Agenda item

To consider the draft final report of the Traffic Congestion Scrutiny Review.

Consideration was given to the draft final report of the Traffic Congestion Ad-hoc Scrutiny Committee whose aim had been to identify ways, including Local Transport Plans 1 and 2 and other evidence of reducing present levels of congestion in York, and ways of minimising the impact of the forecast traffic increase.

Members considered all the information and annexes provided in the report and confirmed that testing of all the long-term strategy scenarios and combinations listed in Annex F would be required.  

RESOLVED:    (i)  That the Committee note all the information provided in the report and annexes;

(ii)         That the following amendments and additional information be included in the report, prior to its consideration by Scrutiny Management Committee: ^1.

·        Paragraph 1 – in the first sentence the deletion of the words “an effort” and their replacement with “order”;

·        The inclusion of a paragraph early in the report detailing what the Committee considered at its various meetings  (details to be added to the final report);

·        Paragraph 4 – the amendment of the second sentence to state that the work was initially produced using the older versions of the Council’s Saturn model, which was later replaced by a new Saturn/multi-modal model in 2006.

·        Paragraph 7 – the addition to the end of this paragraph of the words “The average results hide particular hotspots on certain days and at certain times”.

·        Paragraph 9 – The addition of the word “scrutiny” prior to the word “review” in the first line;

·        Paragraph 14 –

o       Second bullet point the deletion of the word “number” and the addition of the word “proportion;

o       Third bullet point the deletion of the word “maximise” and its replacement with “optimise”;

o       Fourth bullet point at the end the addition of reference to noting that some of the bio fuels involved in food production were causing deforestation.

·        Paragraph 16 – including miles as well as kilometres in this example;

·        Paragraph 20 – in the tenth bullet point the addition of a note that the bus companies had advised that they were looking to improve their compliance with the DDA;

·        Paragraph 27 – amending the example to state that there is evidence which showed a clear correlation between a fall in obesity with an increase in exercise;

·        If possible the alteration of the graph in paragraph 27 to remove the lines against the countries and to display the information as bars;

·        Paragraph 31 - Road Safety – the inclusion of the key road safety graph and the inclusion of a sentence which states that there is some correlation between accidents and volume of traffic, particularly in relation to cyclists, but that it was difficult to establish a direct link;

·        Paragraph 29 – the deletion of the word “Congestion” in the heading and its replacement with “Traffic”.

·        Paragraph 29 – following the words “1999 flows” the addition of reference to the achievement of an ‘excellent’ grading from the Department of Transport for the movement of traffic on York’s roads;

·        Paragraph 30 – deletion of the sentence “York could face a 27% rise in traffic by 2016” and its replacement with “ Officers estimate that York could face a 27% rise in traffic from the 2003/04 position to 2020/21.

·        Paragraph 30 – following the words “Due to the geographical” the addition of the words “and physical constraints within the Authority’s area”;

·        Paragraph 31 – in the second sentence the deletion of the words “generally decreasing” and the addition of the words “historic relative decrease” prior to the words “motoring costs”;

·        the deletion of the words “in comparison to 17k travelling” and their replacement with “and 17,000 travel” in the third sentence;

·        Paragraph 33 – the inclusion in this paragraph that the second Local Transport Plan (LTP2) sets out the Council’s aspirations and proposed measures for transport over a five year period within the context of a 15 year horizon;

·        In the third bullet point the deletion of the final sentence and its replacement with “The total cost of the scheme is £26.4m and will take an additional 0.5million car journeys off York’s roads within the outer ring road, each year”.

·        Paragraph 37 – change Nestles to Nestlé.

·                                Paragraph 40 – inclusion in this paragraph that the Committee intend to include the results from both the previously completed consultations (LT1 And LTP2) and those from the proposed citywide consultation exercise on current congestion issues;

·                                Paragraph 41 – the addition of details of traffic levels for both the outer and inner ring roads;

·                                Paragraph 42 - The addition of details of the Scrutiny Committees examination of the different components that could be introduced and recognising that each will not have a significant affect in their own right;

·        Paragraph 44 – the addition of reference to work being undertaken in Manchester;

·        The addition of a paragraph detailing evidence from the London results in relation the congestion charge and its impact on congestion;

·        Paragraph 46 – rewording of this paragraph as mentioned in resolution (iii).

·        Paragraph 60 (i) – amendment of the paragraph reference;

·        Addition of a paragraph on employment and the economy and the impact of transport costs on individual incomes in conjunction with the Assistant Director – Economic Development and Partnerships (details to be added to the final report);

·        Annex A – amendment of key to read “Saturation” and the inclusion of a footnote explaining the diagram representation;

·        Annex B – School Terms heading deleted and its replacement with “Education Related Travel” and the inclusion of details of the “school run” earlier in the report;

·     Annex B – Inner City Goods Deliveries – change the word “affect” in the third line and its replacement with “effect”;

·        Annex E – deletion of the ticks ü

·        Additional Annex– officers to prepare a broad strategic options annex for the final report including cross referencing with Annex F;

·        Annex F – Scenario 2 – in the implications section against low cost the addition after £25,000 of “to £250,000 per year overall revenue”;

o       Scenario 5 – title include Public Transport in full;

o       Scenario 5 – Mechanism & output – include the word “bus” prior to the word “stop”;

o       Scenario 6 – amend title to “Investment in Rail”

o       Scenario 6 – Mechanism & output – requires revision;

o       Scenario 6 – Implications – deletion of the words “As 5 but also”;

o       Scenario 7 – Title – add Conventional prior to Demand Management,

o       Scenario 8 – Implications – add possible implications on employment locations/re-locations;

o       Scenario 9 – Brief Description – addition of the word “Area” at the beginning of the description;

o       Scenario 9 – addition of the word “Area” prior to the word Cordon at the beginning of the description under Mechanism & output;

o       Scenario 11 – Brief Description – amend combination to read “8 or 9”;

o       Scenario 12 – Brief Description – include 6 in the combination and amend to read 8 or 9;

o       Scenario 13 – amend title to read “Charge Based Option” and remove shading from the box;

o       Addition of Scenario 14 – “ Option without Charging” to include scenarios 2,4,5,6 and 10;

(iii)       That the “Vision for York’s long-term transport strategy” as set out in paragraph 46 of the report be reworded and that this be delegated to the Chair and Vice Chair to prepare for inclusion in the final report; ^2.

(iv)        That the Committee consider which of the strategy scenarios would be the preferred option but that they recommend the testing of all the long term transport strategy scenarios as amended and detailed in Annex F; ^3.

(v)          That the Committee’s thanks be conveyed to the Scrutiny Officer and all Officers involved in the preparation of these reports and annexes. ^4.

Reason:  To ensure full consideration of all the objectives, and the completion of the review within the agreed extended timeframe