, students,
members of disabled advocacy groups and older people. We
travelled on York’s mobile library to talk to people in
villages such as Hessay and Osbaldwick, as well as holding many
other events in the city centre, Hospital, libraries, village halls
and even pubs.
The views expressed during the consultation have fed directly into
this Strategy and we are very grateful to everyone who gave up
their time to talk to us. We were left in no doubt about the
importance of transport in York, people’s passion for
improving it and the difficulties many people currently experience
travelling around and into/ out of York.
Our City
and its transport challenges
The City of York Council area covers a very varied geography.
It includes rural areas, hamlets, villages (some verging on the
size of small towns) and, of course, a city. Within the
built-up area of the city there are suburbs, a historic city
centre, inner city areas laid out by the Georgians and Victorians,
inter-war and post war twentieth century suburbs, green spaces such
as the city’s strays and parks and modern retail and business
parks. All these areas experience transport in different
ways, have different levels of bus services and facilities for
pedestrians and cyclists. Some people are affected by
congestion because it delays their car and bus journeys; others
because congestion causes air and noise pollution where they live
or work. Many experience both.
Around 200,000 people live in York – one-third of whom live
in the villages outside the city’s outer ring roads.
Some people live in households with multiple cars, but one in three
adults in York live in a non-car owning household, rising to over 60% in some areas.
And many who do live in car owning households cannot
themselves drive.
17.1% of York residents are disabled and 7.7% have carer
responsibilities. 19% of 18-64 year olds are estimated to
have a mental health problem and 7.5% of those aged over 65 are
estimated to have dementia.
There is a life expectancy gap of 10 years between those in the
most and least deprived areas of York, with deprivation being key
to this difference.
Overall, York is a relatively prosperous city, but there are areas
of deprivation. Depending on where you are, between
0.6% and 3.5% of residents claim Jobseekers Allowance or Universal
Credit.
The Transport Strategy must recognise these differences and plan
for all.
Congestion is perceived as the most serious problem in York, with
many respondents also citing linked problems with air and noise
pollution – and intrusive traffic in residential and shopping
streets. People do not use active modes as much as they would
like (61% of respondents said they would like to use active modes
more) with poor perceived safety seen as the key reason people did
not walk or cycle.
Bus services are seen as unreliable and often not running to where
people want them to go. The consultations in York’s
villages clearly identified that these problems were felt
particularly acutely there – with some villages having very
poor levels of bus service or had seen
recent declines in service. Many villages also
felt they did not have safe cycle and walk routes between the
village and the edges of the York built up area (where cycle/
footpaths to the city centre are more often
available).
An impasse has developed which needs to be broken in order to make
progress. The transport network in York is space-constrained
– it is not possible to improve bus services, for example, by
simply widening roads to build bus lanes – because in many
locations this could only be achieved through property demolition
or road widening into green space, which would be even less
acceptable than the congestion which is currently
experienced. Because of this, trade-offs between
different road user groups are inevitable in any strategy which
seeks to improve sustainable modes.
Our engagement shows consensus about, and support for, a Transport
Strategy which develops York’s active travel and bus
networks, and reduces car dependency. We set out how this
will be achieved over the following pages of this
Strategy.
Key York Statistics:
York’s population in 2023 – 202,821
York’s population by 2032 – 215,821
Student population 2022 – 48,779
Population over 80 years old – 9,854 (12.7% increase since
2011)
7.3% Black, Asian and Racially Minoritised Communities
5.5% White non-British
5.5% LGBTQIA (3.0% in Region, 3.1% in England and Wales)
17.1% disabled residents
7.7% residents with carer responsibilities
Key transport statistics
450,000 vehicle trips a day 2019
If we do nothing then 510,000 in 2033, 550,000 by 2040
14% travel time increase between 2019 and 2033
1991 – 2019 - 26% Reduction in city centre vehicle
trips. 64% increase in A64 vehicle trips.
8,000,000 visitor trips a year
65% increase in bus trips 2000-2019.
13.2m trips on York’s buses in 2023 (36,000 a day), of which
4m on Park and Ride.
8.9m rail trips from York Station, 72,000 from Poppleton
Station
Approx 10% of all trips in York are by bike; approx. 20% are on
foot.
87,500 cars, of which 10% are electric or hybrid (2024), but 90%
electric 2040
In many areas of York less than 50% of households own a
car
35% of working residents work at, or mostly at, home.
The Opportunity for York
All over the world cities are reshaping themselves around providing
better active travel and public transport. There are obvious
benefits to health, equality, accessibility, opportunity, amenity
– and need to reduce carbon emissions – from doing
so. During the consultation we asked people which cities they
felt managed traffic and transport better than York. Although
respondents identified some cities which are perhaps different to
York – for example national capitals like London or Amsterdam
which are bigger and better resourced than York – many
people identified cities which are broadly similar to York in terms
of their size and character or location – for example,
Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, Leeds, Chester, and
Ghent.
Other cities can serve as an inspiration for York. In Ghent a
new traffic circulation system reduced city centre traffic by
20%.
York Civic Trust have helped us by looking at what has been
achieved in other towns and cities.
We present a summary opposite. We are grateful to the
Trust’s Transport Advisory Group for their
assistance.
Consideration 2: What can we learn from other
cities?
Tony May and John Stevens
York Civic Trust Transport Advisory
Group
In 2021 the Council invited York Civic Trust to
review transport strategies in historic cities of similar size to
York: Bath, Cambridge, Chester, Norwich and Oxford in the UK and
Delft, Dijon, Freiburg and Ghent in continental Europe. The
case studies have been updated for the Council’s Local
Transport Strategy: https://yorkcivictrust.co.uk/home/transport/.
Additionally, the Council invited us to review two larger cities,
Leeds and Leicester, which have made significant changes
recently.
Vision, objectives, targets and strategies
All eleven cities have produced new transport strategies
within the last decade. Bath, Cambridge, Chester and Oxford have
since strengthened policies in response to the need to tackle
climate change. All start with a clear vision for their
city in 10 to 15 years’ time. Leeds’
vision, for example, is a city “where you don’t need a
car, where everyone has an affordable, accessible, and zero carbon
choice in how they travel”.
All case study cities plan to accommodate economic growth
whilst protecting their historic and cultural assets. They
aspire to sustainable new development, encourage economic vitality
and enhanced wellbeing and quality of life of individuals and
communities. They focus on tackling climate change, reducing
air pollution, improving equality of access and enhancing public
health. These clear objectives are the guide to deciding what
to do.
Most set targets for carbon reduction, which
determine targets for different modes. Walking, cycling and
public transport are set to rise by between 50% and 100%, targets
for reduction in car use range from 15% to 30%. Cambridge,
Leeds and Oxford have committed to Vision Zero –
no fatalities or serious casualties on the roads by 2040.
Each city’s transport strategy addresses all modes,
including freight, within a clear hierarchy of users.
Freiburg illustrates this well with its five pillars: walking,
cycling, public transport, living streets and limits on car
use. Most go further by including land use plans.
Compact, higher density developments support public transport,
better local facilities encourage walking and cycling and reduce
the need to travel. Bath, Cambridge and Oxford have included
digital connectivity – supporting people to work and study
from home.
The building blocks
Disabled people are typically at the top of cities’
hierarchy of users. Most cities allow disabled drivers into
their pedestrian zones, and provide additional facilities such as
benches and toilets. Ghent’s policy for its extensive
controlled zones is to permit disabled drivers free access, but not
to pass through these areas. Chester won the accolade of
Europe’s most accessible city in 2017, and continues to offer
a model of best practice.
Walking and cycling are encouraged as the principal modes
for shorter journeys. All cities have extensive central
pedestrian areas, and many have increased the priority for
pedestrians elsewhere in the city. Ghent claims to have the
largest cycling network in Europe, with a 32% mode share.
Cambridge records a similar share, again supported by an extensive
network. Delft, Dijon, Leeds and Leicester are investing
heavily in expanding cycle networks.
All the European cities have subsidised tram networks,
closely integrated with buses and cycling. Dijon achieved 40%
passenger growth in four years by improving integration. UK
cities rely on buses and park and ride services. Cambridge
and Leeds have developed guided bus ways to enhance performance
and, with Oxford, make effective use of bus gates to manage access
by other road users. Leicester has used its Enhanced Bus
Partnership to upgrade its bus network, and Leeds is introducing
franchising.
Residential areas are designed as healthy places to
live. Dijon gives priority to improving quality of life for
its residents. Delft prioritises enhancing “place”. Ghent has
developed car-free neighbourhoods and makes extensive use of school
streets and play streets. Freiburg claims to be the
“city of small distances”, achieved by compact
development and local facilities. Its new 5,000 person Vauban
neighbourhood is an exemplar of good practice, with a central
public transport spine, extensive play streets and almost all
parking on the fringes. Norwich’s Rackheath eco-town is
being developed on similar principles.
All have invested in electric vehicle charging, with Oxford
successfully experimenting with safe on-street charging.
Freiburg has long been Germany’s environmental capital, its
principal objectives include reducing noise and air
pollution. Bath’s charging Clean Air Zone has reduced
NO2 levels by 26%. Oxford is introducing a Zero
Emission Zone.
These policies in turn influence the way in which
cities’ road networks are managed. Freiburg has a
rigidly applied policy of speed limits, ranging from 50km/h to
10km/h, based on the area through which the street passes and the
activities on it. Delft has redesigned its neighbourhood
access roads to accommodate both living and driving.
Selective road closures are widely used. Leeds has removed
all traffic from City Square, resulting in car travel to the centre
falling by 11% and active travel increasing by 39%.
Ghent’s circulation plan has divided its inner city into
seven zones, with no movement between the zones, other than on
foot, bicycle or public transport. Oxford will introduce six
strategic traffic filters later in 2024, to achieve a similar
effect.
These policies help reduce car dependency, and hence
contribute to the targets for reduced car use. Most cities
use promotional initiatives like personal and business travel plans and
car-free days to encourage modal switch. Dijon
promotes car clubs, which reduce the need for car
ownership. In all cities, parking charges are used to manage
demand; Ghent’s policy is “parking management for
desirable mobility”. Bath and Oxford are pursuing
workplace parking levies, as used successfully in
Nottingham.
From strategy to implementation
Gaining public acceptance of the need for change, and the
ways of achieving it, is essential. Cambridge pioneered a
citizens’ assembly to help shape the ways in which it manages
car use. Dijon has promoted public engagement throughout the
policy process. Ghent makes extensive use of co-creation in
redesigning its inner-city networks.
Implementation needs to be carefully phased and regularly
monitored. Leeds has specified three sequential four year
action plans, and monitors and reports on performance
annually.
European cities benefit from much higher levels of
government funding than applies in the UK. In Dijon the tax
on businesses covers 40% of the cost of public transport. But
Leeds has shown that a reputation for strategic planning,
cost-effective design and effective implementation can increase
funding, with 72% of its investment funded by
government.
A new Transport Strategy for York: Our Vision
In late 2023 City of York Council proposed and then adopted a new
vision for transport in York:
“Our
vision for transport stems from our Council Plan
and our four key priorities: Equality, Affordability, Climate and
Health (the EACH priorities). Over the coming decades our city and
its villages will need to accommodate a growing population whilst
also adapting to a changing climate. Our local transport strategy
will play a crucial role in addressing these challenges, both in
defining how we move around, but also shaping the way that we use
our streets and public spaces.
We
want to create a York that is open and accessible to everyone, with
affordable and healthy transport options no matter where you live.
We also want our transport networks to enhance our wonderful city
and its villages by actively improving the health of residents,
supporting a thriving economy, enhancing green spaces and
respecting York’s heritage. And all of this needs to happen
with an eye to the future; ensuring that our transport systems are
resilient to the changes ahead and help to tackle climate
change.
These
challenges present us with an opportunity to reshape our transport
system and shape a network that meets the needs of the people of
York for decades to come.
In
2030 York residents will benefit from an accessible, affordable,
sustainable and resilient transport network that continues to
actively improve health and support a thriving economy for decades
to come.”
The
Vision is supported by ten Strategic Objectives. We
will:
1.
Support an inclusive, accessible, affordable city
2.
Support delivery of the Climate Change Strategy
3.
Support delivery of the Economic Development
Strategy
4.
Improve health and wellbeing through healthy place
shaping
5.
Enhance safety and personal security
6.
Improve the local environment by reducing air pollution and
noise
7.
Enhance the reliability of the transport system
8.
Protect the city’s heritage and enhance public
spaces.
9.
Accommodate the envisaged growth of the city in the most
sustainable way
10.
Future-proof our city
Our Policy Focus Areas
Our ten Policy Focus Areas (each of which is underpinned by a
series of policies) will lead the city towards the vision set out
in this strategy, and help us meet the ten objectives outlined
above.
The 10 Policy Focus Areas are:
§
Improve accessibility
- to 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.
§
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.
§
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.
§
Improve Public Transport
- we will improve 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
§
Safeguard our environment
- 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.
§
We will develop a
Movement and Place Plan which
reallocates road-space to create safe and connected networks for
walking, wheeling, cycling, public transport, and freight, whilst
facilitating essential vehicle journeys, 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 manage congestion,
along with new ways to manage highways and deliver transport
schemes with minimal environmental impact.
§
Reduce car dependency
- to 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.
§
Manage freight -
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.
§
Undertake 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.
§
Monitor the transport network and finance 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.
Each Policy Focus area was endorsed in the Our Big Transport
Conversation engagement.
We discuss the individual policies within each Policy Focus Area in
the next section of the Strategy.
Our Policies to take us to 2040
Over the next pages of the Strategy we set out our individual
policies. Many of these are ambitious but need to be seen in
the context of the Strategy, which will govern transport in York
for 16 years from 2024 to 2040. We believe that ambitious
policies are realistic given the long proposed duration of the
Strategy.
Policy Focus Area 1: Accessibility
Our
vision for improving accessibility is
to: “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.“
The
vision was supported by 90% of respondents to Our Big Transport
Conversation
Our policies to deliver the improvements we seek are:
Policy
1.1 – Provide
Blue Badge parking spaces near significant trip attractors within
the city centre, including the foot streets area, and in all
district and village centres. Our target is to have BB parking
spaces as close as possible, ideally within a 150m (over accessible
terrain) distance of significant trip attractors (see also Policy
1.5 on seating).
Policy
1.2 – Cycle
parking at significant trip attractors within the city centre and
in all district and village centres and at employers, leisure
sites, training, education etc. Our aim is that cycle parking
should be provided as near as practically possible to significant
trip attractors – ideally within 50m and closer if possible.
In addition, we aim for at least 5% of our cycle parking to be
accessible for non-standard cycles including family cargo cycles,
trikes, recumbent cycles and cycles with trailers, and for all
cycle parking to be accessible for disabled cyclists.
Policy
1.3 –
Accessible design. Our target is to develop walking, wheeling and
cycle networks to accommodate wheelchair users, mobility scooter
users, riders of adapted cycles and family/cargo bikes, while
ensuring safety for those with all users
This will include the removal of inaccessible barriers and
the provision of dropped kerbs.
Policy
1.4 –
Accessible public transport. Work with stakeholders to improve
accessibility of public transport for all users, and to increase
the amount of accessible seating. Through the licensing policy we
will continue to work with taxi and private hire providers to
increase the number of wheelchair accessible taxis and private hire
vehicles in York. We will also continue to improve bus stops and
shelters to improve personal security (e.g. by ensuring adequate
lighting levels). We will work with the rail industry to improve
the accessibility of York and Poppleton Stations and work with the
Rail Industry to ensure that the forthcoming Haxby rail station is
fully accessible.
Policy
1.5 – We will
aim to ensure seating at 50m intervals within the footstreet area
and in all district and village centres, and the routes to them, to
allow people to rest during their journeys.
Policy
Focus Area 2: Improve Walking, Wheeling and Cycling
Our
walking, wheeling and cycling vision is to:
“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.”
This
vision was supported by 85% of respondents to Our Big Transport
Conversation.
Our policies
Policy
2.1 – Maintain
York’s Transport User Hierarchy,
first adopted in
1989 – but adapt it to allow even
more efficient use of roadspace. The hierarchy places walking at
the top of the hierarchy followed by cycling, public transport and
then car traffic. We will ensure that it is applied
appropriately and consistently in all scheme designs, policy
decisions and funding allocations. Accessibility will be considered
collectively as per policy focus area 1 as well as within and at
the top of each mode of the hierarchy.
|
People with
protected characteristics who are pedestrians, wheelchair users,
wheelers etc. Other pedestrians.
|
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Cyclists with
protected characteristics and other cyclists
|
|
Public transport
users with protected characteristics and other public transport
users
|
|
Disabled car
drivers and passengers
|
|
Powered two
wheelers
|
|
Commercial and
business users
|
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Car
drivers and passengers
|
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Parked vehicles
on the highway
|
Policy
2.2 – Create a
priority walking, and wheeling network, jointly with partners
including the disabled community, walking
and environmental groups, developers and employers. This network
will offer safe, high quality continuous routes to the city centre,
all district and village centres, schools, colleges, healthcare
facilities, shops and places of employment. We envisage this
network will, once complete, cover the whole city to provide
a joined-up network.
Policy
2.3 – Develop a
programme to upgrade pedestrian and cycle crossings on all parts of
the priority walking, wheeling and cycle network, to include
greater priority and reduced delay at signalised crossings,
countdown signals at major crossings, priority at crossings of side
roads (including providing either dropped kerbs or tables to allow
level crossing), removal of barriers and guardrails and
significantly improved pavement maintenance. An initial stage will
improve crossings at all junctions on what is now the inner ring
road, other routes in the heart of the city centre (e.g.
Piccadilly, Rougier Street, Tower Street) and in the district
centres.
Policy
2.4 – Seek
funding to comprehensively upgrade the city centre footstreet
network to provide wheelchair accessible surfaces, clearly
de-lineated to indicate where vehicles are permitted. We will look
to eliminate footways which are narrow, uneven, poorly drained or
with cross slopes.
Policy
2.5 –
Create a fully connected priority cycling
network jointly with partners including the disabled community,
cycling and environmental groups, developers and employers. We aim
for this network to be comprehensive and continuous, and ensuring
effective routes to and through the city centre, and to district
and village centres, schools, colleges, healthcare facilities,
shops, places of employment and other large trip attractors and key
destinations.
Policy
2.6 – Develop a
programme to upgrade cycling facilities on all parts of the
priority cycle network, to include continuous cycle lanes,
segregated where appropriate, priority at traffic signals, safe
provision to negotiate roundabouts and regular maintenance to
ensure that surfaces, signs and markings are safe. The first step
in this process will be to draw up our ‘Movement and Place
plan (see policy 6.1) and seek funding to upgrade key missing links
and problem areas in the cycle network, with the aim of creating a
connected network.
Policy
2.7 – Community
support. Recognise that some groups of people face more barriers to
walking, wheeling and cycling. Identify the barriers (such as lack
of cycle parking, lack of confidence) and work with these
communities to ensure that everyone has equal access to walking,
wheeling and cycling. Include audits for mobility / sensory
impaired people in assessments of existing facilities/ design of
new facilities.
Policy
2.8 – Support
the development and use of e-bikes, and expand micromobility
options such as escooters where appropriate to complement other
modes of transport.
Policy Focus Area 3: Shape Healthy Places
Our Vision for Shaping Healthy Places is:
“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.”
This
vision was supported by 85% of respondents to Our Big Transport
Conversation.
Our policies
Policy
3.1 –
Review each area of York, village and district centre and aim to
ensure that it has all key facilities within walking, wheeling or
cycling distance, and design effective public transport where
longer distance journeys are required to access key
facilities.
Policy
3.2 –Explore
the feasibility of providing each centre with a communications,
mobility and delivery hub for parcels, and facilities such as
toilets, safe cycle storage, pushchair, mobility scooter and cycle
hire and repair workshops.
Policy
3.3 –
Adopt the principles in 3.1 and 3.2 for all new developments,
including all strategic sites in the Local Plan. Produce a
Supplementary Planning Document on Sustainable Transport to specify
these requirements, and those covered in other Policy Focus
Areas.
Policy
3.4 –
Embed the Healthy Streets approach [link:
https://www.healthystreets.com/]
into relevant guidance and decision making to create high quality
public spaces and encourage walking, wheeling and
cycling.
Policy
3.5 –
Safe streets. Consider traffic measures such as ‘Home
Zones’ to create safe streets for walking and cycling.
Identify the streets within communities that need intervention from
the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan, safety audits
and resident consultation. Encourage new developments to embed
measures such as Safe Streets into the design from the outset.
Reflect measure such as Safe Streets in the wider Movement and
Place Plan
Policy
3.6 –
Adopt the Vision Zero approach, seeking to eliminate all fatalities
and serious injuries on York’s roads. Work with partners,
such as North Yorkshire Police, and stakeholders to use the
appropriate and proportionate tools available to reach this goal.
This work will include infrastructure design, behaviour change,
technology, legislation and enforcement.
https://www.brake.org.uk/how-we-help/national-campaigns/the-change-we-want/vision-zero#:~:text=A%20Vision%20Zero%2C%20or%20Safe,%2C%20disease%2C%20unhappiness%20and%20inequality.
Policy
3.7 –
Require larger scale transport schemes and infrastructure projects
to undertake Health Impact Assessments to ensure health benefits
are considered and maximised.
https://www.who.int/health-topics/health-impact-assessment#tab=tab_1
Policy
3.8 –
Our approach to transport planning for the future will use the
‘Decide and Provide’ approach which decides on a
preferred future, assessing what travel needs that will generate
and providing a development path best suited to achieving this.
This is to mitigate against development which increases vehicle
traffic in York.
Policy Focus Area 4: Improving public transport
Our
Vision for Improving Public Transport is:
“We
will improve 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.”
This vision is supported by 88% of respondents to Our Big Transport
Conversation.
Our policies
Policy 4.1
– Work with bus operators to create a comprehensive network
of bus services, accessible to as many residents and visitors as
possible, and providing services at weekends and for the night-time
economy. Seek funding for and set challenging targets for increased
bus network coverage, and ensure that all low-income areas are
appropriately served. Ensure that all new development (10 or more
dwellings) are designed for bus access, with appropriate service
frequencies provided as early as possible after first occupancy.
Consider alternative models of service provision (e.g. franchising)
if it is not possible to achieve the desired network of services
commercially.
Policy 4.2
- Use infrastructure design and network management to increase the
reliability and efficiency of bus services. Set challenging targets
for increased bus reliability. As a first step, develop a proposal
for a dedicated priority route for buses (as part of the Movement
and Place plan – see policy focus area 6), and other
sustainable transport, across the city centre, including effective
enforcement of existing regulations in Piccadilly and
Pavement.
Policy 4.3
– Work with local communities to obtain funding to develop
community transport schemes such as community minibuses,
dial-a-ride and car clubs and share schemes, particularly to fill
any gaps in the bus network. Consider the introduction of a shuttle
bus in the footstreets area of the city centre.
Policy 4.4
– Work with Park & Ride operators to deliver an enhanced
commercially viable service with the aim of increasing the use of
Park & Ride buses, and develop Park and Ride sites as access
hubs for local communities and villages and for inter-urban buses
and coaches. Use all tools available including infrastructure
design, network management, route planning and car parking charges
to drive up patronage and maximise the reliability and efficiency
of the Park and Ride services.
Policy 4.5
– Develop a rail strategy to guide the approach to rail
investment and priorities within York, with the aim of increasing
passenger numbers on rail services and identifying opportunities
for enhanced or new routes and services.
Policy 4.6
– Ensure that the redesign of the Railway Station makes it
more sustainable, better able to support walking, wheeling, cycling
and buses, and less dependent on car access. Ensure that Poppleton
and the proposed station at Haxby are at the centre of effective
walk/ wheel/ cycle/ bus networks.
Policy 4.7
– Enable multi-modal journeys, using all opportunities to
improve interchange facilities across the bus network (such as
cycle parking provision and shelters) and work with stakeholders to
explore multi-operator ticketing, and provision for cycles,
wheelchairs and mobility aids on buses and trains.
Policy 4.8
– Develop an integrated fares policy for all road-based
public transport which encourages and rewards frequent use and
makes bus use affordable for young people and low-income
households.
Policy 4.9
– Work with the taxi/ private hire trades to encourage
greater provision of wheelchair accessible, low emission vehicles
in York.
Policy 4.10
– Consider the scope for providing water-based access to York
city centre – e.g. using the existing tour boat service or
water taxis – to provide an attractive alternative to driving
into York for visitors.
Policy Focus Area 5: Safeguarding our environment by cutting
carbon, air pollution and noise
Our
vision for safeguarding our environment is:
“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.”
This vision was supported by 74% of respondents to Our Big
Transport Conversation.
Our policies
Policy
5.1 –
Continue to expand public EV charging facilities, working with
private sector, developers etc, to keep pace with the demand for
public charging, both by commuters and visitors and for those
residents without access to residential off-street charging. This
will be a development of CYC’s existing EV Charging
Strategy
Policy
5.2 –
Use the powers available to local authorities to further
incentivise EV/ hybrid replacement of petrol/ diesel engine
vehicles in York – for example through differential parking
charges for resident’s parking schemes.
Policy
5.3 –
Review the current Bus Clean Air Zone (e.g. to cover large/ heavy
commercial vehicles) if required to meet air quality targets.
Consider further action in locations where traffic emissions are a
significant contributor to poor air quality and noise.
Policy
5.4 –Take
all carbon impacts and induced travel demand into account when
assessing infrastructure projects and calculating their carbon
impact and contribution to York’s net zero carbon
goal.
Policy
5.5 –
Support development of green infrastructure along transport
corridors with the aim of delivering a transport network that
achieves and where possible exceeds government and local
biodiversity net gain targets.
Policy
5.6 –
Continue the work to convert CYC’s own vehicle fleet to
electric vehicles where this is practical and suitable vehicles are
available.
Policy
5.7 –
Consider how transport infrastructure in York, especially new
infrastructure, can be used to support the environment – e.g.
through sustainable drainage, urban cooling etc
Policy
5.8 –
Work with York’s tourism/visitor sector to maximise
sustainable transport use by visitors – both for reaching
York and travelling around the city once visitors have
arrived.
Policy Focus Area 6: Manage the road network for Movement and
Place
Our
vision for Movement and Place is:
“We
will develop a Movement and Place Plan which reallocates road-space
to create safe and connected networks for walking, wheeling,
cycling, public transport, and freight, whilst facilitating
essential vehicle journeys, 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 manage congestion, along with new ways to manage
highways and deliver transport schemes with minimal environmental
impact.”
This vision was supported by 81% of respondents to
Our Big Transport Conversation.
Our policies
Policy 6.1
– Develop a Movement and Place Plan for York which identifies
how best to balance the needs of streets to enable people to travel
and as places where people live, shop and enjoy their leisure.
Include a specific priority network plan for each mode of transport
(private vehicles, freight vehicles, public transport, emergency
services and active travel modes). As part of this Plan, critically
assess the future role of what is now the inner ring
road
Policy 6.2
– Identify the locations where a Movement and Place Plan
could create opportunities such as the planned improvement of the
A1237 outer ring road, providing potential for a different approach
to traffic in central York. In addition, we would look at where
movement and place are most seriously in conflict, such as
Gillygate, and design schemes to take early action which are
consistent with the Movement and Place Plan.
Policy 6.3
– We will commit to managing the network to tackle air
pollution, maintaining accessibility for disabled transport users,
and promoting and prioritising the use of walking, wheeling,
cycling and public transport in line with our Transport Hierarchy
and the Council’s duties under the Traffic Management
Act.
Policy 6.4
– To make travel safer for pedestrians, wheelers and
cyclists, adopt 20mph as the default speed limit for all roads
through residential areas (including new developments),
within the city centre, near
schools, in villages and at retail areas and parks.
Policy 6.5
– Maintain our highway assets (including walking, wheeling
and cycling routes) in line with the priorities outlined in the
York transport hierarchy and with the aim of managing risk,
minimising disruption and delay, and increasing the reliability of
the network.
Policy 6.6
–. Our approach to infrastructure, junction and road
improvement schemes will use the ‘Decide and Provide’
approach which decides on a preferred future, assessing what travel
needs that will generate and providing a development path best
suited to meeting those needs. We will only consider road
capacity schemes if they relieve pressure from sensitive parts of
the transport network, or after all other options have been
explored. We will work with developers to obtain funding to upgrade
sustainable travel networks to and from new developments, in-line
with the policies in the draft Local Plan
Policy 6.7
– Futureproof our transport network for emerging technologies
such as autonomous vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles
(drones)
Policy Focus Area 7: Reduce car dependency
Our
vision for reducing car dependency is:
“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.”
This vision was supported by 78% of the respondents to Our Big
Transport Conversation.
Our policies
Policy 7.1
– Encourage walking, wheeling and cycling to school and work
by working with schools, developers and employers, helping to
create travel plans, improving way-finding, and considering
measures such as school streets and ‘park and stride’.
We will develop case studies to show how many people can easily
live less car dependent lives – often reducing their
expenditure on transport and living more active lives in the
process.
Policy 7.2
– Encourage businesses and organisations operating within the
city to reduce their transport footprint. (E.g. staff travel plans,
sustainable transport options to business parks, cycle lockers for
businesses.) Work with developers and businesses to create and
implement effective travel plans.
Policy 7.3
– Develop a wider set of campaigns such as car-free days to
encourage people to consider alternatives to the car.
Policy 7.4
- Promote zero emission car share and car clubs to reduce the need
for car ownership. Aim to have a car share scheme or car club
available in all suburbs and villages around York and in new
developments, with an ambition for most residents to have a
car-share/club car available within 500m of where they
live.
Policy 7.5
- Develop a parking strategy to cover all Council managed parking
within 400m of the city centre, which assesses parking needs and
sets parking charges designed to make it more attractive to use
Park and Ride or the bus, or to walk, wheel or cycle. Set Council
managed parking supply to satisfy requirements for essential
journeys to the city centre, and take steps to enhance the quality
of that parking provision.
Policy 7.6
– We will keep under review our Residents’ Parking
Scheme to ensure it delivers our policy and works to the benefit of
all residents. Residents parking schemes allow you to park in your
community, and they could be extended to cover all areas of the
city, with an aim to reduce non-residents using residential streets
for long-stay parking. On street car parking may need to be
reallocated to create space for bus and cycle facilities (in line
with the council’s adopted hierarchy of road users see Policy
2.1). Where this results in a dedicated disabled bay needing to be
moved the council will provide an alternative car parking space
within 150m (or preferably less) of their home, with an accessible
route between the resident’s home and the disabled car
parking bay. In a similar way we will work with blue badge holders
so the same principles apply where possible.
Policy 7.7
– Review the parking stock in private ownership within 400m
of the city centre, and engage with stakeholders to develop their
policies which encourage patterns of use consistent with the aims
of Policy idea 7.5, as well as the wider aims of the transport
strategy.
Policy 7.8
– Adopt standards for maximum levels of parking provision in
new developments which are consistent with the objectives of this
Local Transport Strategy and the draft Local Plan, and encourage
developers to reduce parking provision to below these maximum
standards when considering planning applications.
Policy 7.9
– Publicise sustainable transport options and developing
travel plans.
Policy Focus Area 8: Improving freight &
logistics
Our
vision for freight is 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
vision was supported by 85% of respondents to Our Big Transport
Conversation.
Our policies
Policy
8.1 – Work
with the Mayor to develop and implement a freight and logistics
strategy based on the principles of net-zero emissions, improved
air quality, safe movement, working in partnership, protecting
assets and buildings, freight consolidation and efficiency of
movement. Within the strategy develop and implement different plans
for long distance, local and last-mile movement.
Policy
8.2 – Provide
one or more transhipment facilities on the edge of footstreets
area. Work with businesses to understand the impact of a limit on
freight movements within the city centre to electric vehicles of
3.5T or less. Promote and support the use of cargo
bikes.
Policy
8.3 – Work
with businesses to understand the impact of designating a limited
road network for freight vehicles of over 7.5T, which ensures
access to all key destinations, including transhipment facilities,
but avoids undue use of narrower inner-city streets and residential
roads. Ensure that this network is maintained to meet the needs of
such vehicles.
Policy
8.4 –
Review the provision of loading bays in and around the city centre
and district centres to ensure that they meet the needs of
business, while avoiding disruption to other road users and
sustainable modes of transport in particular.
Policy
8.5 -
Support significant freight users to develop delivery and service
plans to specify hours of delivery, access routes from the outer
ring road, vehicle size and specification. Work with local
logistics companies to develop Logistics Plans with a similar
focus.
Policy Focus Area 9: Effective maintenance and enforcement and
management of streetworks
Our
vision is that we will undertake
“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.”
This
vision was supported by 83% of respondents to our Big Transport
Conversation.
Our policies
Policy 9.1
– Maintain the streets in our footstreets area to a standard
which complements York’s beautiful historic city
centre.
Policy
9.2 -
Define a key walking and wheeling network and maintain this
network to ensure that pavements are clean, level and safe to use
throughout all seasons, that seating is serviceable and that
pavements are otherwise free of street clutter, furniture and
parked vehicles. As resources permit, adopt similar
principles for footways and paths elsewhere.
Policy
9.3 –
Define a key cycling network and maintain this network to ensure
that signs and markings are up to date, that surfaces are level and
well-drained, and that designated cycle lanes and paths are free of
clutter, debris and parked vehicles and safe to use throughout all
seasons. As resources permit, adopt similar principles for
cycleways and paths elsewhere.
Policy
9.4 –
Maintain the bus stops, shelters, static and real-time information
so that they are serviceable and information is fully up to
date.
Policy
9.5 –
Maintain the main and secondary road network so that surfaces are
free of potholes and well-drained, signs and markings are up to
date and visible and signals and variable message signs are fully
functioning. Ensure that roadways, signs and markings are
fully reinstated following work by statutory undertakers. As
resources permit, adopt similar principles for roads
elsewhere.
Policy 9.6 – Use
the parking enforcement powers available to reduce the number of
vehicles parking on pavements and in cycle and bus lanes, as well
as at points where parking disrupts traffic movement or poses a
safety risk. Consider using lane
rental systems to manage streetworks.
Policy
9.7 –
Use the moving vehicle enforcement powers available, and work
jointly with North Yorkshire Police and the Mayor substantially to
reduce the occurrence of speeding, red light running, illegal
movements, blocking of box junctions and undue vehicle
noise.
Policy Focus Area 10: Monitoring the transport network and
financing the changes
“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.“
This
vision was supported by 81% of respondents to our Big Transport
Conversation.
Our policies
Policy
10.1 –
Develop, maintain and use effective and proportionate strategic
modelling tools which assess the impacts of proposed policies on
the objectives of the Local Transport Strategy, and use such tools
both to appraise such policies to justify funding and regularly to
appraise the overall Strategy.
Policy
10.2 –
Draw up a monitoring and evaluation plan which measures impacts on
the objectives of this Local Transport Strategy, as well as on
changing patterns in transport behaviour, on an annual basis.
Include measures that identify the impact of transport schemes on
people with protected characteristics, and use this data to improve
inclusivity over time.
Policy
10.3 –
Place the results of the annual monitoring programme in the public
domain, so that residents and businesses are fully aware of the
impact of the Strategy, and use the results to assess performance
and fine-tune the Strategy as necessary.
Policy
10.4 –
Conduct a detailed assessment of the capital and revenue funding
requirements of the Strategy, assess the extent to which these
could be met from Council resources, funds available to the Mayoral
Combined Authority, and conventional opportunities for bidding for
government funding. Identify the other potential sources of
funding, including enhanced parking revenues, and other
transport-related revenue sources being applied by other local
authorities.
Policy 10.5 –
Develop and maintain lists of projects for each mode (walking and
wheeling, cycling, buses, freight and general traffic), in broad
order of cost-effectiveness, and use those lists to bid for
specific funding as opportunities arise.
The Next Steps
The arguments for change set out in this document are
compelling. The policies which are specified will allow a new
and effective approach to transport provision in York which will
take us to 2040.
Because transport has the potential to improve our health, provide
more affordable movement, open up access to opportunities such as
jobs and training and limit climate and environmental damage, there
is no time to lose in enacting the Strategy.
Consequently, the next steps in York’s transport journey will
be to start work on the projects and initiatives which will deliver
the improvements this Strategy requires.
We need to consider our existing projects and how they can best
contribute to the new Strategy. We will review many of our
processes and programmes to make sure they are delivering in
accordance with our modal hierarchy. In some areas the
Council will need to increase its skills and capacity to rise to
new challenges – for example, delivering new types of
transport schemes.
We will set targets and collect, analyse and publish date to make
sure our Strategy is achieving its objectives. If we are not
achieving our targets we will consider why this is and what changes
we need to make.
We will engage throughout this process. Communications will
be important. As well as conventional announcements we will
want to promote sustainable travel and will work with residents and
local businesses and organisations to do so. We will arrange
events and festivals to inspire people.
Our steps will be set out in Implementation Plans – of five
years duration. Our first will be published at the end of
2024 and will cover the period to 2029. The first
Implementation Plan will set out how Movement and Place principles
can be embedded in York. We will work with the Mayoral
Combined Authority to pilot this as a new approach in the
city. It may be suitable in the wider region too.
A key consideration is obviously funding. We will work with
many partners – regional and central government, property
developers, large local employers and organisations, transport
operators and many other bodies and stakeholders to find funding
for our transport strategy. There are also potential funding
sources from within City of York Council. We will need to
calibrate delivery programmes to reasonable expectations of funding
we can attract.
By 2032, York will be a vibrant, prosperous, welcoming and
sustainable city, where everyone can share and take pride in its
success.
This Strategy shows how Transport will contribute to that
vision.