DISCUSSION ON LETTERS OF COMMENT

1. Letter no. 3 is concerned that while there has been an improvement the arrangements will not be able to cope with the pantomime season. It would be very difficult to provide facilities on-street that catered for every potential surge in coach use and the desire to set down close to the passengers ultimate destination. Observations that were made during the pantomime season did not show any significant problem.
2. Letter no.11 suggests that the stopping of point in St. Giles should be kept but moved against the kerb. This suggestion moves the coaches directly outside Blackfriars which was one of the main objections to the previous pay and display proposal for coaches.
3. Letter no. 13 is concerned about the potential effects on bus stopping arrangements in the event of George Street being available. In this situation temporary orders would need to be made suspending coach parking and/or other facilities to provide for local buses.
4. Those supporting the experiment are businesses located at the north of the city centre or those that supply them. Representations have for many years been made by businesses in this area of the City on the importance to them of the tourist trade that is provided by coaches stopping within the St. Giles area.

Letters of Objection

5. The most frequent comment made was about the visual effect of the coaches in St. Giles. A few of those making this comment also made reference to Beaumont Street. Many of those commenting felt that the very provision of the coach stopping areas had encouraged coaches into St. Giles and had created a problem with them that did not previously exist.
6. All the existing coach facilities in Oxford, including those covered by the experiment, are included in information available to the coach trade. While this has the potential to attract coaches into St. Giles the reality is different. St. Giles has for many years been a focal point for coaches on day trips. Surveys, undertaken in 2000 have shown that up to 20 coaches can be parked in St. Giles at any one time, either setting down or picking up passengers. The experiment is an attempt to provide some order in the way in which these coaches use the street.
7. Noise and pollution from engines left running was also a comment made by many. This is a difficult issue to deal with. If a driver has left the vehicle with the engine still running an offence is committed but only the police can deal with this. If the driver is still in the vehicle no offence has been committed. Information available to coach operators does ask that the drivers turn their engines off but this is reliant on the individuals. It would appear that engines are left running either to maintain heating or air-conditioning systems.
8. This problem may however be reduced with the designation of an Air Quality Strategy (by Oxford City Council). Powers will be available to fine drivers who do not switch off their engines. It is expected that these powers will be available in April 2002.
9. About a quarter of respondents were concerned at the level of overstay beyond the 20 minutes and 10 minutes permitted in St. Giles and Beaumont Street, respectively, and the apparent lack of enforcement. The City Council have also raised this issue with the Parking Manager. His response is included in Annex 6.
10. A significant number of the respondents were concerned at the safety of the experimental layout. These concerns fall into three main areas:-

1. changes in direction of the cycle lane;
2. visibility for vehicles exiting from Pusey Street: and
3. passengers alighting into/boarding from the carriageway.
11. Prior to the experiment the cycles lanes in St. Giles followed a route parallel to the pay and display parking just outside the line of the trees. The coach stopping bays are now located on the line of the cycle lane which has been marked on the outside of them. This does necessitate more than one change of direction for cyclists, which is only indicated by white lining. If the experiment were to be made permanent the coloured surfacing that exists further north on the cycle lanes would be extended southwards to better indicate the route of the them in the vicinity of the coach stopping points.
12. When the coach stopping point on the west side of St. Giles has a coach at its northern end visibility is reduced for vehicles exiting Pusey Street. This is exacerbated by the current position of the cycle lane. By marginally repositioning the cycle lane at this point visibility could be increased.
13. In St. Giles passengers alighting from a right hand drive vehicle do so between the coach and cars parked in the pay and display area. This can be a problem if the cars have pulled too far forward. Passengers then have to walk between the parked vehicles and across the service road for the parking before being able to step onto a footway. Passengers alighting from left hand drive vehicles do so direct into the main carriageway. There is however a marginal strip, indicated by lining, to separate them from the cycle lane. The main problems with this type of vehicle is when passengers are boarding they tend to not keep within the confines of the marginal strip but spill out onto the cycle lane and sometimes beyond into the general traffic lane. It should be noted that the information provided to coach operators does say that these facilities are not suitable for continental coaches.
14. A number of respondents were concerned at the congestion that can now occur southbound in St. Giles. The coach stopping point on the east side of the road now occupies the traffic lane that effectively feeds into Magdalen Street East, thus providing some degree of priority. When the queue from the Beaumont Street traffic signals tails back to this point it can have an effect on congestion particularly for buses, taxis and private hire vehicles, all of which have a right of access to Magdalen Street East. For general traffic there should be no real effect as it should already be in one lane at this point, there only being a single lane entry from St. Giles into Beaumont Street. In fact this has a marginal advantage in that, at peak times when there are queues in St. Giles, it reduces the number of vehicles that try and queue jump and form two lanes for the traffic signals.

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