Vision 21 / Gloucester City Council Climate Change Conference - Grid-locked Britain?

1. Vision 21 / Gloucester City Council Climate Change Conference -Grid-locked Britain? Graham Stanley - Vision 21 28th June 2007

2. A few facts & figures... • Traffic congestion costs the UK economy more than £20,000m each year. In Gloucestershire, that’s £200m p.a. (~ £350 each; £1 per day)! • Transport-related problems (parking, traffic jams, accidents) adversely affect the profitability of 80% of our businesses. • Traffic continues to grow by ~2.5% annually. • though it’s ‘only’ 1.5% in Gloucestershire • We’re now driving further to work. The average daily commute is 14 miles, compared with 8 miles in 1997...

3. A few facts & figures... • 3,200 people are killed on our roads each year. • that’s 9 per day (and proportionately more youngsters). • RTA’s kill more under-25 men than anything else. • ‘our share’ should be 32 - but (at 58) it’s nearly double. • Financial cost of RTA’s (KSI) is more than £100m. • Transport produces over 30% of our CO2 emissions. • We’ve just had the hottest, driest April ever - followed by the wettest-ever June! • Gloucestershire’s air quality is the UK’s 9th worst.

4. But it’s not all bad news... • The transport industry employs around 6,500 people within Gloucestershire: • 4,900 in road-transport. • Nearly 1,000 in logistics and warehousing. • 600 in public transport (rail, buses, taxis). • 16 in ‘water transport’. • plus another 20,000 indirectly. • Transport-related activities generate more than £195m annually for the local economy.

5. ? How will I know… …if my transport is ‘sustainable’ • Is this mode of transport and/or method of accessing services something which: • we could continue to do for the next 30 years? • we would want to do for the next 30 years?

6. Enough about the problems -Give me solutions! • Company Travel Plans. • ‘Don’t drive 1 in 5’ (GCC)… • 20% less traffic. • ‘The school run’. 15% more traffic, +50% journey-times. • ‘Gold Cup’ week: 20% more traffic; 100% longer journeys. • 40% reduction in journey times. • Reduced stress for employees. • Fewer car-parking spaces required (£6,000 plus £600 p.a.). • Ashchurch/Tewkesbury Business Parks. 138 businesses, nearly 1,000 staff. MAIDeN data-mapping (GCC).

7. Enough about the problems -Give me solutions! • Cycling. • Walking. • Public-transport: trains and buses (+ priority). • ‘Park & Ride’ schemes (Waterwells, Oxstalls). • Car-sharing schemes. • Community Car Clubs. • ‘Invest to save’.

8. “Invest to Save”(1)... • “If you need a tool and you don’t buy it, you end up paying for the tool – and you still don’t have it.”(Henry Ford)

9. “Invest to Save”(2)... • Low-Energy Light Bulbs v. Incandescent Light Bulbs. • Cost (LELB): £3. Energy cost (8000 hrs) = £15. Total = £18 • Cost (ILB): 10 x 40p = £4. Energy cost (8000 hrs) = £64. Total = £68. • TFT ‘flat panel’ computer monitors v. CRT’s. • TFT cost: £150. Energy cost (5 years, 2000hrs/yr) £19. Total = £169 • CRT cost: £50. Energy cost (5 years, 2000hrs/yr) = £143. Total = £193 + air-con! • Servicing your car... • Saves £300 p.a. Costs: reduced value when you sell it + increased risk of breaking down + reduced performance & mpg: a total of around £500 p.a.. • Park & Ride: 400 cars, 2 miles from town/city centre. • Cost: £2m., Savings: £200k p.a. Income (£2.50/car): £250k p.a. • ‘Company’ Travel Plan: • Cost: £10k. Savings (Organisation + Staff): £5k + £3k p.a.

10. New ideas…? • Road pricing. • Carbon rationing. • Workplace car-parking charges. • New ways of working (+ tax incentives). • Increased fuel tax!!! • Other suggestions?

11. New ideas…? • Road pricing • Advantage: ‘point-of-sale’ tax. Direct taxes are more effective than indirect taxes (e.g. road tax). • Disadvantages • Has to be expensive to be effective:£5 per mile! (*GCC Saturn). • Tends to force traffic from suitable to unsuitable roads (M4/A48). • Tends to extend the rush-hour, creating all-day busy roads. • Complicated! GPS, in-car units, software…unreliable? • Expensive. Estimated to cost more than £10bn to introduce, plus £1bn annually to maintain (= £400 per car + £40 pa). • Unpredictable. Cost of journeys will vary with traffic congestion.

12. New ideas…? • Road pricing. • Carbon rationing. • Attractive as a concept: tackles causes rather than symptoms; distributes resources fairly... • …but a nightmare to administer! Needs to be part of a much wider (and properly-thought-out) approach to energy use.

13. New ideas…? • Road pricing. • Carbon rationing. • Workplace car-parking charges. • Encourages good travel-practice (car-sharing, public transport, cycling, walking) if part of a travel plan. • Must be fairly applied, otherwise employers just relocate to out-of-town locations (with poor PT). • Can discourage some businesses...

14. New ideas…? • Road pricing. • Carbon rationing. • Workplace car-parking charges. • New ways of working (+ tax incentives).

15. New ideas…? • Road pricing. • Carbon rationing. • Workplace car-parking charges. • New ways of working (+ tax incentives). • Increased fuel tax!!!

16. New ideas…? • Road pricing. • Carbon rationing. • Workplace car-parking charges. • New ways of working (+ tax incentives). • Increased fuel tax!!! • Other suggestions?

17. That’s all, folks…

18. Any Questions?www.vision21.org.ukgraham@vision21.org.uk

19. Linking Transport to the GSP:The LAA Big Five... • CYP (Children & Young People). • EDE (Economic Dev. & Enterprise). • HCOP (Healthier Communities & Older People). • NBE (Natural & Built Environment). • SSC (Safer & Stronger Communities).

20. Linking Transport to the GSP:CYP (Children & Young People) • ‘Walk/cycle-to-school’ initiatives and school travel plans. • ‘Parental choice’ for selection of secondary schools. • Provision of ‘hub-and-spoke’ Market Town facilities e.g. ‘Nightbus’ for the ‘night-time economy’ (cinema, clubs…).

21. Linking Transport to the GSP:EDE (Economic Dev. & Enterprise) • Promotion of ‘local’ goods & services: food (local food, farmers’ markets); tourism… • Upgrading of road/rail links. • ‘New ways of working’. • Creation and stimulation of the ‘low-carbon’ economy. • A fuel-tax levy (2p?), with the £7.5m revenue ring-fenced to support local businesses and communities.

22. Linking Transport to the GSP:HCOP(Healthy Communities & Older People) • Provision/retention of local facilites: • – Post Offices & Village shops. • – Libraries. • – Schools. • Centralisation of medical facilities: • – hospitals, maternity hospitals, A&E departments. • – Doctors’ & Dentists’ surgeries. • – Chemists’ shops / pharmacies • Creation of self-contained ‘retirement villages’. • ‘Choose & book’ hospital appointments system.

23. Linking Transport to the GSP:NBE (Natural & Built Environment) • Restoration of derelict canals and surrounding areas (linked to use of canals for transporting freight). • Fortnightly refuse collections, alternating with fortnightly recycling collections. • Collection of ‘green’ (garden) waste from households. • ‘Bio-crops’ (e.g. willow coppices, bio-diesel, bio-ethanol). • Kerbside recycling (rather than ‘recycling points’).

24. Linking Transport to the GSP:SSC (Safer & Stronger Communities). • Blocked-off footpaths & alleyways  increased car use. • Provision of mixed-use buildings in residential areas e.g. for small workshops/start-up businesses/community shops. • Use of school buildings/equipment to provide out-of-hours ‘community’ meeting rooms/ sports facilities. • Creation of ‘neighbourhood offices’, with shared IT (computers, printers, digital projectors, broadband). • Creation of daytime ‘neighbourhood’ training/learning centres, using broadband IT and local mentors.

25. That’s all, folks…