BASE HEADER

Stagecoach Midlands objects to the infrastructure strategy as the measures would not deliver a high quality public transport service and is thus inconsistent with the objectives of the strategy.
We have been previously notified by WCC of its intentions and approach to securing bus service improvements in support of the Strategy. We broadly concur with the overall shape of the strategy.
However it is clear to us that the 15% mode shift sought demands much higher bus frequencies, in particular on the virtual Park and Ride services. This would demand the pump priming of additional vehicles, above the four for which WCC is seeking funding.
Not least, the additional development quantum south of the towns that that RDS now proposes, demands significant additional capacity to achieve the required mitigation. Today the bulk of our town services operate with 38-seat midibuses. A 20-minute frequency would offer only 112 one-way seats per hour to Leamington. Full sized single decks would offer up to 46 seats per journey. If the Park and Ride is to be successful, and secure a significantly higher bus mode share from new residential development, which accounts for up to 3195 new dwellings and a new population of about 7,200, this capacity will not be sufficient
In particular we believe that a second new direct service needs to be offered via Europa Way and there must be sufficient bus priority to ensure that the speed of the service is attractive enough to encourage its use by the residents of this area.
We also strongly endorse WCC's view that a Park and Ride needs to be an integral part of the wider bus network to be viable.
We consider that a 20-minute direct and 30-minute indirect service to Leamington town will be not sufficiently attractive to persuade motorists passing the P&R site to use the service, or encourage local residents to make use of the facility. The time penalty associated with waiting for a bus is likely to be, or perceived to be, too high. Experience across Stagecoach operations shows that urban services ideally require a "turn up and go" frequency of between 10-12 minutes to provide an attractive choice for casual bus use by customers who have a car available. A 15 minute frequency is the absolute minimum service that might achieve this goal.
In addition to be financially sustainable the proposed Park and Ride site must be of sufficient capacity to cope with the existing pressure on parking at WTP, the proposed new employment park and shopping, casual leisure or tourism visits. We believe that a greater provision is warranted than the 500 spaces proposed due to the above demands. We look forward to working with the Council's consultants in further exploring how Park and Ride could be made to work successfully, through a robust and comprehensive design and operational approach.
Developers south of Warwick are also currently being asked to fund an additional bus resource on service 68. This service is now partly supported by WCC between Warwick Gates, Warwick town centre, and points further west. It is a 30-minute frequency service designed principally to meet essential socio-economic needs. Both in terms of frequency and routing, the service is not attractive to existing car users.
We now understand from the RDS and supporting WSTA phase 2 and 3 that the additional bus for which WCC is seeking funding, is merely to maintain the existing frequency as journey speeds slow down along what is a very long route. This is not what we, and some developers' consultants, have been previously led to believe. This no doubt arises from an assessment of the congestion produced by the proposed development; to allow further diversions into the Park and Ride; and provide possible extensions to serve some development roads. Stagecoach Midlands questions how this is either financially sustainable after a subsidy period ends, of how far such a service will perform much meaningful mitigation. This measure cannot be considered a service enhancement.
A 30-minute service 68 would not be able to perform a meaningful Park and Ride function between the proposed virtual P&R and Warwick, given that if a bus has just left, it would be as quick for a reasonably able person to walk the 1900m to Warwick Town Centre.
There is a large inconsistency between the Park and Ride service specification set out in the Revised Development Strategy, and that actually modelled by WSTA to develop and test a credible highways impact mitigation package. The WSTA Phase 3 model assumes a 9-minute bus frequency to Leamington and 12 minute to Warwick. From what we can ascertain in the Consultation Document, the Strategy and associated infrastructure schedule is seeking funding to maintain a 30-minute frequency on service 68 to Warwick and a new 20-minute frequency service to Leamington. The discrepancy between the RDS proposal and the supporting evidence base offered by WSTA is considerable, and we would appreciate clarification.
The Councils' own evidence makes clear within the results of the WSTA Phase 3 model runs, that should the P&R-based mitigation strategy fail, the implications for the wider network are very serious. This is demonstrated by the queue length outputs, and the average traffic speed outputs, presented at section 9 of WSTA phase 3, and attached appendices D-G. There appears to remain a significant risk that if congestion rises further this will create a vicious spiral of lower bus use, higher costs, and ultimately service reductions, aggravating the problem.
Stagecoach Midlands also wants to highlight the significance of the tradeoffs between the costs of on-site and off-site highways and engineering measures, other necessary infrastructure, and the delivery of other policy objectives.
We realise that the proportion of affordable housing provided is particularly liable to reduce to redress the difficulties of overall development viability.
This is very relevant to the robustness of the Plan, in terms of the opportunity to make best use of sustainable transport. We recognise that the 40% affordable housing target aspired to by WDC is relatively high. Experience nationally is starting to make clear that this does support generation of much higher bus service patronage on new developments.
In order for the package of additional bus services to the area to be sustainable long term, it is very important that the maximum affordable housing quantum is delivered. However, we can already see publicly available detailed evidence, in the form of the viability assessment provided by the applicants at Myton Garden Suburb attached to application W/13/1016,that a level only half that aspired to, may actually be deliverable based on the emerging infrastructure strategy.
On the basis of the above issues we object to the Infrastructure strategy, as it makes little or no explicit provision to rebalance modal dependence in favour of public transport. There is little provided in the way of bus priority and there is a risk that the impacts of the Strategy may undermine current bus operations.
Achieving mode shift and a parallel reduction in operating costs through higher vehicle productivity is of the essence in delivering the optimised transport strategy for the area. We are thus very concerned, that no mention is made of comprehensive measures to assist public transport and redress the current conditions in the area today that all favour personal car use over more sustainable modes.
It should be noted that today a disproportionate level of bus operating mileage within the area earmarked for strategic growth needs to financially supported, compared with the rest of Leamington and Warwick, where services are generally fully commercial. Thus the Strategy needs not only to deliver augmented service that can credibly be sustained through revenue alone at the full build out period, but to recover a modest deficit situation.
The current difficulties operating bus services in the proposed growth quadrant arise to a great extent from historic approaches to land use and urban design. Previously, planning did not make any provision for the creation of effective bus routings. In fact, master planning and detailed design of streets have led to a situation where bus services have had to be retrofitted on some roads within the Warwick Gates development that are barely able to accommodate the vehicles. There is virtually no provision of high-quality roadside infrastructure in the wider area. Any perpetuation of this approach would be inconsistent with NPPF.
We therefore welcome that the Plan Strategy makes explicit reference to high-quality bus stop infrastructure, at least incorporating high profile flags and timetable displays, a suitable boarding area to offer level access to the disabled and infirm, and additionally, high quality shelters where appropriate. We would urge that this takes a more prominent place within the final Plan. Given the difficulties encountered retrofitting bus stops after initial consent we strongly urge that sites are agreed as part of initial master planning at Outline submission stage, where urban design and effective pedestrian accessibility can be considered with bus stop location in the round, and not at the determination of Reserved Matters.
We also support WCC's design standards for residential streets (2002) which requires 6.5m widths to accommodate bus routes, or 6.2m where on-street parking bays are provided. We recommend tracking for 12.2m Scania K230UB or Optare Versa V1200 single deck buses should be assessed to test all proposed bus routes within submitted layouts for fitness. Effective and efficient bus operation means that routes for buses should avoid multiple changes in priority, and sharp bends. Equally, tight radius corners, however subtle the turn, cause buses disproportionate difficulty, and we recommend they are avoided.