Between November 2023 and early February 2024, we held a significant public consultation looking at 10 policies to deliver a more sustainable future for York’s transport network. We'd like to thank every resident and business who took time to respond to our questions, attend our events or send us their comments.
This consultation was a first step towards building a new Local Transport Plan. We have listened to residents, businesses, commuters and visitors to understand how people want to move around in York and what we need to do to support them.
Background to the consultation
Our new Council Plan for 2023 to 2027 sets out our vision to make the city of York a healthier, fairer, more affordable, more sustainable and more accessible place, where everyone feels valued, creating more regional opportunities to help today's residents and benefit future generations. Transport has a vital role to play in delivering this vision.
We've also set ambitious targets to tackle climate change, including reducing carbon emissions from transport by 71% and reducing the number of miles travelled by car by 20% by 2030. This will not happen overnight and we know that first we need to make changes and improvements so that walking, cycling or taking the bus are reliable, practical and attractive options.
In total, we heard from over 2,000 people, including disabled residents, primary school children, older people and more. We visited the villages and suburbs of York to hear about rural transport issues and understand how the network could support communities better. We held events in the city centre to understand business and industrial need, and spoke with stakeholders from cycling campaigners and environmental groups to bus operators and taxi firms.
You can read our first two reports on the consultation at the links below. In summary, we received a high level of support for the policies and now have a clearer picture of what the residents and businesses of York want to see from their transport network.
All the comments have been read and we have reported on the results. In March 2024, we took a headline summary of the online survey to Executive – our report can be read in annex B of the 14 March 2024 Executive meeting agenda.
We also took a more detailed report to Scrutiny, and you can see our presentation in the 21 May 2024 Economy, Place, Access and Transport Scrutiny Committee agenda and draft minutes.
All the comments are now helping to form an emerging Local Transport Strategy as well as our Movement and Place Plan.
The 10 proposals
The proposals in this consultation have been developed by elected councillors and we're now keen to hear your views. There are 10 policy areas which we believe will help us deliver our ambitions for transport:
- Accessibility: so that everyone can access the areas and facilities they need and want.
- Improving walking, wheeling and cycling: so that these become real alternatives to driving a car.
- Shaping healthy places: offering a range of ways to move around and using the opportunity to provide better places for us to live, work and visit.
- Improving public transport: upgrading and improving our bus and rail services.
- Safeguarding the environment by cutting carbon, air pollution and noise: meeting climate change targets and improving the health of the city.
- Create a Movement and Place plan: creating safe, connected transport networks for residents, businesses and visitors.
- Reduce car dependency: supporting people to change how they travel, and encourage those who can, to reduce their journeys by car.
- Improving freight and logistics: creating efficient access for businesses while reducing the impact of heavy vehicles.
- Effective maintenance and enforcement: so that people choosing sustainable travel are safe, and that cycling, walking and wheeling routes are well maintained.
- Monitoring the transport network and financing the changes: to ensure the effectiveness of our policies and attract funding to deliver York's new transport strategy as effectively as possible.
