Birmingham unveils Ghent-style plan to reduce traffic levels

[owen b]

I have a genuine question about the air quality issues that have both led to strategic plans like in Birmingham and acute warnings as (IIRC) in Sarajevo and other southern European cities over the last day or so.

Why are we getting these warnings now and not 10, 20 years ago?

Objectively, air quality is a lot better than it used to be, not surprising considering the vastly stricter emissions standards. But it's still responsible for a lot of health problems.
https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/news?view=238
Long term improvement in particulate and NO2 pollution, fairly stable ozone pollution.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ll-exposed
"Air pollution causes at least 40,000 early deaths in the UK from lung and heart disease, but it is being linked to an increasing range of health impacts, from miscarriage to teenage psychosis."

Standards are much higher these days and rightly so. Things that were tolerated 10 or 20 or 40 years ago are no longer acceptable, things such as smoking on public transport, leaded petrol, 6,000 people a year dying on the UK's roads annually etc. etc.

[Berk]

OK, so when will the transport authority start to subsidise public transport across the region to make it more competitive??

We always get a lot of stick, and never any carrot.

[Steven]

OK, so when will the transport authority start to subsidise public transport across the region to make it more competitive??

We always get a lot of stick, and never any carrot.

That was rather my point above. There isn't one that covers more than half of the Birmingham Travel to Work Area - hence the need for one that does.

[KeithW]

That was rather my point above. There isn't one that covers more than half of the Birmingham Travel to Work Area - hence the need for one that does.

I think what is needed for Birmingham and Manchester is something similar to what happened in London when the London Passenger Transport Board was created. That allowed the authority to extend transport way beyond the boundaries of London County Council. This would require an act of parliament but it would enable the creation of an integrated transport system. This has been done in Ohio with the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority which coordinates the operation of Heavy Rail, Light Rail, Bus and Park and Ride systems beyond what was the traditional city boundaries.

Another US example I came across was the central Contra Costa Transit Authority was created by agreement between the cities of Clayton, Concord, Lafayette, Martinez, Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek, the town of Moraga, and the County of Contra Costa County. A key part of this is the BART system (Bay Area Rapid Transit) When I was working in Walnut Creek I could catch BART and travel quickly into Oakland, San Francisco and the airport. Its around 25 miles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Connection

On a smaller scale this is starting to happen in the NE with the Tees Valley Combined Authority which is trying to coordinate the local transport systems of Stockton On Tees, Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland. This will involve the railways , buses, park and rides and airport. It has its own directly elected mayor and access to central government funding. As with Birmingham the TTWA for Middlesbrough extends well beyond its boundaries into Cleveland and North Yorkshire while travel patterns for Darlington and Hartlepool extend into to Durham and Wearside.

A West Midlands Combined Authority already exists which includes Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell and Solihull but I suspect to be really effective it seems to need to expand beyond that towards Derby on the NE axis and Kidderminster/Worcester in the SW. It seems to have a much smaller budget than the TVCA and has a larger population to serve. This seems to be at least the skeleton of a system that could help.

These combined authorities are pretty new but certainly on Teesside it has brought together local authorities with different political makeups that havent really worked together since the 1970s when Teesside County Council was abolished.

[FosseWay]

OK, so when will the transport authority start to subsidise public transport across the region to make it more competitive??

We always get a lot of stick, and never any carrot.

That was rather my point above. There isn't one that covers more than half of the Birmingham Travel to Work Area - hence the need for one that does.

I would suggest it needs to go further than that, and include the TTWA for the entire West Midlands conurbation, so presumably including places like Telford, Kidderminster, Nuneaton, Burton etc., and possibly even Stafford, Worcester and Derby. There are two principal reasons, I think:

1. Even though there are discrete TTWAs for Wolverhampton and Coventry, distinct from Birmingham, and possibly also for Dudley/Sandwell, there must nevertheless be a lot of travel between those towns and cities. And because of the nature of the conurbation, it's not ideal that people drive between them - the roads are congested and mostly built-up, so local air quality is an issue. It's all very well focusing on getting people who live in Wolverhampton's TTWA to use PT to get to Wolverhampton, but so much more could be done by expanding the reference area.

2. Public transport is not only useful for commuting. Part of the reason that take-up of PT is so much greater round me than in any city in the UK other than London is that it can genuinely be used for all the other journeys that people want/need to do. You can go to a music festival, opera performance or football match and the transport will still be running long after the event is finished so you can get home. You can go shopping after work or at the weekend. You can get to the doctor or dentist on the way to work. I imagine there is considerable travel into and out of Birmingham from other places for these kinds of reasons, and not necessarily only from Birmingham's TTWA. Even if that travel does not create enough congestion in itself to warrant prioritisation, providing PT for that travel can help reduce congestion at other times because people start to use PT out of habit for more or less all journeys.

Essentially I can get to anywhere within the greater Gothenburg region by public transport. There are some journeys at some times of day that end up taking so long that it's clearly better to drive, but in most cases, and certainly within the ring roads, the only reason to drive would be if I was carrying too much stuff to use PT. It therefore becomes automatic - if I need to go into town, I get the bus. If I need to head away from town, I drive.

[Glenn A]

Public transport links between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, particularly rail, are very good, there is the Metrolink and a combination of local stopping trains and Inter City type trains between the two cities. Driving is a complete dirge, with both the motorway and traditional route through the Black Country being very busy for most of the day,

[popmonkey]

The consultation for this plan has now gone live https://www.birminghambeheard.org.uk/ec ... sportplan/

The plan itself is still full of fluffy non-committal language in common with many recent political statements, while the consultation itself doesn't offer many chances to comment on the plans themselves, although they're looking for "any additional suggestions" to add to their plans.

[Bryn666]

The consultation for this plan has now gone live https://www.birminghambeheard.org.uk/ec ... sportplan/

The plan itself is still full of fluffy non-committal language in common with many recent political statements, while the consultation itself doesn't offer many chances to comment on the plans themselves, although they're looking for "any additional suggestions" to add to their plans.

It won't improve air quality massively, but a good way to prevent local traffic on the A38 would be to build kerbs between the tunnels so there is a straight through route from Lancaster Circus to Holloway Circus with no access to the city centre unless you use the surface route alongside. It seems bonkers to not take advantage of the A38 in this manner, really.

[popmonkey]

I think there was a suggestion at one point to fill in the gaps in the tunnels (making it one long tunnel from St Chads to Paradise). This would keep the through route available while removing the barrier of the Queensway for pedestrians.

[Chris Bertram]

I think there was a suggestion at one point to fill in the gaps in the tunnels (making it one long tunnel from St Chads to Paradise). This would keep the through route available while removing the barrier of the Queensway for pedestrians.

It has been suggested, but the levels of the St Chads and Queensway tunnels are different. Separating the outer and inner carriageways between Lancaster Circus and St Chads, and between St Chads and the Queensway tunnel is much more practical, and would also have the side-benefit of eliminating the horrendous weaving that occurs in those short stretches, which themselves slow traffic down dramatically and increase pollution as a result.

[Bryn666]

I think there was a suggestion at one point to fill in the gaps in the tunnels (making it one long tunnel from St Chads to Paradise). This would keep the through route available while removing the barrier of the Queensway for pedestrians.

It has been suggested, but the levels of the St Chads and Queensway tunnels are different. Separating the outer and inner carriageways between Lancaster Circus and St Chads, and between St Chads and the Queensway tunnel is much more practical, and would also have the side-benefit of eliminating the horrendous weaving that occurs in those short stretches, which themselves slow traffic down dramatically and increase pollution as a result.

It also removes the need to spend millions on every Middleway junction. But will ideology win out over practicality?

Much more needs to be done to reduce car dependency however.

[jackal]

If you completely close intermediate junctions then traffic that currently sails through to them will have to navigate multiple at-grade junctions, increasing surface street congestion and pollution.

[Bryn666]

If you completely close intermediate junctions then traffic that currently sails through to them will have to navigate multiple at-grade junctions, increasing surface street congestion and pollution.

Who said close them? We are saying to put in kerbs effectively creating a C/D arrangement so there is no weaving, no queueing caused by weaving, and no local traffic blocking up through traffic heading to the M6.

The whole point of the exercise is to limit supply for local traffic that can reasonably take other modes (which in a massive city like Birmingham is doable) without affecting the strategic corridors.

Birmingham is crowded on the roads because people insist on driving when there are smarter ways to get about.

I don't default to spending 2h 20m to do 14 miles in Manchester so why people are doing the same in a region with superior public transport is beyond me. There are few "must use a car without question" requirements but plenty of laziness or entitlement issues masquerading as need.

[Steven]

a region with superior public transport

Why are you suddenly talking about London?

[ScottB5411]

Thread locked pending SMT and Committee review

[frediculous_biggs]

Can all members please remember to talk about the specific scheme in Birmingham. The virtues of public transport should be in a relevant thread in the Transport & Driving forum.

Please also remember to use the Post Report button to report any posts they feel break the posting guidelines.

[Jeni]

My (valid) post seemed to get lost in the insults being removed from other members...

In short, close the tunnels and don't improve the middleway, it's a waste of money - anyone silly enough to sit in the resulting traffic deserves it. We need to reclaim our cities from the car and good on Birmingham for making an effort.

[popmonkey]

My (valid) post seemed to get lost in the insults being removed from other members...

In short, close the tunnels and don't improve the middleway, it's a waste of money - anyone silly enough to sit in the resulting traffic deserves it. We need to reclaim our cities from the car and good on Birmingham for making an effort.

People won’t sit in traffic, they’ll simply take their business elsewhere. Closing high quality routes in favour of unacceptable ones just to make life difficult is not going to make Birmingham a good place to live or work.

[Jeni]

My (valid) post seemed to get lost in the insults being removed from other members...

In short, close the tunnels and don't improve the middleway, it's a waste of money - anyone silly enough to sit in the resulting traffic deserves it. We need to reclaim our cities from the car and good on Birmingham for making an effort.

People won’t sit in traffic, they’ll simply take their business elsewhere. Closing high quality routes in favour of unacceptable ones just to make life difficult is not going to make Birmingham a good place to live or work.

I'm willing to take a bet that a city like Birmingham won't suffer economically for giving priority to more viable forms of transport.

I'll buy a hat and eat it.

[Chris Bertram]

My (valid) post seemed to get lost in the insults being removed from other members...

In short, close the tunnels and don't improve the middleway, it's a waste of money - anyone silly enough to sit in the resulting traffic deserves it. We need to reclaim our cities from the car and good on Birmingham for making an effort.

They haven't actually decided what to do yet. This is a consultation to set some hares running. But whatever it is they decide, an approach such as you suggest which is all stick and no carrot is unlikely to find favour. Like it or not, traffic *does* need to get across and around the middle of Birmingham, quite apart from traffic currently aiming for the centre as a destination (much - but not all - of which might be diverted onto public transport). Close the tunnels and the smog from the jams on an unimproved Middleway will be able to be seen from the Moon. And I'm sure even you don't want that.