Bath Chronicle

Taking a leaf out of Hackney traffic book

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I was dismayed to read the prechristm­as story proposing a ‘radical and elegant’ park and ride scheme on the Batheaston by-pass. Bath does not need any more ‘radical’ transport proposals that are unlikely ever be built; it needs the tried and tested solutions than have been widely used throughout the UK for decades. In fact the very solutions promised in the Conservati­ve transport manifesto in 2015: Support for sustainabl­e transport – to make local bus services, walking and cycling genuinely attractive, realistic transport solutions. Cut congestion and pollution – by improving traffic flows, tackling bottleneck­s and improving air quality. These two measures alone, supported by a thoughtful parking strategy designed to discourage car use and free up space for sustainabl­e transport would have negated the need for a clean air zone or any additional park and ride. The cause of many ‘bottleneck­s’ is parked cars, these must be removed from the main thoroughfa­res to enable continuous bus lanes so that it becomes quicker and easier to go by bus than to drive. Once buses have priority and commuter parking is removed from residentia­l streets the local environmen­t will become safer and more pleasant to walk or cycle short distances, this in turn benefits local shops and businesses. Such measures were promoted and widely applauded at the excellent Transport Alliance conference a few weeks ago and there are plenty of great examples to draw upon. Census figures for the London Borough of Hackney show that between 2001 and 2011 car ownership per household fell by 3,300 despite a 20 per cent increase in population. There had been an 18 per cent growth in the number of properties, but a nine per cent decrease in the number of households with a car. By 2011 Hackney had the highest level of cycling in London with 15.4 per cent traveling to work by bike and 85 per cent of people chose to commute by means other than the car – all this at a time when Hackney had no tube station and relied entirely on buses for mass transport. The approach of the council to its traffic problems was not to turn Hackney Marsh into a park and ride, nor to build a bypass, cable car, tram or any other ‘radical’ infrastruc­ture measure. It was simply to reclaim the streets for people so that children could walk and cycle safely to school and so that drivers gave up their cars as the alternativ­es became cheaper and more convenient. By 2011 only 35 per cent of Hackney households owned a car; when necessary they called a cab or borrowed a car club vehicle that was convenient­ly parked nearby. Just think how liberating it could be, to walk or cycle without traffic noise and fumes, and how much could be saved on the cost of buying a car, insurance and fuel if Bath took the same approach. We need to understand that Bath’s real problem is that successive administra­tions have made it cheaper and easier to drive a car than use an alternativ­e. Meanwhile if you cant afford a car – and a third of households in Banes don’t have one – the buses are now worse than 2015 and much more expensive. There has been little investment in walking and cycling despite the rising popularity of e-bikes. Worse still so much time and money has been wasted on the east park and ride when the council was told in 2009 by Highways England that access from the Batheaston bypass would not be possible. So I will begin the New Year with a plea to Mark Shelford and any other councillor who thinks we need radical solutions – please stop wasting time and money on things that facilitate car use and get on with making ‘local bus services, walking and cycling genuinely attractive’ as you promised four years ago. If you cant do this then don’t expect us to believe that the Department of Transport is going to give you half of their £45 million bypass to take just 100 cars off the London Road. Christine Boyd (Hackney Councillor between 2002 -2010)

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