ITEM CA14
CABINET – 15 JULY 2008
OXFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL SUSTAINABLE SCHOOL TRAVEL STRATEGY 2008-2011
Report by Head of Transport and Head of Service Young People & Access to Education
Introduction
1. In March 2008, the Cabinet approved a draft Sustainable School Travel Strategy (SSTS) for consultation. Consultation on the draft Strategy was undertaken during May and June 2008, and the purpose of this report is to seek approval for a final version of the strategy for publication prior to the start of the 2008/09 Academic year.
2. This report contains a summary of the comments received on the draft Strategy (reproduced in Annex 1) (download as .doc file) and the changes made to the document as a result, and Annex 2 (download as .doc file) contains the revised Strategy document.
Consultation on Draft SSTS
3. Consultation was undertaken via a web-based questionnaire survey to which Stakeholders were directed - for example, all schools were notified of the questionnaire via the e-bulletin sent to all schools. The main aim was to seek views on the four outcomes and targets contained within the Strategy, as well as offering the opportunity to make any other comments they may have had on the document.
4. 14 responses were received, comprising 7 from schools, 3 from Councillors, and one each from the Chair of the Local Governors Association, the Oxfordshire Community Transport & Accessibility Partnership, a resident and an officer of the Council. Comments Received on Outcomes/Targets and Changes to the Strategy Proposed
5. Target/Outcome set 1 (reductions in car travel and increases in walking, cycling and coach/bus trips to school). There were no concerns raised about this target, but amongst views expressed were that in order to achieve it more investment in facilities (e.g. cycle paths) would be needed and other strategies to make ‘motorised’ alternatives to single occupancy car use (car sharing, bus/coach) needed to be better developed. Current pressures on transport capital budgets make the former more difficult to achieve, but more opportunities are being investigated to lever in third party funding (from developers or others e.g. Sustrans), with the focus on providing infrastructure alongside complementary measures (for example providing more cycle training). The latter is proposed to be one of the focuses of the Strategy Action Plan. No changes to the Strategy document are proposed at this stage.
6. Target/outcome set 2 (reduction in child road casualties). Interestingly, more than one respondent felt that a target of zero should be set for this, and there is some thinking that a “zero tolerance” approach (at least to road deaths) could be a way forward for national/local casualty targets post 2010, which would tie in with the proposed review of this strategy document in 2011. A concern was also raised over the risk/volatility of a target that is too dependent on the actual 2010 figure, in an area where actual casualty numbers are very low. Related to this is the proposal that it needs to more explicitly cover reported child casualties (bearing in mind the significant numbers of road accidents that are estimated to go unreported). This change has been made and the target has been revised with a figure of 20 now proposed for the average number of reported casualties over the 2008-10 period. The relevant text in paragraph 3.1.8 of the Strategy, covering LTP targets, has also been modified to reflect this.
7. Target/outcome set 3 (reduced cost per trip of home to school transport). Concerns raised include whether this is achievable in the current climate of escalating fuel costs, for which the officer view is that we are not in a position to say anything connected with fuel costs yet. Other points raised included exploring the potential for greater use of public buses for school travel, which is also one of the areas that the Action Plan would cover. No changes to the Strategy document are proposed at this stage, but there may be a need to review the target once the position on the impacts of fuel costs becomes clear.
8. Target/Outcome set 4 (to reduce the journey to school element of Oxfordshire’s Carbon Footprint). This did not include a target, as it was proposed to be the subject of further work. Comments on this included extending the target to include other emissions (NOx) rather than simply focus on carbon, and to provide schools with greater information and guidance on how CO2 can be measured / quantified and what actions can be taken to reduce it. This latter point is covered to some extent by recent changes to the School Travel Plan template, which now includes a “carbon calculator” and more schools will become engaged with this as the process for updating Travel Plans is rolled out over the next 2-3 years. It is proposed to set up a working group to look at the whole carbon/emissions area in more detail and identify an appropriate target (or set of targets). This work stream has therefore been included in the Action Plan for the Strategy, with an updated target date of March 2009.
9. Comments of the Strategy overall. This brought together a range of comments, which identified the need to check some of the figures in the document for consistency (the tables in paragraphs 2.6 and 2.7 covering existing travel patterns have been revised accordingly). Other comments related to the provision of bus journeys, including charging and eligibility, reinforcing the case for the Action Plan to look at this whole area more closely.
Other Developments and Changes Proposed
10. Local Area Agreement 2. The target for reducing single occupancy car use for journeys to school (National Indicator 198) has now been included in the Local Area Agreement for 2008-11, with appropriate links made to other LAA2 indicators, notably NI56 measuring child obesity. Paragraph 2.4 of the Strategy has been added to (with the first bullet point) to reflect this.
11. Road Safety (paragraphs 3.22 to 3.23). The text of the Strategy has been updated to reflect the proposed new target and recent progress made on Child Safety Audit work and the contribution to safer infrastructure & services in supporting more sustainable journeys to school.
12. School Travel Plans, Improving Access to Schools and Promotion of Sustainable Travel. Paragraphs 4.2.2 and 5.4.1 have been updated to show the number of Plans which have now been approved and the number of Better Ways to School schemes delivered in 2007/08. Action number 3 in the Action Plan in part C has also been updated to reflect this. Paragraphs 6.5.1 and 6.5.2 includes an update on the relaunch of the Junior Road Safety Officer scheme, now to be called “School Travel and Road Safety” (STARS).
13. Independent Schools. The approach to working with this market, outlined in paragraphs 5.6.1 and 5.6.2 has been refined and updated, which includes development of a targeted approach based on clusters of schools (initially in Oxford and Abingdon), production of a high-quality interactive CD resource to help engage schools and consideration of new partnership approaches, for example looking at the role that Park & Ride can play in supporting more sustainable travel to these (and indeed other) schools in the City.
RECOMMENDATION
14. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to approve the final Sustainable School Travel Strategy for publication.
STEVE HOWELL JAN PAINE Head of Transport Head of Service, Young People & Environment & Economy Access to EducationChildren, Young People & Families
Background papers: Nil
Contact Officer: John Disley, Group Manager, Road Safety Team & Travel Plans, Tel: (01865) 810460
July 2008
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