Agenda item

To consider the draft final report and Annexes of the Traffic Congestion Ad-Hoc Scrutiny Review.

Consideration was given to the draft final report of the Committee, which focused on tackling traffic congestion. The aim of the review had been to identify ways, including Local Transport Plans 1 and 2 and other evidence, of reducing present levels of traffic congestion in York, together with ways of minimising the impact of the forecast traffic increase.

Members also considered             the following additional documents:

·        Annex Ah – Table of issues/findings, identified solutions, possible impacts and draft recommendations (circulated prior to the meeting but not with the agenda)

·        Reactions to the Report from the York Quality Bus Partnership (QBP) in which they made suggestions regarding possible amendments, circulated at the meeting and attached as an Annex to these minutes.

·        Email from Cllr D’Agorne expressing his support for the final report and his suggestions for campaign promotions to run in conjunction with the Committee’s recommendations, circulated at the meeting.

Officers reminded Members that the broad overall solution to both congestion and the climate change challenge was a concerted approach using the following hierarchy of measures:

i.               Reducing the need to travel (through IT, video conferencing and other solutions like encouraging workers to live closer to work)

ii.             Undertaking more of the journeys that still need to be made by green and environmentally less damaging modes

iii.           Improving engine efficiency and switch to lower / non-carbon based fuels

iv.            Undertaking a greater proportion of car based journeys on a shared basis

v.              Improving driving standards (for fuel efficiency and safety, and to make roads safer and more attractive to green travel modes)

vi.            Reducing congestion delays and fuel wastage in traffic queues.

Consideration was then given to all the information in the covering report, the draft final report at Annex A and it’s associated Annexes and it was

RESOLVED:    i) That agreement be given to the inclusion of paragraphs 19, 20, 29, 34, 35 and 58 which contained information and recommendations that had not previously appeared in any of the interim reports;

ii)            That agreement be given to the inclusion of the following additional information and amendments to the draft final report and annexes:

Paragraphs 19 & 69 – Amend all references to 2020 to 2025;

Paragraph 20 – Update required;

Paragraph 22 – Amend fifth bullet point to include reference to ‘lower embedded carbon models’;

Paragraph 37 Graph – Amend abbreviation references into alphabetical order and ensure graph contents readable;

Paragraph 58 – amend intermediate plans in line with any subsequently agreed changes;

Paragraph 69 - include the words ‘because of their affordability,’ before ‘good quality’ in the final point;

iii)          That footnotes be included in the final report to cross reference points;

iv)          That Annex Af, ‘Scenarion9 – Road User Charging’ be updated to reflect current views in relation to charging;

v)            That Officers examine the suggested wording alternatives for the long-term transport vision shown at paragraph 69, and circulate their revised suggestions to Members;

vi)          That the draft recommendations be amended and amalgamated to reduce their overall number, in line with Members comments, for their consideration at the next meeting;

vii)        That recommendation (i) be removed and the following recommendations added:

·        Under ‘Overall’ sub-heading add – ‘Make representations to Government in relation to the roll out powers to non London Authorities on enforcement issues possibly through sustainable communities’.

·        Under ‘Walking and Cycling’ sub-heading add – ‘Ensure better pedestrian priority in traffic layouts to minimise the knock on consequences’.

·        Under ‘Public Transport’ sub-heading add – ‘Introduce a Bus Champion’.

REASON:      To progress this review and enable the survey of residents as referred to in Annex A, paragraph 72.