Swindon Borough Council Consultation
2030: A Vision for Transport  

Deadline for responses is 10th March 2008 

The next few weeks are a crucial time for the future of transport in Swindon and for anyone with an interest in the environment, sustainability or transport. Swindon Borough Council is consulting on a long-term vision for transport, to help its planning up to 2030, a period that will see Swindon approximately double in size.

We need your help to send the Council a strong message that Swindon wants a transport vision that will protect the environment and reduce congestion by providing practical and affordable sustainable transport for all.

The Vision documents and an online feedback form are available from: http://www.swindon.gov.uk/roadstransport/transportvision.htm

Please note that there are 2 Vision documents, “2030: A Vision for Transport” and “Transport Vision Summary”.  The summary is perhaps the most important one to read, since it contains the 6 practical ‘strategies’ the council is proposing, rather than just their general aims.

[It would be great if you could let me know, andy@swindonclimate.org.uk, if you send in a response to the consultation]

We have suggested the following “points to make” below, which you may find useful.  Please feel free to use any that you agree with.

Suggested points to make

  • Swindon needs strong measures to tackle its traffic problems.  Over the last 5 years, Swindon traffic has increased 2.5 times more than the national average [1]. This can only get worse with another 35,000 homes planned over the next 20 years.  
  • Swindon Borough Council’s ‘Vision’ says it will make Swindon an environmentally and economically sustainable place, but its strategies will not make this happen, since they focus on traffic management, redirecting and re-timing traffic, rather than reducing it.
  • The plans to increase road building [2, 3] and car parking [4] will encourage car use and undermine sustainable transport schemes. They should be scrapped.
  • The vision does not take into account the other benefits that a significant shift towards sustainable transport would bring, which will not occur through traffic management.  These include, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,  improvements in health (tackling obesity, heart disease, diabetes and road accidents), pollution, rat-running, and sense of community.  
  • We want to see major improvements in public transport put at the heart of the strategy.  They are the only way to reduce traffic overall, and avoid significant damage to our environment, health and public spaces as Swindon’s population grows.  
  • The six strategies on offer give no real choices, since they are mostly about improving driving and parking conditions, rather than providing practical and affordable sustainable transport choices.  In particular:
  • Buses: Only two of strategies relate to buses, and these are only ‘cosmetic’ improvements, rather than the much needed overhaul of the bus service.
  • We want strategies that give us:
    • more frequent buses – every 10 minutes along most routes
    • more routes, both orbital (around town) as well as radial (in and out of town)
    • more evening and Sunday services
    • more rural services – for the 30% of Swindon Borough residents that live in outlying villages
    • more promotion of buses, through such things as Individualised Marketing, incentives and subsidised fares
  • Car Parking: Three of the strategies are about improving car parking.  Six new car parks for the town centre and a ring of park and rides are proposed, resulting in a net increase of 2000 parking spaces[4]. This will encourage driving and divert funds from providing more sustainable transport.  
  • We want strategies that:
    • Discourage parking by reducing availability and increasing costs of parking, while at the same time  increasing availability and reducing costs of sustainable transport
  • Traffic Management:  The vision has too much focus on traffic management which will just redirect traffic from the town centre to the outskirts, and spread travel times out across the day.  This will encourage car use overall and undermine sustainable transport. It will also increase traffic pressures where most people live, outside the town centre.  
  • We want strategies that:
    • Focus less on traffic management and road improvements and more on buses, cycling and walking. 
  • Roads:  The plans to bid for £100M Government funding to build new and wider roads to North Swindon [2] and develop a ring-road network [3] will increase the amount of traffic, undermine sustainable transport, and damage the environment.  The Council should scrap its plans to bid for a major road building programme.
  • We want strategies that:
    • Scrap the plans for road building and road widening in Swindon and instead bid to central government for funding for a highly effective public transport scheme that Swindon can be proud of.
  • Cycling and Pedestrians: None of the strategies are about encouraging cycling and pedestrians.
  • We want strategies that:
    • Make things much easier for cyclists and pedestrians, including well connected cycle routes for commuters, that are safe and pleasant after dark, and incentives to use them.
  • The vision must be much more innovative if Swindon is to become a leading sustainable town. Many of the proposed strategies are already common-place (e.g. Park and rides, real-time information systems, car-park signing, bus-interchanges, bus corridors) and some towns have already gone a lot further.
  • We want strategies that:
    • Build on exemplars in UK and Europe to provide Swindon with an innovative scheme that we can be proud of

Footnotes

  1. Dept. for Transport figures published in September 2007, show 10.2% increase in vehicle miles travelled in Swindon over past 5 yrs, compared with 4.1% across Britain.
  2. Swindon Borough Council Northern Area Transport Plan
  3. Swindon Borough Council Strategy for Transport in the Town Centre
  4. Swindon Borough Council Strategy for Parking