Peterborough City Council through its Travelchoice project has just been awarded major funding to improve the city’s sustainable transport network. We find out how this came about and how the money will be spent.
Expect some big improvements to cycling, walking and bus travel in Peterborough over the next few years. This is due to a huge but well deserved grant awarded to the council’s successful and much lauded Travelchoice project. With £5 million to be spent over a three and half year period, there won’t be any part of cycling, walking and public transport in the city that won’t be touched by it.
In 2004 Peterborough won an award, through the Department for Transport, to create a Sustainable Travel Demonstration Town. The project centred on implementing a comprehensive package of measures to help tackle traffic congestion by encouraging the use of public transport, cycling and walking. Peterborough was one of only three cities in the UK to be given this status. ‘This project was branded locally as Travelchoice’ says Teresa Wood, Sustainable Environment Manager for the city council. ‘It has been possible to build on its success and formulate a new bid, seeking a further £5 million from the Department for Transport from its Local Sustainable Transport Fund. This money will further enhance sustainable travel measures in Peterborough.
‘The grant was open to all local authorities’ Teresa explains further ’but Peterborough was one of only six that got the full £5 million, although there were 39 projects altogether that received some funding.’
Working closely with other local organisations that put their own proposals forward to make sustainable transport better in the city, a long and comprehensive bid was submitted. Not only was Teresa and her team successful but Peterborough was also commended by the Department for Transport for its comprehensive package of measures plus the work it had already done as a sustainable travel town. And so in July this year it was awarded the massive grant, which will be split across all sustainable travel measures. ‘It will go towards the Travelchoice promotion and behavioural change approach’ says Teresa ‘but there will be some hard infrastructure work as well.’
Travelchoice will also promote the health benefits of cycling or walking to work
The biggest issues the Travelchoice team identified with transportation in Peterborough and why they wanted further funding is that it’s a city that’s based very much around the car. So much of the new grant will be used to change attitudes, trying to break down any barriers people have about cycling to work. ‘For example we have a business grant scheme to make it easier for staff to use their bikes. Any business that puts up funding to install showers, lockers and bike shelters etc, we’ll match that amount up to £3000.’
Travelchoice will also promote the health benefits of cycling or walking to work and so is working closely with the city’s Primary Care Trust about healthy travel. ‘It’s about recognising that if we can get people onto their bikes from a leisure perspective there’s a high proportion of those people who will use cycles to get to work which will improve their health.’ To help with this, Travelchoice produces excellent free guides to some of the city’s cycle routes that give directions and mileage.
Of course this change of attitudes is easier if it starts earlier and so the Travelchoice programme includes promoting the benefits of children cycling to school. ‘One of the first things we will do from October is to have a cycle officer dedicated to working in our schools.’ Of the 56 primary schools in Peterborough almost 80 per cent have voluntarily joined the Bikeability scheme which provides free cycle training in primary schools. ’We will continue to try to get them involved and the dedicated schools cycling officer will help generate and build on the enthusiasm we have experienced with other schools’ says Teresa. Travelchoice is also looking at providing recycled bikes to those children who may not own their own bike.
Another project is on information and technology solutions. This includes smart phone apps suggesting routes to encourage walking to business parks. Plus for people who are blind or partially sighted giving audio travel information.
The money is more than just about promotion. ‘It’s about joining up the harder measures with the softer measures to give a longer lasting effect’ says Teresa. And so the grant will also be used for significant building work and one of the larger schemes Travelchoice is involved with is the improvement of travel links between the bus station, rail station and city centre.
‘There are improvement works at the railway station which include a new cycle compound with up to 290 bike stands, improvements to the walking route and disabled access.’
All of Peterborough’s infrastructure for cycling will be looked at, identifying any missing links and upgrading some of the network with additional dropped kerbs, automatic stop lines and raised priority crossing areas. ‘We have a barrier removal project in the Ortons and we’re going to follow that up with one in Bretton’ Teresa told us. ‘Some of the physical barriers on cycle routes are difficult for cyclists to manoeuvre around so we are looking at ways to improve these so they don’t slow the cyclists down and keep walkers safe.’
As the grant aims to improve Peterborough’s travel networks, Teresa welcomes residents’ suggestions about improvements.
‘The public are our eyes and ears’ she says ‘so if anyone knows of any glass on a route or a pothole developing, we can sort it out. People can also suggest new routes, particularly if there’s a new development that doesn’t have a cycle link to a school or place of work, for instance.’
Travelchoice isn’t just about cycling or walking. It’s about all sustainable travel solutions working together in harmony, including public transport. And Teresa says they are looking at traffic and street enforcing measures for illegal parking to improve the punctuality of buses.
Longer-term projects include making owning an electric car easier in Peterborough. ‘We’re putting in the city’s first plug in electric points this autumn and there are plans to install a total of 75 points in total. These will be in Westgate, Cowgate and in a council car park.’ This is because the council is investigating in the purchase of electric pool cars, a decision that will be made easier if the recharging points are already in place.
There are some fabulous and forward thinking ideas coming out of the Travelchoice office which this amazing grant will see come to fruition. But will they work? Can Travelchoice make us change the way we commute to work and navigate our way around the city? Well, if in a couple of years when you reach for your bicycle clips instead of your car keys, even a couple of times a week, the answer will be yes.
The biggest issues the Travelchoice team identified with transportation in Peterborough and why they wanted further funding is that it’s a city that’s based very much around the car. So much of the new grant will be used to change attitudes, trying to break down any barriers people have about cycling to work. ‘For example we have a business grant scheme to make it easier for staff to use their bikes. Any business that puts up funding to install showers, lockers and bike shelters etc, we’ll match that amount up to £3000.’
