York Council took £1.85 million in bus lane fines

A Freedom of information response has revealed that the York Council has received £1.85 million in fines income from motorists misusing “bus lanes”.

Most of the income was generated on Lendal Bridge and Coppergate.

The enforcement cameras have since been switched off at both locations and the Council is engaged in the costly exercise of writing, to all who were fined on Lendal Bridge, offering a refund. (A further FOI request for a progress report on the numbers responding is due at the end of the month).

The Council has not yet refunded fines imposed on Coppergate but instead submitted an appeal against a traffic adjudicator’s judgement that the fines were unlawful.

The appeal process has been dragging on for over a year now.

Scarborough bridge footbridge to close again

City of York Council will be installing new street lighting on Scarborough bridge footbridge this month, which will require a temporary closure of the footbridge for up to three days.

Scarborough railway bridge circa 1973

From Tuesday 14 April through to Thursday 16 April, the footbridge will be closed between 8am and 6pm in order for the works to be carried out safely.

It is unclear why the work wasn’t done during the recent month long closure of the adjacent railway bridge.

A completely new cycle bridge is also due to be installed later in the year
(more…)

Council forced to admit 20 mph zones have had little impact…£600,000 wasted

A Freedom of information response has revealed that vehicle speeds are the same as they were before the limits were lowered.

LibDem candidates Andrew Waller, Sue Hunter and Sheena Jackson with one of the signs which was place at the entrance to a short cul de sac

Introduced in west York late in 2013, supporters claimed that the lower limits would reduce accidents.A response to a Freedom of information request by Westfield Liberal Democrats, has revealed that the Labour Councils flagship “wide area 20 mph speed limits” have had no effect on vehicle speeds.

In reality, 17 accidents have occurred on roads with a 20 mph limit between March 2014 and December 2014.

Two of the accidents were serious and occurred in “signed only” 20 mph streets

In total the Council has spent around £600,000 implementing the new speed limits in the face of massive public opposition.

The Council has provided “before and after” speed figures for 10 roads in west York.

In most of the roads, mean speeds have remained unchanged.

However in 3 streets (Alness Drive, Almsford Road and Wheatlands Grove) speeds have actually increased since the new limits were imposed. This reflects experience in other parts of the country.

Mean speeds click to enlarge

Westfield Liberal Democrat Sheena Jackson – who is seeking election to the York Council on May 7^th – said,

“While I support having lower speed limits outside schools and in shopping areas where risks are higher, this project has proved to be a waste of taxpayer’s money.

Many residents viewed with incredulity the arrival of Council workmen to erect 20 mph signs at the entrance to short cul de sacs where it was impossible for any vehicle to accelerate to that speed in the space available.

As we said at the time the money should have been invested on streets with a known poor accident record.

We will never know have many accidents could have been prevented if the Council had taken a more thoughtful and targeted approach”

The new Council will have to decide whether to “throw good money after bad” by revoking the 20 mph traffic orders and removing the signs. Clearly if higher speeds and accident rates on the affected streets are sustained, then that is what they will have to do.

Liberal Democrats continue to believe that the Council should set a speed limit for each road reflecting its characteristics and accident record (e.g. if it runs past a school, shopping centre etc. a lower speed limit may be justified).

Labour have wasted £600,000 implementing wide area 20 mph speed limits.

Summary

The introduction of 20 mph “signed only” speed limits in west York has made no difference to mean speeds.

Before the change to the limit the mean speed was 20.00 mph recorded across the roads surveyed.

It is now 19.32 mph

On some roads speeds are now actually higher than they were before the change.

Where there have been reductions in speeds (e.g. Thoresby Road) this is the result of other known factors (such as increased numbers of vehicles parking on the carriageway).

Top recorded speeds have not been affected. (Some are up and some are down)

NINE accidents occurred on newly “signed only” 20 mph limit roads.

TWO were serious (one in Acomb Ward and one in Holgate ward)

Current Liberal Democrat policy is not to throw” good money after bad”. The 20 mph signs can stay but will be removed if:

speeds on the roads are consistently higher than they were before the limit was changed
the number of accidents on a road increases and/or
there is evidence that Police speed limit enforcement action is being diverted from other roads (30 mph etc limits) which have a poorer accident record

Individual road speed checks. click to enlarge

New Inclusive Cycling Club makes sport accessible for all

A new, Inclusive Cycling Club is launching in York which will allow disabled residents who would like to enjoy cycling on specialised bicycles to take up this popular activity.

The club sessions, organised by City of York Council, will take place at York Sports Village and start on Thursday 9 April from 2pm to 4pm. The sessions are suitable for young people and adults over the age of 11 years and will continue three times a week at the following times:

Wednesdays from 5pm to 6.30pm
Thursdays from 2pm to 4pm
Sundays from 3pm to 5pm

A range of different specialised bikes will be on hand to enjoy, including three wheeled bicycles and ‘steer from the rear’ tandems which help improve balance and cycling confidence. Flat bed bikes with platforms for wheelchairs at the front, mountain bikes and road bikes will also be available. The new club welcomes the support of local cycling organisations Get Cycling and Open Country, who are bringing additional bikes and with a fleet of 30 cycles available to the club everyone attending will be able to have a go.

This new Inclusive Cycling Club is one of the ways in which the council is working to reduce health inequalities in the city, help improve physical and mental health and provide financially sustainable health and wellbeing opportunities for everybody across the city.

The cost for club sessions is £5 per hour (free for carers), payable on the day at the Sports Centre Reception.

For more information on this and other disability sport opportunities call Glyn Newberry on 01904 553377, email glyn.newberry@york.gov.uk or visit www.york.gov.uk/disabilitysport

For more information on cycling in York visit www.itravelyork.info/cycling

Taxis fares should be reduced York Council FOI response reveals.

The York Council has revealed that – according to a well established agreement – taxis fares should be reduced from April.

Fuel price trends

The Council has – in response to a Freedom of Information request – published the latest index which is used to assess fare level increases.

The formulae was agree in the last decade as a way of stopping the horse trading which took place each year when the taxi trade sought a fares increase.

The table takes into account increases (and reductions) in several costs that taxi proprietors face. These are:

Vehicle Maintenance costs (+2.23%)
Petrol and Oil (-8.76%)
Vehicle Tax and Insurance (+0.51%)
Labour costs (+1.62%)

The bracketed figures show the percentage changes in the period from December 2013 to December 2014

The factors are then given weightings.

The formulae for the fare review now due, indicates a reduction of -0.77% in fare levels is required.

Taxi fare formulae. click to enlarge

The reduction will be the first since 1998 and is almost entirely down to falling fuel prices.

Passengers expecting a bigger reduction will be disappointed as most of the drop in fuel costs has occurred since the beginning of January (and would impact on next years calculation).

A copy of the calculation can be downloaded by clicking here

Passengers will now be turning their attention to local bus companies who have also enjoyed the benefits of lower fuel prices.

It only seems fair that public transport users should share in the benefits of lower inflation.

Labour to impose 20 mph speed limits on all roads in York?

In the wake of decisions in London Labour Councillors in York are now advocating, on social media, the introduction of a default 20 mph speed limit across the whole of York.

Labour were accused of sneaking through their proposed “wide area” 20 mph limits when voters last went to the polls in 2011. Their plan was in the small print of a manifesto with most residents never saw.

The scheme in London is apparently aimed at “reducing cycling casualties”. Ironically a previous study in the capital revealed that the introduction of 20 mph limits there had resulted in an increase in average speeds.

In York, most cycling accidents in result in slight injuries, occur on roads where vehicle speeds are already low and often at road junctions (click for map). Accident levels have reduced in recent years to a total of 144 in 2013 (the last full year for which figures are available) following the introduction of more “off road” cycle tracks. There were no fatalities.

Cycling was 61% safer in 2012 than it was in 2002 (per mile travelled) according to the CTC.

Labour has spent £600,000 on implementing “wide area” 20 mph limits since 2012.

Out of the 535km of roads within York’s Outer Ring Road / A64.

333km (62%) of road are subject to a 20mph limit.
202km (38%) have a speed limit of 30mph or more.

Of the 333km of roads with a 20mph limit, 275km (51% of the total) have been created as 20mph ‘signed only’ limits during the last 3 years.

Prior to this the majority of 20mph limits were traffic calmed 20mph Zones.

The council has refused FOI requests to provide information on “before and after” accident rates on the “signed only” streets in west York or to provide information on the actual effect – if any – that the signs have had on driver speeds.

It is to be hoped that all candidates contesting the Council elections on May 7^th will make their policies clear on how cycling can be encouraged and made safer.

In addition electors need to know which Party’s will extend 20 mph limits and which would focus resources at accident black-spots.

York Council to spend £5.8 million on transport improvements over next 12 months

No ring road improvements scheduled. Little being spent on reducing congestion

The Councils transport investment programme has been published. As usual the devil will be in the detail and the programme could be scrapped if there are major changes in the make-up of the Council at the May 7^th polls.

Bus Services

Around £775,000 is to be spent on improvements to bus services. £250,000 of this will go on the delays Rougier Street bus shelter while £200,000 will address “pinch point improvements”. Once again sub-urban areas fare badly in the allocations (separately on the agenda for the same meeting a £20,000 plan to improve facilities in Rawcliffe is recommended for rejection)

Traffic congestion

Proposed extra lane for A19 pinch point

£2 million is being spent easing the “pinch point” on the A19 near the Designer Outlet. Much less is being spent elsewhere in the £2.4 million budget although the modernisation of variable message boards – which have been increasingly unreliable – is welcome.

Cycling/Pedestrian schemes

£468,000 is being spent on a range of small schemes. The biggest is the provision of a cycle link at Scarborough Bridge. This is mostly being covered by central government grant.

Road Safety

Wetherby Road VAS

This is only being allocated £450,000 in the programme which is still driven by Labour priorities. School safety schemes, school crossing warning signs, “speed management” and the renewal of the vehicle activated signs (VAS), like those on Wetherby Road and Green Lane, will all get a boost.

Money is also asset aside to develop future improvements and to continue maintenance of the City Walls. The alleygating programme will also continue.

No expenditure on improvements to the northern by pass is expected over the next 12 months despite promises from the Labour Council leadership that this was now one of their priorities.

£3 million green bus funding to help clean up town and city air

Nearly 150 buses across the country to be fitted with pollution-reducing technology. York awarded £475k to make cleaner buses for the city

Sightseeing bus converted to battery power

More cleaner buses will be on the streets of towns and cities across England following the announcement of over £3 million funding today (11 March 2015).

York first pioneered the development of battery powered buses in 2010.

Seven towns and cities have been awarded government grants to fit green technology to existing buses to help improve air quality and create a better environment for residents and visitors.

Electric buses pioneered by York in 2010

Baroness Kramer said:

The £3 million funding announced today will help improve town centre air across England, benefitting residents and businesses. These grants continue this government’s commitment to lowering emissions from public transport and support the growth of green transport in the UK.

The funding is the latest tranche of support from the Clean Vehicle Technology Fund, which has retrofitted more than 1650 vehicles with green technology.

This round of awards will see technology suitable for the stop-start nature of bus travel fitted, including exhaust gas treatment and flywheel hybrid technology, developed originally for Formula 1.

The successful projects will monitor the effectiveness of the technologies to provide vital information on the working life of green vehicle upgrades.

York saw the launch of the world’s first double decker conversion of a City Sightseeing tour bus in York to fully electric drive last year.

The DfT’s Clean Vehicle Technology fund will now enable the conversation of an additional five buses into ‘zero emission motion’ – meaning electric motors.

The electric retrofitted vehicles will eliminate the emission of 2000kg of poisonous Nitrogen Dioxide (NOx) per year and reduce the carbon footprint by 95 tons CO2. Operating costs of the electric buses will save over £75k per year.

The converted buses are quieter and emit no pollution from the tailpipe as they run entirely on electric motors and battery packs.

The electric range is more than enough to complete a full day of touring and the buses will trickle charge overnight at their depot, using low carbon off peak electricity.

Nick Love commented

“I’m delighted that York has benefitted from the proactive approach to low carbon transport initiatives from the Lib Dems in government via The Clean Vehicle Technology Fund.

Last year there were an estimated 4.7 billion bus passenger journeys in England.

More people up and down the country get to work by bus than by all other forms of public transport combined.

York has a positive history of getting people out of their cars and onto public transport when coming into the city.

But being a party that is environmentally aware, while people are reducing their carbon emissions by hopping on the bus rather than using their cars, we want to make buses themselves greener, more efficient and easier to use”.

York welcomes Electrification Task Force report

York welcomes Final Electrification Task Force report, which places the York – Harrogate and Leeds railway line in the top tier of recommended electrification schemes.

The Final report of the Electrification Task Force, created in December 2013, will determine how electrification could deliver greater economic growth in the north of England – as part of the emerging ‘Northern Powerhouse’ concept.

Thirty two routes were examined, and grouped into three distinct prioritisation tiers based on their ability to contribute to local economic plans, how they fit with other schemes, and the number of diesel kilometres of running they would replace.

The Final report is available to download at www.railnorth.org/electrification

The 12 Tier One routes are:

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Some children’s bus fares to double in York

Behind closed doors decision hits number 20 bus service.

Two decisions were taken last week which affect bus services contracted by the Council with Arriva/Transdev in York.

There was no prior consultation with local Councillors or residents before the decisions were published.

The first change will see child fares on the 627/637/647 services increased so that they are “in line with those charged on other local bus services”. The services provide links to Fulford, Archbishop Holgate and Manor schools (from Acomb).

Currently children using these routes pay £1 return. This would be doubled to £2 (saving the Council £19,711)

The increase will be implemented from 1st September 2015.

The Council has promised to “ work with the contracting bus operator (Arriva) to explore opportunities for term pass discounts”

The number 20 bus service which links Tesco, Gale Lane and Front Street with Poppleton, Wigginton and the University will run less frequently.

“Instead of an hourly ‘clock-face’ timetable, additional running time will be built in to the timetable meaning certain departures will be 70 or 75 minutes apart.

Most buses will run from Heslington Hall via University Road and Melrosegate (currently buses run from Heslington Hall via Field Lane, Osbaldwick village, Alcuin Avenue and Melrosegate). School-time journeys will still be routed via Osbaldwick as they carry a number of children from the village to and from Huntington and Joseph Rowntree schools“.

All buses will divert to call at Vangarde Shopping Park (John Lewis etc), providing a new transport link for staff and shoppers. “Providing this link may allow CYC to use some of the Vangarde Section 106 developer funding to offset a proportion of the contract price”.

The proposal will remove the section of route through Heslington East and Osbaldwick except for at school times. The Councils says that, “whilst some Osbaldwick resident are using the service (around 15 passengers per day on average), alternative bus links are available”.

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