Transport
61 Northamptonshire County Structure Plan 1996 - 2016 12 TRANSPORT
Objectives To reduce the total amount of travel by the private car. To reduce delays suffered by road users in order to safeguard the prosperity of Northamptonshire. To improve access to workplaces and other facilities for all the population including people with disabilities, the very young, the elderly and people on lower incomes. To increase bus and rail patronage amongst former car users and people who currently experience low levels of access to facilities. To increase the number of trips made by cycling and walking. To minimise the impact of transport on the environment. To reduce the number and severity of road accidents.
12.1 The provision of transport has an important influence on economic prosperity and quality of life. Goods need to be moved efficiently and opportunities for work, education, shopping and social and recreational activity need to be accessible to people. Transport is therefore something that we depend on heavily to maintain our lifestyle, but some aspects, principally the growth in private car use, have environmental and social cost. This includes pollution, congestion and the social isolation that lack of car access can create. A balance needs to be found between the positive benefits of transport and its negative impacts.
12.2 The policies in the Structure Plan in relation to transport should not, therefore, simply be about policies that address particular transport issues in the County, but rather policies that identify how transport can contribute to the future economic and social well being of the County. Investment in transport infrastructure and services should not be an end in itself, but rather a means to an end, with that end being a Northamptonshire that has the most sustainable land-use disposition and movement patterns possible. Transport
Northamptonshire County Structure Plan 1996 - 2016 62 Countywide Integrated Transport Strategy
Policy T1 An integrated transport strategy will be pursued across the whole County, aimed at promoting means of transport other than the private car and reducing the growth in the number and length of motorised journeys.
The integrated strategic countywide proposals for implementation are as follows: