Transport

  • Trams in Oxford

    A letter in response to an Oxford Times article on "Driverless Pods".

    8 January 2017

    Autonomous vehicles could well transform the way we use cars for urban transport, and sooner than we might think. What they cannot do is provide mass transportation, so comparing them to trams is to miss the point.

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  • Should Queen Street be closed to buses and taxis?

    The County rethinks its proposals

    17 November 2016

    The County Council originally seemed set on permanently closing Queen Street to buses and taxis. When they went to public consultation, many voices including our own pointed out fundamental problems with the idea. We are glad to see that now the proposal is going back to the County for a decision, the officers’ recommendation is that more time is taken to look at the options.

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  • Queen Street Closure – County Recommendations

    Extract from the paper to Cabinet Member for Environment

    17 November 2016

    This text is extracted from the paper presented to the County Council's Cabinet Member for Environment on 24 November 2016, after a public consultation on a proposal to close Queen Street to buses and taxis once the new Westgate shopping centre is open.

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  • Queen Street Closure to Buses and Taxis

    Our response to the County's consultation

    16 October 2016

    We consider that the time has come for the City to decide where its priorities lie: surely the main character of Oxford is its historic environment, not a retail experience. A complete re-think of transport in central Oxford is needed, to free up more of the historic centre from buses and bus layover spaces

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  • Access to Headington (3)

    23 May 2016

    ACCESS TO HEADINGTON – DRAFT TRAFFIC REGULATION ORDER – OTHER OPTIONS Consultation response “The latest proposals, perhaps the first test of the commitment of the County Council to delivery of the stated objectives of LTP4, fail to live up to those objectives, or to conform to the specifications of the designated route classification, and thus…

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  • Access to Headington (2)

    Our comments on the Traffic Reguation Orders for Access to Headington

    26 March 2016

    In our response to the original consultation on Access to Headington we said we were very supportive of the stated aims for the project but were concerned that the statements should amount to more than simple rhetoric, and that the scheme should genuinely represent the optimum solutions for the achievement of the aims. We note with regret that this is still the case, We do however welcome the fact that attention has clearly been given to the earlier comments made by ourselves and many others about the need to find alternative spaces for the parking places to be removed from Headley Way and Windmill Road, and to the concerns expressed about loss of trees, green verges and other ‘green’ amenities.

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  • Investing in the A40

    OXFORD CIVIC SOCIETY Response to Oxfordshire County Council consultation

    5 November 2015

    We have serious criticisms about the way this consultation is being handled, as well as comments on the various solutions. The information does not explain why we need to decide long term options for the A40 now. It is too early to present specific options which might cost £100m or more when there is no coherent long-term plan for land use or development in the Oxford region. Big investments like this can only be justified by their support for major developments and if they can reduce congestion by encouraging more efficient and sustainable means of travel.

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  • Access to Headington

    It is difficult to make any judgements without data on problems and improvements.

    8 August 2015

    We are very supportive of the objectives of making public transport and cycling much more attractive, in the interests of reducing congestion and environmental pollution and improving public health. In principle we acknowledge that the proposals exhibited appear likely to be effective in promoting these objectives, however there is an over-arching shortcoming in that no evidence is offered in the form of data or predicted consequences, to demonstrate the effectiveness, or justify incurring the adverse effects which would inevitably result.

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  • Connecting Oxfordshire – LTP4 response

    Our response to Oxfordshire County Council's Local Transport Plan 4: 2015-2031

    6 May 2015

    We broadly welcome this report but have many detailed concerns, not least the lack of data to establish a base position and quantified targets for improvement.

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  • The Plain cycling project

    Our comments on Oxfordshire County Council's plans as they stood at Jan 2014 for redesigning The Plain for the benefit of cyclists.

    1 February 2014

    The proposals amount to little more than the re-alignment of kerbs, adjustment of levels, alteration of surfacing materials and colours, and the application of road paint. Given the ambitious claims that the scheme will achieve a 20% increase in cycling through the roundabout and act as a catalyst for improvements elsewhere it seems doubtful that such modest proposals will be effective. Likewise, it seems doubtful that these proposals will make much progress towards fulfilling Oxford City Council's ambition to make Oxford the premier cycling city in Europe.

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