The Transport Plan (as agreed by Council and Board)
Part one of this document sets out the University of Bristol Transport Plan as agreed by University Council in July 1999, while Part Two contains background information describing how the Plan was formulated. The Plan looks at the period 1999-2003 and details the measures that the University will take over this period to ease the transport difficulties that staff encounter when travelling to work.
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The objective of the Transport Plan is to ease the car parking problems at the University and reduce the University’s environmental impact by introducing initiatives to assist staff in using alternatives to the private car. The Plan aims to ensure that all staff working in the main precinct have greater choice and flexibility in how they travel to work each day. It is important to emphasize that the University Transport Plan is a single proposal, made up of the many different initiatives detailed in this report. It is hoped that Bristol City Council and other external agents will recognise the significant steps that the University of Bristol is taking in this area.
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No specific targets have been produced for the behavioural changes or modal shift it is hoped the Transport Plan will ultimately produce. For the Plan to be successful there will obviously need to be some reduction in the number of journeys taken by private car, but it was deemed unhelpful to try and quantify this figure. Base line data for modal share was produced from the 1998 staff travel survey and in October 2000 it will be necessary to undertake another survey to see what effect the Plan’s measures have had on travel patterns.
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The University Transport Plan will cover all car parks and staff working in the main precinct and central hospitals, including Berkeley Square, Canynge Hall and the Students Union. The Clifton Halls of Residence, Leigh Woods, the Stoke Bishop Halls of Residence and the Langford site will all be exempt from the measures contained within the Transport Plan as their individual circumstances currently warrant separate consideration and management. Staff working in these sites will only be able to take advantage of a limited number of initiatives outlined in the Transport Plan.
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The Travel to Work Committee, which will represent a cross-section of the University community, will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Transport Plan. Day to day management of the Plan will be undertaken by members of the Bursar’s Department under guidance from the Committee. The Policy, Priorities and Resources Board will be responsible for determining matters of policy, such as the level of parking charges.
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The introduction of the new policy will be subject to a programme of phased implementation, with the majority of new incentives being introduced early in the 1999 Autumn academic session. Changes to the levels of parking charges and the basis for permit allocation and other car park management measures would be implemented in August 2000. This will allow staff twelve months to explore alternative methods of travelling to work, before major changes in car parking arrangements are introduced.
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Working with external bodies
In order to further the aims of the Transport Plan, the University will continue to work closely with UBHT and other large employers in the city to ensure cooperation on joint transport initiatives where appropriate, but also to lobby for better transport infrastructure within Bristol. Discussions will continue with public transport providers to look for ways of securing a better deal for University staff. Bristol City Council has agreed to set up a Green Commuter Club in September 1999 to bring together Bristol’s largest employers to discuss travel to work issues of common interest. The University was involved in lobbying for the creation of this group and will play an active part in progressing its aims.
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- Charges for reserved and unreserved permits will double from the 1998/99 levels from 0.18% to 0.36% of salary and £11.50 to £23 respectively.
- Charges for reserved permits will be deducted by 10 monthly instalments direct from salary.
- Departmental owned or leased vehicles for transportation or pool purposes will receive free parking permits.
- Staff with reserved permits living within 2 miles of the University will be invited voluntarily to give them up.
- Car-sharers will receive priority allocation of any available reserved parking spaces.
- During late 1999 the existing car-sharing database will be improved.
- It is planned to be web-based so that staff can search for suitable matches themselves and will include information which will assist staff who want to car-share but need to drop off/pick-up children from school.
- New car parking compliance procedures will be introduced for all University car parks in the precinct, so those found breaking the rules will be fined or wheel clamped.
- The current reserved and unreserved car parking arrangements will be abolished and all parking permits withdrawn.
- All University car parks will operate under a Pay and Displayregime, either using pay and display machines or pre-paid parking cards.
- In order to park a member of staff will need to scratch out the correct date on a parking card and clearly display the card, along with a valid annual parking permit in their car.
- The possession of a valid parking card and annual permit would not guarantee a parking space, but merely a license to hunt for one in any car park. Half day parking cards will be available for part-time staff. The annual permit will help ensure that only legitimate members of the University community use the car parks.
- A limited number of spaces will be made available for staff with exceptional special needs.
- This group of staff is likely to include staff with impaired mobility; essential user status or other exceptional need. The new Travel to Work Committee, in consultation with the Trade Unions, will produce a system to determine which staff will be eligible for "special needs" status. Staff with "special needs" permits will be able to purchase a single annual parking permit, rather than using parking cards and will be allocated an individual parking space.
- Special visitor parking cards will also be available for official University visitors
- The general public will be prohibited from parking on University property during the working day
- University staff will be able to pre-purchase parking cards, via direct deduction from salary, while special needs permits will be repayable in monthly instalments.
- The cost of both a parking card and a special needs annual permit will be broadly related to salary.
- All staff will be expected to pay for their parking but subject to detailed procedures those using their vehicle on essential University business will be able to reclaim their parking costs.
- The exact level of parking charges from August 2000 onwards has yet to be agreed.
- The Policy, Priorities and Resources Board will determine the charges before Christmas 1999 and staff subsequently advised so that there will be at least six months to prepare for the change. It is likely that for the vast majority of staff the charge will be considerably less than the equivalent of the £400 flat rate charge originally proposed in the Travel to Work Group Report. (See Part Two for more information).
- In order to cover unforeseen emergencies, a guaranteed ride home scheme for registered car-sharers will be set up, subject to detailed procedures.
- The creation of a centrally administered pool/departmental vehicle system will be investigated.
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- During 1999 - 2003, £130,000 will be invested in improving facilities for walkers, cyclists and motorcyclists, including secure storage facilities; washing and changing facilities; other environmental facilities to improve comfort (e.g. bus shelters) and physical safety, e.g. improved lighting of walk ways.
- The University will need to construct these facilities in suitable locations, hence University departments will be able to submit proposals for installing or upgrading facilities within their building and the Travel to Work Committee will determine which bids are successful.
- Interest free loans of up to £500 will be available for staff to purchase bicycles for the purpose of travel to work.
- Applications for this initiative will be subject to detailed regulations.
- A cycle mileage rate, of 10 pence per mile will also be introduced for staff travelling short distances on University business.
- The University will purchase season or annual bus or train season tickets on behalf of members of University staff, subject to detailed procedures.
- These individuals would be able to purchase annual passes directly from the University on interest-free credit, the cost of which would be deducted in 12 monthly instalments straight from the staff member's salary.
- Bus season tickets for the FirstGroup network will benefit from a further 10% discount.
- A shuttle bus service will be introduced, linking Temple Meads, the bus station, the city centre and the main precinct, running from 6.30am to 7.00pm, Mondays to Fridays at a frequency of 7 - 17 minutes.
- The service will be provided free of charge to all members of the University staff and will be run in conjunction with the United Bristol Healthcare Trust.
- The provision of early morning buses for cleaning and portering staff living within certain areas of Bristol will be investigated.
- A travel information help-line will provide staff with information and advice on the different travel options available to them.
- The preferential rates for taxi travel negotiated by the Purchasing Unit will be promulgated across the University.
- A public transport trip planning information system will be installed on the intranet, as part of the European funded INTERCEPT project.
- The information will be accessible to all staff with the provision of networked computers in many University buildings.
- There will be free registration for access to the University’s Chargeable Remote Access Facility server for staff wishing to work from home, subject to detailed procedures.
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- A University policy on home working will need to be formulated.
- The flexible working hours policy will be reviewed.
- Guidelines will be introduced for essential University travel.
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Part One detailed the policy and implementation of the University's Transport Plan, while Part Two provides the background to how the Plan evolved. It describes the steps taken by the University to identify staff travel to work difficulties, which resulted in the formulation of the University of Bristol's Transport Plan.
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In May 1998 a Working Group, under the chairmanship of Sir Robert Wall, was asked to review and make recommendations on all issues relating to the ways in which members of the University staff travel to work in the precinct. The main aim of the Report was to identify the necessary steps to resolve the car parking crisis and other transport difficulties faced by University staff when travelling to work.
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The context within which the University Transport Plan was formulated is detailed below:
- There are about 1100 car parking spaces available for the 3500 or so staff who work in the main precinct.
- The waiting time for obtaining a permit for a reserved car park is 6 years (930 permits are issued against a total of 771 places available), but reserved parking spaces often lie empty.
- The current annual permit scheme offers no incentive to permit holders to travel to work by methods other than the private car.
- The real pressure on car parking provision occurs between 8am to 5pm; people travelling to and from the University outside of these hours do not normally have a problem finding a parking space.
- The University presently spends £36,000 more on car parks than it receives in income, yet in some instances spaces in the same car park which are let commercially for £1400 per space are rented to staff for as little as £29.
- The University development strategy has aimed at consolidating departments within the precinct. Recent University developments have all been built on existing car parks and further parking spaces will be lost in the next few years to further building projects, with the resultant loss of hundreds of spaces.
- The government published its White Paper on transport: A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone in July 1998.
- Following the White Paper, a consultation paper: Breaking the Logjam, was published earlier this year. This details proposals for introducing road-pricing and a tax on non-residential parking spaces. The Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (CVCP) has suggested in its written response to the paper, that Universities who adopt Transport Plans should be exempt from the workplace parking levy.
- Bristol City Council published its provisional Bristol Local Transport Plan in July 1999.
- Bristol City Council plan to extend the controlled parking zone into the residential streets around the University by 2001. The substantial numbers of University staff who currently park in these streets will be unable to so do under the Council’s proposed scheme.
- Bristol City Council’s draft Transport Requirements for New Developments, including Parking Standards sets strict limits for the number of parking spaces allowed in new building developments.
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A travel survey was produced and sent out to all members of University staff in October 1998. It determined the modal split of staff journeys to work and gauged opinion on some of the measures that the University could introduce to ease the parking situation. Feedback from the survey was positive, with over a 50% response rate. Data from the survey was crucial in formulating the recommendations in the Working Group’s Report. (Results of the survey are available on application to the University of Bristol, see page 6)
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The Working Group submitted its final Report to the Vice-Chancellor in early March 1999. The Report recommended that the way University car parking permits are allocated should be altered from a system of predominantly guaranteed spaces to a pay and display, “license to hunt” arrangement. Hence more of the parking spaces would be available to more staff, which would be “fairer” than a system of limited guaranteed spaces. In tandem the level of car parking charges would be significantly increased to realize sufficient revenue to fund initiatives encouraging alternatives to the private car. It was felt that the increased level of charges would also actively encourage staff to consider alternative modes of transport and car-sharing, while the imposition of a daily rather than an annual charge would remove the incentive for staff to drive to work every day.
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Professor Partington, a Pro-Vice-Chancellor, was asked to lead a consultative exercise to gauge staff opinion on the Report’s recommendations. During April and May 1999 a wide spread consultation exercise was undertaken including the following measures:
- The distribution of leaflets to all staff working in the main precinct, summarising the Report’s main proposals and the availability of electronic and paper-based copies of the complete Report.
- A series of 9 open consultative meetings, which 1,000 University staff attended giving comments on the proposals and asking a wide range of questions.
- Presentation of the key proposals to Trade Union representatives and members of the Parking Advisory Group, together with a further meeting with the Trade Union representatives.
- An email and internal mail address was provided which enabled hundreds of staff to send in comments on the proposals.
- The creation of a travel to work web page, containing an electronic bulletin board where staff were able to submit comments and take part in discussions on different aspects of the proposals.
The following responses were received:
- 262 email and written individual submissions.
- 452 postings on the bulletin board (though many of these were multiple postings by a limited number of individuals).
- Several hundred comments and questions at the consultative meetings.
- Several petitions from different sectors of the University with a total of 540 signatories.
- A Joint-Union position submission, a Parking Advisory Group submission, a University Bicycle User Group submission, a TGWU submission, and a submission representing the views of Library Staff.
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The Report provoked significant staff interest, comment and concern and the consultation identified areas of general consensus but also a number of recommendations that staff found unacceptable. There seemed substantial - if not universal - agreement that the existing situation was not sustainable and that something should be done. Although many staff supported the thrust of the recommendations, there was strong objection to a number of individual proposals, in particular: the proposed level of parking charges; the proposal for a flat rate rather than a pro rata parking charge; the apparent failure to take need into account in the proposed permit allocation and the short time-frame before the proposed implementation of the new scheme.
The original proposals were substantially revised to address many of these concerns, but without compromising their underlining philosophy; namely to encourage alternatives to the private car. In particular:
- the new policy will be subject to a phased implementation over the next 12 months, with incentives to encourage alternatives to the private car introduced in 1999, and changes in the car parking system in 2000.
- the level of car parking charge will be broadly related to salary instead of a flat charge for all.
- no parking permits will be sold by auction to the highest bidder.
- the scheme for permit allocation will take some account of special need.
- there will be no formal exclusion zone for staff living 2 miles of the University, although in the 1999/00 session staff with reserved permits living this close to the University will be invited to surrender their permits.
- over the next four years income from car parking charges will be expended on travel to work matters, after which it will be subject to review by Council.
After considerable discussion at the Policy, Priorities and Resources Board in June and July 1999, and Council in May and July 1999, a series of revised recommendations were adopted which are collectively referred to as the University Transport Plan.
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