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ITEM TIC9

PROVISION OF BUS STOP CLEARWAYS

1. Under the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002, it is now possible for a highway authority to impose Bus Stop Clearway restrictions without the need for formal Traffic Regulation Orders. A Bus Stop Clearway provides that, within a marked box adjacent to a bus stop, no vehicle other than a bus as defined in the Regulations, may park or wait. It is possible to impose additional restrictions, for example limiting the benefit of the Bus Stop Clearway to "local buses", limiting the hours of application, and allowing or preventing the waiting of buses at a terminus for a limited period. Bus Stop Clearways are already in place in the County, mainly in Oxford, and generally with a 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. period of operation.
2. The provision of bus stop clearways has advantages, especially in busy city or town centres and on Premium Routes. It can assist services to operate reliably, and if properly enforced should ensure that the bus can get in close to the kerb at the authorised stopping place – which is crucially important for the mobility impaired. Without this, the full benefits of low-floor buses cannot be realised. The Government believes that local authorities should be providing greater protection for bus stops, generally for 24 hours a day, which is why it has simplified the procedures for introducing Bus Stop Clearways.
3. However, Bus Stop Clearway restrictions may, by restricting access to the kerb, bring disadvantages to some other road users, including frontagers, those visiting them, and those providing statutory or other services in the area (for example refuse collection, removals, or bread and milk delivery). In proposing Bus Stop Clearways, thought needs to be given to how loading and servicing can be achieved in the vicinity, and whether the restrictions should apply for less than the full 24 hours of every day.
4. A particular need to introduce Bus Stop Clearways has recently arisen in Abingdon town centre. Here, a large-scale re-allocation of bus stops was made necessary following service changes by the two major bus companies which have greatly increased the frequencies of their principal Abingdon – Oxford services.
5. The Committee is therefore invited to make a decision on the specific situation in Abingdon, and to lay down a protocol which can be followed where Bus Stop Clearways are proposed in other locations in the future.

Bus Stop Clearways in Abingdon

6. Preparations for the commercial service frequency increases in Abingdon were necessarily made in a hurry and had to use as much as possible of the pre-existing infrastructure. Site meetings with Highways officers, Police and the bus companies identified the stop locations which are shown in the attached map (Annex 1) (download as .doc file). The major services towards Oxford, whose frequencies were increased, were located at the three existing stops in the High Street. Services to other points including Didcot and Wantage were moved to the stop opposite the War Memorial, near the point where High Street runs into Ock Street. Services to Culham and beyond remained at the stop in Bridge Street, across the road from the Old Police Station. These changes required a new terminus to be found for the Abingdon town bus services A1/A2/A3 as their previous terminus at the War Memorial would be fully occupied by other frequent services.
7. Several alternatives for new bus stops were considered and discarded. The eventual choice fell on a site in West St Helens Street outside Nos. 1/3. While this site has some disadvantages (the street is quite narrow at this point, with commercial and domestic properties on both sides, and the location requires most buses to divert to use it) it was felt to present fewer safety hazards than other sites that were investigated. After further negotiations with the bus companies, it was agreed that this stop would be used by the town bus services and by Stagecoach service 44 towards Oxford only. This involves use by three or four buses in most daytime hours, none of which should need to wait for longer than 5 minutes. All these services are normally operated by relatively small buses, with an overall length of 8.5 metres or less. No service uses this stop in the evenings or on Sundays with only an infrequent use on Saturdays.
8. It is clearly desirable that all six stops should be protected by Bus Stop Clearways. Although these do not now require the formal legal procedures which would have been necessitated for a Traffic Regulation Order, nevertheless I felt that it would be good practice to consult local Councils, the Local Member and the immediate frontagers on the proposals. This was done, and a summary of responses received is shown at Annex 2. The District Council and one commercial frontager wrote in general support of the proposals. Four frontagers in or near West St Helens Street wrote objecting on various grounds to the proposal as it affected that street. At the time of writing this report replies had not yet been received from the Local Member or from Abingdon Town Council.
9. The main objections are to the provision in West St Helens Street, although much of this relates to having buses in the street rather than the bus stop itself. There is no obvious alternative to the stop location in West St Helens Street – and moving it elsewhere is likely to result in loss of parking places, and/or nuisance to other frontagers. The Committee could decide either:
   
   

1. to impose Bus Stop Clearways on all six stops (which is my recommendation);
2. to impose Bus Stop Clearways on the other five stops and to refer the stop in West St Helens Street for further consideration; or
3. not to proceed with Bus Stop Clearways in Abingdon at all at this time.
   
   
10. I propose that the wording of the Bus Stop Clearway signs should be as follows:-
    
    

1. High Street and War Memorial stops (numbered 1-4 in Annex 1):

"BUS STAND – No stopping at any time except local buses. Waiting limited to 5 minutes."

2. West St Helens Street stop (numbered 5 in Annex 1):

"BUS STAND – No stopping 7am to 7pm Monday to Saturday except local buses. Waiting limited to 5 minutes."

3. Bridge Street stop (numbered 6 in Annex 1):
   
   

"BUS STOP – No stopping at any time except local buses."

11. The use of a 5 minute limit on waiting time, as proposed for stops 1-5, would prevent buses from remaining at the stop for longer than that period, for example for meal breaks. Prolonged waits by buses which are not in service have been a source of complaint from frontagers especially at stop 5. This is less likely to be a problem on stops 1-4, where most services are scheduled to arrive and depart within a few minutes.
12. Whatever the Committee decides on the Bus Stop Clearways issue, it would not now be possible to remove the stop in West St Helens Street in the absence of an alternative location for the services which use it. The choice is therefore between protecting that stop with a Bus Stop Clearway, or not so protecting it but continuing to use it in the face of problems with obstruction, parking etc. A decision to consider alternative sites for it can only be implemented in the medium to long term, even supposing that such a site could be found.

Ongoing Protocol for Bus Stop Clearways

13. The Committee is invited to consider what procedures should be instituted for consideration of future proposals for Bus Stop Clearways, of which there are likely to be a considerable number. There is a need to develop a County-wide programme for introduction of Bus Stop Clearways, and this issue was raised in the Environmental Scrutiny Review of Parking on Bus Routes. Introducing a Bus Stop Clearway will require the erection of a sign-plate, utilising existing street furniture where possible (but a new pole may be needed) and a broad yellow band will need to be painted on the carriageway at the kerbside. The typical cost of providing a Clearway could be between £250 and £500 per stop, the higher figure applying if there is only one Clearway to mark in a particular area. Funding for most of them is likely to come from within ITS or Premium Route capital allocations, and there is also a specific capital allocation to address locations identified in the Scrutiny Review. There are likely to be stops in other locations where the question of a Clearway may arise from time to time; hopefully these can be treated from within the maintenance allocations. In accordance with the decision of Executive on 29 October 2002, Local Members, Local Councils and bus companies will be consulted on proposed Bus Stop Clearways. The programming of them will be discussed with the Executive Member for Transport and the Executive Member for Sustainable Development (Strategic Planning and Waste Management as was).
14. I consider it would be appropriate for officers to initiate informal consultations on the introduction of Bus Stop Clearways without reference to the Committee or Executive. The consultees should include Local Councils, Local Member(s), relevant bus companies and frontagers affected by each proposal and in the light of responses received:-
    
    

1. if no objections were received, officers be given delegated authority to implement as proposed without further reference to the Committee, and notify consultees of the outcome;
2. if any objections were received, officers should refer the matter to the Committee for determination, and implement and notify consultees only following the Committee’s decision.
   
   

RECOMMENDATIONS

15. The Committee is RECOMMENDED to:

1. agree to the application of Bus Stop Clearways at all six stops in Abingdon town centre as described in paragraph 10 and shown on the plan at Annex 1 to this report; and
2. approve the proposed protocol for consulting on and determining Bus Stop Clearways as set out in paragraph 14 of this report.

RICHARD DIX
Assistant Director (Environment & Economy)

Background papers: Nil

Contact Officer: Alan Witton, telephone (01865) 815683

November 2003

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