Brighton and Hove awarded Europe's top transport award

Brighton & Hove won Europe’s top environmental award for policies to promote clean transport when it was named City of the Year in the CIVITAS Awards 2014 on Friday 26 September 2014.

The prize is awarded each year to the city which best demonstrates implementation of ambitious sustainable transport policies.  These must show active involvement of local people, overcome challenges and help meet CIVITAS goals on cleaner, better transport in European cities.

The city council scored with policies to promote cycling and bus travel, as well as offering schools, businesses and residents advice on smarter transport choices with “personal travel planning”.

Bus initiatives have included electronic real-time boards at bus stops linked to satellite tracking which show exactly when the bus will arrive, plus smartcard and smartphone ticketing,

Improved cycle infrastructure includes reconfiguring dangerous junctions such as Seven Dials and the Vogue Gyratory and a ‘floating’ bus stop on Lewes Road which prevent buses having to cross the path of bikes.  The council has also promoted cycle priority and ‘head-start’ lights for bikes at junctions and built cycle lanes to segregate bikes from fast traffic on main routes.

Elsewhere in places such as North Laine, cycle contraflow lanes have been created, meaning bikes can go either way along one-way streets, shortening journeys.

On public engagement, the council said it had consulted almost 85,000 people on Phases 2 and 3 of its roll-out of 20mph speed limits, proven to reduce the severity of accidents.  Some 70,000 people had been visited at home and offered advice on personal travel planning since 2006.

The council says such policies have led to continued growth of bus travel, with 46.4 million passenger journeys being made per year.  Numbers of people cycling to work have doubled in ten years.  Where the council has installed new segregated cycle lanes and floating bus stops on Lewes Road, in 2013, cycle journeys had increased by 14 per cent.  Road safety had improved with a yearly decline in the number and severity of accidents.

Lead councillor for transport Ian Davey said:  “These award-winning initiatives are not novel to Brighton & Hove – instead they represent best practice all across Europe.  However the difference we have made is in actually delivering best practice in Brighton & Hove, instead of the city lagging behind Britain and Europe.

“It’s immensely satisfying to have this recognised by a judging panel of renowned transport experts from the UK and abroad – and to have it recognised that we have involved huge numbers of residents in these decisions.”

Find out more about CIVITAS and the awards: http://www.civitas.eu/page-awards-main

Road casualities decrease in Brighton and Hove - Greens claim credit for their sustainable transport policies - total road deaths and collisions down but cycle casualties increase

30.11.2013. Brighton and Hove City Council and the city's Green Party trumpeted a reduction in the total number of reported injuries on the cities roads, following data released in November 2013.

Council data showed 978 people killed or injured in Brighton and Hove in 2012, down from 1,106 (2011) and 1,110 (2010). Numbers killed (5) or seriously injured (155) also fell, as did number of collisions (789, down from 893). 

The Green Party, which is in control of the city, said the drop was due to its policies, which are designed to encourage sustainable transport - ie a 'modal shift' away from private motor cars and toward public transport, cycling and walking.

The council published detailed breakdowns of the statistics that showed the overall drop in casualties. The publication of detailed casualty data by the council is a new development. These data also show breakdowns for 'vulnerable groups'. Among these, there has been a slight increase in causalities among cyclists. In 2012, 161 cyclists were injured, up from 157 the previous year. There were no cyclist fatalities. This might be presumed due to an increase in cyclists using the roads. Data is detailed in links given at the end of this article.

Brighton promises to action to cut air pollution as EU fines are threatened and councillor Pete West says new developments must minimise motor journeys and pay for sustainable transport

3 July 2012. A Brighton and Hove City Council press release predicted measures to cut pollution, caused mainly by motor vehicles - and avoid the risk of EU pollution fines.

Chair of the environment committee Councillor Pete West said: "Hazardous air quality caused by vehicles remains a stubborn problem. This is one reason why we're so keen to help people use alternatives to the car. That means making it safer and more pleasant to walk and cycle. We also need to ensure buses aren't caught in queues of cars so that public transport provides a quicker alternative. It would also be good to see more low-emission buses, lorries and vans.

Slow start for 20 mph speed limits in Brighton and Hove's residential areas

Limits to augment 20 mph "zones"

A 20 mph speed limit around Stanford schools in Brighton and Hove will start in January. The Green Party won leadership of the council in May 2011 local elections, with a manifesto that promised to "press for a 20mph limit" for residential areas in the city.

Councillor Ian Davey, the city council's Cabinet Member for Transport and Public Realm, said: "This is a first step and we will be looking closely at how this pilot scheme works to shape future proposals - we hope to work with local people on a roll-out of 20mph limits in other communities across the city."

A council press release on 11 January 2012 said: "Speed limits will be cut to 20mph around Stanford Infant and Junior Schools and surrounding residential streets in Brighton this month, following concerns raised by local people and a review of speed limits by Brighton & Hove City Council.

"The pilot scheme will take effect on January 18 and cover fifteen roads around the schools where the speed limit is currently 30 mph.

"In addition, speed limits will be reduced from 40 to 30 mph by Brighton & Hove City Council in three other locations - on Lewes Road, from Natal road to Moulsecoomb Way; Falmer Road, from Brownleaf Road, Woodingdean to Rottingdean;and Old Shoreham Road, from Hove Cemetery to Locks Hill, Portslade.

Proposals for a second 20mph pilot scheme, in Portslade old village, will be considered at the city council's Environment, Transport and Sustainability Cabinet Member meeting on January 24.

Councillor Ian Davey said: "We've listened to local people who are concerned about road safety in the Stanford area, and carried out a review of speed limits which has identified the roads around Stanford schools and local residential streets as suitable for a pilot 20 mph scheme.

Consultation was carried out with the schools in the autumn about the Stanford scheme and there were no objections when traffic orders, giving details of the proposed changes, were advertised.

Madeleine Denyer, head teacher at Stanford Infant School, said: "The safety and well-being of all children is of paramount importance. The 20mph pilot scheme can only benefit the whole community. It should help allow our children to walk, scooter or cycle to school safely, help decrease traffic congestion around our schools and benefit the environment."

Giovanni Franceschi, headteacher at Stanford Junior School, said: "We welcome the new 20mph limit. We have had some near misses around the school and teachers, parents and pupils have all been concerned about safety."

A final decision on the Portslade scheme, which covers the area around Peter Gladwin Primary, St Nicholas C Of E Junior, Portslade Infants and Hillside Special School, will be made by Cllr Davey at the meeting on January 24 after two objections were received when the traffic order for that scheme was advertised.

The roads included in the 20mph scheme around Stanford Schools are Highcroft Villas, Port Hall Avenue, Port Hall Place, Port Hall Street, Port Hall Road, Stanford Road, Coventry Street, Exeter Street, Stafford Road, Chatsworth Road, Buxton Road, Lancaster Road, Upper Hamilton Road, Hamilton Road and Brigden Street.

There are already a number of "20mph zones" in Brighton & Hove, many in the vicinity of schools. Others include North Street, Western Road, the Hanover area and Bevendean.

However, the pilot scheme in the Stanford area will be the city's first 20mph speed limit area. (Zones differ from speed limit areas because zones also include traffic calming measures in addition to a 20mph limit).

Consultation on proposed new cycle lane in Brighton underway: OPINION - an important step toward providing safe cycling facilities which should be supported.

 

4 September2011. A public consultation about the proposed Old Shoreham Road Cycle Lane linking Brighton and Hove has been launched. Details and plans are available on the Council's website, where you can also register your opinion and support for the proposals. Click here.

In my opinion this scheme, though limited, is an important step toward providing the safe cycling facilities that are needed to get people cycling to school and work, and should be supported.

Vulnerable cyclists will be protected from vehicular traffic by a kerb (and also prevented from straying into traffic by this kerb). At the pinch point of the railway bridge between Wilbury Crescent and Silverdale Road, where road width is restricted, the cycle lane will become a mixed cycle and pedestrian lane. In fact, at present, along stretches of this road in the morning, you can see school kids cycling along the pavement because it is too dangerous to cycle along the road. So this scheme will be a big step in the right direction and hopefully will be extended in future.

(Amendment - earlier today I posted my opinion that this proposal needed more detail to explain how mixed pedestrian and cycle traffic would use the railway underpass at the end of the Old Shoreham Road. However, I had confused the railway underpass with the less threatening railway bridge that will be included in this scheme (between Wilbury Crescent and Silverdale Road.).

Update 15 September. Today I visited the council website again. Having thought more on this, I made this suggestion: I think the planners should get expert advice on the railway bridge pinch point. In my view they should consider a barrier on the railway bridge to separate mixed cycle-pedestrian traffic from motorised traffic. The best solution of course, is to construct a separate bridge for cyclists and pedestrians.

Who's to blame for rising air pollution? Greens pile pressure on Brighton and Hove Conservatives

London Road (Brighton) - Argus

Brighton and Hove Green Party released information to back up their claims that air pollution has risen in the city - by up to 40% between 2007 and 2010 - and that the policies of the previous Conservative administration over that period are to blame.

Earlier this week, the local Green Party website published links to publications that detail where the biggest rises in air pollution occurred:

"On 21 July Brighton & Hove City Council released its latest Air Quality Action Plan which contained the air quality figures for 2010. This can be viewed here: Air Quality Action Plan 2011 (page 23). These reveal an increase in traffic related air pollution across the city particularly in Nitrogen Dioxide which is the main pollutant measured. Comparing figures with earlier years contained in the preceding report air pollution has increased significantly. The 2010 report can be viewed here: 2010 Air Quality Progress report (page 24). Parts of Lewes Road for example have seen an increase of pollution levels from 52 ug/m (microgramme per cubic metre) to 74 between 2007 and 2010, a 40% increase in four years."

The website also pinpointed 2009 press statements by Ian Davey - who warned of rising levels of pollution - and Conservative Cabinet Member Geoffrey Theobold - who said transport planning measures had ensured continuing improvement in nitrogen dioxide levels citywide.

In the Brighton Argus of 19 May 2009, Ian Davey said air pollution levels were increasing in some areas. He said "the council is not solving the problem and it may be getting worse in some areas of the city". He said more effort was needed to get people to cycle and walk to work to school and work. [Recent data suggests much of our traffic originates from inside the city - and that a large proportion of car journeys to work are less then three miles long - ed].

Ian Davey suggested improving the cycle and walking network and a 20 mph limit as well as improvements to the bus network to ease the pressure on the number of buses passing through the city center. [These might include rapid transit links, and direct links between suburbs avoiding the city centre - ed.]

He added: “The Conservative administration needs to recognise that if you keep insisting on more car parking you will get more cars.”

Here is the response of the Conservative administration, quoted in here from the 2009 Argus article.

"Councillor Geoffrey Theobald, cabinet member for the environment, said in a statement that coverage of air quality was alarmist. He said: “I would recommend that your readers visit our city air watch website which is recognised as one of the best local authority air on the internet websites. Our air quality action plan is improving air quality ... The council recorded an improvement at more than 80% of its sites in 2008. Transport planning measures have ensured continuing improvement in nitrogen dioxide levels citywide.”

Nigel Jenkins, project development officer for the Sussex Air Quality Partnership, said there had been an overall improvement in air quality over the years which can be pinned down to a series of measures. He said: “The air quality in most cities in the UK is improving because there are European and UK driven initiatives that are reducing pollution across the board. In Brighton there is a very good bus system and generally there have been technological improvements with cleaner engines in cars. If we had the number of cars that we have today on the roads ten years ago the emissions would have been dirtier than they are today.”"

As regular readers of this blog know, the Conservative Administration 2007- 2010 cancelled several crucial elements of the Cycle Town network for safe cycling and attempted to repeal the city's commitment to sustainable transport - to replace it with policies in favor of the car.

We emailed Geoffrey Theobold to comment on this issue - but no reply so far.

For more information on why we should be concerned about rising levels of NO2 click here.
For more analysis of the Air Quality Action Plan, including graph of rising NO2 at several locations click here

Revival for 'crucial cycle lane' as Old Shoreham Road Cycle Lane Scheme receives £330k funding from Sustrans

OSR planning story starts Nov 2009

3 August 2011. Brighton and Hove City Council announced today that it will revive the "crucial cycle lane" once planned for the Old Shoreham Road (OSR) - and scrapped by the previous Conservative council administration.

This is a special moment for cycle campaigners, and for the author of this blog, since the changes in spec, safety worries, and eventual scrapping of the 'OSR' scheme sparked interest in the campaign for sustainable transport in Brighton and Hove in 2009.

A council spokesperson said today: "A safe cycle route could now be built along part of one of Brighton & Hove's busiest roads. The city council has won £330,000 from the sustainable transport charity Sustrans to help develop a 1.5 km route along the Old Shoreham Road from the BHASVIC junction on Dyke Road to The Drive. Sustrans' 'Links to Schools' cash would be added to £125,000 of council funds to complete most of the work by March 2012.

"Lanes on either side of the road will have low kerbs to physically separate motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. No parking spaces will be lost under the plan. Two busy junctions on the route will also get safety improvements for pedestrians and cycles. Councillors believe the new lanes would fill a vital missing link in the local cycle network, particularly from the seafront in Hove to the Seven Dials area.

"Previous surveys of residents along the road, which carries up to 27,000 vehicles a day, have shown 66 per cent favour a dedicated cycle route."

Cabinet councillor for Transport and Public Realm Ian Davey said: "This shows the council meeting manifesto commitments to improve cycling facilities. Where we build cycle lanes we want them to be excellent, user-friendly and safe lanes which link to existing routes and facilities and really improve everyone's experience of moving around the city by bike.

"This is a crucial east-west route across the city but traffic speed and volume can make it an uncomfortable place for cyclists and pedestrians. The proposed scheme will make Old Shoreham Road safer for everyone including young people using the many nearby schools.

"When the Grand Avenue cycle lane was threatened last year there was a huge petition asking for the council to extend, rather than reduce, cycle facilities. This is our positive response."

A new consultation will now be undertaken before any work starts, subject to official cabinet member approval on August 17.

The council spokesperson added: 'The scheme is being reprieved by the new administration after councillors shelved the idea last year."

Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with the systematic destruction - by the Conservative administration - of plans to transform Brighton and Hove into a cycling city, or more accurately, into a sustainable transport city. These plans were the basis of the Cycle Town grants made to the city from 2005 by Cycling England. The Old Shoreham Road (OSR) Cycle Lane was the backbone of the scheme, providing a safe cycling link between the town centres of Brighton, Hove and Portslade. In 2009, the city planners under Conservative leadership removed segregated cycle lanes from the OSR plans and then found the scheme to be unsafe - and cancelled it. After that they cancelled the Marine Parade cycle lane scheme, and finally tried to rip up the one part of the scheme already installed - The Drive. Public protests, a big media campaign, and a huge swing at the May local elections saw the Tories lose half their seats, and the Greens gain power in the council.


Stuart Croucher, a member of the team who designed the original scheme, made an impassioned plea for the reinstatement of the scheme, and a powerful argument in favour of a network of segregated cycle lanes for young people and learners, in an interview he gave to this blog last year.

The original plans - and the 'crucial' part played by OSR cycle lane - are all shown in another entry on this blog.