LTP Strategy 4 LTP Strategy - East Sussex€¦ · 4 LTP Strategy cutting objectives and the...

4.1 ContextChapter 3 showed how the LTP2 is set within in the context of the national, regional and local policy frameworks. It demonstrated how the LTP2 has important links with the overall delivery of the spatial, transport and economic strategies that affect the County. It also highlighted the local issues that the County faces in the next five years and opportunities available to help deliver the LTP2 objectives.

Chapter 4 sets out the long-term strategy for transport in the County. The strategy provides the framework for the Council, working with partners, to deliver the vision and objectives of the Plan outlined in Chapter 2. It will explain how partnership working with stakeholders will help develop and implement of the strategy, and therein contribute towards the wider context and the LTP2 vision and objectives.

4.2 Developing the LTP2 StrategyWithin the first Local Transport Plan (LTP1), the County Council identified a portfolio of strategies which at the time were compatible with the Government’s national priorities, the County Council’s own cross-

4 LTP Strategy

cutting objectives and the concerns and aspirations expressed in consultation, based around 16 topic areas. These were applied throughout the County, in the form of local packages of integrated transport measures. Given the need for ‘strategy integration’, it was not appropriate to prioritise these strategies.

Whilst the overall strategy within LTP1 was successful, we have re-examined this approach to determine whether it remains the most appropriate way to delivering the LTP2 vision and objectives.

The strategy for LTP2 has been refined to reflect changes at a national, regional and local level over the last five years. In summary, these changes:

reflect the outcomes of consultation on the component strategies and comments made during the two stage consultation undertaken for the provisional LTP2 (sections 1.3 and 4.8);

closely relate the LTP2 vision and objectives to the overall corporate priorities of the County Council and the objectives of the East Sussex Community Strategy (sections 2.2 – 2.3);

East Sussex County Council Local Transport Plan 2006-2011

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SummaryThis chapter has set out the long-term strategy for transport in the County which provides the framework to deliver the vision and objectives of the Plan outlined in Chapter 2. The LTP2 Strategy is made up of a series of component strategies - five overarching strategies and a suite of issue-based strategies.

The LTP2 Strategy has been developed taking account of the national regional and local policy frameworks set out in chapter 3, the issues facing the County and the opportunities available. The LTP2 Strategy has been tested through a number of mechanisms and takes account of the recommendations arising through the SA/SEA Appraisal.

shape the LTP2 strategy to take account of the emerging national, regional and local policy frameworks affecting the County (sections 3.3 – 3.5);

reflect the emerging issues and opportunities expected in the County over the next five years (sections 3.6 – 3.7);

incorporate new LTP2 requirements:

Sustainability Audit/Strategic Environment Assessment (SA/SEA);

Accessibility Strategy;

Transport Asset Management Plan; and

Rights of Way Improvement Plan.

apply an effective but simple mechanism to determine scheme priorities based on the extent to which they contribute to the Council’s portfolio policy steers and LTP2 objectives (section 5.5); and

ensure that the overall LTP2 strategy is focused on delivering outcomes rather than outputs (chapter 7).

The delivery of the LTP2 strategy will mean tackling the issues jointly, not solely on the basis of a local transport authority, but also with other partners who can influence transport provision or the provision of services to negate the need to travel by car. These include local strategic partnerships; other transport providers and operators; health authorities; the local education authority; district, parish and town councils and other voluntary/community groups and representatives.

As highlighted in section 3.7 ‘Opportunities’, the delivery of LTP2 will build on the existing partnership working undertaken by the Council. This process helps ensure that added value is obtained from projects that meet both transport and other objectives, and consider the environment, economy and society as a whole.

The Council has recently completed a major review of its service delivery and improvements have been implemented. Design and supervisory offices have been located within local network management offices to ensure coordination between transport, traffic safety and maintenance works. A review process is undertaken to ensure that maintenance strategy is assessed and incorporated within the work programme. With the progress of the work programme reviewed monthly on an authority wide basis.

4.3 LTP2 Strategy - county-wide transport policy frameworkThe Strategy for the LTP2 comprises a series of component strategies that will help to deliver the Plan’s vision and objectives, set out in chapter 2, that embrace the corporate vision for the County and the Community Strategy objectives.

Within the LTP2 Strategy, there are two tiers of component strategies. The upper tier comprises five overarching component strategies, described in section 4.4, which are closely aligned to specific LTP2 objectives. These overarching strategies, identified below, set the wider context within the LTP2 Strategy and influence the other ‘issue based’ component strategies defined in section 4.5:

Road Hierarchy;

Road Safety & Speed Management;

Accessibility;

Transport Asset Management Plan, and

Air Quality.

The lower tier is a suite of ‘issue-based’ strategies which complement the overarching strategies. The issue-based strategies establish the policy framework either for a specific mode of transport (e.g. bus, rail, cycling, walking), or tackle a specific issue which impacts on one


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priorities and LTP2 objectives. This informs the development of an implementation programme of schemes and policies, as shown in chapter 6, for the next five years based on the planning guideline which determines LTP2 funding allocations by a formulaic approach. Progress on delivering the strategy and implementation programme will be monitored through performance indicators and targets set out in chapter 7 and Annex 7.

The County-wide overarching and issues based strategies are summarised in the following sections. Full copies of these current strategies are available from the County Council.

4.4 Overarching StrategiesAs identified in section 4.3, the five overarching strategies form the upper tier of strategies, which provide the wider context for the LTP2 Strategy, and influence the lower tier of issues-based strategies.Further details of each of these five strategies are outlined below. Chapter 5 will outline how these strategies contribute towards the delivery of the LTP2 objectives.

Road Hierarchy

The County Council approved the revision of the East Sussex road hierarchy in June 2004. This road hierarchy is set within a wide overarching and integrated framework covering transport, economic, land use, social and environmental issues. The road hierarchy framework follows a gradation of

or more modes of transport (e.g. freight, intelligent transport systems, parking), or supports the implementation of a number of other strategies (e.g. public realm, community safety).

Generally, these ‘issue-based’ strategies are cross-cutting, with strategy policies and objectives contributing towards the achievement of more than one of the LTP2 objectives. Further details on each of the ‘issue based’ strategies are outlined in section 4.5.

All the overarching and issue-based strategies have been, or will be, adopted as daughter documents to LTP2. Where necessary, these strategies will be updated during the lifetime of LTP2. In particular, it is intended to update the Bus, Walking and Cycling Strategies early in the LTP2 period, to ensure that they reflect the outcomes pertaining from the development of the County’s Accessibility Strategy.

The LTP2 Strategy reflects the wider national, regional and local policy context, discussed in section 3.2 – 3.5, and will contribute to the deliver of the Regional Transport Strategy objectives. It will seek to address the wider issues in the County outlined in section 3.6. It also seeks to maximise the opportunities described in section 3.7.

The LTP2 Strategy will be implemented through a delivery framework comprising

local area transport strategies (LATS) for urban areas;

rural transport approach;

transport corridor approach;

local safety schemes; and

maintenance programme

Further details on these delivery mechanisms are outlined in more detail in section 5.2. The prioritisation of schemes is determined through a ‘balanced scorecard’ approach, discussed in section 5.3, which appraises the relative merits of each scheme towards achieving the corporate


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classes/categories within the road-based transport network from public rights of way through to strategic roads.

The revised hierarchy reflects the shift of emphasis towards more sustainable modes by:

taking more account of the needs of all road users;

ensuring that traffic uses roads appropriate to its journey purpose and trip length;

seeking to concentrate large volumes of traffic, particularly Heavy Goods Vehicles, on the main roads and away from more sensitive local roads

enabling local roads to be developed to give greater priority and safety to pedestrians, shoppers and local residents; and

Providing a greater opportunity to preserve the rural environments, often characterised by country lanes, and pedestrian orientated ‘home zones’ that place pedestrians at the top of the user hierarchy.

The review included an assessment of all the County’s roads within the existing hierarchy against a range of criteria, including traffic flow, maintenance requirements and suitability for use by public transport, cycling and walking, to establish their functionality and classification within the revised hierarchy. The revised classification is outlined below in Table 4.1. The revised road hierarchy for East Sussex is at Annex 5.

In July 2003, the Secretary of State’s decided not to proceed with bypasses/improvements to the A27/A259 identified in the Access to Hastings and SoCOMMS studies. As identified in sections 3.4 ‘Meeting Regional Housing Allocations’ and 3.7 ‘Opportunities’, without these improvements to the trunk road box which serves the County, it is likely that the potential Structure Plan housing allocations,

regeneration in the Bexhill-Hastings area and potential future housing allocations will increase pressure upon the capacity and efficiency of other primary and lesser routes to accommodate additional and strategic traffic. The County review therefore includes the following proposal:

“following further development of the

County’s future spatial strategy, further

assessment work will be undertaken on

the future use of the County’s strategic

road network and transport patterns

within East Sussex, taking account

of base traffic growth, proposed

development up to 2011 and potential

development beyond 2011.”

This will be influenced by the outcomes from the work currently being undertaken by SEERA, discussed in section 3.4, to identify the transport schemes required to facilitate likely and potential housing allocations. The review also identified potential road and junction improvements within the existing hierarchy for further consideration by the County Council.These will be subject to appropriate analysis being undertaken of the environmental, social and economic issues to determine whether they are appropriate and justified.

Accessibility Strategy

Accessibility is about the ability to access the key facilities that we need quickly, easily and at reasonable cost. Accessibility is not just about transport, it can also be affected by the location, design and delivery of services that we all use (for example hospitals and schools).

Improving accessibility is important for everyone, but it is particularly important for disadvantaged or socially excluded groups and communities, for example those who do not have access to a car or who live in an area of high deprivation. Particular accessibility issues facing the County, which contribute towards social exclusion, are discussed in section 3.6.


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Table 4.1 - East Sussex Road Network – Revised Classification

ESCC Class /

Category

Function/Definition DfT Road

Classes

National Road

Classification

Motorway /

Trunk Road

National network of routes for through and long distance traffic.

Motorway / Trunk Road

Motorway / Trunk Road

Primary

Routes

National network of routes, the majority of which are maintained by the Local Highway Authority. To connect principal places or routes of strategic traffic importance.

PrincipalRoads

Primary Routes - ‘A’ classification roads

Inter Urban

Routes

Roads between smaller settlements and connect routes of local traffic importance. Roads serving recreational areas

Urban Roads

Intra-UrbanRoads

Roads between the main sectors or major traffic junctions of a town. Residential collector roads. Access to schools, hospital, facilities for disabled, main shopping areas, libraries, car parks and tourist attractions.

MajorUrbanRoads

Predominantly ‘A’ or ‘B’ classification roads with some ‘C’ & ‘Unclassified’ roads

Business / IndustrialRoads

Roads servicing mainly non-retail business development. Roads connecting to other shopping areas, business premises, industrial areas and residential areas.

MinorUrbanRoads/Builtup roads

‘B’ or important ‘C’ and ‘Unclassified’ roads

ResidentialRoads

Roads servicing mainly housing areas including narrow connector roads and shared surfaces.

Predominantly ‘C’ and ‘U’ class roads

Other Minor Estate Roads

Rural Roads

Intra-RuralRoads

Local roads connecting main villages with towns and major transport routes.

Major Rural Roads

Predominantly ‘B’ roads / some important ‘C’ and ‘Unclassified’ class roads.

Village Roads Local Roads serving small villages and hamlets or with only a local connection within villages.

Minor Rural Roads

‘C’ class roads

Country Lanes Other roads with only a local connecting function to a few properties or scattered communities.

Minor Rural Roads

‘C’ and ‘U’ class roads

Other Minor Rural Roads

Other Rights of Way

Byway open to all traffic (BOAT)

Serve a useful function in local communities providing access to schools, public transport & other facilities. Increasingly used for recreational activities by pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders.

Public Right of Way

RestrictedByway

Bridleway

Footpath

Private Road / Street

Road not “maintainable at public expense”. However, maybe made up to an adoptable standard in the future.


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A key part of the delivery of the LTP2 objectives is the continued development and implementation of an Accessibility Strategy for East Sussex. It is also important that the Accessibility Strategy contributes to the overarching objectives and priorities of the Council and the Community Strategies, and the Local Area Agreement.

The DfT led WithinReach programme has helped to guide the development of the Accessibility Strategy, by providing useful practical advice on how to tackle some of the elements of the nationally recognised five stage process. The seminars and workshops have provided useful platforms upon which accessibility planning matters could be discussed with other authorities encountering similar issues, as well as gaining a direct interface with accessibility planning officials from the DfT.

The County Council is also represented, and actively engaged with the South East Counties Service Improvement Group (SECSIG) LTP Sub-Group. It is comprised of LTP lead officers from Kent, West Sussex, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, and Isle of Wight Councils, and is used partly as a benchmarking group, but also as an arena within which LTP subjects are discussed, and good practice shared. SECSIG has been useful in developing the Accessibility Strategy, where accessibility data has been shared between authorities to help better understand cross-border travel patterns to key destinations. This will, in turn, enable a more integrated approach, and possibly ‘pooling’ of resources, both inernally and with external partners to further achieving mutual accessibility objectives and outcomes.

The Accessibility Strategy sets out the County Council’s overall vision, objectives and strategy for improving access to the following key themes and services:

employment

education

healthcare

healthy affordable food; and

other local priorities.

The County Council will be developing ‘local accessibility action plans’ which provide detail on how specific identified accessibility problems will be tackled at the local level. Halcrow consultants have been appointed to assist in the preparation of the County’s Accessibility Strategy. A local accessibility assessment for Rye and its surrounding area has already been undertaken. The action plan can be found in the accompanying Accessibility Strategy Document (Appendix A).

The development of the Accessibility Strategy will help inform the local planning authorities’ formulation of their Local Development Framework Core Strategy and Supplementary Planning Documents, outlined in section 3.5. It has been influenced by the IRF objective, ‘Social Progress which recognises the needs of everyone’, but ensuing that the accessibility needs of people living in the County are analysed to determine accessibility gaps. It has also been influenced by the Regional Transport Strategy policies relating to ‘manage and invest’, ‘rural transport’ and ‘mobility management’. Improving accessibility to employment and key services by public and community transport will contribute towards rebalancing the transport system towards non-car modes, whilst addressing the social needs of rural areas. The emerging South East Plan and Local Development Frameworks have influenced the strategy by determining the accessibility gaps to education, employment and healthcare facilities relating to potential major new housing allocations.They will identify what additional social infrastructure is required to facilitate these developments.


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Figure 4.1- Accessibility Planning Development Process

Development of the Accessibility Strategy

Stage 1

StrategicAccessibility

Audit

Stage 2

LocalAccessibilityAssessments

Stage 3

OptionAppraisal

Stage 4

AccessibilityPlan

Preparation

Stage 5

PerformanceMonitoring and

Evaluation

Strategic mapping using Accession model

Discussion with key stakeholders

Prioritisation of issues, areas and groups

Review of local evidence

Local mapping

New surveys/resources

Identifying impacts

Setting targets

Identifying resources

Priorities

Objectives

Outcomes

Indicators

Targets

Monitoring framework


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The Strategy has been developed in five stages. Figure 4.1 shows the Accessibility Planning development process.

Stage 1: Strategic accessibility assessment.

There are three main components to the strategic audit:

a strategic mapping audit, using the DfT’s ‘Accession’ model, will produce a range of maps that illustrates access to employment and key services including healthcare facilities, education and food shops. Once these maps have been produced, areas where accessibility problems are most acute will be identified;

a review of existing evidence from key stakeholders through a series of workshops; and

the prioritisation of areas, groups and issues for further detailed local accessibility assessments.

The Accessibility Strategy attached at Appendix A identified that, from the Stage 1 assessment, the key accessibility priorities are access to education, health and employment in rural areas. These priorities for action at a local level (Stage 2) were reported to the Council’s Cabinet in December 2005 to enable the accessibility assessment to proceed to the next stage. A programme for developing further action plans was agreed at this Cabinet meeting, details of which can be found at the end of this section and in Appendix A.

Stage 2: Local accessibility assessments.

Within local accessibility assessments, the County Council will outline how it will seek to address the following:

the needs and problems of urban and rural communities;

the different needs & problems of different sections of the community; and

different barriers associated with different journey purposes

Stage 3: Option appraisal.

Once key priority areas or issues have been identified, a set of appropriate actions or schemes will be identified to tackle these priorities, based on accessibility assessments, in the short, medium and long term. These issues/problems include:

improving availability of public transport;

ensuring access to jobs & services by walking and cycling;

reducing cost of transport;

improving physical accessibility;

addressing crime & fear of crime in and around transport;

improving travel information and awareness;

reducing the need to travel; and

co-ordinating the timing of services.

The assessment will also outline the priorities for the five year period of LTP2; identifying what interventions are required to address these priorities which seeks to make better use of the County’s available resources and explore use & co-ordination of a range of other funding sources.

These options will then be appraised on a number of criteria. The criteria will include:

an assessment of the impacts of the proposed action and the relevance to local needs – benefits and dis-benefits with value for money as a key focus;

assessment of any barriers to implementation (may include existing and potential budgets, voluntary sector resources or availability of staff);

assessment of the resources available to support the option (may involve the resources of several partners and include elements like staff time and skills, data or funding); and

identification of the stakeholders necessary to take forward the proposed action.


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Stage 4: Accessibility Plan preparation.

At this stage, the Accessibility action plan and strategy become daughter documents to LTP2. The Accessibility strategy sets out the priorities which have been developed through the process and seeks to demonstrate the following:

linkages to the other shared priorities;

wider transport policy development;

links to non-transport policy;

reducing the need to travel (travel planning);

improved physical accessibility;

improved walking and cycling provision, travel awareness or information;

co-ordination in service timings (e.g. between bus and rail); and

addressing quality of life issues like ‘fear or crime’.

Stage 5: Performance monitoring and evaluation.

As part of the development and review of the Accessibility Strategy, indicators, targets and monitoring frameworks have been established to demonstrate how the proposed actions contribute to the objectives of the Accessibility Strategy and the objectives of the LTP2. Through the Accessibility Strategy, the County Council has developed a countywide Accessibility target to ‘Increase accessibility to key centres in East Sussex, by increasing the proportion of the total population within 30 minutes access by public transport for an arrival at a key centre by 0900, from 51%

in 2005/06 to 55% in 2010/11’. Further details of this target can be seen in Chapter 7 and Annex 7 of this LTP2. In addition, local targets have been developed for specific components of the Accessibility Strategy. Finally, a monitoring framework has been established so that progress towards indicators and targets can be reported.

The County Council’s Accessibility Strategy is attached at Appendix A. The Strategy has been informed by a series of workshops involving key local stakeholders, including members of the Local Strategic Partnerships, held in April 2005. The outcomes of the Accessibility Strategy development re-iterates the ‘Accessibility and Social Exclusion’ issues identified in section 3.6.

Because the development of an Accessibility Strategy involves such a wide range of organisations, it is best developed through a partnership approach. The local accessibility action plan for Rye was developed with a local partnership of stakeholders to ensure that local accessibility issues were identified and that appropriate measures were incorporated into the plan. The process for developing the action plans involves a wide range of stakeholders at a local level and will need to inform future reviews of the Local Area Transport Strategies (LATS) and the introduction of the ‘rural transport approach’, as set out in section 5.2, during the lifetime of LTP2. The Transport

Figure 4.2 – Programme for Local Accessibility Assessments

Local Accessibility Assessment/Action Plan Area Timescale

Rye + surrounding area Complete (March 2006)

Rother & Hastings 2006/07

North Weald Towns 2007/08

Eastbourne & Hailsham 2008/09

Southern Coastal Towns 2009/10


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measures identified in the action plan for Rye, and subsequent action plans, will be delivered through the LATS framework, as set out in Chapter 5 of this plan.

The programme for undertaking the remaining local accessibility assessments and development of action plans can be found in Figure 4.2.

Road Safety and Speed ManagementRoad Safety

The Road Safety Strategy for East Sussex is based on the guidance in former Department for Environment, Transport and Regions (DETR) document: ‘Tomorrow’s roads: safer for everyone’ (2000). This document sets out the Government’s casualty reduction targets for year 2010 which are set out in detail and relate to average annual casualties for the period 1994 to 1998.These targets are:

a 40% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI);

a 50% reduction in the number of children (under 16 years of age) KSI; and

a 20% reduction in the slight casualty rate.

Although the government’s target is focused on fatal and serious casualties, a local target has been set based on all casualties. By addressing all casualties it is hoped that the measures taken, particularly in relation to speed enforcement, traffic calming and improved pedestrian and cycling facilities will not only reduce all casualties but will also have a greater impact on reducing the severity rate.

Accordingly, the local casualty reduction target is to reduce the overall casualty total by 20% by 2008.

The resulting profiles for the County’s road safety targets are:

The County Council adopts its approach to casualty reduction in the light of local road safety issues. The Strategy looks at the contribution to casualty reduction of four areas: vehicle safety, engineering measures, speed enforcement and road safety education. It also addresses the nine safety issues set out by the Government:

safer for children;

safer drivers: training and testing;

safer drivers: drink, drugs and drowsiness;

safer infrastructure;

safer speeds;

safer vehicles;

safer motorcycling;

safety for pedestrians and cyclists and horse riders; and

better enforcement.

The implementation of measures under the nine areas identified above will be influenced by the perceptions of safety on the County’s roads identified in section 3.6. It also underlines the priority given to doing more to improve road safety, relating to the initial evidence gathering exercise undertaken to inform the development of LTP2, as illustrated in section 1.3.

Severity of Injury Casualties

1994/98Average

Target Reduction

2008 Target 2010 Target

Killed or seriously injured 458 183 275

incl. children killed or seriously injured 50 25 25

slight injuries 2,369 474 1,895

all casualties 2,381 566 2,265


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The County Council’s safety scheme programme is based and prioritised on need, regardless of the location, in that necessary measures are taken wherever they are statistically justified. In some areas of the county, higher incidences of road casualties are occurring in some of the deprived areas of Hastings and Newhaven, for example, but there is no overall trend linking economic deprivation to road accidents, in contrast to national trends. This is demonstrated in the graph below.

The County Council’s policy towards dealing with road accidents through the Road Safety strategy is to use a combination of engineering, educational and publicity initiatives to tackle high incidences of road accidents, wherever they occur in East Sussex. A great many of the measures used to tackle road safety issues also provide health improvement benefits as they promote both walking and cycling.

Index of Multiple Deprivation and Road Casualties

per Super Output Area

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00 70.00 80.00

Index of Multiple Deprivation score: source ID 2004

Ro

ad

Ca

su

ali

tes

(2

00

2 t

o 2

00

4)

East Sussex Super Output Area (lower layer)Indices of Deprivation 2004Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004

Index of Multiple Deprivation score: source ID 2004


LTP Strategy 87

Speed Management

The County Council developed a Speed Management Strategy in 2003 in consultation with Sussex Police, Brighton and Hove City Council and West Sussex County Council to run alongside the County’s Road Safety Strategy.

It pulls together the different elements that influence speed management and provides a consistent approach to identifying speed limit requirements and enforcement. It also performs a role as a policy document, and includes the policy approaches for the introduction of fixed speed (safety) cameras, speed reactive signs, 20mph speed limit zones, and the designation of Quiet Lanes and Home Zones in the County. The County Council has also been monitoring the effectiveness of speed reduction measures on road safety as well as the actions taken by other local transport authorities, particularly with regard to the introduction of ‘blanket’ 30mph zones in all villages, to see whether this is appropriate for East Sussex.

The strategy is currently being updated to take account of the Government’s national speed limit review ‘Lower Speed Limits’,

which was out to consultation until mid February 2005, and by a review currently being undertaken by the Transport and Environment Scrutiny Committee on its application across the County. The development and future implementation of the speed management strategy, in conjunction with the road safety strategy, has influenced perceptions of road safety in the County identified in section 3.6. The ‘Choosing Health’ White Paper objectives – ‘school travel’ and ‘support for cycling’- and the ‘staying safe’ objective set out in the ‘Every Child Matters’ policy document, outlined in section 3.3, has also influenced the LTP2 Strategy. The Council will continue to work with schools to develop and implement school travel plans that contribute towards improving road safety on the journey to school. It will also improve the environment for cyclists by developing the County’s cycle network and takes particular account of the safety of cyclists in all future new scheme designs.

Figure 4.3 shows how the Road Safety and Speed Management Strategies will contribute towards the LTP objectives and shared priorities for transport.


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Sussex Safety Camera Partnership

The County Council has noted that the Secretary of State intends to end the existing ring fenced ‘netting off’ funding arrangements for safety cameras in 2006/07 and from 2007/08 to integrate their funding into the Local Transport Plan system. This proposal is welcomed in principle as it can also provide, for the first time, a significant proportion of revenue funding to support other road safety initiatives and provides greater flexibility for local authorities in addressing their high risk areas.

The Lead Members of East and West Sussex County Councils plus Brighton and Hove City Council have agreed that the work of the Sussex Safety Camera Partnership should be maintained and extended through a broader road safety partnership with West Sussex County Council continuing to act as the Lead Partner. This decision, supported also by the Highways Agency, Sussex Police and Her Majesty’s Court Service in Sussex, has been taken in the light of the excellent results produced by the partnership with most of the key statistics comparing very favourably with corresponding national figures.

At present, all the partners in the partnership have signed up to a Memorandum of Understanding, which, although not legally binding, does illustrate the spirit in which the partnership operates. However, the new funding regime from 2007/08 will require further demonstration of closer partnership working between authorities and it is intended that a formal agreement be approved by the Leading Members on behalf of each Partner Authority. This would apply from April 2007 and should cover the 4 year period associated with the new funding stream and ensure that part of the funding is distributed to both the Police and the Magistrates Courts.

As stated previously, it is recognised that the additional funding, both revenue and capital, will allow for some road safety activities to be

expanded. The additional revenue funding would be used for the coordinated expansion of road safety promotion, including extending the SID operation, child pedestrian training in high risk areas, plus young driver and motor cycle training. On the capital side, more Vehicular Activated Signs to support route safety schemes and lower speed limits, particularly in villages.

As a result of this new funding stream, the County Council will consider stretching LTP2 Road Safety targets, as this funding will complement the existing Integrated Transport capital programme. Much will depend on the allocations and once this has been determined we will quantify the impact of it on LTP2 targets and report on any changes in subsequent delivery reports.


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Figure 4.3 - Contribution of Road Safety and Speed Management Strategies to LTP2 Objectives and Shared Transport Priorities

Road Safety and SpeedManagement

Increasedawareness

Safer Routes to School

Safer environment for travel

Reduce perception of risks for

sustainable modes

Traffic speed reduced

Reduce severance in communities

Increase cycling and walking

Reduce impact on environment

Healthbenefits

Highway engineeringEnforcementEducation. training

and publicity

SpeedManagement

Changes in attitudes

Reducetraffic volumes

Safer Roads Tackling Congestion Accessibility Better Air Quality

Quality of Life

Less traffic intrusion

Reducecongestion

and improve efficiency of the transport

network

Protect, promote and enhance the Environment

Improveaccessibilityto services

by providing greater travel choice and

influencing land use decisions

Manage demand and reduce the

need to travel by private car

Improvemaintenance

andmanagement

of the transport network

Improve road safety and reduce fear of crime in

communities

Reduceaccidents


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Transport Asset Management StrategyThe United Kingdom Roads Liaison Group has recently published three codes of practice on the maintenance of highways, street lighting and structures, which has helped the County Council to manage its’ transport assets in line with national best practice. The County Surveyors Society has also produced a framework for asset management, and guidance on asset valuation, which is helping to draw up the East Sussex Transport Asset Management Plan.

Context

Local authorities have for many years been required to demonstrate that they are making the best use of their property and other assets. DfT is now encouraging local authorities to extend this to transport assets, by drawing up Transport Asset Management Plans (TAMPs), informed by LTPs, other services needs and corporate plans.

The County Council adopted its first Highway Asset Management Plan (HAMP) in August 2004. The aim of the HAMP is to develop a strategic approach to the management, operation, preservation and enhancement of the County’s highway infrastructure to meet national and local objectives and customer needs. It will be used to develop options for current and future service delivery, forward financial planning and investment and asset renewal programmes.

Currently, the County Council has well-developed service standards for highway management and good information on highway asset inventory and condition which have been developed over many years for roads, footways, verges, gullies, structures, signals and street lighting. However, this information is incomplete for a fully comprehensive costing exercise.

In this first HAMP, only the main components of roads, footways and street lighting have been costed using manual calculation methods with generalised unit repair cost formulae. In the future, up-to-date data management systems and software are crucial for the efficient and effective management of this process. The Plan identifies these gaps in the information and systems necessary to refine this process and suggests an Action Plan for implementation.

Maintenance

The County Council has responsibility for 2,000 miles of road network, with the Highways Agency having responsibility for the County’s trunk roads. The availability and maintenance of the County’s roads is vital to the economic prosperity of East Sussex. This relates to the Regional Transport Strategy objective ‘Manage and Invest’ which recognises the need to improve the maintenance of the existing transport system as well as County Council’s commitment to ‘make best use of resources’. In achieving this, a balance needs to be struck between reconciling this aspiration and the resources available to make these roads ‘visibly better’ and as safe as practical.

As identified in chapter 2, one of the LTP2 objectives is to ‘improve maintenance and management of the transport network’. As part of achieving this objective, the Council has two aims:

to look after and improve the condition, life and appearance of the County’s highways, including the condition of verges, footways, cycle routes and shared use routes available to vulnerable road users; and

to keep the County’s main road network in good condition for road users and make significant improvements to the state of the County’s B, C class and unclassified roads.


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The HAMP organised highway services into discrete activities using the following criteria:

Tactical management of the highway asset - the day-to-day operation to keep the network running safely and smoothly. This covers such activities as inspection, surveys, enforcement, customer contact, handling complaints, cleansing, routine servicing and repairs, seasonal response and emergencies. Tactical services are funded from the annual revenue budget. They are financed on the basis of a ‘needs-based’ methodology according to network hierarchy, inventory and defined standards for frequency, response and service level.

Strategic management of the highway asset - the planned and programmed renewal, reconditioning and improvement of the highway asset to ensure it is in an operationally ‘fit-for-purpose’ condition. Programmes of work are based on operational information, (traffic flows, crashes etc), and technical surveys of usage, condition and performance. Strategic asset management can be funded from both revenue and capital investment

Activity Asset

Management

i) Reactive – Scheduled activities for inspection, patching, cleaning, landscape maintenance and other activities. Responding to inspections, complaints or emergencies. Street lighting fault repairs.

Tactical

ii) Routine – Regular maintenance activities like verge maintenance, gully emptying, bulk lamp changes etc.,

Tactical

iii) Programmed – Planned schemes, safety schemes, resurfacing, reconditioning, renewal or reconstruction, bridge strengthening.

Strategic

iv) Regulatory – Inspecting and regulating use of the highway by third parties, e.g. enforcement, Utilities

Tactical

v) Winter Service Tactical

vi) Weather and other emergencies Tactical

Table 4.2 – Strategic & Tactical Activities for Asset Management

which adds to the value of the Asset. The standards for strategic service levels are mainly performance-based.

There is a very important dynamic link between tactical and strategic asset management, in that changing the level of one can have a dramatic effect on the other, with optimal balances between the levels of the two. The following discrete strategic and tactical activities have been identified in Table 4.2 below.

The Council will determine affordable and acceptable levels of service by identifying options for different maintenance activities and completing cost studies for Planned Asset Renewal and day to day running costs, which reflect the following objectives:

the County Council’s objective of being judged an ‘excellent’ authority through the CPA;

that it was affordable, achievable and represented a best value investment;

that it would meet the national targets of eliminating the backlog in maintenance; and

customer expectations were considered within the options.


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Service Option

Service option 1 ‘Total Backlog’ Removal of total maintenance ‘backlog’ and the network in a near faultless condition.

Service option 2 ‘Four stars’ which estimated the backlog to ensure the condition of the highway would achieve and retain an ‘upper quartile’ position in all the best value performance indicators for highway condition.

Service option 3 ‘One star’ where the backlog would be allowed to deteriorate to the lower quartile position in all the best value performance indicators for highway condition.

The following options were considered in estimating the different levels of ‘backlog’ to achieve a particular level of service:Based on the LTP planning guideline funding levels, we will not be able to eliminate the road and footway backlog within the plan period. However, we will make major progress towards improving the condition of the road and footway network, thereby achieving service option 2.

In order to resolve the maintenance condition backlog, the following has been determined for each option:

‘Defectiveness’ - the estimated cost of repairing the asset to achieve the determined level of service.

‘Deterioration’ - the estimated cost of deterioration of the asset.

‘Investment’ – the amount invested in planned and programmed renewal, reconditioning and improvement of the asset.

Based on the LTP2 planning guideline funding levels outlined in Chapter 7, the Council will not be able to eliminate the road and footway backlog within the plan period. However, it will make major steps to progress towards improving the condition of the road and footway network, thereby achieving service option 2. The development of the County’s maintenance programme is influenced by the Council’s ‘Pride of Place’ commitment, as outlined in section 2.2, by ‘making the best use of resources’. It is also influenced by the current formulaic funding arrangements, highlighted in section 3.6, by tailoring an appropriately scaled and sound investment programme to help maintain the highway network.

The Council has developed models for its assets to show the impact of budget changes to the maintenance backlog. These are promoted through an annual progress report of the Asset Management Plan. The product of the models is highlighted through the committee process and accounted for within the Reconciling Policy and Resources exercise undertaken annually by the Council when determining future budgets.

The IRF objective, ‘Prudent use of natural resources’ has also influenced the maintenance strategy and programme with the use of recycled materials where practical, thereby maximising the use of existing resources.


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Structures

Highways Structures represent a significant publicly owned asset that forms an integral part of the transport infrastructure whilst other structures form prominent features of the community and its heritage.

The County Council is directly responsible for the maintenance of some 805 structures on County roads (bridges, culverts, subways and retaining walls, including the Newhaven Swing Bridge and Cuilfail Tunnel). Adopting the principle of Asset Management is fundamental to the effective long-term management and preservation of these assets. Currently, the asset value of these structures is estimated to be £310 million.

Objectives

The County Council’s primary objective, in maintaining structures on the highway, is to ensure that they are maintained in a safe condition commensurate with the imposed loading in the most cost effective manner. It also seeks to reduce the number of unacceptable restrictions on accessibility across the existing road network, to ensure that the local economy is not hampered by restrictions such as weight limits; removes the backlog in structures maintenance and reduces the impact of flooding associated with highway culverts.

The achievement of these objectives will help to achieve the LTP2 objectives, set out in section 2.3, to ‘reduce congestion and improve efficiency of the transport network’, ‘improve road safety’ and ‘improve maintenance and management of the transport network’.

Strategy

To achieve its objectives for Structures, the County Council has adopted an approach that includes:

undertaking General Inspections of highway supporting structures within a 14 month period, retaining walls biennially and Principal Inspections of major bridges at 6 year intervals;

implementing a prioritised programme of cyclic, preventative and remedial maintenance; all maintenance works classed as high priority should be undertaken within 12 months and all works classed as medium priority should be undertaken within 24 months;

maintaining a bridge management system to facilitate the timely and cost effective maintenance of the highway structures;

assessing the load carrying capacity of structures in accordance with DfT guidelines;

widening bridges, where appropriate, to remove restrictions and improve accessibility and safety of the road network;

co-ordinating bridge strengthening and maintenance schemes with other highway works such as road maintenance and traffic safety improvements, to minimise the disruption and improve the cost efficiency of the Works;

strengthening schemes and major maintenance schemes, improvements for accessibility to be considered, e.g. widening or a provision of a footway;

assessing and maintaining a database of flood hot spots and undertaking a prioritised programme of improvement works to reduce the impact of flooding associated with highway culverts.


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the utilisation of performance indicators for Bridge Condition Structures Workbank and Availability in the service level provided on the highway network created by restrictions on highway structures; and

the promotion and adoption of the Code of Practice for the management of Highway Structures.

As identified above, the development of the County’s structures maintenance programme is influenced by the Council’s ‘Pride of Place’ commitment, as outlined in section 2.2, by ‘making the best use of resources’.

Transport Asset Management

In 2004, the County Surveyor’s Society (CSS) launched a framework for Highway Asset Management, pulling together three codes of practice for maintenance management, bridges management and street management, and encourage more integration of processes across the whole service.

The achievement of the LTP2 Objective ‘Improve maintenance and management of the transport network’ will be principally achieved through the development and implementation of the Transport Asset Management Plan (TAMP). This builds on the HAMP produced in August 2004.

The compilation of a TAMP will provide the County Council with a tool to:

support the corporate provision of detailed information on the assets held by the whole authority – roads, footways, footpaths, cycle routes, bus stop infrastructure – enabling better definition of longer-term corporate need and continual challenge to asset holding/use;

establish and communicate a clear relationship, with an annual review between the programme set out by the TAMP (chapter 6) and the authority’s LTP targets and objectives (chapter 7), and ensure existing assets are in a condition

compatible with the delivery of the LTP; and

enable the value for money of local road maintenance to be considered more effectively against other local transport spending, and eventually assist local transport strategy and plan production.

An effective TAMP will provide the means for the County Council to understand the value and liability of their existing asset base and make the right strategic decisions to ensure this base is exploited to its full potential and its value safeguarded for future generations. This will enable the Council to ‘make best use of its resources’, in line with the corporate commitments.

In developing and implementing the TAMP, the Council will apply asset management principles to the management and operation of the County’s transport assets. In addition, the Council will adopt the County Surveyors Society definition of highway asset management, which is:


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Figure 4.4 – TAMP Development Programme


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Figure 4.5 – Contribution of Transport Asset Management to LTP2 Objectives and Shared Transport Priorities

Transport Asset Management

Improves network condition

Noise reducing surfacing in

sensitive areas

Increase cycling and walking

Healthbenefits

Target transport maintenance for all

modes

Increased use of public transport

Reduceaccidents

Cost savings for transport maintenance

Reducecongestion


network





communities




Improvemaintenance

andmanagement


Environmentalbenefits from

use of recycled materials

Integrate new infrastructure with

maintenance

Route hierarchy

Improved public transport facilities

Less disruption to traveller

Better facilities for cycling and

walking

Reducecongestion

Improved journeys for all modes

Efficient use of transport networks

Less road traffic

Safer Roads Tackling Congestion Accessibility Better Air Quality

Quality of Life


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levels of importance and satisfaction (see Chapter 7); and

using the output from customer consultation to define, measure and report against specific targeted levels of service.

Figure 4.4 outlines the development programme for the East Sussex Transport Asset Management Plan. The Council has already started to develop the County’s TAMP and undertaken a number of early tasks such as:

assessment of current practice;

assessment of asset data;

consideration of current levels of service;

undertaking an initial options appraisal; and

undertaking an initial risk assessment.

The remainder of the TAMP development programme will focus on:

expanding the content of the initial HAMP to include all highway assets;

review and update the HAMP to include lifecycle plans, levels of service and long term programme for the assets covered; and

expand the asset management approach to cover other related aspects of transport thereby moving towards a Transport Asset Management Approach.

Figure 4.5 shows how Transport Asset Management contributes towards the LTP2 objectives.

Air Quality StrategyContext

As identified in section 3.6, although air quality in East Sussex is generally good, there are ‘hotspots’ at various locations around the County where air quality is close to or exceeds the national Air Quality objectives. The improvement of air quality will contribute towards the LTP2 objective to ‘protect, promote and enhance the

“Asset management is a strategic approach

that identifies the optimal allocation of

resources for the management, operation,

preservation and enhancement of the

highway infrastructure, to meet the needs

of current and future customers”.

Specifically the model has focused on:

adopting a strategic approach by making long term plans;

allocating resources taking into account the identified needs of the asset;

applying whole life costing to highlight the most cost effective solutions;

reflecting customer needs in the setting of targeted levels of services; and

explicitly measuring performance against targeted levels of service.

In order to develop and progress the requirements of Whole Government Accounting (WGA), the Council is working with the South East Counties Service Improvement Group (SECSIG) to agree a regional asset valuation model. This model will agree the requirements of the baseline data and ensure regional consistency. Measures have been implemented to make certain that the baseline data are obtained.

In practice this means:

developing long term programmes of work for all potential works on the network comprising maintenance, safety, integrated transport and all other programmes of work (see section 6.2);

reporting regularly on the effectiveness of each programme of work in relation to the outcome anticipated from it (see Chapter 7 ‘Targets’);

applying whole life costing to long-term programme options such that the optimal intervention is identified in economic terms;

using customer input to develop specific targets for elements of the service rather than just consulting on overall relative


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environment’, outlined in section 2.3, by improving health, reducing the impact on plant and animal life, and mitigating the effect on materials and structures.

The need to improve air quality and reduce levels of pollutants has been influenced by the IRF objective of ‘effective protection of the environment’, which will be achieved by managing demand and reducing the need to travel by car in order to reduce pollutants. In addition, it has been influenced by the objectives of the Choosing Health White Paper, described in section 3.3, with better air quality contributing towards improving people’s health and overall quality of life.

The Environment Act 1995 places a duty on Local Authorities to identify locations where concentrations of specific air pollutants are predicted to exceed the national Air Quality Objectives, and to implement Air Quality Action Plans where there are exceedences. The review and assessment of air quality forms the first stage of the air quality management process and has two principal objectives:

to identify local areas where the air quality objectives will not be met; and

to ensure that air quality considerations are integrated into local authorities’ decision making processes, such as land use planning and traffic management.

Authority Progress in 2004

Eastbourne Progress Report: no exceedances found.

Hastings Declared an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) in December 2003 along part of the Bexhill Road (A259) for PM

10. Currently formulating an Air Quality Action Plan with

East Sussex County Council for public consultation.

Lewes Will be declaring an AQMA during 2005 due to levels of NO2 exceeding the air quality

objective for 2005 within Fisher Street in the town of Lewes. Currently carrying out a Further Assessment (stage IV).

Rother Progress Report and detailed assessment for A259: no exceedances found.

Wealden Progress Report: no exceedances found.

Table 4.3 – Current Assessment of Air Quality by District/Borough Councils

Air quality monitoring is carried out at a number of locations and using a range of techniques of varying complexity across East Sussex (see www.sussex-air.net).

A summary of the latest review and assessment of air quality in East Sussex by the District/Borough Council is outlined in Table 4.3 above, and LTP2 progress reports will report the latest review and assessment results for each planning authority in East Sussex.

The assessment of the components of the Air Quality Strategy shows it will have a very positive impact on achieving the Sustainability Audit/Strategic Environmental Assessment (SA/SEA) objective ‘to address the causes of climate change, reduce air pollution and ensure air quality continues to improve’, as identified in section 4.9 and Appendix B.

Air Quality Management Areas

As identified in section 3.6 ‘Environmental Pressures’, in some areas of the County, we are close to or exceeding the air quality objectives for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM10). An Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) was been declared by Hastings Borough Council in December 2003 along part of the A259 Bexhill Road due to an exceedence of the 24-hour mean Air Quality Objective for PM10, and an AQMA has been declared by Lewes District Council due to a projected exceedence of the annual mean for NO2 in Fisher Street in Lewes town centre.


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Hastings

East Sussex County Council has worked with Hastings Borough Council to carry out additional monitoring of air quality and commissioned research into the possible sources of the particulate matter. Figure 4.6 indicates that the two Authorities can probably influence approximately one third of the particulate matter (i.e. the particulate arising from exhaust emissions along the Bexhill Road and the A typical resuspended dust).

The County Council has worked closely with the Borough Council on the development of an Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) that will contribute to improving air quality. Further details of the issues affecting air quality on the A259 at Glyne Gap in Hastings are set out in section 3.6 and Annex 6.

The Action Plan identifies the measures that will be taken forward by HBC and ESCC, as well as their cost, air quality benefit and timescales.

A summary of the action plan is outlined in Annex 6.

Lewes

As explained in section 3.6, there are air quality issues in the Fisher Street area of Lewes. Lewes District Council is currently commissioning a Further Assessment so that the AQAP can be properly targeted, and calculate how much of an improvement in air quality would be needed to deliver the air quality objective within the AQMA.

The County Council has carried out additional traffic analysis in Fisher Street in order to improve our understanding of the problem, and is working with Lewes District Council in order to identify the measures most likely to improve air quality. The Lewes Traffic Model (due to be ready in May 2006) will assist this process. These measures will be included within an AQAP, which will subsequently be incorporated into the relevant LTP2 Progress Report. It is noteworthy that since the introduction of parking charges in Lewes town, traffic levels have fallen, with evidence of a corresponding increase in bus and train patronage. This will contribute to the Air Quality shared transport priority.

54%

24%

6%

7%

9%

A typical resuspended dust

Sea Salt

Local background from small individual sources

Direct exhaust emissions from the Bexhill road

Regional background

Source apportionment of PM10 at Hastings roadside 2001 -2003

Figure 4.6 – Sources of PM10 at A259 Hastings


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Strategy Objectives

The County Council’s strategy is to reduce people’s exposure to poor air quality in East Sussex, influenced by the issues identified in section 3.6, and the requirement to achieve national air quality objectives. Where national air quality objectives are exceeded, our key aim is to implement the most cost-effective solutions to ensure that as much of East Sussex meets the air quality standards as is practicable. The Strategy objectives are to:

Have a better understanding of East Sussex’s air quality

This will be achieved by:

enhancing the County’s monitoring regime in order to identify pollution hotspots; and

carrying out the EU-funded Air Rives-Manche Ozone project via the SAQSG, in order to provide better information to local residents on ozone by extending our ozone monitoring network.

Working to improve air quality

The requirement to meet national air quality objectives has been influential in the Council seeking to improve air quality, which will be achieved by:

ESCC implementing practicable transport-related measures which tackle air quality problems and work towards meeting the air quality objectives within the existing and future AQMAs;

ensuring that air quality is taken into account in the development and implementation of LTP2. This has been reflected in the inclusion of an air quality objective (Objective 5) in the Sustainability Audit/Strategic Environmental Assessment, which has been used to test the LTP2 strategy and alternative options to ensure it sets out a sustainable strategy for transport that contributes towards improving air quality across the County. Section 4.9 outlines the SA/SEA assessment and how the

assessment will influence the LTP2 strategy; and

many of the policy interventions that improve accessibility and reduce congestion will also work to improve air quality, for instance encouraging modal shift.

Expanding partnership working

The ‘partnership’ opportunities highlighted in section 3.7 and cross-boundary working with other pan-Sussex authorities, as outlined in section 5.4, has been influential in the need to expand partnership working on air quality issues. This will be achieved by:

continuing to work in partnership with all neighbouring transport authorities, the district and borough partners and the Highways Agency, for instance to obtain traffic data for dispersion modelling and emissions scenario studies; and

continuing to be a partner in, and expand our funding contribution to the SAQSG, which is one of the most established regional air quality networks in the country.

Informing and consulting the public

As explained in section 3.7, public participation and support will be influential in enabling the Council to implement schemes/policies, developed through LTP2, which improve air quality. The Council will inform and consult the public by:

continuing to provide air pollution forecasts to the public on the SAQSG website;

supporting our District and Borough partners to consult the public, on the designation of AQMAs and AQAPs, where these are required.

The effectiveness of these objectives will be evaluated via progress reports and the on-going extensive air quality monitoring across East Sussex, the air quality review and assessment process, and the SAQSG’s business planning.


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4.5 Issues-basedStrategiesThe five overarching strategies outlined in section 4.4 form the upper tier of strategies within the overall LTP2 strategy. A lower tier of issue-based strategies complements, and is influenced by, the upper tier of strategies. Further details on each of the issue based strategies are outlined below.

BusThe Transport Act 2000 requires the County Council to produce a Bus Strategy as part of its LTP. Whilst the previous LTP contained a robust Bus Strategy, this has been updated to reflect changing circumstances both locally and nationally.

The Strategy contains general policies for securing bus services (and associated facilities) to meet the daily transport needs of people in East Sussex to an appropriate standard for urban and rural areas. It takes account of the County Council’s responsibilities as a local education authority and for social services. It also takes account of the transport needs of people with mobility impairments and the elderly, or those without access to a car in the more deprived and rural areas of the County, who otherwise would be socially excluded.

The implementation of the strategy will be influenced by the issues set out in section 3.6, relating to the ‘cost of transport restricting access for those on low incomes’, ‘public transport in rural areas’ and ‘bus deregulation’, which threatens sustainability and integration of modes and reducing social exclusion by improving accessibility to employment and services. The development of Quality Bus Partnerships, identified as an opportunity in section 3.7 for partnership working with bus operators in Hastings and Eastbourne, will be influential in the successful implementation of the strategy and the LTP2 objectives.

The RTS policies, ‘Manage and Invest and ‘Mobility Management’, set out in Table 3.2, have influenced the implementation of the bus strategy by identifying actions and measures that rebalance the transport system in favour of buses. These actions and measures are identified below:

Working with Operators to Develop the Commercial Network

Commercial services account for approximately 75% of local bus mileage in East Sussex and the Council will work with operators to co-ordinate service changes and promote a stable network. This will involve working in partnership with bus operators, particularly through Quality Bus Partnerships in Eastbourne and Hastings, to develop quality bus corridor measures such as bus priority at junctions, bus lanes and improved bus waiting facilities, as discussed in section 3.7 ‘Partnership Working’.

Securing Additional Services through Revenue Support

The Council targets the use of its funding of supported bus services to meet otherwise unmet transport needs. This involves setting priorities according to journey purpose and the time of day/day of the week. This also includes bidding for Government funding available for enhancing urban and rural bus services. Further details on the effective use of revenue spend is covered in Chapter 6 - ‘Spend and Implementation Programme’.


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Proposed Network for East Sussex

Starting from the existing network of bus services, the Council is setting out proposals for a network of urban, small town, rural and inter-urban bus services, with minimum frequencies, subject to the availability of funding. There is particular emphasis on using developer contributions in areas of housing growth. This will contribute towards the LTP2 objective of ‘improving access to services by increasing travel choice and influencing land use decisions’.

Fares and Ticketing

The Council’s current practice of awarding mainly revenue contracts has supported the introduction of multi-operator integrated tickets like the successful “Freedom Ticket” for school children. The Council will work with operators to widen the availability of such schemes. This will be influenced by the development of Quality Partnerships, identified as an opportunity in section 3.7.

Traffic Measures including Bus Priority

As identified earlier in the section, the RTS policy ‘Mobility Management’ has influenced the need to rebalance the transport system towards non-car modes through the LTP2 Strategy. The rebalance of the transport system towards buses offers the greatest opportunity for modal shift. The Council will work with operators to identify locations where buses are subject to delay, and seek to resolve problems through enforcement of parking restrictions and, where appropriate, implementing bus priority measures. The Network Management Strategy will be influential in the co-ordination of road works in order to minimise delays and maintain punctuality of bus services, whilst the Road Safety Strategy will seek to ensure traffic calming schemes

are “bus-friendly”. This will contribute towards the delivery of the LTP2 objective to ‘reduce congestion and improve the efficiency of the transport network’. Further details are discussed in section 5.3.

Bus Stop Infrastructure and Interchange

The Council has carried out an audit of the County’s bus stop infrastructure. This work will support a review of responsibility of bus stops and shelters with operators, Borough, District and parish councils. Opportunities to improve the waiting environment at town centre bus stops and interchange with other passenger transport services, to reduce delays to passengers, will be undertaken through implementation of Local Area Transport Strategies and Rural Transport Approach and in consultation with local stakeholders.

Co-ordinated Passenger Transport Service Planning

The Council has recently integrated its Passenger Transport, Schools Transport and Social Services Transport Teams to form the new Passenger Services Group. The Group will build on existing work to achieve Best Value through the co-ordinated provision of transport to meet the needs of the public, school children and social services clients. This has helped to deliver the Council’s corporate commitments by ‘making best use of resources’.

Community and Voluntary Transport

The term “community transport” can be applied to a range of different services. These include community bus services for the public, minibus and dial-a-ride services for senior citizens and people with disabilities, and minibus and car based services provided by voluntary organisations for their own members.The RTS policies ‘ Rural Transport’ and ‘Mobility Management’; recognises the


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impact that community based transport and demand responsive transport can have in meeting local transport needs and reducing social exclusion issues, as identified in Table 3.2. As highlighted in section 3.7 ‘Partnership Working’, the Council will continue to work with Community Transport groups, through the Rural Transport Partnership, to assist these various services in playing their part in meeting transport needs in East Sussex.

The development of an accessibility strategy for the County, discussed in section 4.4, has close links and will influence the delivery of the County’s Bus Strategy. The accessibility strategy focuses on the most deprived parts of the County and the rural areas, or people without access to a car that are socially excluded. It will support those with a particular transport need, such as older and younger people. The focus will be on four key themes – access to employment, education, healthcare and healthy affordable food

As part of this process, an audit of existing resources available to the County will be undertaken. This will include the level of revenue funding available for supported services, and vehicles to determine the most appropriate use of these resources in order to improve accessibility, thereby contributing towards ‘achieving best use of resources’, in accordance with the Council’s corporate commitment.

A further update of the Bus Strategy will be undertaken, early in the lifetime of LTP2, to reflect the outcomes of the Framework Accessibility Strategy for the County, attached at Appendix 1, and the recommendations of the Sustainability Audit/Strategic Environmental Assessment Report at Appendix 2.

Passenger Transport InformationThe implementation of the Passenger Information Strategy reflects the

requirements of the Transport Act 2000 which sets out certain duties for local transport authorities in relation to information about bus services. Section 139 requires the local transport authority to determine, in consultation with user groups and the traffic commissioner, what local bus information is required and the appropriate way in which it should be made available.

The strategy makes proposals for the sort of public transport information that should be provided locally and appropriate ways for this to be done. It also seeks to clarify the respective responsibilities of the Council and commercial bus operators, including funding, with the aim of achieving best value. The final strategy takes into account the comments received from user groups, the Traffic Commissioner, operators and interested parties.

The starting point is the scope and quality of information now being provided. Whilst it is impractical to increase information


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requirements immediately, the aim is to make a progressive improvement in the range, quantity and quality available.This will range from real time passenger information, which has been implemented along the A259 between Brighton and Newhaven to Seaford, and programmed for implementation in Eastbourne and Hastings during the next three years, through to personalised bus journey information provided via mobile phone technology or for particular areas/locations on bus routes. These types of solutions will link to the implementation of the Intelligent Transport Systems strategy, discussed later in the section. Better information on bus services would contribute towards LTP2 objectives to ‘improve access to services’ and ‘manage demand and reduce the need to travel by car’ and the Regional Transport Strategy (RTS) objective relating to ‘Mobility Management’.

Comprehensive rail timetable and fare information is already provided directly by rail operators through various media. The Council does not propose to duplicate this. However, as highlighted in section 3.7 ‘Partnership Working’, the Council will support the work of the East Sussex Community Rail Partnership in promoting and informing local communities about their rail services. In particular, this will highlight linkages with bus services and local leisure/tourist facilities, particularly in rural areas, enabling the Council to capitalise on the environmental quality of the East Sussex countryside, identified as an opportunity in section 3.7.

Rail DevelopmentThe Rail Development Strategy identifies the potential contribution that heavy rail can make as part of an integrated transport strategy to improve public transport and reduce car use. The delivery of the Strategy will help achieve the LTP2 objectives to ‘reduce congestion’ and ‘improve access to services’.

The Strategy identifies a number of priority areas which have been influenced by the policies in the ‘Future of Rail’ White Paper, set out in section 3.3, and the Structure Plan, discussed in section 3.5. These include improvements to the South Coast element of the Trans European Rail Network and the reinstatement of rail services between Lewes, Uckfield and Tunbridge Wells. As identified in section 3.7, these are seen as potential opportunities which will help deliver the long term transport needs for the County. These improvements will potentially play a supporting role in sustainable economic development in the County, including the underpinning of the emerging South East Plan, the Local Development Framework and the revitalisation and development of the rail network. The Strategy commits the Council to a continuing role in exploring the feasibility of these improvements and lobbying for them with other local authorities and the rail industry. The Strategy also highlights how the Council works in partnership with the rail industry to develop and progress relevant schemes, reflecting the opportunities ‘Partnership Working and Sharing Best Practice’ identified in section 3.7.


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Figure 4.7 – Contribution of Public Transport to LTP2 Objectives and Shared Transport Priorities

Improvedpassengersatisfaction


communities

Improved rail facilities

High quality public transport

Improvedfrequencies and

new services

Information strategy

Reduce car use

Safer Roads Air Quality Tackling Congestion Accessibility

Quality of Life



Improvemaintenance

andmanagement



Improve access to services



Reducecongestion


network

Partnerships with public transport

operators

Improvedinfrastructure,

shops, stations, bus priority and interchanges

Public Transport

Raise awarenessImprove journey

times

New buses

Improve access

Modal shiftLess congestionImprove air quality

Improved access and interchange

between all modes

Increase public transport use

Effective promotion and information

provision


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The Strategy recognises that improved accessibility to stations and interchanges with other modes will widen travel choices available to residents, visitors and businesses and make travel by rail a more convenient option. This reflects the RTS objective of ‘Mobility Management’. The RTS policies for ‘rail freight’ and ‘freight & safe guarding’ and Structure Plan policies for rail have informed the development of the strategy, and in particular, the identification of Newhaven as a potential rail freight site.

The Rail Development Strategy will be updated during the life of LTP2 to reflect the outcomes of the County’s Accessibility Strategy and on-going changes to the structure of the rail industry.

Figure 4.7 shows how the Bus, Bus Information and Rail Development strategies will contribute towards the LTP2 objectives and shared priorities for transport.

CyclingThe Council updated its cycle strategy in 2002/03, in consultation with local interest groups and partners. Improving cycling will help mitigate some of the issues identified in section 3.6, such as the cost of transport that restricts access to those on low incomes, rising car ownership and perceptions of safety for vulnerable road users by managing the demand for travel, reducing congestion and improving access to services by providing greater travel choices. Further details on how cycling will contribute towards the LTP2 objectives is explained in section 5.2.

The RTS has influenced the development of the strategy by recognising the part cycling can play in rebalancing of the transport network towards non-car modes and the need to provide a quality and comprehensive cycle network. The Strategy recognises that the transfer of journeys from cars to cycles helps to

achieve the LTP2 objectives relating to ‘reducing congestion’, ‘managing the need to travel by car’, ‘improving road safety’ and ‘improving the environment’. The potential for cycling is greatest in urban areas where utility cycling, for example to work or school, can replace many shorter car journeys of less than 5 miles. This has been recognized in the establishment of a target to increase levels of cycling in the coastal towns of Bexhiil, Hastings and Eastbourne.

Two main groups of factors determine whether people choose to cycle – attitudes to cycling and the availability of a suitable infrastructure. The ‘Four E’s’ – Engineering, Education, Encouragement and Enforcement – cover most of the measures needed to address these issues. However, different types of existing and would-be cyclists require different measures to maximise the potential for cycling. What is appropriate for an experienced, adult commuter, cyclist may not be the most appropriate measure to encourage a child or inexperienced cyclist. Flexibility, is


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therefore required when specific schemes or strategies are developed depending on the likely usage and location.

The cycle strategy embraces the concept of ‘invisible infrastructure’; that a wide range of non-cycling schemes such as well-designed junctions, appropriate roadspace allocation or speed management measures can encourage cycling. Many of these have at least as good and often better potential to increase cycling than relatively costly dedicated cycling schemes. The strategy recognises that dealing positively with cycling should therefore be integral to all schemes, not just cycling schemes.Therefore, the County Council has introduced cycle audits of all new scheme proposals to ensure that the safety and convenience of cycling is not compromised. This reflects one of the recommendations of a recent Audit Commission best value review of the County’s whole transport service as referred to in section 4.8.

It also highlights the health arguments for encouraging cycling, reflecting the ‘Choosing Health’ White Paper objectives, set out in section 3.3, that undertaking regular physical exercise such as cycling has been found to reduce the risk of many serious forms of ill health including ‘coronary heart’ disease, cancer and obesity, and so contributes to achieving the Government’s health priorities.

WalkingThe Council’s Walking Strategy, ‘Stepping Out’, will be updated as part of a rolling programme of strategy reviews, as an early priority, reflecting its importance.

The existing Strategy aims to promote walking and increase the proportion of all journeys made on foot, emphasising the benefits to personal health and the environment. It also has a number of aims and objectives. These include to:

improve integration between different modes of transport;

increase the number of journeys made on foot;

create a safer environment for pedestrians;

ensure that pedestrian needs are considered at all new developments; and

provide training at schools for child pedestrian training.

These aims and objectives have been influenced by the Structure Plan priorities, described in section 3.5, which encourages and supports improved access and facilities for pedestrians. They encourage the physical design of development to make walking safe, secure and attractive through provision of cohesive footway networks that are direct, make provision for those with mobility difficulties, and give pedestrians priority in the design of circulation space. They also encourage the provision of ramps for wheelchairs, prams and pushchairs, and tactile paving at appropriate locations to help those with impaired vision. There are also links between the implementation of the strategy and the achievement of the aims and objectives of other of the issues based strategies. For example, the improvement of the walking environment through enhanced streetscapes as part of the Public Realm Strategy and the promotion of walking as part of the travel awareness aspect of the Travel Planning Strategy, will contribute towards the Walking Strategy objectives identified above.


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Figure 4.8 – Contribution of Walking and Cycling to LTP2 Objectives and Shared Transport Objectives


communities

Marketing, Promotion and

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Improving walking will help mitigate some of the issues identified in section 3.6, such as the cost of transport that restricts access to those on low incomes, rising car ownership and perceptions of safety for vulnerable road users by managing the demand for travel, reducing congestion and improving access to service by providing greater travel choices. It will help to achieve the RTS objective of ‘Mobility Management’ by identifying how the walking environment can be improved to encourage more journeys to be undertaken on foot, as part of a balanced package of measures, which reduces the need to travel by car.

The schemes and initiatives to promote walking will be identified and developed through the delivery framework outlined in section 5.2, with pedestrians placed at the top of the transport hierarchy, giving them greater priority in comparison with other road users. Section 5.3 outlines how improvements to the walking environment will contribute towards the delivery of the LTP2 objectives.

Figure 4.8 shows how the Walking and Cycling strategies will contribute towards the LTP objectives.

Parking and Demand ManagementParking Management/Charging

The availability and management of parking is important both to ensure the economic prosperity of areas within the County, discussed in sections 3.6 and 3.7, and as a mechanism for encouraging more sustainable transport, whilst maintaining a balance between strategic and local considerations and between economic and environmental objectives. Parking is a key issue in urban areas, but can have wider impacts, particularly in the rural parts of the County.

The overall aim of the County’s strategy for parking, as set out in LTP1, is to influence travel behaviour at the trip end by ensuring that controls on the number of public and private parking spaces available,

charging based on the length of stay and the locations, complies with demand management priorities. These controls can encourage people to use their car less by not making certain trips or by walking, cycling or using the bus instead, and will contribute towards the LTP2 objectives to ‘reduce congestion and improve efficiency of the transport network’ and ‘manage demand and reduce the need to travel by car’.

The strategy builds on national planning guidance, outlined in section 3.3, and structure plan transport policies, outlined in section 3.5, which sets the context for providing maximum, rather than minimum, parking standards for development, and adapts them to local circumstances, relating to the relative accessibility to public transport and local economic viability. In addition, the Strategy seeks to ensure that safe, secure and convenient cycle and motorcycle parking is provided at the trip end.


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These standards were reviewed in 2002 following the publication of Planning Policy Guidance notes (now Planning Policy Statements) 3 and 13. However, their influence on total travel demand will not be as high in the short and medium term as, annually, there is only around a 1 – 2% change in the built environment through the planning system.

The RTS policy, ‘Mobility Management’, highlights that local authorities should, as part of a package of measures which favour non-car modes, scale the provision and management of on and off-street parking. This has influenced the introduction of civil parking enforcement, in Lewes and Hastings, with a scheme being developed for Eastbourne, which gives local authorities the power to enforce parking restrictions, taking the responsibility away from the police. This has offered significant advantages, such as:

improved compliance with parking restrictions;

a greater assurance that bus lanes, cycle lanes and major traffic routes are not obstructed by illegally parked vehicles;

improved management of on and off street parking through charging, limiting the length of stay and the number of spaces available;

reduced parking of non-permit holders in residents parking bays; and

enabling parking management to better deliver LTP2 objectives.

This will contribute to the LTP2 objective to ‘reduce congestion and improve the efficiency of the transport network’ and address the issue of congestion and traffic growth outlined in section 3.6.

Workplace Parking Charging

As part of the introduction of civil parking enforcement in Lewes, the County Council has introduced workplace parking charges at County Hall. The Strategy will, by example, encourage the introduction of

workplace parking charges elsewhere in the County, as part of the development and operation of workplace travel plans.This will address the ‘traffic growth and congestion’, ‘rising car ownership and use’ and ‘changes in commuter working patterns’ issues discussed in section 3.6

Road User Charging

In July 2003, the Secretary of State for Transport published ‘Managing our Roads’, which discussed the pressures on the road network in the UK and the choices to be made in addressing them, including the issues around implementing road charging. At the same time, he commissioned a study to look into the feasibility of implementing a national road pricing scheme.

The study found that a national road pricing scheme could be feasible within 10 -15 years, and could reduce urban congestion by nearly half, despite traffic only reducing by 4 per cent. It also has the potential to deliver significant environmental benefits in terms of air quality, noise and impacts on communities. The study reports on a wide range of other issues including public acceptability, privacy and technology.

During the life of LTP2 the County Council will evaluate the results of research on road user pricing and consider whether road user charging could be beneficially applied to selected routes in East Sussex. The County Council recognises that road user charging can play a key role in managing travel demand, and all options will be considered. The ‘Golden Jubilee Way’ into Eastbourne (formerly the A22 New Route) is a potential candidate that might be able to support charging, but the feasibility of introducing such a regime will need to be investigated thoroughly to determine suitability.

One of the key factors to explore is what impact road user charging may have on the rest of the road network, and the effect, for example, that it would have on economic regeneration initiatives in East Sussex.


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Further investment in bus priority measures, for example, may need to be implemented on adjacent routes to complement road user charging, and the Government’s Transport Innovation Fund would seem to be the appropriate mechanism through which such measures could potentially be funded, later in the Plan period.

Modal Hierarchy

The County Council must cater for the increasing demand and needs of a number of travel modes in East Sussex. There are a number of different modes, and all have an Issue-based Strategy in place to complement the five overarching Component Strategies, that will help deliver the Plan’s vision and objectives. Details of each of the component, and issue-based strategies can be found in sections 4.4 and 4.5 of this Plan.

Different transport modes are often competing for the same road space, as the car, bus, bicycle and pedestrian movements must be accommodated within a limited area of highway. This presents the County Council with an increasing challenge, and as such, a modal hierarchy has been established. There is, however, no countywide modal hierarchy, as in a county as diverse spatially, economically and socially as East Sussex, different areas have different needs, and as such require locally determined strategies to address them.

Chapter 5 of this Plan sets out the County Council’s LTP delivery framework, and in addition to other aspects, highlights how schemes are identified, developed and delivered. A key element of the delivery framework are the geographically defined Local Area Transport Strategies (LATS), and over the period of LTP1 they have been developed for the larger urban areas and market towns. The LATS aim to reconcile all modes of travel and their competing demands, in a way that best meets local needs.

LATS are strongly community led, and provide a direct line for local residents, interest groups and businesses to contribute to the identification and development of transport schemes and initiatives. At the outset of the establishment of a LATS, each travel mode is prioritised according to local needs, and an action plan of short, medium and long-term measures are jointly agreed.

The LATS all contain a robust policy framework which reflects that of the overarching countywide transport Vision, Objectives and Strategy. Local targets are also set, and feed into the wider LTP2 target framework to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the delivery of LTP2. Through this approach, the County Council is working at a local, countywide, and by working with neighbouring authorities, at a regional level to contribute to achieving the national shared priority for transport.

Transport Innovation Fund

The County Council is awaiting further guidance on Transport Innovation Funds (TIF) before deciding on whether to submit a TIF bid. TIF funding is aimed at schemes which combine demand management and better public transport provision to tackle congestion. There is potential for the development of a joint TIF bid with West Sussex County Council and Brighton & Hove City Council for a scheme along the A259 later in the period of LTP2. Funding streams for TIF are not expected to be available to authorities until 2008/09.

Intelligent Transport SystemsThe Government’s ‘Future of Transport’ White Paper, outlined in section 3.2, and the Traffic Management Bill 2004 places an obligation on local transport authorities


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Figure 4.9 – Contribution of Parking and Intelligent Transport Systems to LTP2 Objectives and Shared Transport Priorities


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to reduce the level of congestion. In addition, the RTS, discussed in section 3.4 and Table 3.2, identifies that intelligent transport systems can play a role in ‘Mobility Management’. These national and regional policies will have a direct effect on the development of an Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Strategy, which can contribute towards improving the overall efficiency of the transport network as well as providing information and priority for passenger transport and vulnerable road users.

Working with partners, the Strategy will seek to utilise the rapidly expanding capabilities of ITS to improve road safety, promote public transport and enhance existing transport systems for the benefit of all members of the community, whilst protecting the environment.

The specific aims and objectives for ITS over the next ten years will be established around two key themes:

improved management of the transport network; and

co-ordinated dissemination of reliable information to the travelling public.

A range of tools can help address these policy objectives. These are split into six categories:

traffic management: Urban Traffic Control (UTC), variable message signs, safety cameras, interactive signs to optimise road capacity and car park usage;

payment systems: public transport smartcards, cashless payment parking cards;

public transport management: bus priority, demand responsive public transport;

information systems: on-street information terminals, internet based timetables and journey planners, real-time passenger information;

security and emergency: emergency vehicles priority, personal security - i.e. CCTV; and

freight management: Global Positioning System (GPS) involving on-board journey planners, and road-user charging for freight vehicles.

A number of these categories are integral elements within a number of other issue based strategies, for example, the implementation of public transport management is closely aligned with the public transport information strategy. Some of the measures identified for development in the Strategy will take significant co-operation from the public for them to be successful. Therefore, early involvement of the public, with information and education, will help the process.

The ITS Strategy will be developed to fulfil three aspects:

ITS fully embedded in the culture as a recognised and valuable tool with evidence to show that the tools deliver tangible benefits (individually and collectively);

development of an implementation programme of specific schemes that contribute to each of the LTP2 objectives / shared priorities; and

continued and enhanced partnering and exchange of information with neighbouring authorities.

Figure 4.9 shows how the Parking and Intelligent Transport Systems will contribute towards the LTP2 objectives.

Freight

The East Sussex Freight Strategy was approved in June 2004. It seeks to balance the requirement for an efficient goods distribution system with the social and environmental effects of the movement of goods, particularly by road.


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The Transport White Paper, discussed in section 3.3, highlights a commitment to supporting industry by helping to ensure that goods can be moved freely, reliably and efficiently to underpin economic prosperity which has influenced the development of the Freight Strategy. The Strategy has also been shaped by the RTS, by recognising the contributions that road and rail, sea and air can make to both passenger and freight transport movements and the consequent links to the economy and the environment. Although the Strategy acknowledges the dominant role of road freight within the County, it recognises some potential for modal shift to rail. The RTS also has influenced the Strategy with the inclusion of potential opportunities for rail freight sites in the County.

The Freight Strategy has provided an opportunity to develop a framework for implementation of actions and measures, develop ongoing partnerships for the delivery of the Strategy between the Council, the freight industry and other stakeholders and provide knowledge/awareness of freight logistic issues. The Strategy identifies a number of policies. In particular, the Strategy identifies a freight routing network of roads, shown on Figure 4.10, which has replaced the existing policy of allowing lorry traffic to disperse across all roads within the County. The Strategy provides a catalyst for developing Freight Quality Partnerships at both a County and local level. The County Council will be holding a freight conference in September 2006 with all interested parties and stakeholders, to identify and agree an appropriate action plan.

The Strategy encourages sustainable distribution through raising awareness and providing sustainable development in order to minimise the number of road based freight movements. It also explores opportunities for transfer of freight from road to rail as well as to improve rail freight facilities within the County, which accords with the RTS policy related to ‘Inter-modal interchanges’.

Network Management StrategyUnder the auspices of the Traffic Management Act, the Council has a duty to manage the highway network in such a way so as to keep highway network disruption to a minimum during highway and utility infrastructure maintenance. This is essential for the county’s economy and the efficiency of its transport network.

The development of the Network Management Strategy has been influenced by the Transport White Paper which identifies the role of local authorities in targeting congestion bottlenecks to provide freer flowing local roads to improve the efficiency of the transport network. This is reflected in the LTP2 vision for the county and the LTP2 objective, outlined in section 2.3, ‘reduce congestion and improve the efficiency of the transport network’. The strategy will address the ‘traffic growth and congestion’ issues identified in section 3.6 and contribute towards the delivery of the congestion targets set out in chapter 7.


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As a clear demonstration of its commitment to the ethos and role of the Traffic Management duty, East Sussex County Council was one of the first authorities to appoint a dedicated Traffic Manager who has been in post since December 2003.

The authority has carried out a review of its network management duty and has restructured this function within the Transport and Environment Department with clear roles and responsibilities at both central and local levels. This sees the Traffic Manager taking an overarching role in relation to any action which may reduce the capacity of the network. Whilst it is understood that highway works cause disruption and congestion, they only count for 10% of disruption. 65% of congestion is through traffic volume and 25% through traffic incidents.

Therefore the approach is to focus on:

better management of roadworks;

better operating environment for buses (see ‘Bus Strategy’ earlier in section);

more effective enforcement (see ‘Parking’ earlier in section);

measuring progress to demonstrate that all that can be done to effectively manage traffic is being done; and

working and communicating with other partners such as the Police, Statutory Undertakers, and Highways Agency more effectively.

It is proposed to identify the areas and physical causes of congestion through a number of methods; including floating vehicle data, speed and flow detectors, journey time detection, staff surveys, bus telematics, police and the Highways Agency as well as identifying the behavioural reasons for people using their cars. As part of this process the authority has taken the opportunity to refocus service delivery through the production of the Network Operational Plan. This will apply greater control of the network through the registration of all works, involving

engagement with all stakeholders through network management meetings.

Due to the diverse nature of the network, a core network has been identified. The core network consists of strategically important roads where works may not be carried out within peak hours and adjacent routes will be embargoed during works. Consideration will be given to both the existing county road hierarchy and the county’s other networks including winter maintenance and walking buses, travel plans and corporate targets. This is currently going through consultation with stakeholders, utilities, Police and the Highways Agency.

The Council is embracing both the use of fixed penalty notices and permits as tools to aid the understanding of who is occupying road space and for what duration. Fixed penalty notices have already been applied to both utility and highways notices to ensure accurate information and demonstrate parity through an audit process of all works regardless of the promoter. The Council has also recently undertaken both site safety surveys and compliance testing of both highway and utility works which promote a safer network and reduces pavement deterioration through correct reinstatement practices.

The key message for network management is to ensure that all stakeholders can be confident in the reliability of journey times, through minimised congestion and a well managed network. A key part of network management is to disseminate accurate and timely information to all stakeholders through various means. The Council will, through the implementation of its network management strategy, provide traffic information via the website with Standard Messaging System (SMS) and email subscription, engagement of local media and contribute to a regional website with travel information for the South East. This will help to reduce congestion and build the local economy as businesses will be able to more effectively plan delivery and business travel.


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Figure 4.11 – ‘Travelchoice’ Schematic StructureLo

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Travel PlanningThere is a growing body of evidence that so called ‘soft’ or ‘smart’ initiatives, in conjunction with demand management measures, can be extremely cost effective in encouraging modal shift and achieving significant reduction in short motorised trips. As identified in the Government’s guidance document ‘Making Smarter Choices Work’, these ‘smart’ initiatives include:

giving people better information about their existing choices;

marketing sustainable travel options more effectively so that they are better used;

making improvements to the way services are organised, so that they better meet the needs of a particular group of people; and

providing new transport services very closely focussed on a particular target market such as workplace or a residential area.

The Council’s travel planning strategy, branded as the ‘Travelchoice’ toolkit shown in Figure 4.11, will augment the range of existing work undertaken by the Council, linking with the implementation of other issue-based strategies such as walking, cycling, bus, public transport information and intelligent transport systems strategies. This has ensured that these smart initiatives form an integral part of the LTP2 Strategy and its delivery at a local level. This will have implications on cross-service and multi-agency initiatives linking accessibility, sustainability, education, social inclusion and health issues, some of which are outlined in section 3.6.

The implementation of the Strategy will primarily focus on the existing strands of work already being undertaken by the Council. The RTS objective, ‘Travel Plans and Advice’, discussed in section 3.4, has influenced the development of the Strategy,

with the Council continuing to encourage the operation of travel plans in all the major travel generating developments in the County. The strategy has also reflected the RTS objective ‘Mobility Management’, which highlights the need to include incentives for car sharing, in particular.

School Travel Plans

To date, the Council has been working with over 45 primary and secondary schools, as well as post-16 establishments, to identify measures which encourage greater levels of walking, cycling and public transport, and seek to reduce the number of car borne school journeys throughout the period of LTP1. Through these travel plans, initiatives have been implemented such as ‘walking buses’, ‘cycle trains’ and the identification of potential for bus journeys to school, as well as physical infrastructure to complement these measures, including safer crossing points or new sections of footway and cycle routes. Throughout the life of LTP2, the Council will continue to work with other schools in the County on developing their travel plans and identifying measures which encourage more use of alternatives to the car for school journeys.

Workplace Travel Plans


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The strategy will focus on reducing the number of single occupancy car borne journeys to work by increasing the journeys undertaken on foot, by cycle and public transport, providing cycle and motorcycle parking, as well as encouraging car sharing and using IT, such as video and audio conferencing, to reduce the need to travel.

The Council is working with a number of employers across the County to encourage the development and highlight the benefits of their own voluntary travel plans. For example, the Council has worked with Lewes District and Eastbourne Borough Council’s to help develop their travel plans. Reflecting the RTS policy, the Council will target all the other major travel generating organisations in the County in order to encourage them to develop and operate their own travel plan. The Council will continue to strengthen this element through implementing the LTP2 Strategy. In addition, it will also continue to seek new development related travel plans through the planning process.

Furthermore, the Council have already introduced a travel plan for County Hall, which has principally been focused on car park management, including the introduction of parking charges. It has provided secure cycle parking at County Hall for staff and visitors, showering facilities, a drying room and mileage payments for cycle use. The Council has also expanded the fleet of pool cars to 10 for use by staff on business journeys. The Council has established flexible working hours for County Council staff, and investigated pilot schemes such as re-evaluating use of office space at County Hall; working a ‘9-day’ fortnight; the set up and refurbishment of drop-in facilities across the County and home-working by providing secure home broadband connection.

Travel Awareness Campaigns and Promotions

The County Council has developed the ‘travelchoice.org’ website to promote sustainable forms of travel; informing people of travel choices and helping users to identify alternative ways of travelling from A to B including car-sharing, walking, cycling, bus and rail. The website also focuses on finding ways of reducing fuel emissions and how people can make a personal contribution to protecting the county for generations to come. Travel awareness campaigns have also been run as part of wider transport exhibitions including the ‘Streets Ahead’ exhibition as part of ‘In town without my car’ day in Lewes, the Cycle and Walks Festival and an awareness campaign as part of the initial consultation on air quality issues at A259 Glyne Gap, Hastings.

These initiatives will be replicated, as appropriate, during the period of LTP2, but be even more targeted to deliver the LTP2 objectives.

Car Sharing

As identified above, car sharing is a key component to the delivery of the strategy. The travelchoice.org website includes a countywide car-sharing database which been very successful with over 350 County Hall staff, and nearly 600 people signed up as potential car-sharers. This has been augmented with the introduction of 30 car share spaces at County Hall. Car-sharing will continue to be encouraged with employees from other organisations in the county to sign up to the database, provide car share spaces and other incentives to encourage car sharing as part of the development of their own travel plans.

Other measures

The LTP2 Strategy will expand upon LTP1 and also consider the opportunities to promote a range of other initiatives at a local level, where appropriate, such as:


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personalised travel planning;

car clubs;

tele-working; and

home shopping.

The Strategy will also tie into elements of other strategies within the policy framework such as the public transport information strategy, and cycle strategy, through the promotion of site-specific timetables and cycle maps.

To ensure that the ‘Travelchoice’ measures gain a higher profile, the Council have begun to allocate funding towards the development of smart initiatives in each of the Local Area Transport Strategy areas as well as at a county-wide level. This will be further developed through the period of LTP2.

Community SafetyCommunity Safety continues to be a high priority for the County’s local communities. The Strategy has been influenced by the East Sussex Community Strategy objective of ‘improving community safety’, as identified in section 2.2. This recognises the need to provide safer streets by reducing incidents of crime and improving road safety.

The East Sussex Community Safety Strategy identifies a number of key objectives which directly relate to the overall long-term strategy and individual issue based strategies of LTP2. These Strategy objectives include:

creating a safer environment through improved street lighting; and

improving road safety and reducing accidents by:

increasing the number of pedestrian crossings;

developing school travel plans; and

reducing vehicle speeds.

The delivery of the objectives will address the ‘perceptions of safety’ in the community as identified in section 3.6. The County Council is working with its partners on five Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) and other organisations including the Police, parish and town councils to tackle issues relating to crime and the fear of crime, anti-social behaviour, speeding traffic and improving safety for vulnerable road users.

In accordance with its responsibilities under section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1988, the Council will consider community safety issues, including reducing crime, in all of its work to deliver the LTP2 objectives.

Rights of WayEast Sussex County Council is required to produce a Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) under section 60 of the Countryside & Rights of Way Act 2000.

The plan must assess:

the extent to which local rights of way meet present and likely future needs of the public;

the opportunities provided by local rights of way for exercise and other forms of open air recreation;

the accessibility of local rights of way to blind or partially sighted persons or others with mobility problems; and

such other matters as may be prescribed by the Secretary of State.

The plan will also include a statement of the action the Council proposes to take for the management of rights of way,


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and for securing an improved network of rights of way. These improvements will include measures for walkers, cyclists and equestrian users, such as the protection of country lanes as part of long distance bridle routes, safer crossings where rights of way meet vehicular traffic, filling or improving gaps in the network, and publicity and promotion of routes. The development of the ROWIP will tackle the environmental pressures, highlighted in section 3.6, whilst taking account of the opportunity to capitalise on the environment qualities of the County to boost the local economy, particularly in the rural areas of the County, described in section 3.7.

New Access Land created by the Countryside & Rights of Way Act 2000 has opened up areas of downland which have not previously been accessible to the public. The County Council successfully bid for funds under the Access Management Grant Scheme during 2004/05 to improve public access to much of this land and is helping to develop a further bid for additional works under the same scheme in partnership with the South Downs Joint Committee during 2005/06.

Access to water has become an issue of increasing importance. At the moment there is a general right of navigation to all tidal water, however there are also rights to some non-tidal rivers such as the River Rother from Bodiam to Iden. The provision of suitable places where navigable water can be accessed is a key concern and the ROWIP will give consideration to the needs of those who enjoy water based activities.

Policy and Objectives

The closure of the public rights of way network during the Foot & Mouth Disease (FMD) crisis of 2001 demonstrated the importance of access to the countryside for the rural economy in East Sussex. It is envisaged that the ROWIP will build on the success of the Rural Regeneration Public Service Agreement in encouraging people out of urban areas into the countryside and making use of rural businesses such as village shops and public houses.

Since the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in 2001, the Council has built upon its successful guided walks and guided cycle rides programmes which, whilst encouraging people to exercise and enjoy the county’s rich natural and historic heritage, will also support diversity in the rural economy. The walks and rides programmes continue to show a year-on-year increase in the number of participants, and the authority will build on this success.

Initial consultation with stakeholders found that developing the continuity of the rights of way network is a key issue for most users. Continuity can include the provision of safe crossings of busy roads, linking paths alongside roads and providing new or upgraded paths to fill a gap between them.

Key issues for path users with disabilities or special needs (people with visual impairments, the elderly and others) are the provision of and access to information and the removal of physical barriers such as stiles, gates, narrow bridges and steps that can prevent the use of part of the rights of


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way network for many potential users. The Council has successfully bid for Interreg funding over the next two years to improve the availability of information and to develop a series of easy access routes.

To build confidence within the membership of the East Sussex Local Access Forum the ROWIP includes a number of short-term measures which can be implemented to help build momentum whilst longer-term projects being developed. A completed project has been the installation of signposts in Sedlescombe parish with detailed information on them which complement a local walks guide produced by the parish council. Another ‘quick win’, that combines value for money, partnership working and maximises use of existing resources and facilities, is being developed by providing a safe off-road route for walkers and horse riders alongside the B2116 at Plumpton. This will join up several bridleways and minor roads and will link with a similar locally funded scheme alongside the B2116 at nearby Westmeston.

Concentrating improvements on the higher classifications of public rights of way, bridleways, roads used as public paths (RUPPS) and byways open to all traffic (BOAT), offers the opportunity of providing long distance strategic routes and shorter local links that could be used by pedestrians, mobility vehicles, cyclists and horses. A potential example could be a proposal for a route for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders around Hailsham, to link the Cuckoo Trail with nearby routes.

The local area transport strategies, discussed at section 5.2, offer an opportunity to improve rights of way links between urban and rural areas, addressing the issues identified above of providing better crossings or new links in the network. Elsewhere the rural transport approach will see rights of way improvements implemented on a location-by-location basis. In line with the other strategies,

the ‘balanced scorecard’ approach will be used to assess and prioritise rights of way schemes against the corporate objectives and LTP2 objectives for inclusion in the implementation programme explained in section 5.5. Funding for rights of way improvements will be allocated in the ‘Walking’ or ‘Cycling’ elements of the implementation programme as shown in chapter 7. The Council will continue to market and promote the rights of way network, with updates, as routes are improved through the improvement plan .

Current Status

The Council has already engaged in a series of discussions with the main user groups on the development of the ROWIP and continues to maintain a dialogue with the East Sussex Local Access Forum and South Downs Access Forum and an outline plan for the ROWIP has been well received by the Local Access Forum. The Council has also undertaken a major survey of land mangers across Sussex and Hampshire in partnership with West Sussex and Hampshire County Councils, Brighton & Hove City Council, the South Downs Joint Committee, the Country Land & Business Association and National Farmers Union.Further discussions are anticipated with other interested parties during Spring 2006. A draft ROWIP is anticipated during Autumn 2006 with the final plan published before the November 2007 deadline.

Public RealmEast Sussex has a wealth of attractive and historic towns and villages, which contribute to the overall character and distinctiveness of the County. Adequate maintenance and where possible, improvement to the quality of the ‘Public Realm’, is important to avoid the slow degradation of their unique characteristics. This will contribute to the LTP2 objective ‘to protect, promote and enhance the environment’.


LTP Strategy 123

The Public Realm is defined as “The Public Spaces between Buildings”, and as such includes the streets, squares and other external spaces that are directly accessible to the general public. The Council, as the Highway Authority, is responsible for highways and footways and as such has a ‘key’ role to play in both maintaining and enhancing the appearance of the ‘Public Realm’ in the County. In order to protect and enhance the quality of public spaces and streetscapes, the Council has recently initiated ‘Improving the Public Realm in East Sussex’. This document has been influenced by the IRF policy for ‘effective protection of the environment’, referred to in section 3.4. Encouraging inappropriate traffic to use the main routes, and thereby reducing traffic congestion, and improving air quality in residential areas or sensitive village environments will achieve the protection of the built environment.

Improving the Public Realm will focus on the quality of public spaces in all the towns and villages in the County. This will be achieved through proper design and maintenance of streets and highways, traffic management measures, encouragement of walking, riding and cycling, and sympathetic use and maintenance of street furniture, trees and greenery, lighting and signage. This helps the delivery of the RTS policy, ‘Mobility Management’, which seeks improvements in the extent and quality of pedestrian and cycle routes. Improvements to the public realm and the use of high quality materials, in particular in town centres. It will also contribute towards the core objectives of the Community Strategy and the Council by encouraging economic regeneration in these areas as well as the ‘Quality of Life’ shared priority.

Careful consideration will be given to the design and use of traffic management equipment and street furniture, as well as minimising the impact of clutter on the street scene, whilst ensuring the safety of all road users. High-quality infrastructure design and maintenance are particularly

important in historic urban and village environments, in conservation areas, and in rural areas of high landscape value. Improvements to the public realm will contribute towards wider objectives of enhancing people’s quality of life.

Taxis and Private Hire VehiclesContext

Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles play a vital and expanding role in the provision of public transport throughout the County. They provide support to, and complement, other forms of public transport such as rail travel and are also an essential provision for evening social journeys.

Taxis provide the following:

door-to-door transport for people with disabilities, heavy shopping and luggage, young children and concerns over personal safety;

flexibility and convenience for areas where bus services are infrequent, no services during unsocialable hours and operate an on-demand service when required for people with mobility impairments;

part of an integrated transport system linking homes to stations to access rail services to airports; and bus and rail services; and

the potential for innovative schemes such as taxi-buses and shared taxis which offer cost effective demand


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responsive transport where demand is low, for example, in rural areas as an alternative to conventional buses.

As such taxis form an essential part of public transport provision within the County. The strategy envisages an expansion of this role, especially in more rural areas, which reflects the RTS objective, ‘Rural Transport’, discussed in section 3.4 to develop more innovative and adaptable approaches to public transport, in light of the outcomes from the accessibility strategy.

Licensing

Responsibility for taxi licensing lies with the five district/borough councils. Each district and borough operates licensing policies that apply across the whole district. As part of the Government’s action plan for Taxi and Private Hire Vehicles, District and Borough Councils were requested to review their local policy to restrict the number of taxi licences and publish the outcome by 31 March 2005.

Lewes, Wealden and Rother District Councils do not restrict the number of Hackney Carriage licences that are issued and have no plans to alter this policy in the foreseeable future. Hastings and Eastbourne Borough Councils currently have quantity restrictions in the number of

taxi licences that they issue, and they are reviewing their policies in accordance with the Government’s action plan. Further details of the outcomes of their policy reviews will be reported in the final LTP2.

Policies for taxis

Taxi ranks are available in all of the urban areas and are situated close to interchange facilities such as railway stations or bus stations. These are reviewed within the Local Area Transport Strategies (LATS), discussed in section 5.2, to ensure that there are sufficient spaces and that they are suitably located. In addition, because of the importance of taxis, they are permitted to access bus lanes or restricted access zones in Hastings and Eastbourne, and will continue to do so as new bus lanes are introduced.

In keeping with the overall strategy aimed at increasingly integrating taxi use more effectively as part of improving public transport, the Council will:

improve disabled access;

continue to provide taxi ranks through the LATS and rural transport approach and to provide new infrastructure such as additional rank space and shelters where needed;

Licenced Licences Private Hire Vehicles

All Of which

are Purpose

Built for

wheelchair

access

Dual Taxi/

PHV driver

licences

Taxi only

driver

licences

Vehicle

licences

issued

Driver

only

licences

issued

Operator

licences

issued

Eastbourne 84 4 44 101 270 297 16

Hastings 48 7 423 0 139 0 39

Lewes 220 1 0 331 51 61 38

Rother 148 1 9 151 78 75 40

Wealden 185 0 483 0 213 0 80

E. Sussex 683 13 959 583 751 433 213

Table 4.4 – District Level Taxi Licences (2004)


LTP Strategy 125

consider links to the Intelligent Transport Systems and Community Safety strategies as providing real time information can enable passenger to make an informed decision on taking either taxi or bus, especially at night; and

ensure appropriate provision at interchange facilities.

Within rural areas, the Council will ensure that taxi operators are closely involved in the measures to be introduced to improve public transport. In particular, it will review opportunities to introduce a system of shared taxis in rural areas, connecting with interchanges in the urban areas.

4.6 Transport Innovation FundThe ‘Future of Transport’ White Paper, outlined in section 3.2, announced the establishment of a new Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) to support additional innovative and coherent transport measures to tackle congestion, with funding available from 2008/09.

In its initial expression of interest, the Council identified that if TIF funding were available, it would focus on the A259 and A27/A270 corridors into Brighton from Newhaven and Lewes, which both suffer from congestion and feed traffic into the city.

The following works are underway or proposed for implementation during the next three years:

A259 bus priority between Peacehaven and Rottingdean;

A270 bus priority in the Lewes areas;

A27 signalisation of the Ashcombe Roundabout; and

A27 Southerham to Beddingham improvement.

During the first three years of LTP2, the Council would use LTP2 allocations to develop the two quality bus corridors, thereby improving bus access and reliability

on the two main bus corridors from the east of Brighton. Meanwhile, the A27 improvements are expected to attract general traffic back onto the trunk road network with possible benefits to bus services as a consequence reduced ‘rat-running’ along the C7 Lewes to Newhaven or through Ringmer along the B2192 and A22. We would also seek to extend the real time passenger information system through Lewes, Ringmer and towards Uckfield, and ensure all bus operators are linked to the existing system in Newhaven and Seaford.

The TIF funding would be used to get best value from these investments. It would support ‘smarter choice’ measures like travel planning based at the key destinations and sources of travel demand along the corridor including:

East Sussex County Council;

Lewes District Council;

Sussex University;

Brighton University;

Brighton and Hove City Council;

Royal Sussex County Hospital;

Brighton Marina; and

Newhaven Port

The funding would also be utilised to introduce an attractive, affordable integrated ticketing system for the wider area than currently served within the city.

Brighton and Hove City Council have indicated support in principle for the proposal. The proposal will have significant synergies with the City Council’s proposals for a bus-based rapid transport system in the city and the pan-Sussex Coastal Fastway scheme being taken forward by West Sussex County Council, which will potentially include the section of the A259 between Brighton and Seaford.

The Coastal Fastway aims to achieve a step change in passenger transport along the South Coast. West Sussex County Council is currently working with East Sussex, Hampshire, Portsmouth and


LTP Strategy126

Brighton and Hove Councils to develop the ‘Fastway’ scheme that aims to improve accessibility, increase bus patronage and reduce congestion and pollution. This will be achieved through improvements in bus infrastructure, ticketing, branding, information, facilities and services throughout the sub-region. West Sussex County Council expects to bring the Fastway Scheme forward as a major scheme in Year 3 of LTP2 and bid for TIF funding.

4.7 Meeting the needs of longer distance travellersThe LTP2 strategy principally focuses on local transport solutions to expand the choice available for each individual by promoting, developing and implementing measures to encourage the use, and improve the safety, of non-car modes for local journeys. This will contribute towards improving accessibility of key services and facilities such as employment, education, healthcare and food shopping.

However, it is recognised that the strategy will also need to meet the needs of longer distance travellers. Meeting these needs will be achieved by improvements to the strategic road and rail networks, which are often not within the Council’s responsibility. The Council therefore has an important role in working with the strategic delivery agencies such as the Highways Agency and the rail industry, to ensure that appropriate road and rail improvements are developed and implemented. The potential strategic road, rail and port improvements in the County have been identified as an opportunity in section 3.7.

In addition, meeting the needs of longer distance travellers can be achieved through elements of the LTP2 Strategy. Through the implementation of the accessibility strategy, the provision of services in local communities may negate the need to travel long distances. Also, realising opportunities explained in section 3.7, such as the

increase in Broadband connectivity and the ‘Customers First’ Strategy, will reduce the need to travel to access services or enable people to work at home, thereby reducing the need to commute long distances.The encouragement of video and audio conferencing, as part of workplace travel plans, will negate potential long distance business journeys.

Where appropriate, LTP2 allocations will be targeted to complement investment in the improvements to the strategic transport network and used to implement measures which encourage non-car modes.

4.8 How we have tested the LTP2 strategyThe LTP2 strategy has been subjected to a number of tests and the resulting audits were used to refine the strategy. These include:

an external challenge of the LTP2 strategy from LTP1 by Professor David Begg;

corporate mapping within the County Council;

the Audit Commission’s Transport Best Value Review of the whole Transport Service in July 2004;

evidence gathering consultation with the public and key stakeholders to identify the key transport issues and priorities in the County; and

a scoping report to determine the objectives on which to test these alternative strategies and subsequent Sustainability Audit/Strategic Environmental Assessment (SA/SEA) Report of LTP2.

Together, they demonstrate that the LTP’s overall transport strategy is robust, and is the most effective way of meeting the challenges that we face in East Sussex.The following sections detail the elements that inform the final preferred approach:


LTP Strategy 127

External ChallengeLTP1 Strategy Review

As part of the process of developing LTP2, the Council commissioned Professor David Begg to undertake a policy review of the LTP1 strategy to help assist in the development of the LTP2 strategy. The review highlighted those policy areas that were still current and those needing to be revisited and updated.

The key messages, contained in the outcome of the review, have influenced the LTP2 strategy by:

demonstrating how consultation has influenced the development of the strategy (see sections 1.3 and 4.8);

undertaking a round of consultation prior to development of the LTP2 document so that the outcomes can be fed into the first phase of the strategy development work, and identification of issues and opportunities, with a second stage of consultation undertaken on the draft document. The County Council has taken this two-stage approach in the development of LTP2 (see sections 1.3 and 4.8);

relating the LTP2 strategy to the Government’s and Local Government Association’s seven shared priorities and the four specific themes relating to transport (Chapters 1 - 6);

developing an overarching vision which aims to address a number of themes combining the priorities from East Sussex and reflects the Regional and Government’s current priorities (Chapters 2 and 3);

strengthening the links between the national government priorities, regional transport strategies and LTP2 (see sections 3.2 – 3.5);

increasing emphasis on the regional transport strategy (see section 3.4);

strategies which relate and contribute towards the four shared priorities for transport (Chapters 4 & 5);

relating to outcome-based targets rather than outputs (Chapter 7); and

developing a monitoring strategy based around the key performance indicators in order to determine baseline data. The County Council’s monitoring strategy, towards the mandatory indicators and the outcome based targets, are outlined in Chapter 7.

Corporate Mapping

Atkins consultants were commissioned by the Department for Transport (DfT) in April 2004 to undertake a research project into corporate mapping within the County Council and the process by which targets and objectives for transport are considered and prioritised by the authority as a whole.

The consultants found that the Council has undertaken an “immense amount of

work on the development of its Council

Plan, performance management and

communication strategies – all of which

support improvement in the delivery of its

transportation strategy and service” and

that “transportation strategies are linked

into the Corporate Plan as well as service

plans such as for Strategic Management

and Economic Development and

Community Safety, Community Planning

and E-Government and the Structure Plan”.

The Council recognised however, that it needs to improve the way in which transportation objectives and targets at corporate, service and operational levels, integrate with one another. The corporate mapping concluded that this could be improved and made specific recommendations to this effect. The Council welcomes the support it has received from DfT in independently scrutinising its corporate objectives. It welcomed the positive findings of their report, praising the practices already in place and endorsed the suggested improvements to service delivery.

A number of the recommended improvements have influenced the development of LTP2. These include:


LTP Strategy128

ensuring that there are clear linkages between transport proposals and their contribution to wider objectives and priorities (Chapters 2 - 5); and

more robust monitoring including programme and performance management (Chapter 7).

Transport Service Best Value Review

The Audit Commission in its whole Transport Service Best Value Review, in September 2004, awarded the County Council a ‘Good’ rating, with ‘promising prospects for improvement’. The Best Value Review assessed the service as good because:

the vision is clear and most strategies are effective;

bus use and satisfaction have increased;

the main road network is predominantly in good condition;

appropriate materials are used for pavements in villages and conservation areas;

accident trends are generally downwards and the council is on course to meet the national accident reduction targets;

the planning system has been used effectively to help improve transport facilities; and

many relevant performance indicators are in the best 25%, or above average, nationally.

The Audit Commission considered that the prospects for improvement are promising because:

there is a commitment by councillors to improve facilities;

the council has shown a determination to see through difficult issues such as decriminalised parking;

the council responded positively to its weak APR rating in 2003, and worked effectively with the Government Office for the South East to make improvements;

the council is making steady progress towards meeting its LTP targets; and

the best value review has resulted in improvements that will lead to better services, such as new contractual arrangements, and a clear framework for developing schemes that meet transport objectives and a set of service standards for the public.

The Audit Commission recommended that the County Council:

develops strategic consultation and engagement arrangements, building on existing mechanisms where possible, with transport user groups and key stakeholders;

investigates why levels of pedestrian accidents are high in relation to other highway authorities;

continues the implementation plan for IT improvement to ensure that the efficiency of the maintenance operation and the quality of information to inform decision making is maximised;

investigates why public satisfaction in highway maintenance does not reflect the good condition of the roads and take appropriate action; and

demonstrates a commitment to utility cycling and carries out cycling audits of new schemes as proposed in the council’s cycling strategy.

The County Council welcomes the result of its review and actions have already been put in place in relation to all of these recommendations from the Audit Commission’s Report. These have been developed into an action plan that will be taken forward in the implementation of LTP2.

Consultation Outcomes

Consultation has played a vital role in developing the provisional LTP2. As identified in section 1.3, an initial stage of evidence gathering was undertaken


LTP Strategy 129

to identify the key transport issues and priorities in the County. This reflected the recommendations made by LTP1 strategy review, described earlier in this section.

Consultation was undertaken using the following mechanisms:

seminars/workshops with elected members of the five district/borough councils;

a seminar with the East Sussex Youth Cabinet;

an Issues Document distributed to wider stakeholders;

market research with a representative sample of 1000 residents;

a select committee event with 8 key stakeholders from transport, environmental, social and economic interests or expertise; and

inter-departmental liaison on how the delivery of the LTP2 objectives can help contribute towards achieving departmental service action plans, as shown in Annex 1.

The list of over 350 consultees included:

District/Borough Councils;

Town and Parish Councils;

Local Strategic Partnerships;

Neighbouring transport and planning authorities;

Statutory Environment Bodies and National Government Organisations;

Public Transport Operators;

Vulnerable Road User Groups;

Disability Groups;

East Sussex Youth Parliament;

Local Pressure and Interest Groups – Transport 2000;

Chambers of Commerce; business groups and regeneration partnerships;

Primary Health Care Trusts;

Emergency Services;

Local Amenity Societies; and

Housing Associations.

A summary of the results from the County’s evidence gathering consultation is shown in Table 4.5. The table highlights the priorities identified through the various strands of evidence gathering and places them in overall priority order. Greater weighting was given to the results from the Market Research and Youth Cabinet as they gave a more representative view of individuals on the key transport issues in the County, whilst the other responses, although valid, would tend to represent the organisation’s views rather than individual perspectives.

The main issues arising from the consultation process are outlined in section 1.3. Further consultation on a draft provisional document was undertaken in Spring 2005, to inform the submission of the provisional LTP2.

The outcomes from both consultation stages have informed the development of LTP2 Strategy, the vision and objectives and the priorities for targeting LTP2 investment in local transport.


LTP Strategy130

4.9 Sustainability Appraisal and Strategic Environmental Appraisal of LTP2 StrategyIn order to ensure that the LTP2 Strategy, outlined in chapter 4, is robust, the Council commissioned consultants to complete an assessment of this Strategy against alternative strategies that the County Council could choose to implement the LTP2.

The assessment of the LTP2 Strategy involved testing against the national shared priorities for transport, related to the objectives of the New Approach to Appraisal, and the environmental objectives identified through the Sustainability Appraisal and Strategic Environmental Assessment.

Scoping Report

The Sustainability Appraisal (SA) alongside the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), was carried out by Land Use Consultants as part of the process of developing and testing the LTP2 to ensure that its sets out a sustainable strategy for transport in the County. The audit provides a useful challenge and the recommendations have influenced that LTP2 strategy development process.

A series of objectives were identified following a review of relevant plans to ensure that the LTP2 Strategy accords with the objectives and requirements of the relevant national, regional and local policy guidance, plans and strategies. These SA/SEA objectives have been developed in consultation with stakeholders and are the tools against which the options, policies and proposals of LTP2, will be appraised.

Key Issues Issues

Document

Borough/

District

Council

Seminars

East

Sussex

Youth

Cabinet

Market

Research

Statistically

Weighted

Mean

Improving Bus Services and Facilities

5 4 5 3 4.2

Lobby for New Strategic Transport Links

4 5 3 2 3.3

Improve Road Safety 2 3 5 2.5Improving Rail Facilities 3 4 1.8Improve Travel Choices for School Journeys

2 3 1.3

Relieving Congestion 4 1.2Improve Maintenance of the County’s Roads

1 1 0.5

Improve Transport Choices for Disadvantaged People and Communities

1 0.2

Improving Cycle Facilities 0Improving Pedestrian Facilities

0

Introduce More Parking Controls

0

Table 4.5 – Stage 1 ‘Evidence Gathering’ Consultation Outcomes


LTP Strategy 131

The development of the SEA/SA objectives were developed in conjunction with a cross-section of key stakeholders representing economic, social, transport and environment interests through a workshop event held in September 2004. The outcomes of the workshop helped to shape the draft objectives to ensure that they were relevant specifically to East Sussex. Further consultation on the objectives with these stakeholders, and neighbouring planning and transport authorities, was undertaken through the scoping report for a four-week period during October/November 2004. The outcomes of the consultation demonstrated that there was overall support for the SA/SEA objectives. The SA/SEA objectives are set out in Table 4.6 below.

SA/SEA Final Report

A full SA/SEA assessment was completed in time to inform the development of this LTP2. The results are set out in the final report appended to this document (Appendix B). The alternative strategy options tested are outlined in Table 4.7.

The SA/SEA report identified that the LTP2 strategy approach, set out in chapters 4 and 5, performs well relative to the other alternative strategy options. The report identifies that the issue-based strategies are comprehensive and detailed strategies, which consider the relevant policy context at a national, regional and County level. Many of the strategies already consider the sustainability benefits that will be achieved by implementation of the strategy objectives.

The LTP2 strategies are expected to have potentially significant positive effects on:

improving health and well being (SA/SEA Objective 1);

improving community safety and reducing the fear of crime (SA/SEA Objective 2);

improving accessibility to services and facilities (SA/SEA Objective 3);

encouraging a sense of community identity (SA/SEA Objective 4);

reducing congestion (SA/SEA Objective 5);

reducing the effect of travel on the environment (SA/SEA Objective 10); and

promoting local economic development (SA/SEA Objective 12).

The report highlights that the delivery framework for delivering the LTP2 objectives, described in section 2.3, and draws together the relevant aspects of all the overarching and issue-based strategies, set out in sections 4.4 – 4.5, to facilitate improved and more integrated transport. A SA/SEA monitoring framework, building on existing monitoring systems such as the Annual Progress Report, will be developed including a range of indicators that enable a causal link to be established between the implementation of LTP2 and the likely environmental/sustainable effect being monitored.

The recommendations of the SA/SEA report have been reflected in each of the LTP2 overarching and issues based strategies outlined in section 4.4 and 4.5 or will be used to inform their development and review during the life of LTP2. This will strengthen their contribution to wider environmental, social and economic objectives. The recommendations of the SA/SEA report on each of the strategies are outlined in Table 4.8.


LTP Strategy132

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tics

of a

goo

d pl

ace

to li

ve (6

)

- Im

prov

e ro

ad s

afet

y an

d re

duce

fear

of c

rime

in

com

mun

ities

- Pr

otec

t, pr

omot

e an

d en

hanc

e th

e en

viron

men

t


LTP Strategy 133

Am

en

ded

ob

ject

ives

for

SA

/SE

A o

f

East

Su

ssex

Loca

l

Tran

sport

Pla

n 2

Ad

dit

ion

al su

b-o

bje

ctiv

es

for

SA

/SE

A o

f E

ast

Su

ssex

Loca

l Tra

nsp

ort

Pla

n 2

Pro

pose

d in

dic

ato

rsR

ele

van

t LT

P2

Ob

ject

ive

Eff

ect

ive p

rote

ctio

n o

f th

e e

nvi

ron

men

t

5.

To a

ddre

ss th

e ca

uses

of

clim

ate

chan

ge, r

educ

e ai

r po

llutio

n an

d en

sure

air

qual

ity c

ontin

ues

to im

prov

e

5a)

|To

redu

ce c

onge

stio

n- A

vera

ge d

aily

mot

or v

ehic

le fl

ows

(9)

- Tra

ffic

flow

s on

prin

cipa

l roa

ds (6

)

-Tr

affic

flow

s by

are

a (6

)

-UK

gre

enho

use

gas

emis

sion

s (1

0)

-UK

car

bon

diox

ide

emis

sion

s by

end

use

r (10

)

-Ni

troge

n Di

oxid

e Em

issi

ons

and

Air Q

ualit

y in

Eas

t Sus

sex

(4)

-En

ergy

effi

cien

cy o

f roa

d pa

ssen

ger t

rave

l/ave

rage

fuel

con

sum

ptio

n of

ne

w c

ars

(2)

-Ai

r Pol

lutio

n (6

– y

et to

be

publ

ishe

d)

- Pr

otec

t, pr

omot

e an

d en

hanc

e th

e en

viron

men

t

-Re

duce

con

gest

ion

and

impr

ove

effic

ienc

y of

tra

nspo

rt ne

twor

k

6.

To p

rote

ct, e

nhan

ce a

nd

mak

e ac

cess

ible

for

enjo

ymen

t Eas

t Sus

sex’s

na

tura

l and

cul

tura

l her

itage

6.

a) T

o pr

otec

t and

enh

ance

land

scap

e 6.

b)

To

prot

ect a

nd e

nhan

ce th

e hi

stor

ic e

nviro

nmen

t-

Not m

any

land

scap

e in

dica

tors

foun

d

-Li

sted

bui

ldin

gs a

t ris

k (6

– y

et to

be

publ

ishe

d)

-Pr

otec

t, pr

omot

e an

d en

hanc

e th

e en

viron

men

t

7.

To c

onse

rve

and

rest

ore

East

Su

ssex

’s b

iodi

vers

ity7.

a)

To

cons

erve

and

enh

ance

nat

ural

/sem

i-nat

ural

habi

tats

7.

b) T

o co

nser

ve a

nd e

nhan

ce s

peci

es d

ivers

ity a

nd

av

oid

harm

to p

rote

cted

spe

cies

7.

c) T

o m

aint

ain

and

enha

nce

site

s de

sign

ated

for

natu

re c

onse

rvat

ion

7.

d) T

o m

aint

ain

and

enha

nce

woo

dlan

d co

ver a

nd

m

anag

emen

t

- Ne

t cha

nge

in n

atur

al/s

emi-n

atur

al h

abita

ts (1

)

- All

from

6 –

som

e ye

t to

be p

ublis

hed:

-SS

SIs

-Lo

cal N

atur

e Re

serv

es

-An

cien

t woo

dlan

d

-Pl

ant d

ivers

ity

-W

ild b

irds

-W

oodl

and

cove

r

-Pr

otec

t, pr

omot

e an

d en

hanc

e th

e en

viron

men

t

8.

To m

aint

ain

and

impr

ove

the

qual

ity o

f Eas

t Sus

sex’s

gr

ound

wat

er, r

ivers

and

co

asts

-Ba

thin

g w

ater

qua

lity

(6)

-Ri

ver q

ualit

y (6

, 10)

-Nu

trien

t sta

tus

of fr

eshw

ater

s (1

0)

-Ni

trate

sta

tus

of g

roun

dwat

er (1

0)

-W

ater

pol

lutio

n in

cide

nts

(10)

- Pr

otec

t, pr

omot

e an

d en

hanc

e th

e en

viron

men

t


LTP Strategy134

Am

en

ded

ob

ject

ives

for

SA

/SE

A o

f

East

Su

ssex

Loca

l

Tran

sport

Pla

n 2

Ad

dit

ion

al su

b-o

bje

ctiv

es

for

SA

/SE

A o

f E

ast

Su

ssex

Loca

l Tra

nsp

ort

Pla

n 2

Pro

pose

d in

dic

ato

rsR

ele

van

t LT

P2

Ob

ject

ive

Eff

ect

ive p

rote

ctio

n o

f th

e e

nvi

ron

men

t

9.

To re

duce

the

risk

of fl

oodi

ng9

a) T

o in

crea

se th

e us

e of

sus

tain

able

dra

inag

e

syst

ems

(to re

duce

sur

face

dra

inag

e of

f roa

ds)

-Ri

ver fl

ows

and

grou

ndw

ater

leve

ls (1

0)-

Num

ber o

f pro

perti

es p

oten

tially

at r

isk

from

floo

ding

(10)

-Fu

ture

dev

elop

men

t and

floo

d ris

k (1

0)

-Pr

otec

t , p

rom

ote

and

enha

nce

the

envir

onm

ent

- Im

prov

e ro

ad s

afet

y an

d re

duce

fear

of c

rime

in

com

mun

ities

-Re

duce

con

gest

ion

and

impr

ove

effic

ienc

y of

tra

nspo

rt ne

twor

k-

Man

age

dem

and

and

redu

ce

the

dem

and

trave

l esp

ecia

lly

by p

rivat

e ca

r

10.

To re

duce

the

effe

ct o

f tra

vel

on th

e en

viron

men

t10

a).

To re

duce

the

effe

ct o

f hea

vy g

oods

traf

fic o

n

pe

ople

and

mov

emen

t (eg

was

te g

oods

mov

emen

ts)

10b)

. To

incr

ease

the

prop

ortio

n of

jour

neys

usi

ng

mod

es o

ther

than

the

car (

eg. b

y im

prov

ing

info

rmat

ion

abou

t tra

vel c

hoic

e)

-He

avy

good

s ve

hicl

es m

ileag

e in

tens

ity (2

)-

Bus

frequ

ency

and

use

(6)

-Sa

tisfa

ctio

n w

ith b

us s

ervic

es (6

)-

Trav

el to

sch

ool (

6)-

Mon

etar

y in

vest

men

t in

publ

ic tr

ansp

ort,

wal

king

and

cyc

ling

-Pr

otec

t , p

rom

ote

and

enha

nce

the

envir

onm

ent

-Re

duce

con

gest

ion

and

impr

ove

effic

ienc

y of

tra

nspo

rt ne

twor

k

Pru

den

t u

se o

f n

atu

ral re

sou

rces

11.

To im

prov

e ef

ficie

ncy

in

land

use

and

con

serv

e so

il re

sour

ces

11.

a )T

o m

axim

ise

the

re-u

se o

f pre

vious

ly de

velo

ped

land

11.

b) T

o m

inim

ise

loss

of s

oils

to d

evel

opm

ent

-Re

cycl

ing

land

for d

evel

opm

ent (

6)-

Vaca

nt a

nd d

erel

ict l

and

and

bui

ldin

gs (5

)-

Net l

oss

of s

oils

to d

evel

opm

ent (

2)

-Pr

otec

t , p

rom

ote

and

enha

nce

the

envir

onm

ent

12.

To p

rom

ote

sust

aina

ble

loca

l ec

onom

ic d

evel

opm

ent

12.

a) T

o im

prov

e lo

cal b

usin

ess

deve

lopm

ent a

nd

com

petit

ivene

ss12

. b)

To

impr

ove

econ

omic

per

form

ance

in a

dvan

tage

d

an

d di

sadv

anta

ged

area

s12

. c)

To

enco

urag

e ef

ficie

nt p

atte

rns

of m

ovem

ent

in s

uppo

rt of

eco

nom

ic g

row

th (e

.g. s

usta

inab

le

trans

port

solu

tions

to re

vital

ise

tow

n ce

ntre

s,re

duce

com

mut

ing,

redu

ce jo

urne

y tim

es b

etw

een

key

empl

oym

ent a

reas

and

key

tran

spor

t in

terc

hang

es, f

acilit

ate

effic

ienc

y in

frei

ght d

istri

butio

n)12

. d) T

o en

cour

age

the

deve

lopm

ent o

f a s

usta

inab

le to

uris

m s

ecto

r

-GV

A (6

)-

Barri

ers

to th

e co

mpe

titive

ness

of fi

rms

in E

ast S

usse

x (8

)-

Popu

latio

n in

em

ploy

men

t (6)

-Bu

sine

ss s

tart-

ups

(6)

-Em

ploy

men

t gro

wth

in k

ey s

ecto

rs (6

)-

Busi

ness

sur

vival

rate

s (6

)-

Trav

el to

wor

k (6

)-

%ag

e of

jobs

in th

e to

uris

m s

ecto

r (9)

-Nu

mbe

r of v

isito

rs s

tayin

g ov

erni

ght a

nd o

vern

ight

spe

nd (9

)

-M

anag

e de

man

d an

d re

duce

th

e ne

ed to

trav

el b

y pr

ivate

ca

r-

Impr

ove

acce

ssib

ility

to

serv

ices

, job

s an

d tra

vel

choi

ces,

esp

ecia

lly fo

r the

so

cial

ly ex

clud

ed-

Redu

ce c

onge

stio

n an

d im

prov

e ef

ficie

ncy

of th

e tra

nspo

rt ne

twor

k


LTP Strategy 135

Table 4.7 – LTP2 Strategy Options for SA/SEA Appraisal

OPTION 1 – EXISTING LTP

Provide for limited demand for car travel and improve facilities for walking, cycling and public

transport

Targeted asset management (optimising use of the existing road network)

Targeted road improvements

Better management of existing parking stock

Use of on-street car park charges

Improve bus infrastructure, priority bus corridors

Output-orientated performance measures (eg. number of new pedestrian crossings, bus stops etc)

OPTION 2

Place greater emphasis on the need for non-car travel modes

Strongly promote and invest in non-car travel modes and infrastructure

Limit road investment to safety schemes and speed reduction schemes

Reduce parking stock

Significantly increase the real cost of parking

Introduce more demand management measures

Accelerate programme for bus infrastructure and priority bus corridors

OPTION 3

Place greater emphasis on the need to travel by private car

Some promotion of, but reduced investment in non-car travel modes and infrastructure

Road investment that seeks to reduce traffic congestion

Provide more parking stock

No change in the real cost of parking

No demand management measures

Maintain roadspace for cars at current levels

OPTION 4 – PREFERRED OPTION FOR LTP2

Provide for limited demand for car travel while placing greater emphasis on non-car travel

modes, particularly buses

Widen asset management to include any form of transport infrastructure

Targeted transport infrastructure improvements

Prioritise the use of existing parking stock

Gradual increases in the real cost of parking

Introduce innovative non-transport measures (eg. use of ICT, travel plans)

Outcome-orientated performance measures (eg. reduced congestion, greater use of buses etc)


LTP Strategy136

Table 4.8 – SA/SEA Final Report Recommendations on Issues based strategies

Strategy Recommendations

Bus Encourage integration with other forms of public transportLink with other relevant strategies (in particular the Accessibility Strategy) to increase accessibilityStrongly promote the introduction of ‘cleaner’ buses with low emissions and seek to develop ‘Clear Zones’ in town centresEffective marketing of bus useDeal with adult anti-social behaviour to help reduce fear of crime on public transport

Passenger Transport Information

Link to aims of the Intelligent Transport Systems through the introduction of real time passenger information systems

Rail Effective monitoring of benefits of rail travel to encourage regular use of rail services

Cycling Effective marketing of cycling and involvement of public to promote benefits of cycling

Walking Recognise the links to other Strategies such as Travel Planning, Rights of Way and Public Realm

Parking Reduce long stay parking in town centres in particularStrategy could contribute towards conserving biodiversity through reductions in town centre car parking, thus freeing up brownfield sites for development and protecting Greenfield sites.Link closely with cycle strategy to enhance promotion of cycling including using car parking areas for bicycle storage.

Intelligent Transport Systems

Early involvement of public including information and education to gain support.Provide more detail on measures for personal securityAddress integration between all forms of public transport.Refer to variable messaging systems to optimise car park usage

Freight Work with statutory environmental bodies when implementing or investigating improvements to the trunk road network in order to minimise environmental impacts

Network Management Consider Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) when undertaking maintenance of the road network

Travel Planning Strengthen links to other relevant strategies such as walking, cycling, bus, public transport information and intelligent transport systems strategies

Community Safety Safety on rail should be address by the Community Safety Strategy and cross-referenced to the Rail Development Strategy

Rights of Way Should include marketing and awareness programmeIntegration of rights of way into general transport systems

Public Realm None

Taxi/Private Hire vehicles

Link to intelligent transport system strategy and the introduction of real time passenger transport information give passengers the opportunity to make an informed decision on taking a taxi or bus, especially at night.


LTP Strategy 137

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