PLAN FOR TRANSPORT IN SHEFFIELD July 2007
CONTENTS
Foreword
Section 1 - Introduction - What is the document - Purpose of the document
Section 2 - Setting the Scene - The Transport Network - Transport Trends - Lifestyle Trends - The Transport Goal for Sheffield
Section 3 - Meeting the Transport Challenges 1. Supporting Economic Regeneration 2. Tackling Congestion 3. Supporting Community Regeneration 4. Improving Health through Active Travel 5. Improving Road Safety 6. Maximising Accessibility and Sustainability 7. Supporting Excellent Public Transport Services 8. Reducing the Transport Impact on Air Quality 9. Maintaining the Highway Asset
Section 4 - Funding
Section 5 - Monitoring and Evaluation
Section 6 - Changing Travel Demands (up to 2021) - Changing Travel Demands (up to 2021) - How We Envisage Meeting Future Travel Demands.
Section 7 - Shaping Our Transport Future - Your Views
Appendices
A – Transport Policies, Strategies, Action Plans and Programmes
B – Glossary
1 Plan for Transport in Sheffield
Foreword
Sheffield is an exciting place to be, home to over 500,000 people, attracting thousands of people into the City daily for both work and leisure purposes. The City is undergoing major revitalisation and regeneration; businesses are being encouraged to locate here, increasing the number of jobs and leisure opportunities available to local people.
This growth does bring with it increasing concerns about air quality, traffic congestion, safety and accessibility. Providing an effective transport network has significant implications for our economy and can help to maintain a vibrant, successful and thriving City.
In a modern and regenerated City like Sheffield, people demand and deserve a range of transport choices. To meet these challenges we have looked at where we have come from in transport in the last 20 years and what we need to do until 2021 to provide a high quality transport network for our changing City.
2 Section 1 - INTRODUCTION
What is this Document
This document sets out the future development of transport in Sheffield within the transport strategy provided by the South Yorkshire Local Transport Plan (LTP). It serves as a statement for delivering the Council’s transport programme for the next five years and a compendium of the wide range of underlying detailed strategies and action plans that already exist.
We first produced a transport statement, the ’Plan4Transport in Sheffield’ in 2001, which set out the local view of the first South Yorkshire Local Transport Plan 2001-2006 (LTP1). The broad aims of that statement have not changed, but it is now timely to reflect on current issues and recent developments in national, regional and South Yorkshire policies. The purpose of the revised plan is to: -
Set out the linkages with relevant policies and strategies; Set out a transport goal for Sheffield; Provide background information on transport in Sheffield; Provide a clear statement of the South Yorkshire Local Transport Plan 2006-2011 (LTP2) for Sheffield; Address transport and highways issues of concern to local residents, businesses and stakeholders; Set out the five year transport programme; Set out our longer-term aspirations for Sheffield; Seek your views on shaping Sheffield’s transport system.
In addition to this overarching statement we also intend to produce a short annual update report detailing our progress on the various transport projects and initiatives outlined in this Plan.
Links with Relevant Policies and Strategies
The Plan for Transport is based on the delivery of the South Yorkshire Local Transport Plan integrated with other wider strategies and policies.
There are a number of regional, sub regional and city strategies that have an impact on Plan for Transport in Sheffield including: -
‘The Yorkshire and Humber Plan’ (Regional Spatial Strategy) The Sheffield City Region Development Programme; South Yorkshire Local Transport Plan; The City Strategy; Sheffield City Council Corporate Vision; Sheffield Development Framework (successor to the Unitary Development Plan); Sheffield’s Disability Equality Scheme Action Plan; Sheffield’s Environmental Excellence Strategy; and A City on the Move – Sheffield’s Physical Activity Strategy.
3 The Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) forms the basis of the regional planning framework for the Yorkshire & Humber Region. The strategy sets out land use planning for the whole of the region including designating zones for specific purposes and provides a basis for cross boundary planning and transport issues. The RSS also contains the Regional Transport Strategy, which provides a regional framework for transport. The strategy covers the period up to 2021 and will be formally adopted in autumn 2007. It went through Examination in Public in autumn 2006 and will undergo revision based on recommendations made by the Planning Inspectorate.
The second South Yorkshire Local Transport Plan (LTP2) was published in March 2006 and is the transport strategy for the development of the transport network in South Yorkshire up to 2011. The City Council is tasked with delivering the Sheffield aspects of this South Yorkshire wide transport strategy. Almost all of the transport improvements in Sheffield are funded through the LTP, although significant transport projects are also funded through European grants and private sector investment.
The Sheffield Development Framework (SDF) is the successor to the Unitary Development Plan and provides the planning guidelines for any developments in the City. The Core Strategy of the emerging SDF forms the overall spatial strategy for the City to 2021 and transport forms a crucial part of the this. The local framework must fit in with the Regional Spatial Strategy and will include other documents about the type and location of new developments and include elements on transport related matters. The SDF will be adopted in full by September 2009 subject to a Public Examination.
The City Strategy 2005-10, developed by Sheffield First, outlines the strategy for the economic growth of Sheffield. One of the key aspects of this strategy is providing a high quality public transport network.
These broad regional and citywide strategies and policies are inextricably linked and form the basis of the Plan for Transport in Sheffield. There are also many specific transport policies and strategies already in place. The Plan for Transport provides an overview of all the transport related strategies that have been developed for Sheffield. Future policy and strategy development will be formulatedthrough engagement with relevant stakeholders and heavily influenced by national guidance, the new draft Local Transport Bill, local policies and strategies including on economic regeneration, equality and inclusion, the environment and health.
With particular respect to the economy and the environment, the recently published Stern Review has provided conclusive evidence of the impact that climate change (of which transport is a major causal factor) will have on economic growth. The Eddington Study, which analyses in depth the relationship between transport and the economic success, supports this conclusion and goes on to recommend urgent action on transport to meet the changing needs of the UK economy. Recommendations to the Government include focusing on improving the performance of existing transport networks, especially in congested and growing urban areas, through a mix of innovative
4 policies and measures particularly by influencing behavioural change and consumer choice.
The influence of transport extends beyond supporting economic regeneration and meeting peoples’ travel requirements. It is also crucial to consider how the provision of transport affects health – through peoples’ activity levels and air quality – and how it affects the environment – including air quality, public amenity and severance. The burden on the National Health Service due to diseases relating to physical inactivity has never been greater. Transport patterns can have a key role in promoting health and reducing harmful impacts on the environment. Transport infrastructure and systems must therefore be provided in such a way that they complement public health and the environment, or at the very least, minimise adverse impacts, and this is a crosscutting objective throughout the Sheffield Plan for Transport.
Transport vehicles, schemes and initiatives are now being designed to be compliant with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act, in particular, the Disability Equality Duty. The Council and its transport partners are revising design policy and standards in accordance with the Duty and the Councils Disability Equality Scheme Action Plan adopted in 2006 to ensure that everybody is able to use a range of travel alternatives to get to and from the destinations they require. This requirement is common through all the themes in the Sheffield Plan for Transport.
The relationship between Plan for Transport and other relevant strategies is illustrated in Figure 1.
5 The Yorkshire & Sheffield City Humber Plan - Region Regional Development Spatial Plan South Yorkshire Strategy Local Transport Plan (2006-2011)
SY Bus Strategy SY Park and Ride Strategy SY Rail Strategy SY Casualty Reduction Strategy SY Congestion Delivery Plan
City Strategy Sheffield Development Framework PLAN FOR Core Strategy SCC City Policies Objectives TRANSPORT IN City Proposals Economic SHEFFIELD Regeneration Cleaner, Greener, Safer Environmental Excellence A City on the Move Cycle Action Plan Supplementary Plan4Walking Planning Plan4Motorcycling Documents Ten-point Road Safety Plan Air Quality Action Plan Taxi Strategy Ten-point ’Traffic Watch’ Action Plan School Travel Plan Strategy
DELIVERING INTEGRATED TRANSPORT IN SHEFFIELD If you require further detail, all strategies and policies referred to in Plan for Transport are available on request or can be viewed on the Sheffield City Council website: www.sheffield.gov.uk
Sheffield City Council works with its partners on local and regional level to develop and implement of all of the plans and strategies shown above.
6 Section 2 - SETTING THE SCENE
Introduction
The lifestyle and transport choices we make now will have long-term implications on our health, quality of life, the environment and the local economy.
Over the lifetime of LTP1 (2001-06) the Council has been developing and improving facilities for all different modes of transport, the aim being to provide transport choice for travel within the City whilst minimising negative impacts on our health, the environment, the economy and quality of life. The City has shown a remarkable economic recovery over this period. This has resulted in growing car ownership and usage, growing congestion and falling use of public transport. Therefore, there is much more to do and the impact of our lifestyle choices on transport demand and provision needs to be recognised. In developing the Plan for Transport we have considered how Sheffield is developing and how transport can contribute to a successful and thriving city.
This chapter aims to provide you with a picture of how the City, the transport system and importantly the people of Sheffield have changed over the last 15 years. If we can understand recent changes we are more likely to provide a transport network that is relevant to our future needs. The section includes detail on: -
Our Transport Goal The Transport Network Transport Trends Lifestyle Trends Meeting the Transport Challenge.
Our Transport Goal
The Local Transport Plan for South Yorkshire broadly sets out Sheffield’s Strategy for transport development up to 2011. The Plan for Transport in Sheffield, however, looks to the longer term and considers the period within and beyond the current LTP up to 2021. The Plan for Transport has therefore allowed us to develop longer term thinking for Sheffield.
Our 2021 transport goal for Sheffield is: -
‘to provide safe and reliable choices of transport that help the City’s economy and job opportunities to grow, without damaging the environment’.
To achieve this transport goal we have identified nine key themes. This work has been based on national and regional policy development, local consultation and a review of local trends, past and current, as well as a forecast of future trends.
7 The Transport Network
A safe and efficient transport network is integral to developing a successful and thriving City. The Council and its partners have always been working to improve Sheffield’s transport network by regularly consulting with and listening to the views of local people on scheme and policy development and this is a process that we are continually aiming to improve. However, it is not always possible to develop schemes and policies that satisfy everyone, as measures are sometimes taken to secure longer-term or strategic goals which may be unpopular to certain affected groups in the short-term.
Some significant changes that have taken place over the last 20 years to Sheffield’s road network and transport system in response to the City’s needs have included: -
The opening of Upper Hanover Way (Inner Relief Road) in 1987; The opening of Mosborough Parkway in 1988; The introduction of central Urban Traffic Control 1990; The opening of Penistone Road Dual Carriageway in 1990; The publication of the first Sheffield Cycling Strategy in 1994; The introduction of the Supertram Network in 1995; The opening of Don Valley Link Road in 2001; The opening of Cutler’s Way (Inner Relief Road) in 2002. The opening of Sheffield’s first Quality Bus Corridor (S10 QBC on Manchester Road/ Fulwood Road) in 2006; The opening of the Sheffield Station Gateway Project in 2006; The opening of the Northern Inner Relief Road in 2007; The launch of the North Sheffield Quality Bus Partnership, the first Statutory Quality Partnership Scheme in the country, in 2007.
Other changes to the network have occurred in response to changes in Government legislation, the most notable being the deregulation of bus services in 1986 and the privatisation of the rail network in 1996.
Did You Know?
Over the last five years we have built various transport projects in Sheffield, including: - A major programme of City Centre improvements (£17m over 5 years) 100 road safety schemes (£6m over 5 years) 10 major bus priority projects (£9m over 5 years) 30 traffic management schemes (£3m over 5 years) 30 schemes for pedestrians (£2m over 5 years) 20 schemes for cyclists (£1m over 5 years) 4 residents parking schemes (£1m over 5 years)
Transport Trends
National transport trends between 1991 and 2001 (from national census data) indicate that: -
8 Driving has increased from 53.1% - 55.2% of total journeys; Walking decreased from 11.8% -10.0%; Bus use decreased from 9.9% - 7.4%; Cycling remained relatively constant at around 3%.
Although not everybody works, the ways journeys to and from work are made is a good indicator to monitor general travel patterns. The table below shows national and local travel to work percentages by travel modes for 1991 and 2001.
Travel to Work by Mode Sheffield National Sheffield National 1991 1991 2001 2001 Employment Data (all people aged 16-74 in employment) At Home 3.4% 4.9% 7.0% 9.2% Tram (and Tube) 0.0% 2.1% 2.8% 3.0% Train 0.6% 3.7% 0.7% 4.1% Bus / Mini Bus / Coach 25.3% 9.9% 17.8% 7.4% Motorcycle / Scooter / Moped 0.8% 1.5% 0.7% 1.1% Car / Van Driver 49.7% 53.1% 52.4% 55.2% Car / Van Passenger 7.1% 7.7% 6.5% 6.3% Taxi / Minicab N/A N/A 0.3% 0.5% Bicycle 0.8% 3.0% 1.1% 2.8% On Foot 10.3% 11.8% 10.4% 10.0% Other 0.3% 0.5% 0.4% 0.5%
Did You Know?
In 2003 59% of primary and 47% of secondary school children walked to school in Sheffield, this compares favourably against national figures of 51% and 38% respectively. However, there has been a significant decline in walking to school since the 1970s both locally and nationally. 35.7% of households in Sheffield don’t have a car/ van, compared with 26.8% nationally. Car ownership and usage is rising at a greater rate in Sheffield than most other cities.
Further analysis of travel trends by mode for Sheffield is set out below.
Traffic growth and car use
Traffic flows have increased by 14% in Sheffield between 1995 and 2005 compared to a national increase of 16%. Local traffic is also predicted to continue growing at 2% per year. However, despite this increase in traffic volumes, if we use average peak period traffic speeds data from the last decade as a proxy indicator for congestion (i.e. the slower the peak period speed the greater the levels of congestion) then, contrary to popular belief, congestion levels (average peak period speeds) have remained fairly constant
9 between 1993 and 2004. The data also shows that Sheffield compares favourably with many other core cities. However, feedback from consultation, public correspondence and the media has shown that comparisons made in this way do not always reflect people’s perception of what is happening on the ground.
There are a number of reasons other than traffic growth why congestion may be caused; accidents, breakdowns, power failures and road works can all impact on the network. On average there are over 300 such incidents a year (1 to 2 each working day) on the Sheffield road network that have potential to cause congestion. These are usually effectively managed and cause no discernable effect. However, on rare occasions, a large number of incidents can occur in a short timespan and cause gridlock. It is for this reason that the Council launched ‘Traffic Watch’, a specific protocol for dealing with such incidences. Additionally the Council and our South Yorkshire Partners, together with the ten other Metropolitan areas outside of London, are working very closely with the Department for Transport to improve the way congestion, and the impact of schemes to tackle congestion, are monitored and delivered. This has resulted in the development of a South Yorkshire Congestion Delivery Plan.
The 2001 Census data shows that car ownership levels in Sheffield are lower than the National average at 64% of households with 1 car compared to a national figure of 73%. Car levels are increasing nationally and in Sheffield, however because of the relatively low level of car ownership in Sheffield coupled with significant improvement in economic performance and wealth of Sheffield residents the figure is growing more quickly in Sheffield than elsewhere. This increase in car ownership may also reflect the changed perceptions of the ability of public transport to provide a real alternative to car use and the changes in employment, land use patterns and modern lifestyles.
It is however worth remembering that 34% of households in Sheffield that don’t have access to a car at all and although there is an increase in households with car access a vehicle is not necessarily available or accessible to all members of the household. It is therefore likely that the majority of Sheffield residents still rely heavily on alternative modes of transport.
Public Transport Use
In line with national trends, public transport use is decreasing in Sheffield. Despite this decline and increasing car use, there are a number of key routes where more than 15% of journeys are made by public transport. The most significant public transport routes in South Yorkshire are:
All journeys within Sheffield (21% of all trips) Rotherham to Sheffield (17% of all trips) Doncaster to Sheffield (15% of all trips)
10 Recent growth in the numbers of people using trams and trains in Sheffield has been over-shadowed by patronage decline on buses, which has continued locally since bus deregulation in 1986.
Over the last five years Supertram patronage has risen from 11 million in 2000/01 to 12.8 million in 2004/05 (source Stagecoach). For rail use in South Yorkshire, passenger numbers grew from 4 million in 2000/01to 5.84 million in 2004/05 (source ‘Train Operating Companies’).
Cycling
11 Current data (2001 census) indicates that cycling accounts for 1.1% (2,365 journeys) of all journeys to work in Sheffield. Although starting from a
PEDAL CYCLES
4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0
0 2 4 7 9 1 3 5 7 9 1 3 5 8 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 relatively low base level, there has been a 40% increase in the number of people cycling to work between 1991 and 2001, additionally annual cordon counts show that all cycle trips have continued to increase since 2001. There are areas of the City experiencing higher volumes of cycling, primarily residential areas with high numbers of students such as Sharrow, Nether Edge, Broomhill and Heeley, all with over 2% cycle to work journeys. Data collected through both work and school travel plans indicates instances of even higher cycle use, for example, Sheffield City Council has a 3.2% cycle- share of commuting journeys and Silverdale School, 4%. The Sheffied city centre cordon screen line counts are also showing an increase in cycling as shown in the graph below.
Walking
The 2001 census indicates that 10% of people walk to work, which equates to over 22,000 daily work journeys. (This has remained constant over the last decade compared to a national decline). We need to ensure that the number of people walking remains stable or increases. There is a trend of declining numbers of schoolchildren walking to school. However, Sheffield compares favourably to the national figures for walking to school, with walking levels higher for both primary and secondary schoolchildren.
Lifestyle Trends
Over the last decade employment opportunities have increased and changed with a more diverse job market, offering more flexible working hours and locations. Often people are travelling further for work opportunities and at times other than the traditional commuter hours, which needs to be reflected in a responsive transport system.
12 Changes in lifestyle mean that people now take less exercise than previous generations. The Sheffield Health and Exercise Survey showed that: -
Half of the City’s adult population is overweight and 1 in 6 adults are obese; 12,000 children in the City are obese, 1000 of them are under 5 years old.
The City Council is working with Health Sector partners to enable and encourage people to undertake at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise five days a week. Encouraging journeys to be made on foot or by bike can make a big contribution to achieving this.
We also have an ageing population with potential increases in the working lifetime and longer, more active retirements. Keeping a more elderly population mobile may require a higher provision of measures that aid mobility and accessibility on foot/bike.
13 Section 3 - MEETING THE TRANSPORT CHALLENGE
To meet our transport goal for Sheffield we have identified nine key delivery themes. These themes, which are based on a combination of Government transport priorities and local issues, are inter-related and achieving the objectives of one will often contribute to other themes. Similarly, many measures may also occur in more than one theme. We have attempted, in describing these themes, to pick-out and describe the key aim.
The central aims of making sure that transport is directly linked to health, the environment and equal opportunities are common requirements in the actions under all nine themes. In particular, transport’s relationship to public health is set out in more detail in Theme 4, its relationship to the environment in Theme 8, and the direct actions for improving opportunities for all (inclusion), in Theme 6.
1. Supporting Economic Regeneration – To assist with the regeneration of the City by developing a transport network that supports improved employment opportunities for all;
2. Tackling Congestion – To keep people and goods moving by making the most efficient use of available road space and addressing the demand for private travel;
3. Supporting Community Regeneration – To assist with local area improvements by making neighbourhoods more connected and sustainable;
4. Improving Health through Active Travel – To assist with the public health agenda by encouraging more active lifestyles through transport;
5. Improving Road Safety – To ensure movement by all means of transport can be made safely and that highway layouts minimise the chance of road accidents;
6. Maximising Accessibility and Sustainability – To provide a sustainable transport network that allows everyone, both now and in the future, to enjoy working and living in Sheffield;
7. Supporting Excellent Public Transport Services – To ensure services meet the needs and expectations of users for an accessible, reliable and frequent public transport system;
8. Reducing the Transport Impact on Air Quality – To improve air quality through the development and promotion of less-polluting, more efficient ways to travel thereby reducing the negative impacts on health;
9. Maintaining the Highway Asset – To maintain the road network to an appropriate standard to ensure safe and efficient travel and to present a high quality image of the City.
14 The following sections of Plan for Transport go on to describe in detail how we will meet our Transport goal by delivering a transport programme related to these nine themes.
15 Theme 1: Supporting Economic Regeneration
Introduction Successful economic policies over the past decade have seen improvements in economic prosperity in Sheffield and across South Yorkshire as a whole.
Sheffield has attracted many new employers and employees from outside South Yorkshire. Consequently, we must consider how we can accommodate the additional commuter and business trips on the transport network.
Sheffield is recognised in the Regional Economic Strategy as the key economic driver for the revitalisation of South Yorkshire’s urban areas, transforming it and building on current successes such as: -
Recent confirmation as the second fastest growing economy in England (source: Government figures); Attracting several major organisations to Sheffield, including the relocation of public sector services from London Sheffield’s GCSE results place the City third among England’s major cities, narrowing the gap with the national average; The number of new jobs per year arising from inward investment has risen from 300 to over 2,000; Significant progress on the Heart of the City development – a prestige office, hotel and commercial area strategically located in Sheffield's City Centre; £500 million of investment in Sheffield’s New Retail Quarter. Leading European property company Hammerson Plc have committed to the redesign of Sheffield’s retail core to provide a new flagship John Lewis store, over 100 other shops, 200 apartments, a hotel and leisure facilities; Unemployment has more than halved in every neighbourhood since the last peak and the gap between the City and the national rate has also halved since 1997.
The priority areas for economic regeneration are the City Centre, including the transitional areas at the north of the Centre, the City’s Lower Don Valley extending towards Rotherham, and the Upper Don Valley to the northwest of the Centre.
Providing a transport network that supports a larger number of local jobs includes ensuring that people can travel reliably, without undue delays, whilst ensuring that traffic does not have a negative impact on the existing road network, adjacent communities or on the environment.
Key Transport Objective and Actions Our key objective is to ensure that transport constraints do not limit the economic potential of Sheffield whilst ensuring that the impact of increased transport demand arising from economic regeneration doesn’t impact negatively on our wider objectives for a cleaner, greener, safer city. We will aim to do this through: -
16 . Improving access to new jobs and services, particularly in areas of major regeneration such as the City Centre and the Upper and Lower Don Valleys - making this as sustainable as possible; . Ensuring that clear and consistent transport policy is built into the emerging Local Development Framework (the city-wide reference guide for new development) to ensure that new development is located appropriately, is fully accessible by sustainable travel modes and, where appropriate, developers are required to contribute to the cost of improving accessibility; . Work closely with businesses, including the freight industry, to introduce successful travel plans that facilitate and encourage sustainable travel options; . Improving the quality of Gateways to Sheffield, including Sheffield Station, motorway junctions and key route approaches to the City Centre to make Sheffield an attractive location to invest in; . Improving transport connections with South Yorkshire and beyond – recognising the importance of Regional Strategies and the Northern Way Growth Agenda, for example, improving transport links to the new Robin Hood Airport at Doncaster Sheffield (RHADS) and Manchester Airport; . Focusing our resources to tackle congestion on targeted key routes; . Work closely with the Highways Agency, SYPTE, rail and bus operators to maximise the capacity and quality of the entire transport network serving Sheffield.
Progress to Date Across the City we have been working to regenerate local employment sites as well as housing and local centres, providing high quality transport links is integral to the process. Key successes and progress include:
● Sheaf Square Gateway at Sheffield Rail Station and Interchange completed in 2006; ● Inner Relief Road (IRR) completed in late 2007; ● Delivery of City Centre Transport Strategy – remodelling of the City Centre transport network e.g. Eyre Street; Charter Row, ● Working with the Highways Agency to tackle M1 congestion; ● Working with partners to improve strategic connections across South Yorkshire, the wider Yorkshire and Humber Region, and with East Midlands and Manchester, for example, by providing improved passenger rail services between Sheffield, Barnsley and Leeds; ● 70 Travel Plans have been agreed with major developers and organisations and a further 68 are required for future development sites. Additionally, 10 large organizations are also being encouraged to recognize the benefits of Travel Plans and voluntarily produce their own.
Five Year Programme (2006 – 2011) The key elements of the transport strategy to deliver transport improvements to encourage and sustain economic growth are focused on: -
17 1. Physical improvements to the network (on targeted key routes), including junction capacity improvements and cycle, pedestrian and public transport infrastructure 2. Improved management of the network, including the Motorway, through Urban Traffic Control, 3. Continued partnership with other agencies including the Highways Agency, Freight Industry, Private Investors 4. Establishing a network of effective Workplace Travel Plans 5. Greater use of Controlled Parking Zones (CPZ) 6. Enhanced Park and Ride provision, particularly linked to the tram 7. Continued delivery of the Sheffield City Centre Transport Strategy, 8. The integration of the existing Rotherham-Sheffield Quality Bus Corridor into our new Key Routes programme, identifying a mixture of priority measures and traffic management “hotspot” treatments to benefit bus users;
Did You Know?
Continued inward investment and economic growth in Sheffield relies heavily on there being a smoothly functioning transport network, which facilitates reliable travel and minimises delays. It will be almost impossible to achieve this in a compact city like Sheffield if too many people chose to drive private cars, particularly during the rush hours. Space-efficient, sustainable modes of travel, such as walking, cycling, bus and tram, are the most effective methods of developing an efficient and reliable transport network.
Case Study Northern Inner Relief Road
The extension of the inner ring road to the north of the City Centre extends from the Wicker area to link the existing Inner Ring Road around the City. The new relief road will reduce the amount of through traffic entering the City Centre, thereby reducing congestion. The scheme is due to be completed in late 2007 and the design incorporates:
-Pedestrian crossing facilities (Puffins with traffic detection) reducing waiting times for pedestrians; -Dropped kerbs at all crossing points for disabled and mobility impaired users; -Cycle lanes on the main carriageway; -Dedicated pedestrian and cycle links across the road at regular intervals; -Links to bus lanes;
This design is somewhat different to previous ring road designs across the UK which often cut off users who were not in cars.
For further information and the latest news on the scheme see: www.sheffield.gov.uk/irr
18 Theme 2: Tackling Congestion
Introduction Congestion is a problem in many urban areas across the United Kingdom. It is caused by a large number of people all moving at the same time in a limited area by means of transport that have a high space requirement per person. Sheffield had a relatively low level of car usage in the past but as car ownership and usage increases, the City now faces similar challenges to those already experienced by other cities. Furthermore, Sheffield is currently the second fastest growing economy in the UK and this places ever- increasing pressures on our transport system. If the benefits of rising prosperity are to be established and maintained, it is critical that we start taking steps to make our travel patterns more sustainable, otherwise the City’s economic progression could grind to a halt and major impacts on our quality of life could result.
This process has begun with the preparation of the South Yorkshire Congestion Delivery Plan (CDP). Endorsed in February 2007by the Department for Transport the CDP forms the delivery plan for the South Yorkshire Public Service Agreement (PSA) Urban Congestion Target, which contributes to a national a national urban congestion target. Eighteen targeted key routes (from the 50 or so LTP2 Key Route Network), nine of which are wholly or partly within Sheffield, have been identified for congestion monitoring. Importantly the indicator is based on people rather than vehicles and is expressed in minutes per person per mile and describes the average journey time for each person over the target route during the morning peak. The aim of the local target is to allow the sustainable development of the local economy and regeneration yet still allow the control and development of efficient transport options to meet the needs of residents and visitors to Sheffield. It is important to realise that the actual target is not to reduce congestion per se but to limit the predicted increase in person journey times (to no more that 7.6%) against a background growth in trips of 8.5%.
Developing a world class, high quality integrated transport network requires assistance from everyone. The City Council working with other transport providers will continue to improve facilities for all modes of transport, but everyone needs to be involved. For each journey we would like people to think about the travel choices available to them. Each journey made by transport other than the car means a reduction in congestion, for example, car use for the school run is a major contributor to congestion. Tackling this through School Travel Plans and related road safety measures can significantly reduce local congestion problems. In addition, greater use of alternative modes increases their viability, such as the increased use of the bus network can encourage commercial operators to provide further investment and new services.
Recent changes in legislation have placed increased responsibility and power with local authorities to manage the network efficiently. This will involve liaising with neighbouring authorities to ensure joined-up working and tighter controls and monitoring of road works to ensure minimum disruption.
19 The 2004 Traffic Management Act (TMA) requires local authorities to manage their networks to: "secure the expeditious movement of traffic“ which means: - – the road network works efficiently without unnecessary delay – dealing efficiently with the traffic presented on the network and the various activities that cause congestion
The Council must therefore address the movement of people and traffic in the City and address the implications of the Traffic Management Act.
Key Transport Objective and Actions Our key objective is to manage and, where possible, reduce the demand for travel by making best use of the existing road system, developing and implementing appropriate land use policies and influencing travel behaviour through a package of measures. This will include: -
. Giving priority to the roads that are most important for keeping traffic moving, for example, the main roads into the City Centre including the most important bus routes defined as targeted Key Routes within the Congestion Delivery Plan; . Developing ‘Intelligent Transport Systems’ - including driver information signs (e.g. electronic variable message signing), real time bus information and extending the use of computer-aided Urban Traffic Control systems to manage busy road networks and key junctions; . Providing new traffic lights to manage conflicting traffic flows at junctions and to give priority to the most important roads, especially on Key Routes including Quality Bus Corridors; . Better coordination of street works and rapid response to highway obstructions, for example, vehicle tow-aways; . Reviewing on-street waiting restrictions – there are places where (legally and illegally) parked vehicles hold up the flow of traffic and cause congestion. In some of these instances we will consider the use of more parking control and we will use Awareness Campaigns to highlight the problems caused by thoughtless and illegal parking; . Improving parking enforcement – the Council now enforces double and single yellow lines, using parking attendants to patrol roads and keep traffic flowing; . Completing the Northern Inner Relief Road and improving key junctions to make the most of improved routes around the City Centre; . Influence travel behaviour and reduce travel demand through school and workplace Travel Plans, information and awareness campaigns.
Progress to Date A number of measures and actions have already been developed to tackle congestion and to improve the management of existing demand for transport in the City. Key successes and recent progress include: -
. Establishing a new tactical traffic team involving the Council, the Police and the Passenger Transport Executive (PTE) to review how we deal with major congestion incidents, including breakdowns and major events;
20 . Setting up our Traffic Watch system to inform the media and the travelling public of congestion problems in the City, enabling everyone to help notify the Council about problems as they happen; . Developing a ten point action plan to tackle congestion hot spots in the City, based on the public’s views of the worst locations; . Reviewing the link between the Council’s Traffic Control Room and media outlets, particularly Traffic Link who provide local radio reports, to ensure it is direct and effective; . Successfully launched the South Yorkshire Intelligent Transport System (syITS) using £10.5m of European funding to: o develop the Traffic Control Centre as a state of the art facility o modernise traffic signal equipment and communications o improve fixed and variable signing o enhance information provision to the travelling public; . Improved enforcement of parking/loading offences on bus lanes and the main traffic routes in the City, targeting those places where most abuse and therefore, congestion occurs; . Making use of the new powers in the Traffic Management Act to reduce the impact of major road works on the traveling public.
Five Year Programme (2006 – 2011) To tackle the growing congestion problem we will implement the Councils ten- point action plan, and within the next five years we will focus on: -
1. Give funding priority to the city’s network of Key Routes (those roads which are the most important transport corridors) 2. Complete the Northern Inner Relief Road between Shalesmoor and the Wicker; 3. Enhance Urban Traffic Control through the syITS Project to provide more information to the public about conditions on the road network through the internet, mobile phones and variable message signs; 4. Systematically review the operation of the network including junction efficiency, repairing faulty detection equipment and updating signal timings and control plans; 5. Extend the urban clearway, including bus lanes, by half an hour in both the morning and evening peak; 6. Introduce camera enforcement of bus lanes and tram/bus gates 7. Promote more sustainable alternatives to the car, such as public transport, Park and Ride, cycling, walking, and car sharing through Travel Plans and information awareness raising, for example:
Case Study Granville Square Gyratory
A bottleneck on the Inner Ring Road between Granville Square and Leadmill Road caused significant congestion and delays to overall journeys. The City Centre Transport Plan identified a solution to achieve improved traffic flows and accommodate the extra traffic created both as a result of increased
21 economic activity and traffic displaced by other proposed schemes, such as the bus-only proposals for Furnival Gate.
The scheme is split into two phases. The first of these – the interim scheme – was built in 2004 within the existing highway boundary. This comprises a one-way system forming a gyratory around Suffolk Road, St Mary’s Road and Shoreham Street (similar in effect to a large roundabout) that improves the efficiency of traffic movements. Pedestrian, public transport and cycle facility improvements were also an integral part of the works.
The Gyratory has already improved journey times for all traffic, including on Queens Road and Granville Road. A traffic model that was carried out to assess the effects of the scheme before it was built indicated journey time savings of up to 43% for traffic travelling between Queens Road and Maltilda Street and bus journey time savings from Granville Road to Leadmill Road of up to 33%.
Weaving traffic movements and poor lane discipline have been reduced at various points around the Gyratory by modifying the lane layouts, which further improve traffic flow efficiency and road safety.
The final scheme phase, starting in late 2006, involves widening of the highway along St Mary’s Road to enable a new lane to be created which further facilitates traffic flow capacity increases at the Gyratory. The final scheme will also incorporate improvement of pedestrian facilities in its vicinity, as well as upgrades to the footway and street environment -using quality materials, street furniture and landscaping where possible. The disjointed cycle route network in this area will be improved and connected, including the provision of a route to Castle College. The scheme is due to be completed by the end of 2007.
22 Theme 3: Supporting Community Regeneration
Introduction Sheffield is a city with many local centres with their own distinct characteristics, which results in a range of differing transport issues. This theme covers all areas of transport from public transport to cycling but pays particular regard to the provision of facilities for accessing local services.
There are many individual schemes that have been and will be developed in local centres, which contribute to improving transport provision. Often these schemes are not directly transport related but are developed by others with regard to our transport strategy, e.g. housing development initiatives.
By 2016 we are expected to have a population of approximately 517,000 people in Sheffield and we require suitable housing to reflect the growth in the number of people and an increasingly elderly population. This change in the demography of the City must be reflected in the type of housing stock and transport services within the local area. Accessibility is integral to supporting local regeneration.
As areas of Sheffield are being regenerated, we must ensure that high quality transport options are built into the new and refurbished local centres and housing. This process is being managed through Master Planning and Area Development Frameworks.
Transform South Yorkshire (the sub-region’s Housing Market Renewal (HMR) Pathfinder), aims to transform particular housing markets. South Yorkshire contains the largest HMR Pathfinder in the UK (containing about 140,000 households). The HMR program in Sheffield incorporates the following Area Development Frameworks (ADFs): - North Sheffield North East Sheffield South Sheffield
The aim of the Housing Market Renewal project is to create a housing market that complements economic objectives and provides a better choice of housing, to help people achieve their aspirations. It will provide a better choice of tenure, size and type at a local level and the promotion of inclusion and independence.
Schemes to improve local district centres are being planned across the City and improving access will be a vital part of this process.
Local enhancement and maintenance of public spaces, such as grass verges, footways and parkland will be important in regenerating local communities and creating a greater sense of place and pride, as well as improving accessibility through better walking and cycling.
23 Key Transport Objective and Actions Our key objective is to assist with local area improvements by ensuring that neighbourhoods are more connected and that journeys within them are easily made by sustainable means of transport. We will: -
. Produce local transport strategies for areas of regeneration, e.g. Burngreave and the North, South and East Housing Market Renewal/Area Development Framework areas. We will also continue work in inner city areas outside of the Inner Ring Road (including further work in the areas containing Sheffield’s Hospitals and Universities); . Provide clear transport advice for community regeneration projects like the Housing Market Renewal initiative; . Continue our policy of major investment in accident saving schemes (prioritising these on accident numbers) and delivering a programme of Child Safety Zones aimed at reducing the numbers of children who are killed or seriously injured in residential areas. Such Zones also help to improve the safety of walking, cycling and using public transport in treated areas. These works will be linked to other school related work such as School Travel Plans; . Continue to review parking in residential areas – we recognise that there are real problems of parking congestion on streets with terraced housing, we need to link these schemes to School and Workplace Travel Plans so that employers sites are accessible other than by car; . Consider the feasibility, potential costs and benefits of introducing Low Emission Strategies (LES) in some parts of Sheffield e.g. in the Lower Don Valley and City Centre. Studies on LESs, which restrict certain vehicle use and parking at specific locations and times, have shown they are effective in managing air quality; . Raise awareness of the impacts of physical inactivity. Active travel can be a major contributor to the recommended level of daily exercise. Providing opportunities to walk and cycle within local centres and to key destinations is an important part of providing a transport system which contributes to a healthier and more active population.
Progress to Date There have been many transport schemes that have contributed to regeneration of local areas, which has improved access for residents to local and citywide facilities. Key contributions include: -
. Coordinating the provision of accessible transport links as part of the Housing Market Renewal (HMR) programme. We are aiming to provide as much transport funding to these areas as possible. LTP Spending on schemes in ADF Areas (2005-06 allocation) was: o North ADF – 20% of LTP Integrated Transport Allocation o East ADF – 23% of LTP Integrated Transport Allocation o South ADF – 8% of LTP Integrated Transport Allocation . North Sheffield Better Buses improving waiting facilities and bus journey times; . Child Safety Zones in Arbourthorne and Wybourn; . New ‘Homezones’ implemented or planned as part of Housing Market Renewal ‘Neighbourhood Development Frameworks’;
24 . Woodseats Shopping Centre redevelopment; and . Quality Bus Corridors linking local centres to the City Centre in the Sheaf Valley and S10 Corridors.
Five Year Programme (2006 – 2011) Within the next five years we will be working on developing the following transport investment in local centres: -
1. Link to the planning process to ensure developments take place in accessible, sustainable locations and provide opportunities to enhance local pedestrian, cycle and public transport infrastructure improvements; 2. Ensure that major physical regeneration projects incorporate transport and access requirements; 3. Improve local access to public transport through walking measures, feeder services onto the Key Routes network, through-ticketing and interchanges; 4. Promote innovative solutions to address access to work, e.g. 'Wheels to Work' programme; 5. Improve transport and accessibility for people with disabilities and other members of the community with specific needs; 6. Work with communities, Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) and other service providers to achieve co-operation between complementary transport suppliers e.g. Sheffield Transport Brokerage Project; 7. Deliver the Rights of Way Improvement Plan to improve local access to services.
Case Study Burngreave – Fir Vale Transport Strategy
We are working in many local areas and one of these is Burngreave. Transport is recognised as an integral part of improving and regenerating Burngreave and a strategy to address this has been developed.
The Burngreave-Fir Vale Transport Strategy pulls together the knowledge and aspirations of a wide group of partners, including local residents, regeneration agencies, developers, the Council, SYPTE and bus operators.
Ongoing work includes: -
. Partnership working with North Sheffield Better Buses, improving bus services within the area; . Improvement of the school entrance and provision of a pedestrian crossing at Barnsley Road for Firs Hill Primary School; . Walking audits of local areas; . Development of additional road safety schemes; . Funding of the Burngreave Links bus services; and . Working with a School Travel Plan Advisor to address school travel in the area.
25 Did You Know?
There is a strong positive relationship between improved local walking environments and the sustainable regeneration of neighbourhoods.
26 Theme 4: Improving Health through Active Travel
Introduction People are travelling more and more by ways that involve very little physical activity, whereas in the past people more commonly used to walk, cycle and walk to/from public transport stops. This trend in travel choice has had significant implications on peoples’ physical activity levels and consequently on their lifelong health. This problem is particularly significant for children of primary and secondary school age who are developing physically and forming their outlook and health patterns for later in life. Transport therefore has a crucial role in supporting and encouraging healthy travel choices for everybody in society and particularly for schoolchildren.
Childhood obesity is now a major health problem in Britain and children are on average 70% less active than they were 30 years ago. In 2001 over 8% of six year olds and 15% of 15 year olds were obese and the current trend is a 1% growth in obesity each year. 38% of households in Sheffield have one or more people with a limiting long-term illness compared to the national average of 34%. You are more likely to develop these illnesses if you do not maintain an appropriate level of activity, which is defined as a minimum of 30 minutes exercise for five days of the week for adults and seven days of the week for children.
Regular travel by modes that require physical activity, such as walking, cycling, including walking to the bus stop, can be a major benefit to people’s health and help to prevent obesity and heart disease. This is especially true for those people who otherwise undertake little physical activity. Fortunately, the travel modes that require physical activity are also amongst the most sustainable and would also help to reduce congestion and air pollution.
The National Health Service (NHS) recognises the value of active modes of transport in helping to increase peoples’ physical activity levels and reduce the problems of coronary heart disease, childhood obesity and related illnesses. The NHS and local Primary Care Trusts support more walking and cycling to make the nation healthier and reduce the pressure on their services.
The Health Development Agency of the NHS has said “It is clear that transport and health are inextricably linked. Transport has major health impacts – through accidents, levels of physical activity undertaken, effects on air pollution and access to a range of services.”
Key Transport Objective and Actions The broad objective of this Theme is to increase peoples’ level of physical activity by encouraging people to use active means of travel. Specifically we aim to: - . Raise awareness of the benefits of active lifestyles and the critical link between transport and health; . Encourage people to exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes per day, wherever possible, through the uptake of walking and cycling; . Contribute to the reduction of childhood obesity, heart disease and other life-compromising illnesses through active travel;
27 . Reduce the impacts of air pollution on health through a shift to non- polluting active travel modes such as walking and cycling; . Develop walking and cycling networks to make it more convenient and safe for people to travel by these means; . Promote active travel through initiatives such as School Travel Plans and Safer Routes to School, organised cycle rides and walks, information packs and advertising campaigns, and persuade businesses to encourage staff to cycle and walk through the travel plan process.
Progress to Date Many schemes have been developed at a local and citywide scale to promote active travel through walking and cycling. The key developments to date include: . The removal of deterrents to walking, such as subways and footbridges, including street-level crossings, dropped crossings to facilitate the mobility impaired, new pedestrian crossings on key routes around the City Centre, narrower roadways and wider footways on highway previously dominated by road vehicle and new crossings in district centres such as Woodseats; . Liaison through the ‘Active Sheffield Group’ with the Primary Care Trust and other key partners to develop the ‘Physical Activity Strategy – City on the Move’ to market and develop active travel; . The TravelSmart promotional campaign in Hillsborough leading to a 16% increase in the number of walking journeys carried out by the study group; . Publication of Sheffield’s School Travel Strategy including the adoption of 120 School Travel Plans, which set out key actions to encourage pupils to walk, cycle and take public transport to school; . Development of the Sheffield Cycle Network, especially in the City Centre, along important transport corridors and also recently within neighbourhoods, including Toucan crossings to allow cyclists to cross busy roads and link-up cycle routes; . Information provision and awareness including an interactive walking map, seasonal booklets listing cycle events, rides, training opportunities and maintenance sessions, launch of Council’s Cycling Webpage, Active Sheffield’s ‘More People Walking, More Often’ campaign [coined ‘Step Change’]; . Development and approval of 70 Workplace Travel Plans, which set out key actions and incentives to encourage staff to walk, cycle, take public transport and car share to get to work, including the adoption of Sheffield City Council’s own Corporate Travel Plan;
Did You Know?
Air quality above the pavement can be two to three times better than that inside a car. This is because the air intake points of a car are close to the exhaust of vehicles in front, compared to air above the pavement -where exhaust pollution is much less concentrated. Also, air pollutants accumulate within the enclosed space of a car. For these reasons, the air that pedestrians and cyclists breathe is cleaner than that which motorists breathe.
28 Five Year Programme (2006-2011) It is vital for the Council to promote shifts in transport to more physically active modes for appropriate journeys. We are implementing improved facilities and road safety measures for cyclists and pedestrians and trying to enhance the environment of cycle and walking routes. In addition, publicity campaigns are being carried out and free route maps are available to raise people’s awareness of active travel modes and their associated networks. Many of the following projects and initiatives detailed below are identified and funded through the Local Transport Plan, although others are funded through different means. 1. Engage with every school in the City in order to meet the Government’s target for all schools to have adopted a Travel Plan by 2010; 2. Deliver a programme of pedestrian and cycle training; 3. Adoption and implementation of the ‘Sheffield Cycling Action Plan for 2006-2011’; 4. Integrate transport into Local Community Masterplanning to ensure environments to encourage people to adopt healthier lifestyles by walking and cycling for regular journeys are created; 5. Deliver the Child Safety Zones programme –eight further Zones to be implemented in the next five years; 6. Build two/three new Pelican crossings and two/three Zebra crossings or pedestrian refuges each year for the next five years. Additionally, around three new footways will be identified and built each year; 7. Deliver a programme of awareness raising on sustainable healthy travel modes; 8. Work with partners in the Health and Physical Activity sectors.
Case Study Walking Initiatives for School Children: WoW, Walking Bus and Park & Stride.
WoW The ‘Walk once a Week’ or ‘WoW’ scheme encourages pupils (and parents or carers) to walk to and from school one day every week of the school year. A badge is awarded, each term to each child who achieves this. To maintain the interest of children, the design of the badge changes every term, with up to 12 badges to collect. Each child also receives a booklet with stickers and puzzles that highlight the benefits of walking.
This scheme has had positive effect on the percentage of children walking to school on the ‘WoW’ day and on congestion around school gates. For example, Brookhouse Junior School reported the number of parked vehicles down by over 35% on the designated day.
Walking Bus A ‘Walking Bus’ for school children is where a supervisor walks through a neighbourhood so that children can join the group at specific points. This both encourages parents to let their children walk to school and takes pressure off parents who normally accompany their children to school. Feedback from the
29 schools has shown wider benefits of the Walking Bus including improved punctuality and attendance.
Park & Stride Park & Stride encourages parents who drive their children to school to park well away from the school gates at a designated site (typically about 5 minutes walk away) and then walk with their children the last part of the journey. This has the effect of reducing traffic congestion in the vicinity of the school, improving road safety near to the school gates and highlighting the benefits of walking to children and parents such as meeting friends, increasing alertness, stress reduction and physical activity.
30 Theme 5: Improving Road Safety
Introduction Improving road safety for all users, especially children, is one of the highest priorities for the City Council. Out of £6million of Local Transport Plan funding that has been agreed for the present financial year (2005/06), £1.4million has been allocated for road safety works.
It is vital that the movement of people and goods on Sheffield’s highway network can take place safely without accidents occurring, particularly those that result in injuries or deaths. Road accidents have a severe impact on affected individuals, on family and associates of the casualty and have a huge financial cost to the rest of society. Improving road safety is therefore one of the strategic priorities for transport, both nationally and for Sheffield. Also important is improving personal safety on our streets to achieve greater levels of walking, cycling and use of public transport, which in turn helps to make the road network safer.
The economic growth of Sheffield is increasing the pressure on our transport systems, with potential impacts on the safe and efficient functioning of the network. It is therefore vital that we tackle existing road traffic accidents and also ensure that future development of the transport network pays full regard to safety and reducing the probability of accidents. It will never be possible to prevent all accidents from occurring, because of human error, but the Government has set clear targets for the reduction of accidents that occur on our roads.
The Government targets for reductions in road casualties to be achieved by 2010 are: - A 40% reduction in the number of people killed and seriously injured (KSIs); A 50% reduction in the number of children killed and seriously injured; A 10% reduction in the number of people slightly injured per 100 million vehicle kilometres.
It was recognised that it would be difficult for Sheffield to achieve the targets largely because South Yorkshire councils achieved accident reductions well above the set targets in the 80s and early 90s and therefore had a relatively low level in the period 1994-1998. Given this low base rate, the Department for Transport agreed that South Yorkshire could review its casualty reduction targets to use a 2001-2004 average, and continue from this base level at a similar rate of reduction to that originally set. This means our revised targets are to achieve a 20% reduction in overall KSIs and 25% reduction in child KSIs by 2010.
Key Transport Objective and Actions Our key objective is to ensure that movement by all modes of travel can be made safely and the layout of highways minimise the probability of road accidents occurring. To improve our performance on reducing all types of accident on Sheffield’s roads we aim to: -
31 . Deliver our Ten-point Road Safety Action Plan; . Deliver Accident Saving Schemes; . Increase the number of educational programmes; . Develop and improve linkages with Highways Agency, LSPs and others in the new Casualty Reduction Steering Group to address road safety issues and problems through partnership working;
Progress to Date We are currently succeeding in reducing child ‘KSI’ accidents at a rate that meets the child casualty target, but the overall number of people killed and seriously injured in Sheffield has levelled off in recent years. As discussed above, we were not on course to meet the Government target to reduce the number of all people killed and seriously injured on our roads and this has been addressed by re-basing the targets with the Department for Transport’s agreement. Schemes that have been implemented contributing to the reduction include: . Completion of Arbourthorne and Wybourn Child Safety Zones, aimed directly at reducing the numbers of children killed or seriously injured. These Zones are being linked to other schemes and initiatives that are underway to improve the safety and travel patterns of school children at various schools; . Implementation of 46 Accident Saving and Local Safety Schemes; . Implementation of 29 Danger Reduction and School Entrance Schemes; . Development and publication of the 10 Point Road Safety Action Plan.
Five Year Programme (2006 – 2011) The five year action programme for road safety in Sheffield during the course of the second Local Transport Plan is as follows: -
1. Deliver the 10 Point Road Safety Action Plan to reduce road casualties based on analysis of road accidents that have occurred in Sheffield, considering those road users who are most likely to be injured or killed and also the reasons for both the most common and worst types of accident. The 10 target actions areas to deliver greater education, training and publicity are: - . Excess Speed . Driving at Work . Adult Pedestrians . Powered Two Wheeler Accidents . Young Drivers/ Passengers . Looked but Failed to See Accidents . Young Child Pedestrians . Child Car Passengers . Children Walking to/from Senior School . Child Cycle Accidents;
2. Continue to implement a rolling programme of accident saving schemes focused on existing problem locations; 3. Implement programme of Child Safety Zones; 4. Improve effectiveness of our casualty monitoring and analysis;
32 5. Work with South Yorkshire Police on speed enforcement at sites outside the scope of the Camera Safety Partnership; 6. Increase child cycle training resources to enable more children to be trained; 7. Develop a speed management strategy; 8. Continue with and develop the South Yorkshire Camera Safety Initiative; 9. Work with partners to develop maintenance programmes that support road safety.
Case Study Motorcyclist Casualty Reduction
The government has set targets to reduce the number of people who are killed and seriously injured (KSIs) on our roads. The council has significantly reduced KSI incidents to certain road users, such as children and pedestrians, but the number of motorcyclist KSI casualties has risen in recent years despite efforts to reduce traffic speeds. As a result motorcyclists have been identified as a target group in Sheffield’s Ten Point Road Safety Action Plan.
An analysis of road traffic collisions involving motorcycles show that the majority of these collisions occur at junctions, a common reason being that drivers of cars emerging from side roads claim that they did not see the motorcyclist they subsequently hit. In some cases this is because a motorcycle is less prominent in a driver’s field of vision than a car due to its smaller size. Sheffield has set out a coordinated approach of advertising and awareness campaigns with its South Yorkshire partners to try and reduce this type of collision occurring and contribute to the overall target to reduce KSIs.
In April 2006 the Council launched a major awareness campaign about motorcyclist safety using local press, radio and bus-back adverts with the slogan ‘Look for the Bike, Look for the Bike Again’. In addition, signs with this slogan were erected on the approaches to road junctions in Sheffield where collisions have occurred.
Did You Know?
The severity of injury when a car hits a pedestrian decreases dramatically with decreasing vehicle speed. For example, an adult pedestrian has a 90% chance of being killed if hit by a car at 40-mph, but this decreases to only 20% chance of being killed if hit at 30-mph. Government research shows that the average 20-mph zone with traffic calming reduces the overall number of accidents by 60%, child accidents by 67% and cyclist accidents by 29%.
33 Theme 6: Maximising Accessibility and Sustainability
Introduction Ideally we would like all people to have a range of convenient, inexpensive and safe transport options for making all possible journeys. Improving transport will enable people to consider their options and choose the most sustainable travel option available. In order to do this we need to ensure that genuine and attractive transport choices are available.
Although car ownership in Sheffield is increasing, 38% of households in Sheffield do not have a car. This is lower than the national average. The actual percentage of residents without access to a car in Sheffield will be considerably higher than this.
It is also vitally important that we provide a transport system that gives as much choice and independence to disabled users. Approximately 6% of residents1 in Sheffield have a disability and facilities must therefore be provided to allow everyone to access both work and leisure opportunities. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 requires that adequate access be provided to disabled users.
Our streets form an often neglected but important part of our social world. They are where we meet friends, shop and travel from A to B, whether that is going to work or school, or simply going to the park at the weekend. Having a high quality, attractive environment we feel safe in can encourage the use of more sustainable modes of transport, such as walking, cycling and bus travel.
Key Transport Objective and Actions The Council’s key objective is to provide safe and attractive choices for travel, and to ensure that people can fully access their daily activities. To improve accessibility and encourage sustainable travel we will aim to: -
. Improve transport infrastructure to encourage people to walk and cycle more in the City thereby increasing levels of physical activity; . Encourage a shift from single occupancy car travel to more sustainable modes of travel including car share, walking, cycling and public transport; . Where possible reduce the demand for travel, particularly at peak times; . Ensure good design of schemes that facilitate rather than hinder sustainable travel modes; . Promoting car sharing and car clubs; . Work with partners to ensure that all bus services have low floor access and continue to improve reliability and punctuality of bus services; . Continue to develop the cycle network in the City; . Continue to develop travel awareness campaigns, education, training and publicity programmes, Travel Plans and other ‘Smarter Transport Choices’ to ensure that work and leisure facilities have high quality transport links for all modes of transport; . Improve the pedestrian environment creating attractive and safe walking routes within local centres and the City Centre;
1 Residents aged 16-74 in 2001 census
34 . Continue to work with public transport operators to provide a good service for all users; and . Provide high quality information about transport options in the City e.g. bus and train timetables.
Progress To date To provide attractive and high quality choices for people to access the many facilities in the City, many schemes and policies have been developed. Key successes and developments include: -
. The provision of high quality public realm spaces that give greater priority and reallocation of space to pedestrians e.g. Fargate, Eyre Street; . Regular meetings with the Transport 4 All Group, set up in 2004, providing a two-way consultation with disabled people using transport in the City; . Development of the Cycling Action Plan 2006-2011; . Over 100 adults have taken advantage of the councils offer of a free cycle training session to any resident of Sheffield; . We have been working with the Passenger Transport Executive in the rebranding of public transport information; . Over half of Sheffield schools have or are in the process of developing a Travel Plan – walking and cycling to school are key themes in many of these plans; . The Council has provided over 200 cycle stands in the City Centre; . We have part funded some local bus services in areas of the City providing people with improved access.
Five Year Programme (2006-2011) To meet our key objective of maximising accessibility for all and ensuring sustainability, we will implement a transport programme focuses on: - 1. Ensure that the needs of pedestrians and cyclists are considered as part of large transport schemes and as part of new developments; 2. Continue to provide pedestrian priority and redistribution of space to pedestrians in the City Centre 3. Improve pedestrian crossings of roads and links to public transport routes; 4. Improve signing and quality of public transport information to provide people with clear choices, including the introduction of real time information, improved access to information by Internet and mobile phone technology; 5. Promote the health and transport benefits of walking and cycling through Travelwise, Travel Plans and working through campaigns run by the Active Sheffield Partnership; 6. Promote walking to school through Safer Routes to School, School Travel Plans and walking buses; 7. Implement the Sheffield Cycle Action Plan; 8. Continue to offer free cycle training for residents in the City 9. Continue to work in partnership with key stakeholders to seek opportunities for improving accessibility and inclusion, particularly through the development of Accessibility Strategies, for example seeking new funding opportunities for initiatives such as Shopmobility and Wheels to Work ;
35 10.Maximise the efficiency of necessary travel e.g. promoting car sharing, alternatively fuelled vehicles, encouraging efficient business travel and fleet management through Travel Plans.
Case Study Transport 4 All – Consultation with Disabled People
Transport 4 All in Sheffield is a collaborative group of disabled public transport users, officers of both Sheffield City Council and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, and managers from some of the public transport operators in Sheffield.
The group is an evolutionary development of the ‘Low Floor Bus Group’ that was established when ‘accessible’ buses were being introduced and intended to create a link between disabled bus users and bus operators.
One of the early achievements of the group was agreeing the layout and type of tactile paving to be used at bus stops in Sheffield, compromising between the needs of wheelchair users and those with visual impairments.
Ongoing work includes: - - Design standards for SYPTE facilities such as interchanges and travel information centres; - Work with First/ StageCoach to improve training for drivers to help them meet the needs of passengers with hearing impairments; - Working with taxi operators; - Site visits on new transport schemes and facilities e.g. Supertram refresh/Sheffield Station; - Developing guidance on transport implications of the Disability Discrimination Act.
Transport 4 All is chaired by a disabled member of the group and is facilitated and serviced by Sheffield City Council.
Did You Know?
In a recent survey of users of the thriving London Road shopping area in Sheffield, 71% of people walked to the shops and only 18% arrived by car. This shows that the importance of car access and lots of car parking in supporting the vibrancy of local centres can often be over-estimated. Studies from elsewhere confirm this. However, the provision of appropriate parking for disabled users is still required in these circumstances.
36 Theme 7: Supporting Excellent Public Transport Services
Introduction Public transport is an essential part of travel provision with over 138million passenger journeys per year (2003/04 data) across South Yorkshire and a significant proportion of these start, end or are within Sheffield. Use of both Supertram and the rail network are increasing year on year. However, in line with national trends outside London, bus use in Sheffield is declining. The bus is, and will remain, the most flexible form of public transport in Sheffield and the decline in use, although not as great in Sheffield as the rest of South Yorkshire, is overshadowing the increase in tram and train use.
During LTP1 the attractiveness of public transport in terms of cost, reliability, frequency and accessibility has been mixed. Despite significant investment in bus priority measures, patronage and reliability have declined while satisfaction levels have remained low. The success of the LTP in supporting wider objectives is, however, still dependent on securing improvements in the quality and reliability of public transport. We therefore need to continue investment and improve partnership working with public transport operators to achieve better quality public transport options. A greater emphasis on raising awareness and improving the perception of public transport, especially buses, is also required.
There is a well developed and connected bus network across Sheffield and beyond. Supertram and rail, whilst well used and popular with the traveling public, is limited in its catchment and capacity. An improvement to bus provision is therefore the key focus of the South Yorkshire Bus Strategy, LTP2, the South Yorkshire Congestion Delivery Plan and Sheffield’s Plan for Transport. The Council is working closely with the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, operators and service users to re-establish excellence in public transport provision, a reputation Sheffield used to be proud of.
Information from consultation and engagement with the travelling public (both users and non users of buses) through the ‘Have your say’ campaign (October 2004) to identify customer priorities has helped us define the basic requirements of a good bus service. The key features are: - . Frequent during the daytime; . Reliable; . Consistent journey times; . Vehicles that are easy to get on and off, good quality and clean; . Well located bus stops . Competitively priced; . Well publicised, easy to use and not subject to frequent changes; . Well designed, safe and secure interchange where completing a journey on one vehicle is not possible.
Did You Know?
The Council is not responsible for the operation of buses and trains. These are mainly the responsibility of private companies. The Council does however
37 work closely with the private operators and the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive to achieve improvements in the services provided.
Key Transport Objective and Actions Our key objective is to achieve a high quality public transport network that meets our 15-year Transport Goal and to work in strong partnership with the PTE, the community transport sector, commercial operators and others to provide: - . The key features of a attractive, reliable bus service; . A stable network of reliable services, including Park & Ride, providing access to key destinations at the times people need to travel, supplemented by and integrated with, private hire and Hackney Carriage (Taxis), community transport services such as demand responsive services, Cross City Link, Taxibus, Dial-a-Ride and Hail & Ride; . Simple, understandable travel tickets at an affordable price; . Easily available and understandable information about services; . Interchanges that allow people to change between services and other public transport modes easily and with no or minimal fare penalty; . Infrastructure to ensure that those with mobility difficulties can use the system; . Services of a high quality that are not regarded as a second class means of travel.
Progress to Date Achieving a high quality public transport network is a priority in the City and we have been working to improve facilities within the City Council’s remit. Key developments include: . Undertaking of a major public consultation exercise, ‘Better Buses – Have Your Say’, in order to understand the key issues about buses for local people; . The development and implementation of Sheaf Valley QBC, S10 QBC and North Sheffield Better Buses. The S10 QBC was the first to be completed, in November 2006, followed by North Sheffield in Autumn 2007 . The establishment of a Strategic Quality Partnership between Sheffield City Council, SYPTE and bus operators that will deliver improved reliability and quality of bus services between the City Centre and Chapeltown (North Sheffield Better buses). . The delivery of priority facilities for bus users within the City Centre Transport Programme, such as bus lanes on Eyre Street, Arundel Gate and Charter Row, bus-only turns at both ends of Moorfoot, and bus-gates on Paternoster Row, Leadmill Road, Moorhead and Furnival Street; . The tackling of congestion hotspots that affect bus punctuality and reliability; . Improved partnership working with taxi operators in the provision of taxi ranks; . Changes to the Tesco Park & Ride to link with users in the Hospitals and Sheffield University; . Improved partnership working with colleagues responsible for the provision of home to school transport through the South Yorkshire Education Transport Strategic and Officer Group;
38 . Successful implementation of Sheffield Transport Brokerage Project between the Council and Sheffield Community Transport to make better use of organisations own fleets in meeting users transport requirements.
Case Study The S10 Quality Bus Corridor Improvements
The S10 Quality Bus Corridor scheme provides improvements to the main bus routes (51,52, 60) to the west of the City from Western Bank and Whitham Road onto Manchester Road (including access to the Hallamshire Hospital). After widespread consultation with local people, the scheme has provided:
improved facilities and traffic movement at Broomhill, Western Bank and Brook Hill Roundabout; measures to keep all traffic moving better along the A57 Manchester Road; improvements to the quality and reliability of buses along the main routes - the 51, 52 and 60 routes; better bus stops, providing better access to buses for people with mobility difficulties, and better information on services; improved signs, road markings, traffic lights, streetlighting and road surfaces; improved pedestrian and cycling facilities.
The scheme was officially opened by Gillian Merron the Minister for Local transport in November 2006 and will be the first Quality Bus Corridor in Sheffield to be completed. It is anticipated to improve bus patronage by 10%.
39 Five Year Programme (2006 – 2011) To improve public transport services within resources available, of which LTP funding represents a significant but only partial source, the South Yorkshire Bus Strategy, Rail Strategy and Park & Ride Strategy, and Sheffield Taxi Action Plan identify a focused set of actions to deliver service improvement and passenger growth. Much of the programme of improvements to public transport is carried out in partnership between the Council and the PTE. Within the LTP2 programme timeframe and through partnership working this includes: -
1. Securing a more effective partnership with bus operators, to have more control over the quality and accessibility of vehicles and services; 2. Delivering a programme of Quality Bus Corridor improvements including bus priority measures, traffic management, parking controls, improved information and bus shelters, low-floor buses, better trained drivers and improved ticketing; 3. Tackling congestion hotspots around the City that impact on the reliability of public transport services; 4. Providing improved information at public transport points; making use of mobile phone technology and variable message signs at bus stops; 5. Encouraging greater use of public transport through awareness raising initiatives, incentives and improved information provision; 6. Providing more high quality interchange facilities including at the Wicker and Eyre Street; 7. Providing improved Park and Ride facilities throughout the City; 8. Implementing the Taxi Action Plan to improve the quality and number of taxi ranks within the City Centre; 9. The delivery and expansion of the Transport Brokerage Partnership with Sheffield Community Transport to include the transport fleets of others e.g. health providers; 10.Working to improve the quality and reliability of rail services between Sheffield and Manchester and links between Sheffield and Leeds;
40 Theme 8: Reducing the Transport Impact on Air Quality
Road vehicles contribute more than 25% of all air pollution nationally and, globally, climate change is a very significant environmental consideration. Sheffield’s economy and prosperity will continue to grow in forthcoming years, bringing with it a corresponding growth in the number of trips made throughout the City by all modes of transport. Emissions from motor vehicles are one of the largest contributors to air pollution across Sheffield and there are particular problems with nitrogen oxides (NO2 derived from vehicle emissions) in places such as Darnall, Tinsley and the City Centre. NO2 can have a detrimental impact on people’s health, particularly where air quality has dropped below minimum Government standards and is largely due to the trunk roads and/or motorway that pass through these areas. We therefore need to take action to ensure that growth of the economy and travel demand does not impact negatively on both our health and the environment.
National policy on air quality is set out in the Government’s Air Quality Strategy contained within the Environment Act 1995. This sets outs standards and objectives for air quality in relation to health that have to be addressed by all authorities in the UK. The Act places responsibility on the Council to review and assess air quality in the local area and to designate Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) where air quality levels fall below minimum Government standards. In 2001 two AQMAs were designated in Sheffield: The City Centre AQMA M1 Corridor AQMA around Tinsley
A recent review of local air quality based on more recent Government guidance has highlighted that there are many locations within the Sheffield urban area where the national air quality objective for NO2 is not achieved due largely to emissions from road traffic.
Given the Council’s responsibility to actively manage emissions and air quality levels in designated areas, one of the key priorities is to reduce the adverse impact that transport has on air quality. The Council is therefore promoting and providing for a shift to transport modes that have lower or zero emissions per traveller. Vehicles that produce low emissions per person include buses, trams and trains, as well as ‘low-emission’ private vehicles such as low sulphur or electric cars.
These vehicles cause less air problems because they are more energy efficient at moving people and also, in the case of trams and electric cars, because the energy generation is dealt with at a power station which can process the emissions more effectively and is more efficient at producing energy than a combustion engine. Walking and cycling are ‘zero-emission’ modes and therefore are the best means of travel to tackle the air quality issues across the City and on a national basis.
People who still choose to use petrol or diesel driven cars can make a significant contribution to improving overall air quality by car sharing and ‘eco- driving’ by using low engine revs and sensible speeds.
41 Did You Know?
Transporting two people by one car is almost twice as energy efficient than two people travelling separately in two cars. This is because moving a car itself requires more than ten times the energy than the extra energy needed to carry one more person in that same car.
Key Transport Objective and Actions Our key objective is to reduce the transport impact on air quality in order to meet the standards set out in the Government’s Air Quality Strategy. We will seek to achieve this through: - . The management of road traffic in areas with poor air to move towards meeting minimum Government standards; . Encouraging people to adopt less polluting ways of travelling; . Implementing our city-wide Air Quality Action Plan.
Progress to Date Following the declarations of AQMAs we have been working on a blueprint for making the City’s air better. We have also been working with businesses to reduce their traffic impacts through the agreement and implementation of travel plans and engaged with local people to monitor air quality levels in affected areas (See Case Study). Other actions to date, include: Achieving Beacon Status for delivering improvements to Air Quality; Creation of the Sheffield City Air Partnership; A ‘Care4Air’ campaign which has successfully raised the issues of Air Quality with partners and the general public; Securing additional funds from The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and LTP to expand the Community Monitoring Programme; The development and adoption of School Travel Plans and Workplace Travel Plans; and Travel Awareness campaigns.
Five Year Programme (2006 – 2011) Our five-year programme for air quality is largely encompassed by the Sheffield’s Air Quality Action Plan. A range of measures has been drawn up by the Clean Air Partnership to improve air quality. The measures were put into the Action Plan on the basis that they will also contribute to future regeneration of Sheffield. As most pollution comes from road traffic, the Action Plan focuses mainly on transport issues. Many of the transport actions set out in this Plan are addressed by actions and projects already committed in the Local Transport Plan 2. In addition to the measures outlined within other themes we will also aim to implement key Air Quality specific actions outlined below: -
1. Traffic Control Actions Use Variable Message Signing to direct drivers away from congestion, servicing Strategies for delivery vehicles.
2. Cleaner Vehicles
42 Continued investment in alternatively fuelled vehicles for councils own fleet, facilitating a Green Fleet Forum to exchange initiatives and developments, feasibility work on Low Emission Zones (LEZ), continue Councils Green Parking Scheme for vehicles not powered solely by petrol or diesel, seek tighter exhaust standards for buses, taxis, delivery vehicles and refuse vehicles operating in AQMAs, launch of the Sheffield City Car Club.
3. M1 Specific Actions Closer working with the Highways Agency to develop an Air Quality Action Plan for the M1 between junctions 33 and 35 including reduced speeds to reduce NO2 emissions, use VMS to direct vehicles more efficiently during peak congestion times.
4. Industry Actions Work with HGV operators to produce action plans to reduce impacts on local communities e.g. Tinsley.
5. Actions for consideration by the Government Work with Government Departments to establish a Low Emission Strategies Forum for local authorities considering LEZs, secure future DEFRA funding, to develop the City Car Club, Travel Plans and engage local communities in air quality initiatives, such as the Community Diffusion Tube project.
6. Air Quality Monitoring Measure air pollution using real time monitoring equipment to assess the progress of the Air Quality Action Plan. A network of non-automatic monitoring has been initiated at 40+ sites in Sheffield.
Case Study Community Air Quality Monitoring
The Council monitors air quality at a number of fixed sites around the City, detecting the level of a number of air pollutants. In Sheffield, exhaust fumes from road vehicles are the largest source of air pollution and it is specifically nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particles (PM10) that are the most significant pollutants from motor vehicles that affect human health.
The Council’s Environmental Protection Service (EPS) recognised that community organisations were best placed to know the locations in their neighbourhood where residents are concerned about air pollution, bringing the issue of air pollution down to local level. People are able to use these results to highlight the effects that traffic in their community could be having on their health and well-being.
Community air pollution monitoring of NO2 was set up in Tinsley by the local community forum six years ago, using diffusion tubes in the back gardens of residents. In 2003 this survey was extended to include community
43 organisations in Brinsworth, Catcliffe, Burngreave, Handsworth and Darnall. Diffusion tubes are a low cost method for measurement of NO2. The tube itself is left to be exposed for a month, attached to road side posts or buildings, and is then sent to a laboratory for chemical analysis.
After results have been collected and analysed, the Council can use these findings to prioritise areas for action. Local Air Quality Action Plans can then be tailored to take account of the recorded air pollution levels in each target area.
In November 2003 EPS successfully applied to DEFRA for project funding. This allowed them to partly fund a project coordinator and fund the supply and analysis of tubes, coordinate the collection of results and report on the results. This funding also enabled the project to be expanded to include more community groups around the City. Recently five schools have become involved in the project and the intention is to expand into other schools.
44 Theme 9: Maintaining the Highway Asset
Introduction Alongside the development and improvement of our transport network, it is vital not to overlook the importance of maintenance of our existing infrastructure and traffic management measures. Sheffield’s transport network represents a large and valuable asset that contributes to its economic prosperity and enables people to move around and access the opportunities and facilities they require. The term ‘maintenance’ in this section covers the upkeep and repair of highways, footways and footpaths, cycle routes, traffic signs and signals, bridges, streetlights, bus stops and passenger facilities.
Maintenance contributes to several of our main themes, and to the LTP priorities of Accessibility, Congestion and Road Safety. Additionally, good maintenance of the highway network and related public spaces is an important factor in encouraging inward investment and economic regeneration, as well as making the area more attractive to residents and visitors.
Key Transport Objective and Actions The primary objective or our Highway Maintenance programme is to provide and maintain a safe network. Other important aims are to improve the appearance, durability and ride quality of the whole road network for the benefit of all users (The South Yorkshire Transport Vision places a road network in good condition as one of the core elements.) Our intended actions to improve the condition of the transport network include: -
. To combine maintenance with other works planned on Key Routes, wherever possible; . Implement a ‘New Code of Practice’ for the Management of Highway Structures, which places emphasis on the adoption of procedures to develop good management practice; . Develop a Transport Asset Management Plan to improve the quality and cost effectiveness of the maintenance programme for highways; . Develop a Public Rights of Way Improvement Plan. Maintenance Strategy Progress to Date Over the life of the first Local Transport Plan, it is considered that improvements have been made to the condition of various elements of the highway network. A move towards automated surveys will result in more reliable data that can be used for future trend analysis.
Five Year Programme (2006 – 2011) We fund our maintenance programme through both the LTP (approximately £5million per year) and the Council’s revenue budget. Maintenance is also undertaken as part of wider schemes. Maintenance activity, including safety, resurfacing and structural treatments, will focus on delivering the targets set for the condition of Principal Roads, Non Principal Roads and footways in Sheffield.
45 Did You Know?
Sheffield has around 150 kilometres of Principal (A) roads, 258 kilometres of Non-Principal (B & C) roads and 1,580 kilometres of Unclassified roads. Sheffield also has 67,450 streetlights.
Case Study Nursery Street – Road Maintenance scheme
In early 2003, highway condition surveys and testing indicated that Nursery Street, a major City Centre road, required immediate maintenance to prevent further deterioration leading to more extensive and costly repairs.
The footways were also in a poor condition due to vehicle overrun and so required re-kerbing and resurfacing.
Due to its strategic importance and very high traffic flow, works were only permitted from 6:00pm Saturday evening to 6:00am Monday morning.
In order to maximise the work carried out within this construction window it was decided to trial a kerb planer rather than excavate the existing kerblines. The resultant planings could then be left in situ until the new kerbs were laid.
This proved to be very successful, resulting in a 66% reduction in the programmed time for kerb excavation and also produced the following benefits:
Reduced footway reinstatement, which results from over break during excavation; Reduced site safety costs as there was no excavation to protect; Reduced amount of concrete required for kerb bedding and backing as a result of the accurate and level bed produced by planer; Reduced quantity of both old materials excavated and tipped, and new materials used; Reduced time on site and so caused less disruption to the travelling public.
The scheme was completed in May 2003 and cost £295,000.
46 A)
47 Section 4 – FUNDING
A significant amount of funding for transport schemes comes from Central Government through the LTP, which is provided for South Yorkshire as a whole. The amount of money received is announced in December of each year and is made available the following April. The total LTP funding is split between the four districts in the county and the PTE. The PTE receive the first 25% and the remainder is currently divided up between the four local councils based on population. Sheffield receives approximately 30% of the total allocation.
When considering what to prioritise we must consider all users of the transport system. We continually aim to maintain a fine balance to meet all our objectives – each year, with our county partners, we produce a funding plan and report progress back to Government.
About £35million will be available from the LTP over the next 5 years for transport improvements in Sheffield. Approximately £6million was allocated to last financial year (2005/06). The way this has been divided up across the main transport themes is shown below. This shows that road safety and public transport are our current top priorities.
. Public transport projects £2.2million (37%) . Road safety work £1.4million (23%) . Traffic management schemes £0.7million (12%) . Cycling and walking schemes £0.4million (7%) . School related schemes £0.4million (7%) . Congestion management schemes £0.3million (5%) . Parking management schemes £0.2million (3%) . Small local community led schemes £0.2million (3%) . Other small schemes £0.2million (3%)
Highways maintenance, including roads, footways and bridges, is part funded by the Council’s revenue budget that comes from Council Tax and also from Central Government. The Government funding for maintenance over the next 5 years is expected to be around £27 million. This equates to just over £5million per year.
Did You Know?
There are two main LTP grants, - one for transport improvements (the integrated transport block), the other for highway maintenance. The funding structure is clearly set out and the Government decides each grant allocation on our behalf, which means, for example, we could not choose to spend all our money on road maintenance or public transport.
48 Section 5 - MONITORING AND EVALUATION
Introduction There are many ways to monitor progress on delivery of the Plan For Transport in Sheffield. Consultation with local people and information we regularly receive from local residents reflects both positive and negative views of the schemes we deliver. All information provided is considered and helps us to improve our delivery of a high quality transport network.
In order to assess schemes, it is important that we have information on the current situation. If we don’t have this information it is very difficult to gauge if a scheme has actually improved the situation, whether that is reducing accidents, improving traffic flow or increasing the number of walking trips.
This section details some of the ways we collect information and how we use it to inform the transport strategy.
Transport Monitoring Strategy Sheffield City Council’s Transportation Monitoring Strategy is based on a simple 5 Sector Model developed in 2001.
The Sectors are: - Central Area North East North West South East South West
Congestion This approach enables the City Council to provide comparative data for each sector, at both citywide and local levels. We regularly monitor transport trends in the City through several methods: -
Annual traffic flows; Annual cordon & screen-line vehicle occupancy surveys; Annual cordon & screen-line pedestrian & pedal cycle surveys; Annual District & Local Centre pedestrian & pedal cycle surveys; and Snap-shot speed surveys.
There are a significant number of automatic counters used to count traffic flows across the City and these help to build daily pictures of traffic flows.
For manual counts, single day manual 12 hour (0700-1900 hours) two-way Vehicle Occupancy Surveys are undertaken on equivalent days during the year at individual survey points located on the Cordon or Screen-line.
Road Safety Accident data is collected primarily by Police officers when accidents occur. The information is collected and analysed by Sheffield City Council and used
49 to prioritise funding of Road Safety Schemes. Monitoring of the effects of Road Safety Schemes is assessed by a reduction in speed and accidents.
Accessibility and High Quality Public Transport A number of surveys are conducted independently to assess general quality of life, which include issues about transport. The Census is the core data source that provides data every 10 years. In addition, South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive collects: -
Bus patronage information; Vehicle and occupancy data for Supertram; Rail patronage information for Sheffield Midland Station (the number of Trains is calculated from timetabled Arrivals / Departures); Reliability and punctuality data.
Air Quality There is a comprehensive air quality monitoring strategy. There will be a constant review to ensure that the objectives in the plan are on course to be met.
Summary All of the data collected allows us to assess schemes, but we also have an annual reporting system where we present progress on the delivery of transport schemes to Central Government. This is reported through Annual Progress Reports (APRs), which are published in July of each year.
We will also produce our own annual report for the people of Sheffield. This will explain the projects that we have carried out each year, their contribution towards our overall objectives, how overall trends are changing, and what future projects are likely.
Case Study – Annual City Centre Pedal Cycle Parking Surveys
In June 2004, the City Council introduced a comprehensive City Centre Cycle Parking Survey that was repeated in October 2004 (during University Term Time), these surveys have continued on a bi-annual basis. Consideration is being given to carrying out these counts every three months, and the coverage extended to weekends etc. in order to provide a more complete picture of cycling activity. Data from the surveys shows that use of cycle parking is increasing year on year.
50 Section 6 - FUTURE TRAVEL DEMANDS
Changing Travel Demands (up to 2021)
The second Local Transport Plan sets out the objectives and implementation programme for transport in Sheffield and the rest of South Yorkshire for the period 2006-2011. It identifies transport challenges and travel demands within this five-year period and ensures that sustainability and safety are central to the ongoing development of our transport network and systems.
Looking further ahead however, the structure of Sheffield’s population is likely to change significantly by 2021, both in terms of its age profile and travel requirements. Sheffield’s economy is now growing strongly after the previous demise of the steel and coal mining industries and this growth is expected to continue into at least the next ten years.
It is important therefore that present-day transport policies and strategies take account of these evolving socio-economic factors to ensure that the transport network is developed with future travel demands in mind and can be adapted to meet these changing requirements.
Sheffield’s population is forecast to drop slightly by 2010 from 2001 levels, and then rise again by 2016 to 517,470 (a 1.2% increase from 2004). National projections indicate that the population is ageing, with Sheffield being no exception and this could place different demands on our transport systems in years to come. A more elderly population will have different travel needs, such as greater requirement for easy-access public transport services and improved pedestrian facilities with more comprehensive mobility measures. An increase in population means that more journeys may be made overall and these would also need to be accommodated.
The level of childhood obesity has risen consistently over the last decade to record levels. This trend may also affect the age structure of the population in future years as average life expectancy could actually decrease when the long-term impacts of current inactivity problems are realised. Separately, average income is likely to be greater in ten to fifteen years’ time, underpinned by a more successful economy. This will influence peoples’ need and ability to make more work-related, shopping and leisure trips. It is difficult, however, to estimate how this increased travel demand might be offset by advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), which could lead to a reduction in trips due to more people working from home and undertaking communications and transactions over the Internet.
The emerging Sheffield Development Framework, which is set over a 15-year timescale, identifies land uses for all areas of the City. These include residential, retail, office and industrial uses, amongst others and are allocated on the basis of Sheffield’s aspirations for sustainable economic and community regeneration, as well as environmental considerations. Whilst not always the preferred use for City Centre sites, the increasing demand for and provision of city living in Sheffield is notable and will influence travel patterns,
51 where there will be less demand from workers to travel by car or public transport within the City Centre and more demand to walk and cycle to work.
In contrast, there has been a recent trend of outward migration into the countryside away from the urban area of Sheffield, largely among highly skilled and well paid people. Since these residents are more likely to have access to one or more cars, there is a significant implication for increased trip making by private car. Commuter travel patterns from rural areas therefore need to be addressed through high quality public transport provision, including links to park and ride sites.
The four most significant changes that we are likely to have to accommodate in Sheffield in the next fifteen years can be summarised as: - A higher proportion of elderly citizens; A greater need and capacity to travel, related to stronger economic performance and higher personal incomes; Contrasting shifts in where people choose to live and work; Advances in ICT, reducing the need for work and shopping trips.
How We Envisage Meeting Future Travel Demands
The way in which we plan transport and influence travel behaviour today will hopefully have a positive effect on the way people travel in the future and enable a greater number of reliable and sustainable journeys to be made across the City in forthcoming years. For example, the Council is aiming to make the best possible use of our highway network through intelligent use of traffic signals and road space, whilst also encouraging businesses and schools to develop a Travel Plan. By implementing pro-active measures and initiatives now, we will be able to limit the impact of future transport problems arising from changing population and demands.
Our long-term programme to meet and manage Future Travel Demands
The Council will progress various projects and schemes that will help to meet the changing transport demands resulting from the shift in the City’s age structure, economic performance and personal income. These will include: -
Improved pedestrian facilities, giving greater priority to the pedestrian – particularly in the City and district centres; Improved access for disabled people and those with impaired mobility, by ensuring that all pedestrian routes, public transport facilities and public spaces have the required adaptations to facilitate disabled users and those with reduced mobility; To maximise the ability of the City’s transport network to support economic growth, coupled with effective management of the related increase in demand for travel. This will be focussed on measures to improve public transport and limit the impact of the private car; New developments planned to reduce the need to travel wherever possible by providing services and facilities in neighbourhoods and
52 district centres, which can offset the pressures that would be placed on the citywide transport network.
Did You Know?
Buses and trams are up to 25 times more space efficient at moving people during rush hour than private cars. Improvement of these modes is therefore one of the best ways to increase the capacity and efficiency of the City’s overall transport system.
Measures for the Future
There are a number of measures that, although started through LTP1, will be thoroughly tried and tested for the first time through the period of LTP2. There are also a number of potential projects and initiatives that will be introduced or are being considered in the next 15 years. The Transport Act 2000 makes additional powers available to the Council that may enable future solutions.
Schemes that were begun within the timescale of LTP1 include: -
Intelligent transport systems Leaps forward in technology are allowing greater use of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and ‘Real Time’ information systems. The ‘SYITS’ project (South Yorkshire Intelligent Transport System) enables continuous monitoring of traffic conditions and allows adjustments to traffic signals at key junctions to maximise traffic flow efficiency. In addition, SYITS provides information to the public about up-to-the minute road conditions via the internet, mobile phones and street-side variable message signs. The project has already begun, but will be developed further in the future. Real time information displays, giving travellers precise information about the arrival time of the next few buses, will be installed at a number of bus stops across South Yorkshire by the end of 2006. The numbers of the displays will be expanded in the future.
Smarter Choices More focus on the use of less traditional transport measures such as ‘Smarter Choices’ to change travel behaviour, for example, Travel Plans, Car Clubs and car sharing, marketing and promotion will start to be carried out in a meaningful way that allows the impacts to be monitored. Depending on the success of such programmes during the period 2006-2011, the Council could potentially give a higher priority to less traditional transport planning in future years.
Supertram The Council, alongside the PTE and Rotherham Council, submitted a funding bid to the DfT for extensions of the current Supertram network –from West Street to Broomhill and Meadowhall to Rotherham- as well as considering route realignment through the Lower Don Valley. However, the DfT took a recent decision not to fund these, making the assessment that the proposed
53 tram extensions were unlikely to be the most cost effective way of meeting transport demand in the specified areas. The Council and PTE may consider making future bids for tram network extensions when the economic case for such projects is stronger, but in the meantime have to look at ways of accommodating rising demand on the existing tram network. Currently, many trams are full at peak times and the only way of increasing the capacity of the system is to acquire new trams. Because of their specialized nature, new trams are expensive beyond what local authorities could afford from their own funding. Bids for funding of new trams may therefore be made in the future, independently of any further network extension funding bid.
Schemes that will be initiated within the timescale of LTP2 or considered for future years beyond LTP2 include: -
Ticketing schemes The widespread installation of integrated ticketing schemes is a distinct opportunity that South and West Yorkshire Councils, including Sheffield, have taken a pro-active interest in. The ‘Yorcard’ system is due to be piloted in 2007 on bus services along Sheffield’s S10 bus corridor and on rail services between Sheffield and Doncaster. Yorcard is a personal travel ‘smart card’ that passengers credit prior to use and swipe through a specialised ticket machine when embarking on a bus or train. The cost of the journey is simply deducted from the card. This system benefits passengers and transport operators by reducing the time taken in exchanging cash fares and has wider benefits in reducing bus journey times and making public transport more attractive to users. If the pilot is successful, Yorcard could eventually be rolled out across the whole South and West Yorkshire, subject to future backing from the Department for Transport.
Bus Quality Contracts and Bus Partnerships. There are three key options open to the PTE, the Council, and bus operators for improving the provision of bus services. Firstly, which is currently in common use in Sheffield, is the establishment of a voluntary partnership to improve bus services, usually centred on delivering Quality Bus Corridors. Secondly, as used in the delivery of North Sheffield Better Buses, and potentially for future schemes, is the establishment of Statutory Quality Partnerships that allow some additional control over the standard of service provided and thirdly, also being pursued within the time period of LTP2, is the development of Bus Quality Contracts. The Transport Act 2000 introduced powers to develop Statutory Bus Quality Contracts. A Quality Contract allows the PTE, in partnership with the Council, to set standards of service provision, such as fares, vehicle type and timetables and then appoint an operator(s) to provide these services to the agreed standards. No other operators would then be allowed to operate in that area. Currently the PTE and the Council could make a Quality Contract scheme covering the whole or any part of the City, if we were satisfied that: -
54 (a) making a Quality Contract scheme meets the legal test of being the only practicable way of implementing the policies set out in the bus strategy, and (b) the proposed scheme will implement our policies in such a way which is economic, efficient and effective.
In order to run a Quality Contract scheme the PTE would need to put forward a proposal to the Secretary of State. The set up of this scheme would involve a considerable amount of time and resources and should not be pursued if there are practicable alternatives that could produce comparable outcomes. For this reason evidence needs to be given of steps taken to deliver our policies on improving bus services, e.g. Voluntary and Statutory Quality Partnerships, including evidence of all other options considered and with sufficiently good reasons for rejecting them.
However proposals within the new draft Transport Bill aim to improve local bus services by giving local authorities the right mix of powers, including enhancing the existing powers to make ‘Quality Contracts’ a more realistic option by: Replacing the “only practicable option” test with a public interest test Replacing the Secretary of States approval role with a new framework for scheme approval and appeals.
Camera enforcement of traffic offences The Council is currently acquiring and installing the necessary equipment to enforce bus lanes and moving traffic offences to contribute to the objectives of tackling congestion, improving public transport and reducing road accidents. Such measures will only be in their infancy throughout the next five years, but if proven to be successful, will be adopted on a more comprehensive basis to manage and enforce road traffic regulations better.
Alternatively fuelled vehicles The Council may direct more resources into supporting travel by alternatively fuelled private vehicles in the future as use of these vehicle types increases. Measures to assist electric vehicles may include recharging points in Council car parks, which would provide a means of refueling before service stations consider such provisions to be economically viable.
The Council submitted an Expression of Interest (EOI) in September 2006 for a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme to cover the maintenance of all highways within the City. The PFI route would enable Sheffield to access a special form of Government funding known as PFI credits to support the capital cost of the scheme. The service would be provided by a private sector contractor who will carry out improvement works to raise the condition of the network to a suitable level within 7 years and then sustain this condition for the remainder of the contract. The overall length of the contract is likely to be 25 to 30 years. If the bid were successful, the scheme could commence as early as 2010.
The Council had already submitted an EoI for a Street Lighting PFI project in February 2006. This was successful and the Council submitted an Outline
55 Business Case in respect of this project in February 2007 and a decision is expected in September. However, there are many practical and financial reasons for including Street Lighting as part of the Highway Maintenance PFI scheme. In view of this street lighting has been included in the Highway Maintenance EoI and we have entered into discussions with DfT as to how the two schemes might be successfully integrated.
Rail capacity and service improvements Presently there is a conflict between improving inter-regional long distance rail services and local rail services in planning for use of the railways in Sheffield, where improvement to one could compromise the other. This is largely due to limitations in the capacity of the rail network in and around Sheffield, essentially in the number of tracks along certain routes, whereby inter-regional services cannot pass local stopping services at local stations. Whilst efficient coordination of trains can maximise the opportunity available on the existing network, it is only by adding additional track space or by major signaling improvements that substantial improvements in service frequency and journey times could be achieved. New tracks and signaling improvements, especially where adjacent land has to be acquired and developed, are massively expensive and, at present, there is a lack of investment potential and economic justification to meet the costs involved.
In the future, however, economic growth and greater demand for high-speed and frequent rail links may move the Government, Network Rail or local / regional authorities to invest in rail capacity improvements in the area. Such improvements are a medium to long-term possibility but could enable more frequent connections to Manchester, Leeds, the East Midlands and London, as well as increases in local rail services and new local stations. High-speed connections to London in under 100 minutes may be possible with new track.
The introduction of passenger rail services on the Stocksbridge freight line has been investigated but found not to be commercially viable. However, the opening of a heritage line along this route remains a future possibility, –a local group is promoting this and trying to raise the necessary funds.
Major highway schemes Two major highway improvement schemes within Sheffield have been bid for recently through the second Local Transport Plan –improvements to the A61 (Upper Don Valley) and the Sheffield Parkway (A57/630). . On a cross- county level, the M1 will be improved by the Highways Agency by adding a fourth lane between junctions 30 and 42. Work on the section between junctions 31-32 will start in Autumn 2006 and work on the rest will begin from 2010 and completed in phases, subject to the outcome of public enquiry. The objective of the widening is to relieve congestion on the Motorway through South Yorkshire and up to Leeds, which will improve journey times between Sheffield and other regions and cities around the UK. This supports the economic growth of the City by helping to ensure that reliable strategic road links are available. Managed properly, with variable speed limits and demand management measures in place, the M1 widening also presents an
56 opportunity to reduce air pollution levels in surrounding areas, which are currently made worse by the stop/start pattern of traffic in congested sections.
Additionally, Sheffield Council will be involved in assessing options for better Trans-Pennine road links. The most prominent of these options currently looks to be the improvement of the A628 between Barnsley and Manchester, which links to Sheffield via the Stocksbridge Bypass.
Links to Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield A funding bid for a major new road link between central Doncaster and Robin Hood Airport was turned down by the DfT recently, at least during the course of the current five-year programme. The move for better connections to the airport will continue however, with airport managers preparing a planning application and report to the DfT’s Rail Division for a new station on the existing Doncaster to Lincoln line. However, agreement on the proposed station may hinge on whether there is a robust business case to justify investment. Road and rail public transport connections to the airport will need to improve to cater for the projected growth in passengers.
Public transport running for longer hours As the demand for transport grows and people increasingly travel throughout the day, evening and night, the provision of public transport needs to expand to accommodate this trend. Bus, rail and tram services will be required to run at a reasonable frequency later into the night, compared to their current schedules, if public transport is to recognised as a viable option for journeys outside the standard 7am-7pm period.
Road User Charging, Congestion Charging and Workplace Parking Levies The Transport Act 2000 made powers available to local authorities outside of London to introduce road user charging or workplace parking schemes, subject to approval of such schemes by the Secretary of State for Transport.
In July 2003, the Secretary of State for Transport published 'Managing our Roads', which discussed the pressures on the network and the choices to be made in addressing them, including the issues around implementing road charging. At the same time, he commissioned a study to look into the feasibility of implementing a national road pricing scheme. The study found that a national road pricing scheme could be feasible within 10 -15 years, and could reduce urban congestion by nearly half, despite only reducing traffic by 4 per cent. It also has the potential to deliver significant environmental benefits in terms of air quality, noise and impacts on communities.
In addition to a national scheme, local charging schemes, possibly congestion charging or workplace parking charging might also be considered as part of a wider demand management approach.
However Sheffield, and its South Yorkshire partners, share the current Regional view that local economic conditions and traffic conditions do not necessitate congestion charging in advance of national progress on this. Clear criteria would need to be met, including evidence that the economic benefits of relieving congestion in this way will outweigh potential disbenefits
57 and the existence of high quality alternatives to car use. Therefore the question remains as to when and where it might be appropriate to develop and implement stronger demand management measures such as congestion charging, road user pricing or workplace parking levies.
58 Section 7 – SHAPING OUR TRANSPORT FUTURE – YOUR VIEWS
The Plan for Transport in Sheffield sets out the transport agenda in Sheffield. The transport strategies are set out as part of the South Yorkshire Local Transport Plan (LTP2), which has been widely consulted on, but Plan for Transport provides a local perspective. It presents the Council’s Goal and broad programme for transport for the next five years and beyond.
The transport programme and funding allocations to schemes are not set in stone. Approval by Cabinet of the Capital programme is required every year. Individual schemes are also put out for widespread consultation where local residents and businesses are able to voice their support or concerns. This process often results in slight amendment of schemes to provide a solution that meets with widespread approval.
Your views on the Transport Goal, our programme or replies to individual scheme consultations are welcomed.
If you would like to make suggestions on how we can improve our programme to meet our transport goal more effectively or have ideas for how the Transport Strategy for the City should develop for the future then please contact us. Plan for Transport in Sheffield will be reviewed in line with the Local Transport Plan.
Please write to us with your views and comments to: -
Mr John Bann Head of Transport and Highways Sheffield City Council Howden House 1 Union Street Sheffield S1 2SH
Please reference your letter as ‘Plan for Transport in Sheffield.
E-mail: [email protected]
If you want to know more…. This document can only give a flavour of our overall goal and direction of our plans for Sheffield. If you want to know more about the detailed direction of transport policies and implementation programmes you should read the relevant detailed policies, strategies and Action Plans that have been developed for specific parts of our transport programme.
All of these documents, as listed in Appendix A are available on the Councils website at www.sheffield.gov.uk
Paper or emailed copies are available on request from by contacting the address or email details above.
59 Alternative Formats If you would like a copy of this newsletter or any of the related documents in large print, audio format, Braille, on computer disk, or in a language other than English, please contact us at the address or email above, for this to be arranged.
Alternative language information here
60 Appendix A: Transport Policies, Strategies, Action Plans and Programmes
National Strategies Air Quality Strategy, Working Together for Clean Air, 2000 Moving Forward: The Northern Way, Business Plan 2005 - 2008
Regional Strategies The Yorkshire & Humber Plan (Draft 2005) - including the Regional Transport Strategy
South Yorkshire Strategies South Yorkshire Local Transport Plan (2006-2011) Bus Strategy (2006 – 2011), South Yorkshire, Making the Bus a Better Choice Rail Strategy, South Yorkshire, Making Rail a Better Choice Park and Ride Strategy (2006 – 2011) South Yorkshire, Making Public Transport a Better Choice Public Rights of Way Improvement Plan Road Safety and Casualty Reduction Strategy (2006 – 2011) South Yorkshire Congestion Delivery Plan (2006 - 2011)
Sheffield City Council Sheffield Development Framework Cycling Action Plan City Centre Car Parking and Access Strategy School Travel Plan Strategy (2004 –10) Ten Point Road Safety Action Plan Ten Point Congestion Action Plan Taxi Action Plan Transport Asset Management Plan Structures Asset Management Plan Transport Monitoring Strategy
Partnership Sheffield Transport Brokerage Project City Centre Transport Programme City On the Move – A Physical Activity Strategy for Sheffield
61 Appendix B: Glossary of Terms.
These are listed in the order they first appear in the document. An additional list for plans and strategies follows.
Accessibility – the opportunity to reach destinations within a reasonable time by a choice of modes, without being impeded by physical, social, or economic barriers. Active travel – travel modes that require personal physical activity, such as walking and cycling or public transport followed by walk/cycling. Active Sheffield Group – a local partnership set up to produce and deliver a physical activity strategy for Sheffield, comprising of Primary Care Trusts, the City Council’s Transport, Education and Leisure & Recreation services, as well as voluntary organisations. Air Quality Action Plan – a plan developed by a local authority to tackle an air pollution problem in a given area, incorporating a wide range of actions to reduce emissions from motor vehicles, industry and domestic heating. Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) – an area designated by the Council where air quality levels frequently fall below minimum Government standards and requiring a corresponding management plan to improve air quality. There are currently two AQMAs in Sheffield: -the City Centre and the M1 Corridor around Tinsley, which are related to air pollution, particularly NO2 from large numbers of motor vehicles. Alternatively fuelled vehicle – a vehicle that runs on fuels other than fossil fuels, such as biodiesel or electricity. Annual Progress Report (APR) - with reference to the LTP, an annual report which needs to be submitted to the Department for Transport detailing progress towards the delivery of the LTP objectives. Area Development Framework (ADF) – a strategic framework for a particular district that outlines the area’s issues and development aspirations and sets outs strategic actions and the local projects needed to deliver these. Bus priority – traffic management measures to benefit bus users by facilitating quicker and more reliable bus journeys, helping bus operators to keep to set timetables. Car Club – membership based scheme which gives access to short term car hire, reducing the need to own a car. Car share – journey-matching service for people making compatible car journeys, to enable them to share lifts. Care4Air – a campaign to raise awareness of air pollution problems around South Yorkshire and to highlight the actions people can take to reduce their personal contribution to air pollution levels. Child Safety Zone – an area or neighbourhood where a 20-mph speed limit and traffic calming measures have been introduced to reduce the number and severity of road accidents involving child casualties. City living – in Sheffield this is the encouragement of residential development at approved locations in the urban core, namely the Devonshire, Cultural Industries, Cathedral Quarters, Castlegate, St Georges, Kelham Island and Heart of the City.
62 Climate change – currently, the process of global warming resulting from increasing levels of Carbon Dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that trap the sun’s rays reflected from the Earth. Community regeneration – improving local centres and neighbourhoods by providing essential facilities and services. Congestion – reduced speeds or queuing on the road network caused by heavy traffic volumes (demand exceeds capacity) or highway obstructions, signal failures etc. Congestion Charging – this refers to a scheme which would allow local authorities to apply a charge to vehicles for entering a designated area. Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) – Council management of car parking in a specific area. Cordon count – a type of survey that counts all the items of interest e.g. vehicles, entering, leaving or passing through a defined area Cycle audit – a practical site assessment of how convenient and safe it is to cycle in a particular area, normally used to identify where improvements are needed. Danger Reduction Scheme – a road safety-engineering scheme that is designed to reduce road danger at a particular location. Demand responsive service – a particular transport service for which the provision of service reflects the current level of demand. Department for Transport – Government department responsible for overseeing the development & management of transport in England and Wales. Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) – Government department whose core purpose is to improve the current and future quality of life by integrating environmental, social and economic objectives - putting sustainable development into practice every day. Deregulation – removal of public transport operating regulations to encourage a competitive market. This happened in 1986 for bus services in the UK (but not in London). Diffusion tube – a piece of air quality monitoring equipment that is placed in an outdoor location and following chemical analysis, gives the background concentration levels of NO2. Dial-a-Ride – an initiative run by the Council, PTE or a Community Transport Operator to enable people with mobility difficulties or health problems to telephone a request for transport to their destination (and back) by one of a fleet of specialised mini-buses. Disability Discrimination Act 1995 – Government Act to reduce the disadvantage faced by disabled people if equal access facilitates are not provided. District centre – a place where people can go about their everyday business, usually comprising of a group of shops, a supermarket and a range of non-retail services such as banks and restaurants and local public facilities such as a library. Sheffield’s District centres are identified within the Sheffield Development Framework. Dropped crossing – a point on the pavement where the kerb has been lowered to allow step-free crossing of a road, which is particularly important for people with impaired mobility and wheelchairs.
63 Economic regeneration – actions to reverse economic failure in target areas, including physical improvements, attracting and growing businesses, skills-base and workforce development. Gateway – an entry feature identifying an area/ a road or junction that provides key access to an area. Gyratory – a large circulatory road system usually linking several main roads. Hail & Ride – a bus service that can be stopped and boarded at any point along its route by simply signalling to the driver. Highways Agency – Government agency responsible for maintaining and managing the motorway and trunk road network in the UK. Highway asset – the roads and footpaths an authority is responsible for. Housing Market Renewal – improvement of housing areas to provide a better mix of housing types and to regenerate neighbourhoods. Home Zone – residential streets in which the road space is shared between drivers of motor vehicles and other road users, with the wider needs of residents (including people walking, cycling or interacting in the street) being accommodated. Very low vehicle speeds are encouraged. Integrated Transport Allocation – funding allocated through the Local Transport Plan process for schemes that contribute to the transport priorities of road safety, accessibility, air quality and congestion. Intelligent Transport System (ITS) – the use of technology to improve management of traffic. Junction efficiency – how well a junction copes with traffic demand. Key Routes – main transport corridors identified within South Yorkshire as a priority for receiving LTP funding. KSI – ‘Killed and Seriously Injured’ – casualties of road traffic accidents who have received serious or fatal injuries. Local Community Master Planning – As ‘Master Planning’, but in a community context. Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) – all organisations locally that collectively have formed a partnership to progress a strategy and vision for Sheffield’s future. Local Transport Plan (LTP) – the local transport strategy, a statutory document produced every 5 years by local authorities and submitted to the Department for Transport, aiming to deliver more sustainable, safer and efficient transport. Low Emission Zone (LEZ) – a defined area where there is strict control of vehicle emissions by imposing entry restrictions on heavily polluting motor vehicles. Master Planning – the process of developing an integrated central plan that sets out the aspirations, future development and desired projects for a defined area or neighbourhood. Mode – type of transport, e.g. walking, cycling, car, bus, tram and train. Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) – a chemical produced by motor vehicle engines that is harmful to human health above a certain concentration. Non-principal road network - the subsidiary system of roads of local importance, mainly ‘A’ and ‘B’ roads.
64 North Sheffield Better Buses – a ‘Quality Partnership’ scheme between the Council, PTE and bus operators, focussing on the bus route between the Wicker and Chapeltown (mainly Barnsley Road) and involving the implementation of a Quality Bus Corridor including real-time information. The aim of the scheme is to provide more reliable and attractive bus services, benefiting bus users and encouraging modal shift. Objective 1 – European funded regeneration programme to support the development of the most economically deprived areas in the European Union including South Yorkshire. Park and Ride – provision of car parking facilities in an outer urban location which are directly linked to public transport routes for reaching the final destination (usually the city centre) Patronage – the number of passengers using a particular service. Peak period – times of the day where traffic is at its highest levels, commonly the morning and evening rush hour. Pedestrian refuge – a kerbed island in the middle of a road which allows pedestrians to wait safely on the refuge before crossing the second half of the road. Powered Two Wheeler – any two-wheeled motorised vehicle, including motorcycles, mopeds and scooters. Primary Care Trusts – Local NHS services that form the first line of health care provision to a community, e.g. Doctors surgeries. Privatisation – process of transferring from public to private ownership. Puffin crossing – a responsive pedestrian crossing with sensors to reduce delays to vehicles or provide extended green-man time for crossing pedestrians as necessary. Principal road network - the second tier road system acting as a regional and district distributor routes and complementing the trunk road network. The network is almost entirely made up of ‘A’ roads. Quality Bus Contract – a statutory contract that allows the PTE/Council to set the standards of bus service provision, including fares, frequency and vehicle type, and appoint operators that best meet the criteria. Quality Bus Corridor (QBC) – a key transport route that is treated with a range of traffic management and bus access measures to facilitate the reliability and attractiveness of bus travel along the route. Quality Bus Partnership – A statutory agreement between the PTE, Council and bus operators in which each party agrees to particular actions in return for related commitments from the others. It includes the development of Quality Bus Corridors by the Council/PTE in return for a guaranteed level of service from the operator(s). Real-time information – public transport information via a digital display board text messaging or Internet that tells you exactly when the next service will arrive at the stop, rather than when it is timetabled to arrive. Residents parking scheme – a scheme that demarks parking space in residential areas, and limits parking by users other than local residents and business at peak times through the introduction of parking permits. Road user charging – A system of charging for the use of certain roads to encourage non-essential users to travel by alternative means of transport or to travel at different times.
65 Safer Routes to School – A local scheme consisting of road infrastructure measures, such as pedestrian crossings, route signage, cycle paths and traffic calming, to make it safer for children to walk or cycle to school. Safety Camera Partnership – a partnership between the Police, local authorities, Highways Agency and Magistrates courts who analyse road accident hotspots to determine where safety cameras should be located, and installed. School Travel Plan – a strategy to improve safety and sustainable travel for children travelling to and from school. Sheffield Development Framework (SDF) – the suite of local planning documents for Sheffield, currently under development, that will replace the Unitary Development Plan (UDP) when adopted in 2008/2009. Sheffield Traffic Manager – a role required under the Traffic Management Act that focuses on reducing road congestion. Signal timings – how the time is apportioned to each arm of a traffic light controlled junction, including signal-controlled pedestrian crossings. Screen-line count – a type of survey that counts all the items of interest, e.g. vehicles, crossing a defined notional line Smarter Choices – techniques for influencing people's travel behaviour towards more sustainable options such as encouraging school, workplace and individualised travel planning. They also seek to improve public transport and marketing services such as travel awareness campaigns, setting up websites for car share schemes, supporting car clubs and encouraging teleworking. Snapshot speed survey – a survey that monitors the speed of randomly chosen vehicles within the defined survey area and time Socio-economic – involving both social and economic factors e.g. social - home ownership, education achievement, life expectancy; economic - growth of economy, numbers of jobs. South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) – organisation responsible for the strategic planning and day-to-day coordination of public transport in South Yorkshire. South Yorkshire Safety Camera Initiative – a countywide project to establish road safety cameras in the most critical locations to help prevent the occurrence of serious and frequent road accidents. Sustainability – meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs; doing something with the longer term in mind. SyITS (South Yorkshire Intelligent Transport System) – South Yorkshire specific system using technology to improve the management of traffic. Taxibus – door-to-door community transport bus service. Toucan crossing – a signal-controlled road crossing that allows both pedestrians and cyclists to cross. Traffic Management Act – Government legislation intended to provide better conditions for all road users. Traffic Watch – Sheffield initiative that updates the public on road conditions including accidents and congestion. The public are
66 encouraged to bring incidents to the Council’s attention through Traffic Watch. Transformational – a project, scheme or initiative which brings about significant positive gains in a city’s economic performance, employment levels and/or quality of life. Transport Act 2000 – act of parliament setting out legislation on transport issues, such as bus service partnerships and contracts. Transport for All Group – a group of Sheffield people that was set up to ensure that the needs of all members of society are met in the provision and development of transport networks, regardless of disability. TravelSmart – a marketing programme to provide people with information about how they can realistically make journeys by walking, cycling and public transport, with the aims to increase awareness of sustainable travel options and reduce dependency on the car. TravelWise – brand of a sustainable travel campaign. Trunk Road Network - the system of strategic routes of national importance which is intended for the movement of long distance traffic. The network includes all motorways and some ‘A’-class roads. The Highways Agency, not local authorities, is responsible for the maintenance and operation of the trunk road network. Urban Clearways – main roads that have parking and loading restrictions at specific times which facilitate the unimpeded movement of traffic, usually during peak periods. Urban Traffic Control (UTC) – technology used to control and coordinate traffic signals in an urban area, including crossings on the road network. Unclassified road network - the system of feeder roads comprising minor rural roads and urban estate roads. Variable message signs (VMS) – signs used to provide up-to-date information to road users about road works, traffic and car park spaces. Vehicle occupancy survey – a survey that counts the number of people travelling in all vehicles within the defined survey area and time Vulnerable road user – a user of the highway who is particularly vulnerable to sustaining a serious injury in the event of a road traffic collision because they are not protected by the hard body of an enclosed motor vehicle. They include pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, although some individuals within these categories are more vulnerable than others, for example, elderly pedestrians. Walking audit – an assessment of the convenience and safety of walking in a given area, normally used to identify where improvements to the walking environment are needed. Wheels to Work – an initiative set up in a particular neighbourhood, usually where public transport services are infrequent, to a provide a means of transport to work for people who are unable to obtain a driving license or can’t yet afford a car, such as mopeds or community buses. Workplace Parking Levy – charging for the use of workplace parking spaces to encourage travel by more environmentally friendly methods. Workplace Travel Plan – a tailored series of measures and actions to help an organisation to manage its travel needs in a sustainable and cost effective way.
67 Zebra crossing – a pedestrian crossing denoted by broad white stripes across the road where pedestrians have priority over motor traffic.
68