WORKSHEET T3: EASE OF MOVEMENT AROUND THE TOWN
TASK: to assess how easy it is for people to move around the town
1: Introduction to the task
There may be a need to carry out several surveys to collect all the relevant information, including:
- Traffic and parking counts
- Travel to work and school data
- Assuming barriers to mobility
- A cycle review
Guidance on undertaking these surveys is given in Data Sources and Survey Methods. It may prove useful to map some of the information collected.
2: Getting the following information will help assess how easy it is for people to use different means of transport and indicate where there may be shortcomings in the transport network and infrastructure
Sub-section 1: Traffic management
T3 Q1
How many road traffic accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists have there been at 'blackspots' in the town?
Compare accident rates involving pedestrians and cyclists with regional and national averages.
(Worksheets EN1 Q9; EC7 Q7,16 S7 Q2 also refer to transport access)
Starting points for information
County Council's transport or highways department
Q1 DRAFT ANSWER: This question has been put the Hampshire Highways Department.
T3 Q2
What traffic management measures are in place?
Compare these measures to the information collected about traffic blackspots.
Starting points for information
Traffic Management Strategy
Local Transport Plan survey
Q2 DRAFT ANSWER: This question has been put the Hampshire Highways Department.
T3 Q3
Where are the seriously congested junctions or parts of the local road network, and at what times are they at their worst?
Starting points for information
Local knowledge
Traffic count data collected by County and District Councils
Q3 DRAFT ANSWER: This question has been put the Hampshire Highways Department.
However the Parish Plans Steering Group invite comment from local residents
T3 Q4
Where are the places where there is conflict between pedestrians and cars, buses or heavy vehicles?
Look, for example, at shopping streets.
Starting points for information
Local knowledge
Traffic counts or surveys
Q4 DRAFT ANSWER: This question has been put the Hampshire Highways Department.
However the Parish Plans Steering Group invite comment from local residents
T3 Q5
Which of the main shopping streets in the town centre are pedestrianised or with pedestrian priority measures?
(Worksheets EN1 Q10; EN3 Q7; EC7 Q13,14 also refer to pedestrian access)
Starting points for information
Local surveys
Q5 DRAFT ANSWER: Yateley has no pedestrianised shopping streets. However one of the objectives of the
Church End Green Environmental Improvement Scheme is to make the green in front of St Peter's Church and the Dog & Partridge more pedestrian friendly.
T3 Q6
Do traffic management measures prevent buses accessing the focal points of the town centre such as the main shopping areas?
Look, for example, at one-way systems, traffic calming, and pedestrianisation.
(Worksheets EN1 Q9; EC7 Q7,16 S7 Q2 also refer to transport access)
Starting points for information
Bus operators
Q6 DRAFT ANSWER: Yateley has no one-way systems or pedestrianisation schemes, but it does have numereous 'traffic bumps' as traffic calming measures, particularly in School Lane and Firgrove Road. Firgrove Road is a main bus route for Stagecoach no 3. So access is not prevented, even if it is somewhat impeded.
T3 Q7
Do traffic conditions and/or traffic management measures in the town mean that buses experience delays or unreliability?
(Worksheets EN1 Q9; EC7 Q7,15; S3 Q1,4 also refer to public transport)
Starting points for information
Canvas the opinions of local bus operators
Survey users
Q7 DRAFT ANSWER: Buses do experience delays in the town and on major routes in and out of Yateley due to the severe rush-hour congestion, mainly along the Reading Road. The new Countywide service to Fleet is likely to be delayed by congestion at the two Minley roundabouts. Travel delays was cited as one reason why the London-Link Green Line service was discontinued.
T3 Q8
What makes public transport a less attractive option?
Consider, for example, the walking distance from bus stops to the main shopping areas, the length of journey due to indirect routes and/or congestion, and quality of the vehicles.
(Worksheets EN1 Q9; EC7 Q7,15; S3 Q1,4 also refer to public transport)
Starting points for information
Canvas the opinions of local bus operators
Survey users
Q8 DRAFT ANSWER: The main reason that public transport is a less attractive option to the private car is that the network does not serve precisely destinations to which people want to travel. This means that even if the journey is possible in its entirety by public transport, journey times are likely to be considerably longer than by private car. Many examples could be given from personal experience. As a result people with access to a car are much more likely to use a car, and public transport is much more likely to be used by those who have no access to a private car.
The tipping point for Yateley was probably reached 20 years or more ago. As car ownership per household increased in order to make journeys to work or school to destinations not efficiently served by public transport, bus services and routes were deleted from commercial schedules. As public services were abandoned, residents became more reliant on their cars, and even more public transport was abandoned. Where mass transportation was required, for example pupils to Yateley Manor School, dedicated privately run services were set up. Many of the commerical public transport service routes are now subsidised as a social service. Local socially subsided services such as Call & Go have been initiated, but they make commercial services even less viable.
Present circumstances make it very unlikely that Yateley car owners will take the no 3 bus to B&Q in Farnborough to buy a tin of paint. Firstly they will not perceive they have the time to spend on the journey, secondly they will judge the bus fare unfavourably against the marginal cost of the car journey, thirdly they will not want the hassle of looking up bus bus timetables when they only have to find their car keys, and fourthly they will perceive that a trip to B&Q may result in an impulse purchase of an item too large to carry on a bus and lastly they might have read in today's (18 Apr 2006) newspaper that they may be turned off the bus on the return journey since a tin of paint was not allowed on a bus in Cardiff for Health & Safety reasons. This sort of reasoning can be repeated for different destinations for different reasons for travel but the result will be that a car owner will reach for his car keys andnot his bus-pass - even if he we eligible to have one, he bus was brand new and part of a £700,000 refurbishment initiative, and there was no likelihood of congestion.
This is today's scenario. Tomorrow car road tax may be much higher, congestion charges may be brought in, fuel prices may become sky high, VAT on cars may be increased. IF such rising costs make second and third cars uneconomic then public transportation will again become a viable option. In this possible future more services may be introduced to more destinations and journey times may decrease. More Yateley people may opt to work at home and more companies may opt to support homeworkers. In the meantime the majority of Yateley people will use their private cars to drive to work ('there's no direct public transport'), drive their children to school ('especially when it's wet'), use their cars for shopping ('I can't carry that on a bus'), and for their leisure pursuits ('I'm not sure when I shall come home').
Sub-section 2: Car parking
T3 Q9
PARKING:
a. How many short and long-term car park spaces (including park and ride), coach parks, off street parking and disabled parking spaces are available?
b. Where are they?
c. How well used are they, and does this vary according to the time/day /season?
d. What restrictions/charges are in place?
Compare the number of free spaces at different times/days /seasons (e.g. 11.00am on a weekday, market day and Saturday, and in summer and winter).
(Worksheets EN1 Q9; EC7 Q7,16 S7 Q2 also refer to transport access)
Starting points for information
Car park operators
District Council
Survey
T3 Q10
Are the majority of short-term parking places within 400 metres of the main shopping area?
The easiest method is to set out the 400m area on a map on which you have marked the car parks.
Starting points for information
Car park survey
Sub-section 3: Ease of access
T3 Q11
Using signposts only, both as a pedestrian and as a car user, how easy is to find the way from key locations such as the short-stay car park, train station and bus station to the:
a. main shopping street
b. library
c. tourist information centre
Starting points for information
Test in person
Survey visitors
Visitor Surveys conducted by the local Tourist Board
T3 Q12
Are the majority of disabled parking places within 250 metres of the main focal points of the town centre such as the main shopping area?
Consider if the routes between parking spaces and focal points easy to access; for example, do they have steep or high curbs?
It is probably easiest to identify and plot the area with a 250m radius on a map.
(Worksheets EC7 Q8; S2 Q7,9; S3 Q5 also refer to disability issues)
Starting points for information
Local survey
Local maps
T3 Q13
Where is the shop mobility scheme, when is it open and how many motorised wheelchairs does it have?
Starting points for information
Disability or Access Officer of the district council
Internet search
T3 Q14
Do the majority of pedestrian crossings have tactile markings and audible warnings such as pelican crossings?
(Worksheets EN1 Q10; EN3 Q7; EC7 Q13,14 also refer to pedestrian access)
Starting points for information
Local survey
T3 Q15
Are the pavements in good condition and are there dropped kerbs at crossing points?
Starting points for information
Local survey
T3 Q16
Which public buildings and shops have disabled access?
(Worksheets EC7 Q8; S2 Q7,9; S3 Q5 also refer to disability issues. Worksheets EC4 Q2,3; EC5; S7 also refer to retail and service sector)
Starting points for information
District or county council disability or access officer
Local survey
Sub-section 4: Cycling and walking
T3 Q17
Where are the main foot and cycle paths within the town?
Identify the paths available for use by both pedestrians and cyclists, including family groups and the less able-bodied.
(Worksheets EN3 Q6,7; EC7 Q13; S5; S6 also refer to leisure and recreation. Worksheets EN1 Q10; EN3 Q7; EC7 Q13,14 also refer to pedestrian access)
Starting points for information
County Council
Local Transport Plan
T3 Q18
Are there dedicated/segregated cycle routes linking residential areas to the town centre and to local schools?
Choose two or three residential areas within 2 miles and describe the route to the town centre and to schools in terms of the:
* length of journey on dedicated/segregated cycle route
* length of journey on quiet residential roads
* length of journey on major roads
* number of main roads crossed and presence of any dedicated crossing points
* where the route is well-lit
(Worksheets EC1 Q6,7; EC3; EC4; S1 Q3 also refer to children and young people)
Starting points for information
Tourist Information
County council
Library
Local survey
T3 Q19
Is it easy for people to walk to/from school?
Choose two or three residential areas within a mile of both a primary and secondary school and describe the route in terms of:
* route length and how long it takes
* number of main roads crossed and presence of any dedicated crossing points and/or assistance available
* where the route is unlit
(Worksheets EC1 Q6,7; EC3; EC4; S1 Q3 also refer to children and young people. Worksheets EC1 Q6,7; EC3; EC4; S1 Q3 also refer to children and young people).
Starting points for information
Local survey
Is it easy for people to walk to/from school?
T3 Q20
What secure cycle parking is there at convenient locations throughout the town?
Look, for example, at the railway station, in the main shopping areas, at the bus station, and at schools.
Starting points for information
Local survey
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