About Transport and economy Oxfordshire has a vibrant economy closely linked to its two Connecting universities, its teaching hospital and research trust and one of the largest concentrations of science and technology activity in Oxfordshire the UK at Science Vale Oxford. A projected £800 million will be invested in transport Oxfordshire is thriving. As a result, our population is growing and we improvements across Oxfordshire over the next 20-30 years to face some big transport challenges. underpin significant planned housing and economic growth. We are told that 80,000 new jobs will be created and 100,000 new The Oxfordshire City Deal, signed in January 2014, promises to homes need to be built by 2031. If Oxfordshire is to continue to bring £1.2 billion of economic investment into the county. prosper, we need to think about transport creatively and consider every option. • Oxfordshire is home to over 650,000 people and over We cannot rely on small, short-term fixes – we need to think of 30,000 businesses larger, bolder solutions. This could be new roads with better cycle • The county contributes £16 billion a year to the national economy routes and more park and rides; it could be improved rail service and bus services, or perhaps more ambitious ideas like a ‘mass • 40 per cent of Oxfordshire businesses (12,000) operate in the transit system’ such as trams or a monorail. science, technology, engineering and mathematics sectors The public and private sector is investing £800m in transport in • Oxfordshire has a technology ‘ecosystem’ comparable to Oxfordshire over the next 20-30 years. This includes an A40/A44 Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Silicon Valley in the USA link road and improvements to junction 9 on the M40; better access to the science parks near Didcot; improvements to the rail network, • Currently over 100,000 vehicles use the M40 in Oxfordshire daily including a new station in North Oxford with fast trains to London and 70,000 vehicles travel along the A34 Marylebone. • Oxfordshire’s public transport network is used by around 16 million a transport-enabled vision for the future But we will need to do more. Over the next year, Oxfordshire people for rail journeys and by 39 million people for bus journeys County Council will develop a new local transport plan to meet growing transport demand. Connecting Oxfordshire starts the • Oxfordshire is renowned for transport innovation – Oxford is debate about creating a 21st century transport system. As well home to the world’s first Park and Ride as taking part in the debate at the public meetings you can get involved online. I hope you will join in and have your say. Join the debate about the future of transport and find out more about Connecting Oxfordshire. Councillor Ian Hudspeth Leader, Oxfordshire County Council www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/connectingoxfordshire ConnectingOxfordshire @OxfordshireCC #connectingoxfordshire To Birmingham and the North Improved junction Improved junction To Birmingham and the North Planned transport improvements by 2020 New or improved road link 12 New or improved road linkBeyond 2020? BANBURY New or improved station/interchange BANBURY New or improved station/interchangeWe need to think creatively about a New or improved rail link 21st century transport system that Existing railway New or improved rail link meets future demands. 12 Existing railway To Evesham Banbury Railway station 2 improvements East West Rail A44 BICESTER 1 including new Oxford Bicester To Milton Keynes, Bedford Town and North of England To Evesham Bicester New Bicester Park and Ride Parkway station for P&R North Oxford M40 Junction 9 A44 11 BICESTER To London Marylebone Bicester To Milton Keynes, Bedford Re-opening stations or branch lines? M40 Junction 9 Town and North of England improvements 1 To Cheltenham WITNEY Oxford Parkway Northern approaches 11 To London Marylebone A40 Station/Frideswide The Plain 10 Southern approaches Ducklington Lane and Downs Road improvements 3 OXFORD M40 Northern Gateway To Cheltenham 2 ABINGDON WITNEY roundabout A420 Fast link to London Oxford airport? 3 improvements and new A34 A40/A44 link road 10 A40 Didcot Parkway To London SHRIVENHAM Milton 9 4 9 Frideswide 4 DIDCOT Square WANTAGE 8 Oxford To Swindon, Bristol, improvements South West and Wales Chilton Railway station OXFORD improvements To Newbury HENLEY M40 To Reading & 8 London Paddington A420 ABINGDON New Oxfordshire mass transit system? Kennington and 7 7 Hinksey roundabout A34 Electrification of main improvements Oxfordshire rail network To London SHRIVENHAM 7 6 5 5 Didcot Railway station DIDCOT improvements WANTAGE 6 6 To Swindon, Bristol, South West and Wales Milton and Chilton Monorail linking key parts of Oxfordshire interchange improvements To Newbury HENLEY and link roads at Science Vale Oxford To Reading & London Paddington.