CONNECTING OXFORD Improving connectivity / Reducing congestion / Tackling pollution CONNECTING OXFORD CONTENTS FOREWORD / A GREAT TRANSPORT VISION Oxfordshire needs a modern, efficient, reliable, affordable and sustainable transport system. This means transforming transport connectivity and how people move around, while ensuring everyone has access to employment, education, health, retail, and leisure. 4 THE CASE FOR CHANGE Vitally, it also means moving Oxfordshire’s transport system to one that is largely zero- emission, and as close to zero-carbon as possible, within 20 years. This will improve 6 ASSUMPTIONS & OBJECTIVES people’s health and wellbeing and reduce transport’s contribution to climate change. 8 CHALLENGES To make this vision a reality, Oxfordshire’s transport system needs to encourage more DETAILS 12 walking, cycling and use of public transport, and reduce the number of motor vehicles on 16 BENEFITS the roads, particularly in and around Oxford. 19 NEXT STEPS Sustainably planned housing and employment growth in Oxfordshire will help deliver this vision. Cllr Yvonne Constance OBE Councillor Alex Hollingsworth Cabinet Member for Cabinet Member for Planning Environment, and Sustainable Transport, Oxfordshire County Council Oxford City Council 2 CONNECTING OXFORD INTRODUCTION Oxfordshire County Council is responsible Some good progress is being made including major for most aspects of transport in Oxfordshire. improvements in Headington, the Zero Emission Zone and design work on improvement schemes for In 2015, the county council and its the main routes into the city. partners began Connecting Oxfordshire, a Having laid this important groundwork, Oxfordshire transformation of how people travel to and County Council and Oxford City Council are now within Oxford, as part of our plan to create a embarking on the next leg of the journey. less congested, less polluted city and county. The ideas in this document are based on the The plan has three key components: policies and strategy set out in Connecting Oxfordshire and represent our current thinking • A better, faster and more comprehensive public about ways to dramatically reduce congestion transport network. and pollution across the city, and deliver much • A complete, high-quality, spacious walking and better public transport, pedestrian and cycling cycling network. access. These changes would work alongside the • Reclaiming some of the road space currently used improvements already planned. for vehicles to provide more space for buses, pedestrians and cyclists. What do you think of the ideas in this document? The city and county councils have been very The councils want your feedback. successful in securing funding for these plans, with over £80 million available in the next five years for schemes in and around Oxford. 3 CONNECTING OXFORD to n He a d i n g THE CASE FOR CHANGE: EXISTING SITUATION fo r d Ox es s Pa r k us i n CONNECTIVITY B • Travelling from Witney to Headington (13 miles) in the morning rush hour takes around 80 minutes and a change of bus 80mins Ox f o r d (13 miles) rk • Travelling from Abingdon to Oxford Business Park es s Pa us i n B (8 miles) in the morning rush hour takes around 60 minutes and a change of bus 60mins • Travelling from Summertown to Oxford Business Park (8 miles) (5 miles) in the morning rush hour takes around 50 3 minutes and a change of bus 50mins (5 miles) n w o n t o r y e d e g m n n t i i m b u W A 4 S CONNECTING OXFORD CONGESTION CLIMATE CHANGE AND AIR QUALITY • The average morning rush hour inbound traffic speed in Oxford in • An estimated 220,000 vehicle 2018 was 10.6 mph1 miles are driven in and around • In the first half of 2019, there were the city by around 45,000 vehicles 65 days when traffic speeds on at every morning rush hour, emitting least one route into Oxford fell to around 50 tonnes of CO25 under 5 mph2 Created every • 75% of local air pollution in Oxford 50 morning rush • Average bus speeds in Oxford have comes from traffic6 TONNES hour by been under 10 mph since 20163 • It’s estimated that around 40,000 • Traffic flows across the Oxford people die prematurely each year ring road have increased by 5% because of air pollution in the UK since 2012; over 150,000 vehicles 000 cross Oxford’s ring road each day vehicles covering – 81% are private cars4 45 000 220 vehicle miles. 5 CONNECTING OXFORD ASSUMPTIONS AND OBJECTIVES Research undertaken in Oxford city’s workplace parking is outside the for our Local Transport Plan, and city centre, primarily in an arc linking north, east and southern parts of Oxford experience of transport planning outside of the city centre – which can be in Oxford and from cities around described as the Eastern Arc. Workplace the world leads us to some key parking generates traffic at peak times, assumptions and objectives that of88% Oxford’s workplace when the roads are most congested. parking is outside the It could be argued that providers or underpin the ideas put forward city centre in this document. Based on the users of workplace parking should pay something to mitigate this impact. feedback we receive and further technical work, these assumptions • Improving connectivity, particularly in the Eastern Arc, requires substantial long- may be altered and refined. term investment in bus services which • A car carrying only the driver is one of is to reallocate existing road space from the county council cannot fund currently. the least space-efficient modes of travel. cars to public transport, walking and • We have tried to find simple, cost-effective As population in the county grows, more cycling. This means reducing traffic levels. solutions, providing value for money and people will need to travel into and around • Car parking generates traffic, particularly minimising development costs. the city. This means our transport system if it is free. Only 16% of non-residential • Any solution must address the city’s needs to be increasingly space-efficient – car parking in Oxford is public parking, for broader transport problems but also i.e. public transport, walking and cycling. which relatively high charges are made. provide particular transport and • Oxford has little space for new or wider • 84% of non-residential car parking environmental benefits to those directly roads, so the only way to improve public in Oxford is workplace parking, the affected (whether residents, employees transport, walking and cycling facilities majority of which is free. 88% of the or employers). 6 CONNECTING OXFORD Based on these assumptions and objectives, the OUR PROPOSED SOLUTION solution we have identified includes: • New traffic restrictions in the city centre and the TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS Eastern Arc • A workplace parking levy around part of the MARSTON FERRY ROAD Eastern Arc of Oxford WORKPLACE PARKING LEVY AREA Amongst other things, these would fund: • New and improved bus routes, particularly across the Eastern Arc of Oxford • New and improved walking and cycling routes SOUTH PARKS ROAD/ ST CROSS ROAD across the city This is illustrated on the map here, and further WORCESTER STREET details are set out in the pages that follow. A separate Question & Answer document is also available on the county council’s website, which provides additional details. OXPENS ROAD/ HOLLOW WAY THAMES STREET We want your views on the ideas put forward. Other approaches have been considered, including the introduction of a congestion charge, and whilst not ruled out, the councils do not consider that these approaches would achieve the required objectives based on the work carried out to date. 7 CONNECTING OXFORD CHALLENGES How much parking is there in Oxford at the moment? POOR CONNECTIVITY Car use for commuting to the city centre is relatively IN THE CITY CENTRE low, as a result of previous transport strategies and 2,070 staff car parking spaces lack of space for workplace parking. 2,999 public parking spaces However, outside the city centre, car use for commuting is much higher. Nearly 90% of workplace parking spaces in Oxford are outside the city centre7. Across eastern Oxford in particular, the high availability of free staff car parking means a large number of people choose to drive to work. Car parking surveys carried out by the county council in 2018 reveal that employment sites in eastern Oxford IN OXFORD, OUTSIDE CITY CENTRE account for well over half of all workplace parking in Oxford. 15,929 staff car parking spaces Poor public transport connectivity across the eastern arc of 1,715 public parking spaces Oxford is also a major factor. Most parts of the area are well connected to the city centre, but not to other parts of the city or areas outside Oxford. For example, the area around Cowley and Blackbird Leys, home to over 18,000 jobs, has no direct public transport connection to a Park & Ride site or any major Oxford city centre Oxfordshire town beyond the city. Oxford City Council boundary 8 CONNECTING OXFORD IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE & AIR CONGESTION QUALITY Traffic congestion is a persistent Air pollution and carbon emissions problem in and around Oxford. It 25% cause significant harm to people’s health more commuter regularly disrupts travel plans and journeys could happen and the environment. to and within the city adds significant costs to doing by 2031 Poor air quality disproportionately affects more 8 business in Oxfordshire. vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women, children, older people and those with pre-existing Worse still, traffic congestion leads to respiratory and cardiovascular conditions10. And increased air pollution, which affects people’s in Oxford transport alone accounts for about health and quality of life. 75% of air pollution in the city11.