Contact: Jon Foley, ext 7559 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This report provides a progress update on the workplace, school and personalised travel planning programmes for the Eastleigh area. It also includes an update on the Safer Routes to Schools programme for schemes within the Eastleigh area.

2. Workplace Travel Plan Programme

2.1 The County Council has, through its Business Travel Plan Adviser, been working with organisations since April 2001 to assist them in developing travel plans for their establishments.

2.2 There are two elements to this work. The first is to work with planning officers to ensure that appropriate guidance is given to developers of new sites (or extensions to existing sites). This secures the requirement for a travel plan within the legal planning framework. A guidance note on the production of travel plans is currently being developed in consultation with all districts to help secure good quality travel plans through the planning process.

2.3 The second area of work is to provide support to organisations developing travel plans voluntarily. This is generally done on a `reactive' basis, with the Business Travel Plan Adviser providing advice as organisations make contact with the County Council.

2.4 The Business Travel Plan Adviser has developed a close working relationship with officers at Eastleigh Borough Council and regularly attends the Eastleigh and Chandler's Ford Commuter Forum. The Business Travel Plan Adviser is at present working on travel plans with 12 organisations in the Eastleigh area. The latest organisation to submit a travel plan is Southampton International Airport. The Business Travel Plan Adviser will continue to work with the Airport to assist in its development.

2.5 The current status of each organisation's travel plan the Business Travel Plan Adviser is working with in the Eastleigh area is shown in Table 1 of the appendix.

2.6 In June the Executive Member for Environment approved an allocation from the Transport Capital Programme 2004/05 for the trial of a Travel Plan Partnership Fund. Local businesses were invited to submit bids for matched funding, up to a maximum of £5,000 (and not more than 50% of the total cost of the project), for on-site sustainable transport measures. A number of organisations in the Eastleigh area have been successful in securing funds. These include:

(i) Barton Peveril College - £5,000 for new cycle parking and marking out of Carshare bays;

(ii) B&Q - £5,000 for new cycle parking;

(iii) Eastleigh College - £5,000 for secure cycle parking and shower facilities;

(iv) Eastleigh and Chandlers Ford Commuter Forum - £1,500 for bespoke bus timetables; and

(v) Eastleigh and Chandlers Ford Commuter Forum - £3,000 for adult cycle training.

2.7 An update on progress will be given in the report to the next Panel meeting.

3. School Travel Plan Programme

3.1 The County Council has, through its School Travel Plan Adviser, been working with schools to help develop school travel plans since April 2001 using a grant from the Department for Transport (DfT). The DfT has extended and increased this funding until March 2006. As a result the School Travel Planning team (five staff) has now been established within the Transport Policy Group of the Environment Department.

3.2 There are to date over 200 schools throughout Hampshire which have developed, or are working on, travel plans. Schools which have completed a travel plan to the Hampshire standard are eligible to bid for Safer Routes to Schools funding as well as a one-off grant from the Department for Education and Skills.

3.3 The County and Borough Councils work together closely on school travel planning and are currently engaged with 25 of the 39 schools in the Eastleigh area, of which 21 have an endorsed travel plan. As a whole, the County Council is engaged with 202 of the 546 schools in Hampshire, of which 103 have an endorsed travel plan. Table 2 in the appendix shows the status of the travel plan at each of the schools in the Eastleigh area.

4. Safer Routes to Schools Programme

4.1 The Safer Routes to Schools programme links very closely with the development of the School Travel Plan programme. One of the objectives of a School Travel Plan is to encourage as many children as possible to be active and independent by walking, cycling or using public transport to get to and from school on a regular basis. This could be through a combination of physical and other measures. If physical works are identified within the approved school travel plan then the school can bid for funding from the Safer Routes to Schools programme.

4.2 The 23 January 2004 the Executive Member for Environment agreed an indicative allocation of £1.25 million for a county-wide programme of Safer Routes to Schools schemes from the 2004/05 Capital Programme, and £1.5 million in 2005/06. This includes an allocation of £250,000 for School Crossing Patrol site improvements. These improvements are based on a risk assessment priority rather than necessarily being tied to a school travel plan.

4.3 The 2004/05 Safer Routes to Schools programme for the Eastleigh area is detailed below:

4.4 The Safer Routes to Schools programme for 2005/06 and beyond includes schemes at the following locations:

(i) Bursledon Infant and Junior School;

(ii) Fryern Infant and Junior School, Chandlers Ford;

(iii) Freegrounds Infant and Junior, Hedge End;

(iv) Thornden Secondary School, Chandlers Ford;

(v) Hiltingbury Infant and Junior, Chandlers Ford;

(vi) Wildern School, Hedge End;

(vii) Shamblehurst Primary, Hedge End; and

(viii) The Toynbee School, Chandlers Ford.

4.5 As more school travel plans are submitted and approved it is anticipated that, subject to other budget considerations, more Safer Routes to Schools schemes will be forthcoming in future years.

5. Personalised Travel Planning

5.1 One of the County Council's Public Service Agreement targets is to increase bus passenger numbers. A key part of the County's plan to meet this target is a personalised travel planning project called `InfoMotion'. Personalised travel planning is a process whereby individuals are provided with tailored public transport timetable information and free trial travel vouchers for use on local public transport.

5.2 The initiative started in September 2003 and is due to be completed in March 2005. The project is divided into four waves and covers Hampshire's busiest bus routes. The final wave, which commenced in September 2004, includes the marketing of local buses to households in the Eastleigh area.

5.3 The impact of this project will be reported to the next meeting.

5.4 In an effort to reduce the traffic impacts of the more significant new residential developments in the Borough of Eastleigh, and to bring to the attention of new residents the range of alternative travel options available, developer contributions have been secured to pay for a personalised travel planning service for each new household immediately after they move into their new homes. This innovative new initiative will be rolled out at the Dowds Farm development in Hedge End and, due to the short term resource intensive nature of this service, it is likely that a bespoke service will be provided by consultants who specialise in personalised travel planning. A similar service will be provided to new residents at the South Street, Eastleigh development, subject to the Secretary of State approving planning permission.

Recommendation

That Members note the progress made with the delivery of the workplace and school travel plans, personalised travel planning and Safer Routes to Schools programmes in the Eastleigh area.

8924/JF

APPENDIX

Table 1 Travel Plan Status of Businesses in the Eastleigh Area

* The travel plan levels have recently been devised and are undergoing refinement

Table 2 Travel Plan and Safer Routes to Schools Status of Schools in the Eastleigh Area

Summary of School Travel Plan Status (State Schools in Eastleigh)

Key:

0 Interest shown

1 Initial work on travel plan started

2 Draft travel plan completed

3 Final travel plan submitted and approved