Phil Jones Associates

Transport Planning Consultants

Deltabridge Investments Ltd, Persimmon Homes & Miller Homes

Lichfield District Core Strategy

Preferred Options - Transportation

January 2009

Project Code 552

Phil Jones Associates Ltd The Courtyard 147 Worcester Road Hagley Stourbridge DY9 0NW Tel: 01562 887550 Fax: 0870 130 7622 Email: [email protected] www.philjonesassociates.co.uk

Deltabridge Investments Ltd, Persimmon Homes & Miller Homes

Lichfield District Core Strategy

Preferred Options - Transportation

CONTENTS PAGE

1 Introduction 1 2 Existing And Committed Transport Situation 2 3 Framework Proposals 9 4 Mitigation Of Development Impact 17 5 Summary 20

FIGURES

Figure 1 Lichfield – Strategic Location Figure 2 Lichfield – Principal Routes Figure 3 Lichfield Urban Area – Existing Cycle Links

APPENDICES

Appendix A Indicative Framework Development Plans Appendix B TravelSmart Information

Lichfield District Core Strate gy Deltabridge Investments Ltd, Persimmon Homes & Miller Homes

Deltabridge Investments Ltd, Persimmon Homes & Miller Homes

Lichfield District Core Strategy

Preferred Options - Transportation

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Phil Jones Associates has been commissioned by Deltabridge Investments Ltd, Persimmon Homes and Miller Homes to prepare this report, which considers the transportation effects of development that would create sustainable urban extensions to the north-east and south of the existing built-up area of Lichfield. This report forms part of a submission in response to the Core Strategy Preferred Options made by Pegasus Planning on behalf of the developers.

1.2 In preparing this report we have had close dialogue with the local Highway Authority, County Council, and have agreed the general approach of the study. Staffs CC have provided us with recent traffic data for the Lichfield area and the results of public transport accessibility testing carried out on their behalf by Atkins.

1.3 We would stress that this report should be regarded as an initial assessment of the transport impacts of the proposed development areas, and that further more detailed studies will be required in order to support any future planning applications. Nevertheless, the assessment is considered to be adequate to identify the principal effects of the development, and to confirm that its impact on the historic core of the City is capable of being mitigated to a satisfactory degree.

1.4 This report sets out the existing transport situation in and around Lichfield, then goes on to describe the development proposals and their attendant transportation measures. The impact of the overall package is then assessed using a combination of existing traffic count data; and Census and other data to inform travel demand forecasts, and the effects of the proposed mitigation measures.

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2 EXISTING AND COMMITTED TRANSPORT SITUATION

Location

2.1 Lichfield is a compact city with a population of some 28,000 (2001 Census) situated in south-east Staffordshire, forming the largest settlement in Lichfield District. Lichfield is one of a series of settlements (also including Cannock, and Tamworth) forming an arc around the north-eastern side of the West Midlands conurbation. Lichfield is located some 23km to the north of Birmingham city centre and the centre of , the nearest town within the Black Country, is some 14km to the south east. To the north east along the A38 corridor are Burton on Trent (18km) and Derby (35km).

Figure 1 - Lichfield – Strategic Location

2.2 Notwithstanding the fact that it is possible to commute from Lichfield to these and other nearby settlements, Lichfield is a relatively self-contained settlement, with a good range of employment opportunities and services, including an attractive retail core, schools, further and higher education centres health facilities and leisure and recreation facilities.

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2.3 This has been demonstrated through an analysis of journey to work data taken from the 2001 Census, which established that some 41% of Lichfield residents in employment (taken as the wards of Leomansley, St John’s, Boley Park, Chadsmead, Curborough and Stowe) work within the city. Of these journeys to work, almost half (48%) are made by sustainable modes of transport – walk, cycle, public transport or car share.

2.4 Staffordshire County Council commissioned Atkins to undertake an assessment to determine the most suitable locations for development in transport terms for Lichfield District, using Accession software. This assessment reviews sustainable transport accessibility to a range of services and facilities eg. employment, education establishments, GP surgeries and hospitals, and retail supermarkets. The sustainable transport accessibility results, together with population data, enabled an accessibility score to be derived.

2.5 The results showed that overall the existing centres of Lichfield, Burntwood, Armitage and parts of Fazeley and Alrewas are best placed for sustainable accessibility to employment. Lichfield, and the routes between the city and Burntwood and Walsall are best placed for sustainable access to further education facilities, and Lichfield and Burntwood are well served for sustainable access for primary and secondary schools. For sustainable access to GP surgeries, the centres of Lichfield, Burntwood, Fazeley, Alrewas, Shenstone, Armitage, Whittington and Stonnall are best served, whilst only residents in Lichfield and Fazeley are within a short public transport journey to a hospital. With regard to retail supermarkets, Lichfield, Burntwood, Little Aston and Fazeley were found to have good accessibility.

2.6 Overall, the centres of Lichfield and Burntwood and parts of Fazeley were found to be the most suitable locations for development in transport terms in order to maximise the accessibility to existing services and facilities.

Road Links

2.7 In terms of strategic road links, Lichfield is well located, being served by the A38 trunk road from Birmingham to Derby, and which joins with the M6 Toll immediately to the south of the city. The A5 trunk road is also easily accessible from the city, which runs parallel to the M6 Toll to the west and provides a route to the M42 motorway to the east.

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Figure 2 – Lichfield – Principal Routes

2.8 Other important radial routes are the A51 to Rugeley and Stafford (west) and to Tamworth (east); the A461 to Walsall, which joins with the A5190 to Burntwood at the Pipehill junction to the south-west of the city; the A5127 Birmingham Road which provides the most direct route to the M6 Toll junction T5; and the A5206 London Road which links to the A38 (south).

2.9 Orbital movements around the northern edge of the city are well catered for by the A5192 Eastern Avenue, which links the A51 with the two half-junctions on the A38 to the north and south of Streethay. Eastern Avenue also serves a significant amount of employment development.

2.10 A similar route around the southern edge of the city has been planned for sometime but is as yet incomplete. The western section of the Lichfield Southern Bypass link from the A461 Walsall Road to junction with St Foy Avenue was opened in 2003 as part of the Darwin Park residential development, which is now almost built out. St Foy Avenue was built at the same time and is now signed as the continuation of the Walsall Road A461 route, and has thus relieved the A461/A51 junction at The Friary of some through traffic.

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2.11 The next section of the Southern Bypass, from the junction with St Foy Avenue to the A5127 Birrmingham Road, was funded by further housing development; it is now under construction and is scheduled to open shortly.

2.12 Although the link from Birmingham Road to Walsall Road will have some benefits, distributing traffic to the new housing areas and the supermarket on Darwin Park, it will not yet provide an effective orbital route.

2.13 The final section of the Southern Bypass will link Birmingham Road with the junction of the A5206 London Road and the A51 Tamworth Road, thus providing a connection between all of the radial routes serving the south of the city. This will enable traffic movements between the eastern part of the city and the A461 Walsall Road and A5127 Birmingham Road to avoid the congested city centre, providing considerable traffic relief. More locally, the completed bypass will also remove through traffic from Shortbutts Lane, a residential link between the A51 and A5127 that currently functions as a sub-standard orbital route.

2.14 Preliminary designs for this remaining section of bypass have been prepared by the County Council and could be implemented, subject to funding.

Public Transport, Cycle and Walk Links

2.15 Lichfield is very well served by rail, a mode of travel which accounts for some 5% of all journeys to work from the city. Both Lichfield City and Lichfield Trent Valley stations are on the electrified Cross-City Line, which provides a high frequency service to Birmingham City Centre and 21 other stations to the north and south of the city, including Redditch, the southern terminus of the line. Lichfield City station is located a short distance to the south of the city centre and the bus station, and the Trent Valley station is located to the north of the city close to the Britannia Enterprise Park. There are at least 4 trains per hour in each direction, Monday to Saturday, and a half-hourly service on Sundays.

2.16 Lichfield Trent Valley is also served by trains on the West Coast Mainline operated by London Midland Trains, running between Crewe and London Euston with at least an hourly service Monday to Saturday and two-hourly on Sundays. There are also direct services to a number of important local destinations, including Stafford, Stoke and Tamworth. By changing trains at Rugby it is possible to reach London Euston in 95 minutes.

2.17 A variety of bus services operate in and around the city, all calling at the bus station located immediately to the south of the pedestrianised city centre. Whilst some longer distance services

Lichfield District Core Strate gy 5 Deltabridge Investments Ltd, Persimmon Homes & Miller Homes operate between Burton and Birmingham city centre, and to destinations such as Walsall, Rugeley and Stafford. The better connected services tend to be those that operate within the city itself, most notably those to the north of the city which operate on either a clockwise or anti-clockwise route, and those that operate between the city and more local destinations such as Cannock, Burntwood and Tamworth, all which generally operate with a 30 minute frequency.

2.18 Bus services on the southern side of the city are currently fairly limited however, the #765 operates between Lichfield and Tamworth via the Tamworth Road with two buses per hour. The #24 and #903 services that used to operate hourly from the city to Boley Park and between Burton, Lichfield via Darwin Park and Birmingham respectively, have been replaced with the #112 service. As a result one of the bus services that served Darwin Park has been withdrawn, however the #112 continues to operate along the Birmingham Road. The #381 service operates between Lichfield and Walsall via Darwin Park and the Birmingham Road, but this only provides a two hourly frequency. No services operate along the London Road/Upper St John Street route to/from the city centre.

2.19 Lichfield is a compact city, around 3.5km from one side to the other. It is therefore possible to walk from the outer suburbs to the city centre in about 20 minutes. It is also a city that is very suitable for cycling – while there are some hills on the southern and north-western edges of the town and within the Boley Park, the city centre is fairly flat. The travel time by cycle from the edge of the city to the centre is less than 10 minutes.

2.20 There is a comprehensive network of pedestrian routes, both alongside the principal streets and along traffic-free routes in some cases; and the cycle network is growing, with a series of improvements having taken place recently – including along Walsall Road, St Foy Avenue and Birmingham Road in the southern part of the city - and with further routes planned. Both of the city’s railway stations are on cycle routes. Lichfield is on the National Cycle Route 54, which provides largely traffic-free cycling to Burntwood and the West Midlands to the south; and to Burton on Trent and Derby to the north.

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Figure 3 - Lichfield Urban Area – Existing Cycle Routes

Transport Issues

2.21 Like many towns and cities with historic street patterns, Lichfield suffers from congestion, but this is generally limited to the peak hours and does not extend over the working day. The core of the city is pedestrianised and there is therefore only one principal north-south route through the city – Birmingham Road. This route also serves Lichfield City Station, city centre car parks and a Tesco store.

2.22 Birmingham Road joins with significant cross-routes at the traffic signal-controlled junctions with St John Street/Upper St John Street and Rotten Row/Greenhill; the latter forming the main access between the city centre and the principal suburban areas to the north and south. These junctions therefore experience the worst delays and queuing within the historic core. There is also congestion on the route through the southern edge of the city centre from The Friary along St John Street to the junction with Birmingham Road.

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2.23 Congestion on the outskirts of the city is experienced at the Pipehill junction where the A5190 to Burntwood joins the A461 Lichfield Road. Improvements are planned for this junction as part of LTADS, see below.

2.24 Staffordshire County Council, through their consultants Atkins, has developed a package of measures – the Lichfield Transport and Development Strategy (LTADS) to address these problems. LTADS consists of several strands of intervention, including:

• Strand 1 – City Centre access, safety and environment, including measures to deter through traffic from using St John Street and road space reallocation to encourage walking and cycling

• Strand 2 – Walking and cycling, providing improved facilities along 8 corridors leading to the city centre, making these modes safer and more attractive.

• Strand 3 – Public Transport, including improved services, bus station modernisation and real time information at stops.

• Strand 4 – Management of private car travel, including providing a parking strategy and encouraging employer green travel plans.

2.25 Other planned schemes noted in the LTADS report include the completion of the Southern Bypass, additional car parking at Trent Valley Station, improvements to the City Station and Bus Station and an improvement to the Pipehill junction.

2.26 The County Council has developed a contributions policy to ensure that new development within the city should contribute to the package of planned improvements in a fair and evidence- based manner, which assesses the impact of the development on the critical junctions within the city. This approach would be applied to the proposed urban extensions to the north-east and south of the city, which are discussed in more detail in the next section of this report.

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3 FRAMEWORK PROPOSALS

3.1 The land proposed to accommodate the forecast level of residential and employment development is generally located to the north-east and south of the existing built-up urban area of Lichfield city. The land being promoted in the north-east is adjacent to the existing residential area of Streethay and located to the north of the A5127, whilst the land being promoted to the south of the city forms three neighbourhoods: western, central and eastern. These are shown in the Indicative Development Framework Plans within the Land to the South of Lichfield – Background Document and Land at Streethay House Farm – Background Document prepared by Pegasus Planning. Copies are appended to this report for reference.

3.2 The western neighbourhood is located to the south-west of Falkland Road, which forms part of the Lichfield Southern Bypass, and west of the A5127 Birmingham Road. The central neighbourhood is located to the east of the A5127 Birmingham Road, and south and west of the existing residential development along Shortbutts Lane and London Road respectively. The eastern neighbourhood is located to the south of Cricket Lane and east of London Road.

3.3 The land at Streethay comprises around 25ha of land for residential and community uses, and around 15ha for public open space. Based on the initial framework work undertaken and reported in other submission documents, it is proposed that around 850 dwellings could be accommodated on this site.

3.4 The land to the south of Lichfield has also been subject to initial framework assessments. In total it is proposed that around 1650 dwellings could be accommodated on the three neighbourhoods (47ha), along with around 12.5ha of employment land, ancillary community facilities (1ha) for example a primary school, health facilities, local stores, and other community facilities that may be required, as well as public open space (around 49ha).

3.5 The provision of a mixed use (residential and employment) development is proposed in order to maximise the opportunity to create a sustainable transport strategy and integrate with the existing built-up area. The development proposals at Streethay, whilst being residential, are well located to access the nearby rail station and the existing and proposed employment centres just to the south at Birmingham Road, Eastern Avenue and at Britannia Enterprise Park. The mixed use development proposals to the south of the city ensure that homes (new and existing) and new employment are located in close proximity to one another, and that any community facilities would be able to serve existing and new development.

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Sustainable Access 3.6 In order for a development to have a sustainable transport strategy, it needs to ensure that it can be accessed by all transport modes so that no-one in the community is disadvantaged in terms of access to transport, and that travel by sustainable modes – walk, cycle, public transport (bus and rail), car share – can be maximised. This requires the walk and cycle desire lines to local destinations eg. local shops, schools, bus stops etc to be provided for in the layouts; that measures to encourage sustainable transport are provided eg. bus stops at suitable locations, high quality and frequency of services, provide new/enhance existing footways and cycleways; and encourage staff at the employment uses to use sustainable modes ie. walk, cycle, public transport or car share.

3.7 A network of footways and shared footway/cycleways would be provided within each of the development areas. These would be integrated with the existing network of footways and cycleways in the area to ensure maximum accessibility for all existing and new users in the localities. In addition, the developments would contribute towards the provision of new footway/cycleways including those already identified as desirable by the County Council and those that would be to the benefit of the proposed neighbourhoods in providing improved links to the city centre.

3.8 As noted earlier in this report, Lichfield has the benefit of two rail stations that provide high quality and frequent services to Birmingham city centre and other major centres for employment, retail and residential uses, such as Shenstone, Blake Street, Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield, Erdington, Five Ways, University, Redditch etc. Locating development on the edge of the existing urban area, to the north-east and south of Lichfield, ensures that new residents will be able to walk or cycle to the rail stations, and equally those travelling to Lichfield as employees or visitors will be able to travel via rail to reach the new development.

3.9 Provision of a high quality bus service for the southern part of the city would form a key part of the access strategy for the proposals. It is proposed that either a circular or ‘figure of 8’ service could be appropriate in order to ensure that buses can access the proposed and existing residential areas and provide links to the key city centre destinations eg. bus and rail stations, supermarkets, employment areas. In addition, the proposed development would create additional patronage for existing services and assist in maintaining their viability. The indicative route for this bus service is described in more detail in Section 4 below.

3.10 The development sites are bounded by, or in close proximity, to roads of a good design standard, and would easily integrate with the existing transport infrastructure. Access to the sites from these existing roads can be readily achieved. The indicative framework development plans at

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Appendix A shows the potential for two access points to the site at Streethay. Similarly the plan shows the potential for two access points into each of the western and eastern neighbourhoods and three to the central neighbourhood.

3.11 In relation to the land to the south, the western neighbourhood could be accessed from both the Southern Bypass (Falkland Road) at its junction with Fosseway Lane/Clay Pit Lane, and Birmingham Road. A new junction with Birmingham Road could provide the opportunity to establish a prominent gateway to the city, and a change in speed limit which would be reinforced by the existing commercial development on the eastern side of Birmingham Road and the proposed residential development on the western side.

3.12 The eastern neighbourhood could be accessed from Cricket Lane and London Road. As with the western neighbourhood, an access with London Road would provide the opportunity to establish a strong gateway to the city and a change in speed limit accompanied by the proposed development to reinforce the change in speed limit.

3.13 The central neighbourhood could be accessed principally from Birmingham Road and London Road, with a secondary access from Knowle Lane. The Lichfield Southern Bypass has been progressed over recent years, and the sections between Walsall Road and Birmingham Road are now complete and will be connected in the near future. The final section between Birmingham Road and London Road remains the last section to be provided.

3.14 The proposed development of the central neighbourhood would assist in providing the last part of the Lichfield Southern Bypass, and whilst enabling accesses to the development areas to both the north and south of the bypass as required, it will also provide significant relief to the city centre as east – west through traffic will have an alternative route. A secondary access with Knowle Lane could facilitate a more direct route to the eastern neighbourhood and assist with integrating the overall area of development with the existing built-up area. It could also provide greater scope for public transport accessibility and flexibility for routing.

Preliminary Trip Generation Forecasts 3.15 A spreadsheet assessment has been undertaken to derive forecast person-trip generations for the development proposals. Data from the 2001 Census, Department for Transport and other associated publications and sources have been used to derive a forecast for weekday peak hour person trips by journey purpose eg. work, education, shopping, personal business, and leisure.

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3.16 Overall, 3875 two-way person trips are forecast to be generated by the development sites in the AM Peak and 2995 two-way person trips in the PM Peak. The following table summarises the person trips by journey purpose for the two peaks.

Journey Purpose AM Peak PM Peak Work 2404 1989 Education 988 68 Shopping 92 222 Personal Business 253 290 Leisure 138 426 Total 3875 2995

Table 3.1 Total Forecast Two-way Person Trips

3.17 Census data for the six ‘central’ wards of Lichfield city – Boley Park, Chadsmead, Curborough, Leomansley, St John’s, and Stowe – was used in order to review residents’ journey to work characteristics. The data shows that around 9% of people in employment work from home, and of the trips made 41% are contained within the six ‘central’ wards with the remainder travelling further afield to other destinations that include Burton on Trent, Tamworth, Burntwood, Walsall, Kingsbury, Birmingham, Solihull, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Wolverhampton, Derby etc.

3.18 The mode split used by the 41% of trips made within the six ‘central’ wards was assessed and this showed that a high proportion of journey to work trips are made on foot within the city, and that overall 48% of journey to work trips are made by sustainable modes. As an average for all journeys to work (ie including trips outside Lichfield), 31% of journey to work trips from the city are made by sustainable modes.

3.19 The provision of new employment opportunities within the city and the proposed development is expected to increase the proportion of work journeys remaining within the city, and the number of trips made using sustainable modes.

Walk Cycle Bus Rail Car Car Other Total Passenger Driver (incl. M/cycle) Lichfield City Trips 1512 187 139 24 484 2562 14 4922 % 31% 3.8% 2.8% 0.5% 9.8% 52.1% 0% All Trips 1604 248 294 651 868 8347 20 12032 % 13.3% 2.1% 2.5% 5.4% 7.2% 69.3% 0.2%

Table 3.2 Journey to Work Mode Split, 2001 Census

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3.20 It is expected, given the current climate for sustainability which underpins much of the current national and local policy, that these mode share proportions will be improved upon by both current commuters and those associated with new development. This will occur as a result of many mechanisms, and could include the improvement to and provision of new footways, cycleways, enhancements to public transport services and facilities, provision and promotion of sustainable travel as part of new development ie. travel plans, careful control over the provision and management of parking spaces etc. Such initiatives are already planned by the County Council through the LTADS proposals, and the addition of further development within the city would serve to increase the level of investment in sustainable transport.

3.21 The following table summarises the mode share targets that have been used as part of the assessment. The Lichfield City mode share have been used as the basis for trips made within the development ie ‘Internal’, and the ‘All Trips’ mode share has been used as the basis for the trips ‘External’ to the development. The mode share targets are considered to be challenging but achieveable, especially with the improvements proposed for bus services and cycleways.

Walk Cycle Bus Rail Car Car Other Passenger Driver (incl. M/cycle) Internal 35% 10% 10% 0% 13% 32% 0% External 13% 5% 5% 5% 10% 62% 0%

Table 3.3 Journey to Work Mode Split Targets

3.22 The initial mode share targets used for education, shopping, personal business and leisure trips were taken from the DfT Focus on Personal Travel 2005. As with the travel to work trips, those journeys forecast to be made within the development were adjusted to reflect an improved mode share and the local situation ie. with the proposed primary school, travel plan and facilities being provided as part of the development. Those journeys to/from outside the development were adjusted to reflect an improvement in the proportion of cycle and public transport trips given the current/proposed provision of facilities and increase in school travel plans.

3.23 It should be noted that the DfT data shows negligible education related trips being made by rail, and whilst this is unlikely to be the situation for Lichfield, no data is currently available to make accurate adjustments. It is likely that the combined bus and rail mode share proportions would reflect the situation for education related trips.

3.24 The mode share targets used are summarised in the tables below.

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Walk Cycle Bus Rail Car Car Other Passenger Driver (incl. M/cycle) Education – Primary 75% 10% 5% 0% 4% 6% 0% Education - Secondary 60% 10% 25% 0% 2% 3% 0% Education – Further/Higher 60% 10% 20% 0% 3% 7% 0% Education - Private 60% 10% 25% 0% 2% 3% 0% Shopping 40% 10% 20% 0% 10% 20% 0% Personal Business 30% 10% 10% 0% 15% 35% 0% Leisure 40% 10% 10% 0% 20% 20% 0%

Table 3.4 Other Journey Purpose Mode Split Targets – Internal

Walk Cycle Bus Rail Car Car Other Passenger Driver (incl. M/cycle) Education – Primary 75% 10% 5% 0% 4% 6% 0% Education - Secondary 60% 10% 25% 0% 2% 3% 0% Education – Further/Higher 60% 10% 20% 0% 3% 7% 0% Education - Private 60% 10% 25% 0% 2% 3% 0% Shopping 25% 4% 9% 5% 21% 36% 0% Personal Business 20% 5% 4% 7% 26% 38% 0% Leisure 29% 3% 4% 3% 30% 31% 0%

Table 3.5 Other Journey Purpose Mode Split Targets – External

3.25 The total vehicle trips were forecast as summarised in the following tables. NB trips exclude those working from home and 20% of residential generated work trips assumed to be employed within new employment on site.

Walk Cycle Bus Rail Car Car Total Passenger Driver (incl. M/cycle) Work 363 124 124 102 235 1372 2320 Education – Primary 365 49 24 0 20 29 487 Education - Secondary 153 26 64 0 5 8 256 Education – Further/Higher 107 18 36 0 6 13 180 Education - Private 41 7 17 0 1 1 67 Shopping 25 4 10 3 17 29 88 Personal Business 56 15 14 12 59 95 251 Leisure 47 8 9 2 35 37 138 Total 1157 251 298 119 378 1584 3787

Table 3.6 Forecast Trips by Journey Purpose and Mode – AM Peak

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Walk Cycle Bus Rail Car Car Total Passenger Driver (incl. M/cycle) Work 301 102 102 84 194 1133 1916 Education – Primary 26 3 2 0 1 1 33 Education - Secondary 11 2 4 0 0 0 17 Education – Further/Higher 8 1 3 0 0 0 12 Education - Private 3 0 1 0 0 0 4 Shopping 62 12 23 10 43 72 222 Personal Business 65 18 15 17 68 109 292 Leisure 141 23 26 8 112 115 425 Total 617 161 176 119 418 1430 2921

Table 3.7 Forecast Trips by Journey Purpose and Mode – PM Peak

3.26 Of these trips, around 19% are ‘internal’ to the development, and of the remaining 81% of ‘external’ trips, based on the journey to work census data around 33% (81% x 0.41) would remain within the city and 48% would be assigned to the wider highway network.

3.27 The following table (with rounding errors) summarises the ‘Internal’ and ‘External’ total person and total vehicle trips.

AM Peak PM Peak Person Trips Vehicle Trips Person Trips Vehicle Trips Internal 739 145 529 142 External 3052 1440 2494 1291 Total 3790 1585 2923 1433

Table 3.8 Summary Forecast Trips – all Development Sites

Distribution 3.28 2001 Census data was used in order to derive a distribution for the ‘External’ vehicle trips forecast to be generated by the proposed development areas. As detailed above 41% of journey to work trips were shown to be contained within the city of Lichfield, and the remainder to destinations further afield such as Tamworth, Birmingham, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Solihull, Coventry etc.

3.29 The following table summarises the distribution derived from the census data, and the total number of two-way vehicle trips.

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Destination City Wider Area AM Peak PM Peak North Lichfield 57% 334 299 Central/East Lichfield 17% 101 91 Central & city centre 11% 67 61 West Lichfield 15% 89 79 A38 North 15% 123 110 A51 East 4% 36 32 A5 East 11% 92 83 A38 South 22% 186 167 A5127 South 13% 114 102 A461 South 18% 151 135 A5 West 3% 22 20 A5190 West 7% 58 51 A51 North 8% 66 60 Total 1439 1290

Table 3.9 Distribution for Forecast Vehicle Trips

3.30 Of these trips, those from the South of Lichfield development area travelling to/from North Lichfield, the A51 North, to the Central/city centre area, some of those to West Lichfield, would be likely to pass through the more congested city centre junctions. For trips from the Streethay site, those travelling to/from the Central/city centre area, to West Lichfield, and for routes to the A5127 South, A461 South, A5 West and A5190 West would assign through the city centre. A total of 376 additional two-way vehicle trips in the AM Peak and 356 two-way vehicle trips in the PM Peak are forecast to travel through the city centre.

3.31 These development related vehicle trips would represent around a 15% increase in traffic on Birmingham Road south-west of the city centre, and a 5% increase in traffic on Birmingham Road east in the vicinity of the station frontage.

3.32 In making this preliminary assessment of transport demand it has been found that locating development adjacent to the existing settlement of Lichfield city would provide a sustainable option in transportation terms. Existing levels of sustainable transport are high, and the proposed development would continue and enhance this situation. In total around 47% of the vehicle trips forecast would remain within the city and many of these trips would avoid the use of a car.

3.33 The development would nevertheless have the potential to increase traffic through the city centre core, and the measures needed to mitigate this impact are discussed in the next section of this report.

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4 MITIGATION OF DEVELOPMENT IMPACT

4.1 A broad range of measures will be used to mitigate the traffic impact of the four areas of development proposed around the city.

4.2 Sustainable travel will be encouraged by both the provision of new and improved facilities and through the active promotion of sustainable travel for both existing and new residents, through a comprehensive travel plan incorporating personalised travel marketing. In addition the provision of new mixed development, incorporating employment, educational and other facilities in close proximity to existing and new housing, will give additional opportunities to make shorter journeys by sustainable modes.

4.3 As noted in Section 2, bus provision around the southern side of the city is presently fairly limited, certainly compared to the northern part of the city, which is largely a reflection of the smaller amount of development in this area, and the limited patronage that results. The provision of a significant amount of new housing to the south will make new services viable, which will benefit both existing and new residents of the area.

4.4 Further discussions with the County Council and local bus operators will need to take place, but at this stage it is envisaged that there would be a new ‘figure of 8’ bus service. This would run from the city centre north on Birmingham Road towards Tescos and the Trent Valley Station, on towards Britannia Enterprise Park and Boley Park, along Ryknild Street and Tamworth Road to the eastern neighbourhood, and then continue north via the central neighbourhood and Upper St John Street. This provides the opportunity to call at, or stop close to, the City rail/bus stations. The route would then continue west along Birmingham Road, via Darwin Park, with the opportunity to call at Waitrose during off-peak periods, then south to the western neighbourhood, onto Birmingham Road close to the existing Plumb Centre etc, and then north to route via the central neighbourhood and Upper St John Street to return to the city centre.

4.5 This new service would not only serve to reduce the traffic generation of the new housing; it would also encourage some existing car-borne trips to transfer to public transport, thus reducing background traffic flows, particularly for journeys to the city centre.

4.6 Similarly extensions to the city’s cycle network are planned to serve the development areas, as shown on the Framework Plans. These would link with existing routes and those already proposed by LTADS to form an integrated network of routes. Some of these routes would be away from traffic – for example the route across the recreation ground north of Shortbutts Lane, which would form a key link from the central neighbourhood to the city centre and to the nearby

Lichfield District Core Strate gy 17 Deltabridge Investments Ltd, Persimmon Homes & Miller Homes secondary schools, and the route alongside London Road via the canal corridor, which would serve the eastern neighbourhood.

4.7 Other routes would be via lightly trafficked streets, or where no other option is available by providing on-carriageway cycle lanes, similar to those that currently exist on Walsall Road. Signalised (toucan) crossing points would be provided at key locations to enable cyclists to cross busy carriageways, either stand alone or as part of signal-controlled junctions.

4.8 Pedestrians would also be able to use the cycle routes, which would be of suitable width to avoid conflict with cyclists.

4.9 Providing the sustainable measures is only part of the picture however. Experience over recent years has shown that there are major benefits to be gained from promoting the use of sustainable transport via Travel Plans. These would be produced for both the residential and employment development within the urban extension.

4.10 The Travel plans for the residential developments would be based on Individualised Travel Marketing (ITM), which is also branded as ‘TravelSmart’ by Sustrans, the charity responsible for the development of the National Cycle Network and for promoting sustainable transport generally. Phil Jones Associates has experience of setting up Travel Plans, with the support of Sustrans, that incorporate ITM/TravelSmart, alongside the provision of sustainable transport measures.

4.11 Information on the operation of TravelSmart is contained in Appendix B. The TravelSmart process uses direct contact with households to identify and meet their individual needs for support, and to motivate people to think about their day-to-day travel choices. Most of the TravelSmart projects carried to date were on existing residential areas where no new sustainable transport measures were provided. Nevertheless, some considerable reductions in traffic generation were obtained – of the order of 10% to 13%. When the process is carried out in conjunction with improvements to public transport, cycle and walk routes, greater reductions can be expected.

4.12 The TravelSmart process would be carried out on new households by the Travel Plan Coordinator as they move into the development areas, informing them about the transport choices that are open to them. To encourage the take up of sustainable travel choices, we envisage that the Travel Plan Coordinator will have access to funds – for example for bus taster tickets, or for trial membership to a car club – that would be used to meet the particular requirements of each household.

Lichfield District Core Strate gy 18 Deltabridge Investments Ltd, Persimmon Homes & Miller Homes

4.13 TravelSmart would not be limited to the new households however; we envisage that the Travel Plan Coordinator would be funded to make contact with existing households in adjacent areas in order to promote the new travel choices that are open to them, similar to the work of Sustrans as set out in Appendix B.

4.14 This process would help to reduce the existing traffic generation of Lichfield households, helping to create some ‘headroom’ to accommodate the increased traffic that would inevitably be generated by the new development.

4.15 Notwithstanding the emphasis on sustainable modes, some highway improvements will also be needed to mitigate the impact of the expansion of the city, both within the built-up area and on the surrounding road network. Some impact can be expected on the trunk road network and the development team would work closely with the Highways Agency to reach agreement on the scale of any mitigation works.

4.16 As noted earlier, the completion of the Lichfield Southern Bypass would be an important piece of infrastructure, which would be facilitated by the developments. The missing section between the Birmingham Road is crucial to the effectiveness of the link, and once this is completed the bypass will relieve the historic core and of considerable volumes of traffic.

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5 SUMMARY

5.1 The work undertaken to date by Staffordshire Council concludes that in terms of accessibility South Lichfield and the land around Streethay are the most accessible locations within the District and are therefore the most suitable locations for new development.

5.2 This work has been supplemented by the transportation study that has been undertaken by Phil Jones Associates, reported in this submission. Lichfield has been shown to be a compact settlement with a wide range of facilities and good public transport, which is fairly self-contained.

5.3 The study has also concluded that there are opportunities to link development in the city to the existing and planned public transport, walk and cycle networks. Extensions to these networks will be provided as an integral part of the planned developments, enabling new and existing residents to make more journeys by sustainable modes of transport. The access strategy for the development areas has considered access by all modes, and ensures that travel by sustainable modes is prioritised and encouraged over the private car. The provision of new areas of mixed development will also increase the ability of existing local residents to meet their day-to-day needs by making local journeys, many of which will be on foot or cycle.

5.4 Comprehensive Travel Plans are proposed for the new developments that will encourage sustainable trip-making. The residential travel plan will make use of Individualised Travel Marketing (TravelSmart) and this initiative will be extended to existing residents of the surrounding area, in order to help reduce background traffic traffic levels.

5.5 Further development in Lichfield will also facilitate the completion of the Lichfield Southern Bypass, from its current terminal point on Birmingham Road, to Tamworth Road. This final leg of the bypass is critical to it achieving its primary function of relieving the historic core of significant volumes of traffic, and will mitigate the limited traffic impact of new development within the city centre.

5.6 An initial assessment has been made of the additional travel demands that would be generated by the planned extensions to the city. This has shown that, in the absence of any mitigation measures, there would be a limited impact on the historic core. However, this impact can be successfully mitigated through

• improvements to sustainable transport networks • reductions in background traffic through the ‘TravelSmart’ process; and • highway improvements including the completion of the Lichfield Southern Bypass

Lichfield District Core Strate gy 20 Deltabridge Investments Ltd, Persimmon Homes & Miller Homes

5.7 With these measures in place, it is concluded that the city can accommodate the planned increase in housing, employment and local facilities.

5.8 We look forward to working with Lichfield District Council, Staffordshire County Council and the Highways Agency to develop the transportation strategy for these sustainable urban extensions as the planning process moves forward.

Phil Jones Associates Ltd

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APPENDIX A Indicative Framework Development Plans

Lichfield District Core Strate gy Deltabridge Investments Ltd, Persimmon Homes & Miller Homes

Land at Streethay House Farm, Burton Road, Streethay

KEY

25 Existing landscape features

Pond 1 Bus route / bus stops Elverceter Country Park Track The Field Cottage

Pond BM 67.68m

Streethay Cottage Existing bridleway

Pond Existing footpath 70m H8

StreethaySt thh HouseHoHououseu H4 FarmF m Listed Buildings

tre S Playing Fields

5127 A 75m MP 18.75 Existing residential ew 80m (on site) H9 ethay

Warehouse Existing employment ROAD (on site) (1.91ha) H5 Spinney View Proposed H7 woodland Streethay Street Proposed residential

1 Ryknild Level Crossing (24.3 ha gross)

(PH) Indicative residential capacity Laburnum Bungalows BM Cottage 73.62m of 850 dwellings @ 35 dph

The Cedars

Rose Cottage H6 Public73.2m House Leysters Cedar LB Cottage 1 Proposed public open space

9 Def Laburnum 9 House ASH (15 ha) 2 H2 TREE 6 HOLLAND 73.9m LANE

12 CLOSE Hollands GP 3 8 Crossing Friary House The Poplars

15 ROAD TCB BURTON Indicative proposed access

ED 12 & 1 25 Ward CROFT Bdy 4 MP.25 7 2 Trent Vale House Level MEADOW BSS CLOSECL Crossing 76.9m 9 TT DYOTT Depot FF 1 74.5m H3 11 5127 development A currently under Proposed landscaping Factory 11 2 construction

61 ROAD SP SLs Garage 23 OLD 19 18 VULCAN H1 74.94m Def Tank Und Depot BM ROAD Garage BURTON

9 10

16 LB 45 Proposed footpath/cycleway PO 17 WB 16 The Cottage Warehouse 14 Works

5 35 41 18 House

BAILYE CLOSE Yew Tree 35 Pond 20

Lodge 26 2 73.6m 75.17m Sta BM

1 25 Trent Valley 45 FF Cottages 8

1 DRIVE Link to Railway station Works BEXMORE EASTERN 25 Bdy Tank Pond ROAD 31 ED 6 BURTON rks AVENUE 7

12 55 SLs Streethay 1 Warehouse 76.0m

Crane 19 74.1m El Sub Sta 60 Travelling 61 11

CR 63

15 SP Gateway

Def 70 71 Depot

Trent Valley Pavilion FF Cottage

ROAD Depot Tank 74.4m 79 OLD

Chimney

Ridware BURTON House BM 75.30m Community hub Bowling Green ED 1 4 and Depot FF

Ward

3 Bdy 2 Ppg Sta (1.5 ha)

Street ROAD of) Ryknild ROMAN (course 75.9m Howarth El Sub Sta House LC 1 Und STATIONSTAT APPROACH Pumping station 7 Depot The Trent 76.6m ROAO Valley Und Def SB (Hotel) Works Def VALLEY Depot Und SB Tank Def LANE LC

SL FF 76.0m ROAD Feature square VALLEY TRENT

SB MP SL LB SP

STATION CROSSFIELD Lichfield (Trent Valley) Station APPROACH Lichfield The ACH El ROAD (Trent Valley) Def Sub Sta Works Railway Station SP Works Scheduled ancient

Und SL monument

Depot Works

Tank Industrial Estate

26 25 to 24

9 to

10 19

8 15 11 to

16 Crossfield

18

House

4

2 to 3

1

CAPPERS

LANE LANE

© Copyright Pegasus Planning Group llp. © Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Copyright Licence number 100042093 I Promap Licence number 100020449 . Drawings prepared for planning application purposes and can be scaled (drawings are not to be used for construction or sales documents). Please refer to (client) for development design risk assessment documents. Pegasus Urban Design is part of Pegasus Planning Group LLP. Any queries to be reported to Pegasus for clarification.

north

0 50 100 200m Land at Streethay House Farm, Lichfield - Illustrative Development Framework | T 01285 888084 | F 01285 885115 | www.ppg-llp.co.uk | | Team MC/JA | JanuaryIllustrative 2009 | 1:2500 @A1 | Pegasus Urban Development Design | drwg.BIR.2007_02-6 | Miller Homes Framework Plan

6 Land to the South of Lichfield

Indicative Development Framework Plan

6

APPENDIX B TravelSmart Information

Lichfield District Core Strate gy Deltabridge Investments Ltd, Persimmon Homes & Miller Homes

Leading the way in travel behaviour change

INFORMATION SHEET FF36

TravelSmart holds the key to one of the It delivers measurable and sustained greatest challenges facing transport reductions in car use by enabling people to planners in the 21st Century – make a few changes to their daily travel reversing the trend towards increased choices when and where it suits them best. car use and tackling its impacts on climate, public health and quality of TravelSmart has been pioneered in the UK life. by Sustrans, working in co-operation with Socialdata, a leading international transport By encouraging more walking, cycling and social research institute, which has and use of public transport through developed the ITM technique over the past Individualised Travel Marketing (ITM), 20 years. The approach has been applied TravelSmart has demonstrated that successfully in behaviour change changing travel behaviour is both programmes targeting a total of more than possible and hugely important to a three million people in Australia, the United range of policy objectives. Robust States, Canada, Germany, Austria, evidence of its cost-effectiveness, Switzerland and France, as well as the UK. drawn from pilot projects and large- scale campaigns dating back to 2001, ITM was developed specifically to tackle has placed TravelSmart at the leading the subjective barriers preventing greater edge of the ‘Smarter Choices’ use of walking, cycling and public movement in the UK. transport. In particular, travel behaviour research has shown that a significant With a current programme targeting proportion of car trips could be made quite in excess of 175,000 households, feasibly by other modes, but a lack of including two of the three Sustainable information and misperceptions about Travel Demonstration Towns relative journey time and the quality of the (Peterborough and Worcester), alternatives frequently prevents these from TravelSmart is now proving its worth being used.1 alongside road-user charging and other bold and innovative transport As a result, through a uniquely customer- policy measures as a means of focused approach, all ITM programmes ensuring the success and undertaken by Sustrans and Socialdata sustainability of our towns and cities. since 2003-04 have delivered significant increases in use of all sustainable travel TravelSmart works with households modes, leading to relative reductions in car offering tailor-made information and trips of between 9 and 14%. support, enabling people to walk, cycle and use public transport more often.

Sustrans is the UK’s leading sustainable transport charity and works on practical projects to encourage people to walk, cycle and use public transport to benefit health and environment. 2 Cathedral Square, College Green, Bristol, BS1 5DD Registered Charity No. 326550

www.sustrans.org.uk INFORMATION SHEET FF36

Target Population

Personal contact by phone or on the doorstep

Regular user Regular user Interested Not interested of sustainable modes of sustainable modes in using sustainable in using sustainable w/out info needs with info needs modes modes

Making contact with households on Reward only Information pack Eco-driving info/ the doorstep... (+ reward for regular users) no further conact

Personal delivery Personal delivery By post

Home advice session

Evaluation

The TravelSmart ...and by phone. Why TravelSmart process works The TravelSmart process – known as Extensive travel behaviour research, for Individualised Travel Marketing (ITM) – example in the three Sustainable Travel uses direct contact with households to Demonstration Towns, has shown that: identify and meet their individual needs for support, and to motivate people to think • Most of people’s day-to-day trips about their day-to-day travel choices. are local • A quarter of all car trips are less than It begins with personal contact, either by two miles telephone or on the doorstep, with • Most people are concerned about traffic households in the target area. This initial growth and support policies favouring contact enables the target population to public transport, walking and cycling be ‘segmented’ into three main groups: above car travel existing regular users of sustainable travel • Around half of all local car trips could be modes; non-regular users who are replaced by sustainable travel modes interested in receiving information on using existing facilities alternatives to the car, and those who are • Lack of information about the not interested in taking part. alternatives to the car, and motivation to try them out, are key barriers to change Most of the ITM campaign focuses on households in the ‘interested’ group. TravelSmart captures this potential for They receive a TravelSmart order form change by offering personalised enabling them to choose from a range of information and support, encouraging local travel information materials and people to discover the benefits of walking, other services, provided by the local cycling and public transport for authority, public transport operators and themselves. other project partners. The requested items are assembled into personalised packages and hand-delivered to the households who requested them. Outcomes of recent TravelSmart ITM projects

Relative change Target Population Relative change in in trips by Location Date (households) car as driver trips sustainable modes (average)

Peterborough (Stage 1) 2005 6,500 -13% +20%

Peterborough (Stages 2 & 3) 2006 11,750 -10% +12%

1 Worcester (Stage 1) 2005 6,300 -12% +20%

Worcester (Stage 2) 2006 8,600 -12% +19%

Preston & South Ribble (Stage 1) 2006 10,700 -13% +36%

Lancaster & Morecambe (Stage 1) 2006 8,500 -12% +16%

1 Both Worcester programmes were evaluated using telephone surveys (after) and postal travel behaviour surveys (before).

Households that are not regular users of for subsequent monitoring, and also to specific sustainable travel modes are also provide hard evidence of the potential for offered a range of further services to changing travel behaviour through enable them to try these out. These Smarter Choices. Sustrans is also services include home visits, conducted contributing to the development of new by a local bus driver or other local travel travel information resources (e.g. expert, and the offer of a small incentive neighbourhood sustainable travel maps such as a test ticket for local bus services, and stop-specific bus timetables) to a cycle trip computer or a pedometer. support each ITM campaign. Regular users are offered a reward to reinforce their travel behaviour together A further TravelSmart programme is being with a personalised information pack if developed with the West of required (similar to the interested group). Partnership with funding from the South West Regional Development Agency.

Current work Co-ordinated from Bristol by Sustrans and Socialdata (which also manages postal Socialdata During 2007, Sustrans and and telephone contact with the target completed delivery of large-scale ITM population), each ITM campaign is orcester and Peterborough campaigns in W implemented on the ground by a team of as part of their Sustainable Travel specially trained household canvassers, Demonstration Town programmes, and a delivery staff and travel advisers working further programme targeting 50,000 from a local Sustrans field office. households in Lancashire. These campaigns are being evaluated during 2008. Outcomes of In 2008-10 Sustrans and Socialdata are working on three large-scale ITM projects TravelSmart targeting a total of 75,000 households in Exeter, Lowestoft and Watford, with The outcomes of recent large-scale funding from the Big Lottery Fund’s TravelSmart (shown in the table) are Wellbeing Programme. derived from detailed travel behaviour surveys conducted before and after each In each case the ITM work has been ITM campaign. These take into account preceded by a programme of travel ‘background’ changes and apply to the behaviour research, to provide a baseline whole target population approached to INFORMATION SHEET FF36 take part in the ITM campaign (not just Promoting active participating households). travel The evaluation of the first stages of the Peterborough and Worcester Increasing levels of physical activity is a programmes has shown that the overall key strategy for tackling obesity and other changes were achieved at the individual life-limiting health conditions. By level by switching an average of around promoting walking and cycling for day-to- 60 car trips per person per year to other day journeys, TravelSmart enables people forms of transport, or a little more than one to adopt more physically active – and car trip per week across the population. In healthy – lifestyles. Building on the Households select information from a TravelSmart order form. Peterborough, more detailed surveys evidence of modal shift generated by ITM, also showed that: Sustrans is now working with Socialdata • The reductions in car use were and other partners to demonstrate its concentrated during peak times in the wider public health benefits. morning and afternoon. • There was a 15 per cent reduction in A TravelSmart programme in Gloucester, distances travelled by car for day-to-day funded through Active England (jointly trips – a total annual saving of over 9 operated by Sport England and the Big million km. Lottery Fund), was the first in the UK specifically to incorporate the promotion In both Worcester and Peterborough, a of physical activity alongside sustainable separate analysis of bus patronage data travel. Targeting around 4,000 Personalised packages are is being used to corroborate the findings households in an inner-city assembled in a local office. of the evaluation surveys. Similar neighbourhood, TravelSmart was monitoring was conducted as part of an successful in generating levels of modal earlier TravelSmart project in Gloucester, shift comparable to those achieved by an which also provided evidence that earlier TravelSmart programme in the behaviour change achieved by ITM was relatively affluent suburb of Quedgeley. sustained for at least three years.2 The detailed evaluation showed that the An independent evaluation published by shift from car travel to walking, cycling and the Department for Transport in 2005 public transport resulted in a 15% provided powerful evidence of the cost- increase in average daily exposure to effectiveness of TravelSmart in relation to physically active forms of travel. By a range of other ‘personalised travel marketing local sports and leisure facilities planning’ measures. This reviewed five alongside sustainable travel options, the TravelSmart projects undertaken during TravelSmart programme also generated 2003-04 in Bristol, Gloucester, increases in participation in other forms of Nottingham, Northumberland and physical activity, including sport. Sheffield.3 Even without an explicit focus on physical The efficacy of TravelSmart was further activity, TravelSmart brings public health highlighted in the seminal Smarter benefits from increased levels of walking Choices report in 20044, and more and cycling as part of people’s daily recently in an extensive research report routines. The evaluation of the first stage published in 2007, also by the of the Peterborough programme (see Department for Transport, on personal table) demonstrated that the reported travel planning (PTP). This study reviewed increases in sustainable travel resulted in all evaluation reports published since an 18% increase in daily time spent using 2005 on PTP programmes in the UK; of 12 physically active forms of travel. interventions reporting quantified effects on car use, 11 were conducted by Sustrans and Socialdata using the TravelSmart approach.5

Tackling climate An economic appraisal change of TravelSmart Reducing carbon emissions from Sustrans’ Research and Monitoring transport is critical to tackling climate Unit (RMU) has conducted a pilot change – widely seen as the greatest economic appraisal of TravelSmart threat facing the world today. TravelSmart using data from the first three stages achieves significant reductions in of the MyTravelchoice ITM distances travelled by car, and hence in programme in Peterborough. The appraisal valued the benefits of ITM Information packs are delivered by CO2 emissions from road transport and bike and on foot. because the changes achieved by based on the findings of two interim TravelSmart are sustained over time, evaluation surveys, including these benefits accrue on an annual basis. decongestion, environment, physical activity, absenteeism and accidents. Recent large-scale TravelSmart projects Against these were weighed the have resulted in annual savings in car full costs of developing and travel ranging from 740 to 1,700 km per implementing the three ITM household. Based on the lower figure in campaigns (which together targeted a total of more than 18,000 this range, and the average CO2 emissions per km of new cars sold in households during 2005-06) 2005, it is estimated that a national including local authority staff time and TravelSmart programme targeting all 25 information materials, and the loss of A household in Worcester receives million households in the UK would save tax revenues due to reduced car their travel information. around 0.9 MtC a year. This compares, mileage. The resulting benefit:cost for example, to the projected annual ratio of 7.6 to 1 compares very saving of 1MtC from converting 5% of fuel favourably to most large infrastructure for UK road transport to biofuels in line schemes and would be considerably with the Renewable Transport Fuel higher without the loss of tax revenues Obligation.6 which accounted for 95% of the scheme’s costs. Based on this and With climate change climbing the political other experience, Sustrans is working agenda – and the pressing need for with the DfT in the context of the solutions to tackle spiralling carbon ‘refresh’ of the New Approach to emissions from transport – it is hoped that Appraisal on a developmental the UK will soon follow the example of approach to the appraisal of ITM. Australia, where the national Greenhouse Office has been the driving force behind the growth of some of the world’s largest environmental and health benefits, the TravelSmart ITM programmes. resulting shift from car travel to walking, cycling and public transport would significantly reduce the need for more Costs and benefits spending on new roads.

Beyond the value of carbon savings, Sustrans is working with Socialdata and TravelSmart and other partners to provide evidence of the Residential Travel wider cost-effectiveness of TravelSmart (see box). However the case for further Planning investment is already compelling. For example, with a delivery cost of around TravelSmart has a key role to play £20 per household, ITM could be alongside other elements of a successful extended to a city the size of Birmingham Residential Travel Plan, in reducing the (with 400,000 households) for around £8 transport impacts of new housing million – the cost of a little over a quarter a developments. This is being mile of motorway.7 In addition to the demonstrated by a unique TravelSmart INFORMATION SHEET FF36 pilot project under way in Doncaster. In Bringing TravelSmart this case, the target population includes more than 200 households on a new to your area residential development, alongside 2,300 existing households, in the Bessacarr Sustrans and Socialdata have an area of the town. This is the first unparalleled track record in delivering TravelSmart programme to be funded high-quality TravelSmart ITM through developer contributions, following programmes. Our service extends from an agreement with house-builders Miller initial project design through Homes and Ben Bailey Homes brokered implementation and project management by planning officers at Doncaster to evaluation and reporting. Some Personal home advice sessions offer additional support on walking, Metropolitan Borough Council. detailed inputs are required from the local cycling and public transport. authority, including: • Identification of suitable target area and Locking in the provision of available address benefits databases; • Building support across transport There is growing evidence that planning departments and among TravelSmart can significantly increase political representatives; the impact of new or improved public • Provision of high-quality information transport services, helping to maximise materials on local public transport, the return on public investment in large cycling and walking. capital infrastructure projects. • Liaison with local bus operator(s) to provide in-kind support for ITM programme. Bristol’s first TravelSmart project, funded through the city’s EU CIVITAS VIVALDI programme, was designed to test the References effectiveness of combining TravelSmart with the development of a new Quality 1 Socialdata/Sustrans, Travel Behaviour Research, Baseline Survey 2004, Sustainable Travel Bus Corridor (QBC). The results Demonstration Towns and Socialdata/Sustrans, corroborated evidence from elsewhere - Travel Behaviour Research on behalf of Lancashire that well-targeted marketing of an County Council, Baseline Survey 2006 improved bus service can dramatically 2 Presented at the Funding Transport Infrastructure: increase its positive impact on patronage, Understanding the New Approach Conference, in this case more than doubling the London, 22 June 2006. increase in bus use achieved by the QBC 3 Department for Transport, Personalised travel alone.8 planning: evaluation of 14 pilots part funded by the DfT, 2005.

The reverse also holds true: there is a 4 Department for Transport, Smarter Choices – broad consensus that the effects of Changing the Way We Travel, October 2004. Smarter Choices programmes are 5 Full report and summary available on the reinforced by ‘hard’ traffic restraint Department for Transport website: measures such as re-allocation of road http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/sustainable/travelplans/ space, road-user charging, parking ptp/ 9 controls. Without this, there is a risk that 6 Department for Transport, Renewable Transport local traffic reductions will be lost in the Fuel Obligation feasibility report, November 2005. long term as a result of wider trends 7 The average cost of constructing a mile of towards increased car use. motorway is £29.9 million. Local Transport Today, 2 November 2006, p24.

8 Socialdata/Sustrans, TravelSmart Bristol (Bishopsworth and Hartcliffe) A report on Bristol’s first VIVALDI Individualised Travel Marketing project, September 2005.

9 Department for Transport, Smarter Choices – Changing the Way We Travel, October 2004.

2008