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ITEM EX10

EXECUTIVE – 29 OCTOBER 2002

PARKING ON BUS ROUTES - SCRUTINY REVIEW

Environment Scrutiny Committee

Executive Summary of the Review of Parking on Bus Routes

Review Panel Members:

Cllr. Bill Bradshaw
Cllr Jean Fooks

Democratic Services

October 2002

Executive Summary of the Report of the Lead Member Review Group

Summary

The Environment Scrutiny Committee on 13th March 2002 identified this review as its first priority and the Co-ordinating Group on 19th April, agreed to the resources, timescales and commissioned the Review.

We were directed by the Environment Scrutiny Committee to prepare a review brief for its agreement and the objectives of the review as identified were:

• A reduction in non-compliance with parking restrictions and introduction of new restrictions where necessary;
• Clarification of the powers to make bus stops into no stopping zones;
• Establishment of "Special Parking Area" Status where there was none at present, with a view to bus lane enforcement cameras being introduced;
• Establishment of target timescales for the preparation and implementation of appropriate traffic regulation orders;
• More reliable bus services;
• Establishment of a mechanism for communicating service/enforcement complaints to appropriate people.

The whole review report presents our findings having regard to the objectives and the rationale set out in the review brief, and the steps that we suggested should be taken to implement them. Our findings are based on evidence and submissions from a range of people and organisations, including:

• Local bus operators and user representatives
• Members
• The Director of Environmental Services
• The Solicitor to the Council
• Other local authorities
• The DTLR

Our recommendations are set out below:

RECOMMENDATIONS

We RECOMMEND the Executive:

• To request the Director of Environmental Services to appoint additional staff if necessary to Control Plus and to request Control Plus/the Police (as appropriate) to actively enforce the existing parking and waiting restrictions and/or violation of bus stops at a range of locations set out in Annex 1:
• To instigate discussions with the relevant stakeholders with a view to resolving the issues referred to in Annex 4 of the Review report at Magdalen College School, Oxford; Ock Street, Abingdon; Curbridge Road and Burwell Drive, Witney; New Street, Henley;
• To request the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police to appoint additional traffic wardens on a temporary/fixed term basis until the introduction of a County SPA, to enforce existing bus priority measures and traffic regulation order waiting restrictions countywide outside of the Oxford SPA;
• To promote traffic regulation orders subject to the necessary consultations (and appropriate publicity), to facilitate bus priority by way of waiting/parking/loading restrictions at the locations set out in Annex 1:
• To designate bus lanes (bus gates as lanes) in Magdalen Street, George Street, High Street and Castle Street, Oxford and to implement camera enforcement immediately new Regulations are in force;
• To review the current markings and to implement consistent bus stop markings pursuant to forthcoming Traffic Signs Regulations in Cowley Road, Oxford subject to appropriate consultations, and in the longer term (by September 2004) no stopping and bus clearway restrictions under such Regulations countywide;
• As part of the forthcoming review of main bus route corridors into Oxford City Centre, to investigate the provision of a bus layby on the Eastern side of Banbury Road, Summertown for buses;
• To implement bus stop "clearway" restrictions, subject to the appropriate consultations at the locations given in Annex 1:
• To instigate the processes in accordance with the relevant guidance to introduce Special Parking Area status countywide under the Road Traffic Act 1991 by September 2004, and as a matter of urgency, commencing consultations with the District Councils including South Oxfordshire and South Oxfordshire parishes on a pilot basis via the pilot Local Area structure;
• To implement a formal request mechanism using existing networks with bus operators, and with a named contact officer in Environmental Services, to respond to ad-hoc requests by operators and members for better enforcement of new bus priority restrictions etc.

Review Process

The timetable in which to conduct the review was tight; the review only formally commencing after the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Group had met on 19^th April. In taking forward the review we aimed to establish:

• what the rationale was for the review;
• what its objectives were;
• what the success indicators would be;
• its methodology - this mainly involved discussions, making enquiries, establishing contact and consultation with stakeholders, as well as analysis of data, eg from the DTLR website and other written information, such as the Local Transport Plan.

The Member Review Group met twice initially to prepare the Review Brief and to refine the approach to the review topic and following this we met officers from the Directorate of Business Support (Legal Officers), the Thames Valley Police and the Director of Environmental Services and also Peter Hendy, the Director of Transport for London (Greater London Authority) on an informal "fact-finding" basis. We wrote to all the local bus operators to ask them to identify where specific problems from illegal or other parking occurred on their buses’ routes. We also visited many of the sites concerned to see the problems for ourselves.

We made an informal visit to Brighton & Hove City Council (regarded as the prime example of best practice in bus priority provisions) to make some comparisons between practice there and in Oxfordshire and had discussions with their Principal Public Transport Officer. Following this, and informal discussions between the various parties, we invited the principal bus operators and the Director of Environmental Services and colleagues to talk to us and to answer our questions as "expert witnesses" at open public meetings on 12^th June and on 24^th July respectively.

In formulating our recommendations we had regard to the Local Transport Plan, the legal framework and the views expressed by the key stakeholders in informal and formal meetings to gather evidence to meet the Review’s objectives

The main issues which arose from the factfinding meetings, discussions and interviews were included in the Review report under the following headings:

• Parking restriction compliance.
• Timescales for traffic regulation orders and legal provisions
• Reliable bus services
• Bus no stopping zones
• Special Parking areas
• Improvements to communication
• Miscellaneous

Conclusions

We undertook this review on behalf of the Committee with a determination to meet all of the objectives that it set itself. Throughout this investigation we were usually able to elicit comprehensive answers to all of our questions whilst in some cases, for whatever reasons, it has been less easy to collect all of the up to date and accurate information. We are content that the Review has gathered all of the available evidence and it has been presented it in a form that will be useful to the different audiences and recipients of the report.

Financial and Staff Implications

These are referred to briefly in the report and we are of the view that the Executive, in consultation with the appropriate officers should determine the resources needed to achieve the recommendations. The recommendations made by the Review largely accord with the issues addressed by the Local Transport Plan for Oxfordshire.

Lead Member Review Group on Parking on Bus Routes

Cllr Bill Bradshaw
Cllr Jean Fooks

October 2002

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