Existing Transport Trends and Constraints (March 2017)
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S MOLE VALLEY DISTRICT COUNCIL LOCAL PLAN Existing Transport Trends & Constraints Project Title: Mole Valley District Council Local Plan Document Title: Existing Transport Trends & Constraints Client Reference: Date: 1 March 2017 Prepared By: Print Emma Hooper Authorised By: Print William Bryans Amendment List Iss. / Rev Edit Iss. / Rev. Date Page Iss. / Rev. 2 01/03/17 20 Paragraph 3.3.4 edited 2 01/03/17 18 Paragraph 3.1.2 added 2 01/03/17 19 Table 3.1 added 2 01/03/17 18 Paragraph 3.1.1 edited 2 01/03/17 19 Paragraph 3.1.3 edited 2 01/03/17 14 Section 2.5 edited 2 01/03/17 17 Figure 2.5 added 2 01/03/17 20 Paragraph 3.1.6 added 2 01/03/17 17 Section 2.6 added 0201SF10 07/08/02 Filename: S:\Project-Current\3000 PROJECT NOS STARTING WTIH 3000\3613\53613T47_Molevalley\02 Reports\Doc01_Existing Transport Trends & Constraints_V2.Docx Issue No. 02 Page 2 Document No. 53613T47/01 Mole Valley District Council Local Plan Existing Transport Trends & Constraints CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION 4 1.1 Background 4 1.2 Location 4 1.3 Population 4 1.4 Mode of Transport 4 1.5 Distance Travelled to Work 6 2 HIGHWAY 7 2.1 Existing Highway Network 7 2.2 Highway Traffic Growth 8 2.3 Car Availability 9 2.4 Origins and Destinations of Car Commuters 10 2.5 Existing Areas of Delay 14 2.6 Travel to School 17 2.7 Road Safety 19 3 PUBLIC TRANSPORT 21 3.1 Existing Bus Services 21 3.2 Bus Reliability 22 3.3 Origins and Destinations of Bus Commuters 23 3.4 Existing Rail Network 27 3.5 Railway Station Usage 27 3.6 Origins and Destinations of Rail Commuters 28 3.7 Accessibility 32 4 CYCLING 33 4.1 Existing Cycle Network 33 4.2 Cycle Usage 34 4.3 Propensity to Cycle 36 5 FUTURE TRANSPORT SCHEMES 37 5.2 Highway 37 5.3 Public Transport 37 5.4 Cycling 39 6 SUMMARY 40 Issue No. 02 Page 3 Document No. 53613T47/01 Mole Valley District Council Local Plan Existing Transport Trends & Constraints 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1.1.1 Mole Valley District Council is in the process of producing a new Local Plan. The new Local Plan will establish a spatial strategy to show the most suitable quantity and location of future residential and commercial development in the district. The Local Plan therefore aims to ensure the demand of future development is adequately met by the most suitable strategy of supply. 1.1.2 To ensure decision making regarding the location of new development is well informed, Mole Valley are seeking to enhance their evidence base of the existing, as well as potential future, transport issues in the district. Transport is one of the many key forms of infrastructure required when planning for future development. Local policy and national government guidance states that future developments must be suitably located near, and/or provide, transport infrastructure and services for residents and employees to utilise, as well as encouraging sustainable travel patterns1. 1.1.3 Mole Valley commissioned Surrey County Council’s Transport Studies team to analyse the current transport patterns and issues in the district, to aid the evidence base of the new Local Plan. 1.1.4 This document provides an insight to the existing transport trends and constraints of the current highway network and public transport facilities in Mole Valley at a district wide scale. It should therefore be considered that some of the strategic views expressed in this document may not be as apparent at the more local detailed scale. 1.2 Location 1.2.1 The district of Mole Valley is located in the centre of Surrey. It is bounded by the neighbouring local authorities of Reigate and Banstead, Epsom and Ewell, Elmbridge, Guildford and Waverley in Surrey, as well as Horsham and Crawley in West Sussex and Kingston-upon-Thames in London. 1.2.2 Mole Valley is a predominantly rural district with the main urban centres focusing around the towns of Leatherhead in the north of the district and Dorking in the centre. 1.2.3 London Gatwick Airport is situated in very close proximity to the south eastern district boundary, in the neighbouring local authority of Crawley, West Sussex. 1.3 Population 1.3.1 Mole Valley has a total population of approximately 85,0002, which is approximately 8% of the total population in the county of Surrey. Of the total population in Mole Valley 71% are aged between 16 and 74, whereas the proportions for Surrey and the South East are 72% and 73% respectively. This therefore suggests that Mole Valley has a very marginally smaller population that could be classified as the working age, when compared to the surrounding area. 1.4 Mode of Transport 1.4.1 Figure 1.1 displays the choice of mode that the residents of Mole Valley, aged between 16 and 74, use to travel to work according to the 2011 census. For 1 Source: National Planning Policy Framework 2 Source: 2011 Census (Table KS101EW) Issue No. 02 Page 4 Document No. 53613T47/01 Mole Valley District Council Local Plan Existing Transport Trends & Constraints comparative purposes, Figure 1.1 also displays the choice of mode for the county of Surrey and the south east region, excluding London. Method of Travel to Work 70% 74 60% - Mole Valley 50% 40% Surrey 30% 20% South East (excl London) 10% 0% Taxi Train Other Bicycle On foot On Motorcycle Bus / Coach Bus Car / Van CarDriver Work from homeWork from Percentage Percentage Usual Residents Aged 16 Underground Underground / Tram Car / Van CarPassenger Mode Source: 2011 Census (Nomis Table QS701EW) Figure 1.1: Method of travel to work 1.4.2 Figure 1.1 clearly highlights that the preferred method of travel to work in Mole Valley is by driving a car/van, as 58% of the working age residents were recorded as using this mode in the 2011 census. However, a marginally smaller proportion of Mole Valley’s residents are using the private car as the main mode of travel to work when compared to the county of Surrey and south east region, which have values of 59% and 60% respectively. 1.4.3 The second most favoured mode of transport to the workplace by Mole Valley residents is train, with 13% of residents commuting by rail. A slightly smaller proportion of residents use the train to travel to work when compared to the Surrey value of 14%, but both Mole Valley and Surrey have a higher proportion of people using the train when compared to the entire south east region, where only 7% of residents use the train to travel to and from the workplace. 1.4.4 Figure 1.1 also indicates that Mole Valley has a greater proportion of residents either working from home (10%) or travelling to work on foot (10%), when compared to the county of Surrey and the south east region. 1.4.5 However, Figure 1.1 is suggesting that travel via bus or bicycle is slightly lower in Mole Valley when compared to the proportion of working residents using these modes in Surrey and the south east. 1% of residents in Mole Valley use the bus to get to work, whereas 3% and 4% use this mode in Surrey and the south-east for the same purpose. With regards to cycling to work, 1% of Mole Valley residents cycle compared to 2% of Surrey residents and 3% of residents in the south east. 1.4.6 It could therefore be suggested that physical infrastructure improvements and/or a change to attitudes may be required in Mole Valley to encourage a greater number of working residents to travel by bicycle and bus, so the proportions for these modes are consistent with Surrey and the south east. Issue No. 02 Page 5 Document No. 53613T47/01 Mole Valley District Council Local Plan Existing Transport Trends & Constraints 1.5 Distance Travelled to Work 1.5.1 The average distance travelled to work (for all modes) by residents of Mole Valley, aged between 16 and 74, is 15.4km. This Mole Valley statistic is almost identical to the Surrey average distance travelled to work of 15.6km3. 1.5.2 Table 1.1 shows the distance travelled to work, by mode, for Mole Valley residents according to the 2011 census. Values for Surrey have been presented in brackets and grey text where they differ from the values for Mole Valley. 1.5.3 Table 1.1 reinforces the information previously shown in Figure 1.1, which driving a car/van is generally the dominant mode choice when travelling to work for the district of Mole Valley, as well as the county of Surrey. 1.5.4 Driving a car/van is the dominant mode for all distances travelled to work, with the exception of workplaces situated less than 2km or 30 to 40km away. 48% of Mole Valley residents travel on foot when the distance to work is 2km or less, whereas 63% of trips travelling a distance of 30 to 40km for work purposes are made by rail. 1.5.5 A substantially high proportion of residents that are travelling a distance of less than 5km to work are using the private car/van to do this. 73% of Mole Valley residents are using the car to travel between 2 and 5km to work, whereas 3% are travelling by rail, another 3% by bus, 5% are cycling and 6% are travelling on foot.