Respond to key Oxford transport consultations

Amplify our collective voice and respond to the Central Oxfordshire Travel Plan and the proposal to implement six trial traffic filters on key routes across Oxford.

Alongside our fellow active travel campaigners and partners, we have worked really hard to encourage the County Council to take radical steps to reduce car journeys, develop a comprehensive and inclusive cycle network, and achieve Vision Zero (the elimination of road fatalities and life-changing injuries). 

Below you will find summaries and links to the key documents, Cyclox’s view on how these two consultations impact cycling in Oxford, and the official Coalition for Healthy Streets and Active Travel email templates and response guides.

Scroll down for:

• Quick email templates for you to respond in less than 1 minute
• A short survey response guide for you to complete in under 5 minutes
• Information that will help you compile a fuller response to submit by 13th Oct (the original deadline has now been extended)

1. The Central Oxfordshire Travel Plan

https://youtu.be/JkgGmXg_nqc

While the crucial implementation of a 20mph speed limit across the city is currently missing from the plan (and will be requested in our formal response), the Central Oxfordshire Travel Plan (COTP) sets out a number of positive actions that will bring us closer to our vision for Oxford’s future: a world class cycling city, where everyone can choose to cycle, and where cycling is a normal form of transport.

Quick response: takes 60-seconds

Copy, paste, edit and email: centraloxontravelplan@oxfordshire.gov.uk

I am writing to support the Central Oxfordshire Transport Plan. We must do this to stop traffic getting worse, and to make streets better for people.

Don’t forget to include your name, plus the OX and numbers in your postcode (e.g. OX4 3).

Short survey response guide: takes 5 minutes

This guide will allow you to quickly complete the survey on Oxfordshire County Council’s consultation website. Remember: you can adapt these suggestions to your own wording and add more detail and feedback if you wish.

If you haven’t completed a County Council consultation survey before, you will need to register first. If you are already registered, you will need to sign in.

Q1. Prioritising the Challenges

We consider all of these challenges to be important and they should be tackled. Prioritise in the order you consider best (but don’t overthink it, they are all important).

Q2. Prioritising the Outcomes

We consider all of these outcomes to be important and they should be delivered. Prioritise in the order you consider best (but don’t overthink it, they are all important).

Q3-18. Agreeing and commenting on the outcomes

Strongly agree to all of the outcomes.

Q19-20. Avoid/Shift/Improve framework

Strongly agree to this framework.

Q21-49. Questions about the 22 actions (see pp. 7-13 of the Executive Summary) in the plan (optional)

These questions are optional and you can respond to any actions you have strong views on, or feel to be particularly important. CoHSAT, Cyclox, Oxfordshire Cycling Network, Oxfordshire Liveable Streets and other groups will be submitting detailed inputs on many of these areas. Overall, we are supportive of the general direction and we are keen to see them implemented, but we want to see more details on many of the proposals.

Q50-51. Key Performance Indicators

Strongly agree to Key Performance Indicators.

Q52 Do you have a better understanding of the transport plans after the consultation?

We hope you will be able to say ‘Yes’.

Q53 Overall question (optional)

I strongly support this plan and I am very keen to see it implemented. Only a fraction of the previous Oxford Transport Strategy was implemented and we are still suffering from congestion, pollution, poor bus services, and poor cycling and walking conditions – this all needs urgently fixing. All of the challenges and outcomes are important. The outcomes support each other, so it is not a question of prioritising, but achieving them together. The plan should include more for walking: improving pavements and resting places. I also support the more detailed response submitted by CoHSAT.

Q54-64 About you

Do answer these as they will kept confidential and used to build a profile of survey respondents.

2. Traffic filters

The proposal to implement six trial traffic filters on key routes across Oxford forms the first major part of the Central Oxfordshire Travel Plan. If approved in November, the filters would be implemented as an ‘experimental’ scheme from Autumn 2023. The scheme would be in place for an initial 6 month period.

The reduction of motor traffic and fewer private cars on our streets is of critical importance in making people feel safer to cycle, but this current proposal offers far too many vehicle exemptions that allow for people to travel through the filters at all times without applying for a permit.

The aim of the traffic filters is ‘to improve bus services and journey times, reduce walking and cycling accidents and improve air quality across the city’, but the traffic modelling suggests that the current proposal will reduce traffic by a mere 20%. With the current high levels of traffic on Oxford’s roads, we believe this small reduction will have no impact on people’s perception of safety, or willingness to cycle.

Quick response: takes 60-seconds

Copy, paste, edit and email: trafficfilters@oxfordshire.gov.uk

I am writing to support the Traffic Filters, but I think they should be more ambitious: 24/7 in the city centre, and fewer exemptions and permits.

Don’t forget to include your name, plus the OX and numbers in your postcode (e.g. OX4 3).

Short survey response guide: takes 5 minutes

This guide will allow you to quickly complete the survey on Oxfordshire County Council’s consultation website. Remember: you can adapt these suggestions to your own wording and add more detail and feedback if you wish.

If you haven’t completed a County Council consultation survey before, you will need to register first. If you are already registered, you will need to sign in.

Q1. Complete relevant option for you

Q2. Complete relevant answers for you

Q3. Support all except ‘Residential / 100 permits’, which we oppose

Q4a. 100 permits is too many and will not result in much reduction in traffic. Two person households may even buy a second car to exploit the scheme. This will make the scheme unfair and ineffective, and the permit numbers should be far fewer, e.g. 12 or 24 per household.

Q4b. Vans are important for business but may be exploited for personal transport and there are a lot of double cab vans and pick-up trucks around Oxford. OCC should ensure that any vans permitted are for legitimate business uses only.

Q5. All: mostly positive

Q6. People in these groups are often economically disadvantaged or less able. They will find it easier to walk, wheel, cycle and take the bus, becoming more active, healthier and saving money. The disabled people who do need to use a car will be able to use the roads more freely.

Q7. I am concerned that the large number of permits, exemptions and operation for only 12 hours will mean that traffic volume is not reduced by much, and that cycling safety is not improved by much.

Q8. There are challenges with this plan, but there are bigger challenges in doing nothing and letting traffic volumes increase every year, which increases congestion, pollution, and negative health impacts.

Q9. The measures are good, but there should be clear targets so the number of permits can be changed to ensure the targets are achieved.

Q10. The city operates almost 24 hours a day, so the central four traffic filters should operate 24 hours a day.

Q11. Monitoring and demographics complete as appropriate.