Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole’s (BCP)Local Transport Plan (LTP), sets out long-term priorities for improving travel safety, sustainability, and efficiency, and it also determines how government funding is allocated for transport improvements, the Council claims.
Councillor Andy Hadley BCP Council cabinet member for climate response, environment and energy, told the Bournemouth Echo:
“This is our one opportunity to get funding for the next 15 years from government. It’s a programme, and there are some things that will come forward in the programme that we will have to do, and some things that we’ll find actually have to spend for other reasons.”
The LTP aims to support both national and local objectives by promoting greener, safer, and more efficient modes of travel.
Cllr Hadley said:
“We want to create safe routes to school for kids, it’s about how do we get kids to school safely without putting them in a big metal box.
“But also the inefficiency of the car to get around in a congested urban space, and it’s one of the reasons why if you’ve got 50 people in a bus, quite often about half of them have a driving licence and could have chosen to drive, but it’s a much more efficient way to get them around in a busy urban space.”
The plan supports a shift towards greater use of public transport, cycling, and walking, particularly for short journeys.
Cllr Hadley added:
“When we increase the people who take a bus or cycle or walk for their short journeys, that’s creating capacity for those people who do need to drive.
“So it is complementary of cars, the fact that we’ve taken Ringwood Road and Wimborne Road, or other places where we have done the transport and travel improvements. Everyone’s fixated on the cycle lanes and on the supposed expense of these cycle lanes.
“Actually that money went into resurfacing the road, and into better bus stops, and into better space for pedestrians, and into better lighting and better drainage, and into actually providing a bit of safer space for kids to cycle to school.”
(Picture: BCP Council)
