Unboxing Oxford

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bus industry and local authorities face a multitude of challenges for the future when it comes to speeding up services and reducing traffic and vehicle emissions. One such city is Oxford. Richard Sharman takes an in-depth look at the challenges that are being tackled

When you think of the ‘City of Dreaming Spires,’ you may be thinking of tranquil walks around university gardens, punting along the River Thames by Magdalen Bridge or some retail therapy at Westgate Oxford. The city of Oxford has plenty to do for the locals and the vast number of international and domestic tourists that visit every year, but there is one problem, and it is not going to change any time soon.

That problem is that Oxford city centre, like many other cities, is facing ever-increasing traffic problems that are affecting the ability of bus operators to move people quickly and effectively, meaning that the bus is losing its ability to gain car users.
[wlm_nonmember][…]

[/wlm_nonmember][wlm_ismember]

Issues facing the city & operators

Those car users that have yet to, or are unable to, switch to using the bus to visit the city are finding it increasingly difficult to park. Parking for cars in the city centre has been decreasing for a number of years; in fact, the total number of car parking spaces, excluding on street parking, is only 2,040. In comparison, the combined figure for the five park & ride sites is a significant 5,334.

One of the main attractions for visitors, apart from Oxford’s famous tourist attractions, is Westgate Oxford, a premium shopping centre with rooftop dining and a cinema. The new development was built on the site of the original Westgate Centre, but it received a large extension in the process which saw three car parks built over. When Westgate Oxford opened in 2017, it was with a 1,000-space underground car park.

At the recent Oxford Bus Summit, Westgate Oxford confirmed that the amount of visitors currently travelling by car is 29%. A big issue is that once the car park is full on weekends and school holidays, the traffic backs up on the main bus routes into the city centre along Abingdon and Botley Roads. Abingdon Road features a bus gate as you get to the city, and a short stretch by Redbridge Park & Ride, whilst Botley Road has a long stretch until just prior to the railway station. Both end up merging as they get close to the city centre. This also impacts on bus services trying to depart from the railway station.

Another issue is that in order to solve the UK’s housing crisis, local authorities are under pressure from the Government to build as many new houses as possible. For Oxfordshire that means that a county which has always been known for its greenbelt is quickly finding these areas disappearing; the Vale of the White Horse, South Oxfordshire and Cherwell areas of the county are listed in the top 10 places in England with the most new-build houses, and that will only increase as areas surrounding the city and beyond succumb to more bricks and mortar.

Other developments are being built close to, or next to, Oxford’s ring road, increasing traffic further and impacting on bus journey times, although the County Council says that in its role as highway authority, it liaises extensively with developers to secure bus service contributions as well as mitigations on the highway to reduce development impact on buses.

New way to slow the bus

Whilst the above issues are fairly common throughout the UK, one measure that has been introduced is currently less common. I am talking about Low Traffic Neighbourhoods or LTNs. First used en masse in London during the pandemic, they have now found their way to Oxford.

An LTN typically consists of a large wooden planter on either side of a residential road and a bollard situated in the middle of the road, designed to only allow bicycles through, although the Oxford ones may be replaced with automatic number plate recognition in the future.

LTNs were installed under an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO) in March 2021 in the Church Cowley, Florence Park and Temple Cowley areas of the city. In May 2022, three further areas of East Oxford saw experimental LTNs implemented; these were chosen as priority areas for LTNs as they have high volumes of through traffic on residential roads and the potential to create improved cycle routes.

The LTNs are designed to create quieter, safer and more liveable streets and an attractive environment for walking and cycling. However, the mixed reaction has led to vandalism of the bollards that have cost the council in excess of £12,000 to replace. There have also been cases where firefighters have had to cut down bollards to gain access to properties in an emergency.

The reason for the angry reaction, particularly in the last few months, is because LTNs have brought the main roads surrounding Cowley to a halt as traffic is pushed to only use major roads. Local residents have complained that it now takes them over an hour to travel three miles to the local John Radcliffe Hospital for an appointment; but it is not only the local residents who have been affected. Local bus services are facing journey times extended by up to 33%, leading to a decline in patronage.

Luke Marion, Oxford Bus Company’s interim Managing Director, told the Oxford Mail: “We are supportive of LTNs in general, when they are planned in conjunction with bus priority measures to ensure bus journey speeds are maintained.

“We have had constructive meetings with Oxfordshire County Council regarding the LTNs in Cowley to outline our position and the need to ensure public transport does not continue to be adversely impacted. We have agreed it is too early at this stage to establish evidence of behaviour change and travel trends, and will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

A spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council said: “We are aware of some delays to bus journey times, and these are to be expected while the trial measures bed in. Our monitoring shows that prior to the half term week, these delays were already reducing. The council remains in regular contact with the bus operators to discuss not only low traffic neighbourhoods but wider council policy.”

On the 19 July, Oxfordshire County Council confirmed that following an 18-month long trial, the first trance of LTNs are to remain in place on a permanent basis. The council’s cabinet also committed to undertake additional community and stakeholder engagement to further refine the scheme, with any changes to be implemented by spring 2023. The council said it will also continue to monitor all aspects of the measures and bring forward proposals for changes through the consultation process, including the potential to replace some hard closures with automatic number plate recognition cameras.

The decision follows engagement with residents, businesses, emergency services and other interested parties throughout the trial period, with the council making some changes to the scheme based on feedback received. Members of the public were also able to comment on the scheme through a formal consultation that ran from March to November last year.

Councillor Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highway Management, said: “We are aware that there are strong views across the spectrum on these measures, but we are committed to making them work for everyone. While the formal consultation on the scheme has completed, we will continue to monitor the LTNs, listen to our communities and make changes to the scheme where necessary.”

Whilst it is yet to be seen whether additional measures do actually speed up buses in this part of the city, there may be additional cause for concern in relation to ordering a fleet of new electric buses for Oxford, due a clause that was added to the funding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Electric buses in 2023

Every city and operator has a desire to operate a zero-emission bus fleet as quickly as possible, and this includes Oxford. Whilst funding has been agreed through the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme, there are certain conditions that need to be met first. Oxford Bus Group (which includes City Sightseeing Oxford, Oxford Bus Company and Thames Travel) and Stagecoach West have pledged £43.7m towards the buses funded through the ZEBRA scheme, whilst the Government has committed £32.8m and Oxfordshire County Council £6m.

The commitment from bus operators is dependent on the introduction of public policies to reduce bus journey times. A series of ‘traffic filters’ has been proposed at strategic points across Oxford that are intended to restrict movement by general traffic except buses and other permitted vehicles. These ‘filters’ would be similar to the current successful Oxford city centre bus gates, which constrain general traffic through the use of camera technology, backed by the appropriate enforcement legislation, signage and penalties for infringement. It is proposed that traffic filters will be installed on Thames Street, Hythe Bridge Street, St Clements, St Cross Road, and Hollow Way. Initial consultations took place in 2019/20, and further public consultation is planned for this summer.

Should the reduction in bus journey times be met, then an order for 159 electric buses will be made, with a split of 55 for Stagecoach West and 104 for Oxford Bus Group.

The original figure when the ZEBRA expressions of interest were originally submitted in July 2021 was for 166 electric buses. However, since that date a number of the bus routes that these vehicles were originally destined for have been merged – such as Stagecoach West 800 and 900 hospital park & ride services which have now been integrated into the 700 – while some jointly-operated services have gone down to single operators, the only jointly-operated services in the city now being the 1 and 5 to Blackbird Leys and the 8 to Barton.

Speaking at the Oxford Bus Summit, Rachel Geliamassi, Managing Director of Stagecoach West told CBW: “As soon as consultation concludes on the bus gates, we are expecting to be able to put our vehicle orders in. I was hoping this would be in November this year, but some information I have received suggests that could be delayed. Lead time on an order for electric buses is expected to be 12 months at the highest end of the scale, so as soon as we get confirmation from the council that everything is in place to reduce bus journey times, those orders will be made.”

Luke Marion added: “Bus journey speeds have been declining for a number of years in Oxford. To make the electric product work efficiently the various models we have run tell us that speeding up bus journeys by 10% is the magic number – and we have tried to make it simple for people to understand: that figure is an average saving that needs to be made in the ‘Smart Zone.’ Some routes will only see marginal time savings, whilst others will benefit hugely from the measures that could be put in place.

“Ourselves, Stagecoach West and Oxfordshire County Council are working with CitySwift on a journey time monitoring tool. We worked with CitySwift during the pandemic to see what improvements could be made if the bus gates were implemented, and in some cases we found that journey times could be 25% quicker. This is something we saw during the pandemic with free flow traffic conditions. We have also worked with Omnibus on electric bus scheduling.

“Our order for 104 electric buses will also require the double-deckers to be low height due to the railway bridge on Botley Road. The order will include seven electric open-top buses for our City Sightseeing Oxford fleet, and we are hoping that whoever we place our new vehicle order with will be happy to modify an existing model to meet our requirements.”

An electric future

Ahead of the electric bus order, Oxford Bus Group has already achieved a major milestone with the installation of a new substation at its Cowley depot. It will provide 8MW of power to support rapid charging of vehicles, and is connected to a cable which runs into a large 60MW battery that is sited at the Cowley substation and connected direct to the National Grid. In the future Oxford Bus Company is looking to install 104 charging posts and connect them to the substation to charge the new electric buses. This represents the next phase in the company’s continued journey towards a low carbon future.

The new substation was installed by Pivot Power and makes up part of the Oxford Energy Superhub project which will be used to help balance grid demand to assist the transition to renewable energy sources. It will also power a high-power private wire charging network that will support a large number of ground source heat pumps in the city, and supply power to the bus depot and an EV charging hub at Redbridge park & ride, to support and enable large scale charging at the park & ride site.

In 2020, Oxford Bus Company introduced the first electric bus to Oxford via its City Sightseeing Oxford operation. It now has three retrofitted electric vehicles in its fleet, which were delivered in partnership with Oxford City Council. The electric buses are charged at the firm’s Cowley depot, via its depot energy circuit, which also includes solar panels.

Stagecoach West is also preparing for the arrival of electric buses with planning taking place, including the decision to move the Oxford Tube coach fleet back to its main Horspath Road bus depot and to place all of its charging infrastructure at Network Oxford, an industrial estate close to the depot with a yard large enough to allow installation of the necessary infrastructure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zero Emission Zone

Back in February this year, Oxfordshire County Council introduced Britain’s first Zero Emission Zone (ZEZ) in a small number of city centre streets. The ZEZ pilot operates from 0700 to 1900hrs all year round. All petrol and diesel vehicles, including hybrids, will incur a daily charge unless eligible for a discount or exemption. However, zero-emission vehicles, such as electric cars, can enter the pilot area free of charge. A range of exemptions and discounts are available for businesses and residents in the zone. The charge will vary from £2 to £10 per day depending on the emission levels of the vehicle. Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras have been installed to enforce the zone.

Councillor Tom Hayes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Green Transport and Zero Carbon Oxford, Oxford City Council, said: “The start of the zero -emission zone pilot is a landmark event for the city of Oxford and our journey to tackle toxic air pollution and reduce our carbon emissions. For five years the City Council and I have been engaging with businesses and citizens to develop the zero emission zone, and I want to thank everyone for sharing their passion for cleaner air and knowledge about how to pragmatically achieve it. We will be using the learnings from this pilot to inform the expansion of the zone to the wider city centre in 2023.”

Transport emissions currently account for 17% of greenhouse gas emissions in Oxford. Over the past few years, air pollution levels in the city have plateaued following a period of significant improvements in air quality, due in part to the introduction of a low emission zone for buses in 2014 where the minimum standard was Euro V. In addition, investment by the operators serving the city has seen the amount of new Euro VI coaches and buses increase dramatically over the last few years.

David Harrison, Principal Public Transport Planner at Oxfordshire County Council said: “Euro VI coaches and buses on registered routes will be exempt from the forthcoming larger ZEZ as we collectively recognise that Oxford has a large number of longer distance bus routes, to destinations such as Aylesbury, Swindon, Bedford and long distance express coach services where the battery technology is not there yet to allow these routes to be converted. ZEBRA has been an ideal scheme for us to be involved in, as it allows us to get most urban buses to zero-emissions standards. Whilst there is the technology for opportunity charging, we believe that depot charging is the best solution for Oxford.”

Consultation and the intended launch date for the wider ZEZ are currently to be confirmed, but a map of the areas that could be cover has been issued and it would basically mean that any visit to the city centre would mean travelling into the ZEZ, with one exception which will still enable motorists to access the railway station and its car park without entering the zone, a sensible move as it will not penalise those who want to use the train rather than their car to commute to work or for day trips.

Making P&R more viable

Back in December 2019 I wrote a passenger perspective feature which involved using Oxford’s park & ride service. The conclusion back then was that although the drivers were friendly and the Wrightbus StreetDecks well specified, it was actually paying for the parking that made it difficult: multiple parking meters of different colours and options took time to use and left two car loads of foreign tourists with no idea what to do.

Fast forward to 2022 and this situation is being addressed with a new trial that is set to make services more attractive for customers and encourage a switch from car travel to help reduce traffic congestion. Working together, Oxford City Council, Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach West have developed a set of proposals to make the park & ride services more attractive.

Both the city and county councils’ cabinets have approved the creation of a new combined parking and bus ticket for all park & ride sites in and around Oxford. Car drivers will be able to purchase a combined ticket which covers both parking and return bus travel at a rate of £4 for a car with only one driver and £5 for a car with two or more people.

Currently, other than a combined £6.80 family ticket, drivers pay separately for both parking and bus travel. The new combined ticket also provides a lower cost alternative to the existing £6.80 family ticket. It is expected that the combined ticket trial will take place from 30 September through to 31 March 2023.

Drivers will be able to buy the combined ticket at the parking machine or by using the RingGo parking app. It will be supported by a marketing and communications campaign to help promote the offer. An initial review of the trial will be conducted after the first three months which will inform a future cabinet decision on the next steps and a planned joint city/county feasibility study on medium and long-term options for park & ride and transport hubs.

In addition to the combined ticket system, the partnership is also proposing to permanently amend the parking periods at all park & ride sites across the county, so that customers needing to park for longer, such as those working longer shifts, pay less. If approved, this will mean that the current £2 tariff, which covers the one to 11-hour parking period, is to be extended to cover one to 16 hours and the current £4 tariff, which covers the 11 to 24-hour period, will be updated to cover 16 to 24 hours.

The proposal follows discussion with major employers, including city centre retailers, which identified that the current 11-hour time charge creates a ‘cliff-edge’ for shift workers. The change aims to better support these drivers to continue to use the park & ride services.
Both car parking use and bus patronage have been dramatically reduced at all park & ride sites in comparison to pre-pandemic levels, and while bus patronage levels are now actually better than pre-pandemic over the weekends, they have still not recovered on weekdays, especially during peak hours. Passenger levels are currently running at between 75 and 80% of pre-covid levels on average. Without improvements and action, including continued financial support, operators say that services may have to be reviewed later this year.

Luke continued: “The park & ride service has been a crucial part of Oxford’s transport infrastructure since 1973 and now needs support to help it fully recover from the impact of the pandemic. The service is integral to helping Oxford achieve its net zero ambitions and it’s great to see all parties working in partnership to introduce changes that we expect will make the park & ride more attractive and easier for customers to understand.”

Rachel Geliamassi added: “We are looking forward to getting behind this campaign and trial to encourage more people on to the park & ride services we operate from Thornhill and Oxford Parkway. We want to work together to keep things simple and reduce the number of single occupancy car journeys on the roads. We know that people want to pay a combined price, saving money and hassle and are encouraged by the extensions that will be introduced to the duration of the parking tariffs.”

The existing park & ride sites are due to be joined by a new site in 2024, with an 850-space site located on the A40 eastbound that will help improve congestion on the A40 and provide regular and reliable public transport services into Oxford. A new roundabout will make it easy to access from either direction on the A40, whilst new bus lanes will make for a quick journey into and out of the city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BSIP funding

Whilst Oxfordshire County Council’s Bus Service Plan (BSIP) did not receive the full amount, Rachel cautioned: “£12.7m sounds a lot, but it has to be very carefully applied for it to have value because it takes a lot of money to make really big step changes. I like the fact that the measures chosen cover a lot of priorities. The bus gates will go a long way to tackling congestion and speeding up bus times, and the youth fares scheme could attract young people to bus that will hopefully continue to use it later in life. The other important thing is that some aspects of the pilots and schemes are not just in the city centre, they are across the whole county, meaning that everyone will benefit.

David Harrison, Principal Public Transport Planner at Oxfordshire County Council added: “Whilst we were not successful in being awarded all the money that we required for our BSIP, many of those plans remain very much in place and the schemes contained within it, which includes the DRT schemes.”

“The council does not have any funds for non-commercial bus services. We have services operating using developer funding or that are funded by other third parties that are shortly coming to an end: service 250 between Heyford Park and Oxford city centre and the 94 between Didcot and Blewbury. Our intention is to replace those bus services with demand responsive transport (DRT).

“We are currently looking at the delivery model as to whether those DRT services will be operated in-house or put out to tender, but we intend to purchase the vehicles ourselves. The current contract for the 250 runs out in December this year, and the 94 in March 2023. Buses will continue to operate between Heyford Park and Bicester with connections to Oxford available by train at Bicester Village station. Areas such as Kirtlington, Bletchingdon and Hampton Poyle will be served by DRT to Oxford Parkway, with onward bus or train connections to the city centre.”

An example of bus companies, private businesses and the council working together to achieve success is service 46, which has returned a regular bus link between Oxford and Great Milton after a six-year absence. It returned after Oxford Bus Company, Oxfordshire County Council and the luxury Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons hotel, led by chef Raymond Blanc, partnered to fund and deliver major improvements to the service by expanding it to make it easier for staff to travel to work at the hotel whilst also benefiting the local area.

The revamped service made an immediate impact with more than 300 passengers travelling on the service daily in its first week in operation. It operates seven days per week, with the last journey from Great Milton operating at 0100hrs, and provides a regular public transport link to Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, to allow people from Oxford City and East Oxford to access the various job opportunities at the site.

It also restored the link between Cowley, Florence Park, Donnington Bridge Road and the Abingdon Road, which was the subject of a petition earlier in the year when Stagecoach West service 16 was withdrawn, following a network review. It has also re-instated direct bus services from Horspath village to Oxford city centre, for the first time in several years.

Oxford Bus Company, which has taken over operating the service from its sister company Thames Travel, has invested £375,000 in two new ultra-low emission buses to operate the service.

In summary

Whilst Oxford has its problems, it is working on resolving them. The Enhanced Partnership between the council and the bus operators means that the problems are being looked at from all sides, and whilst attending the Oxford Bus Summit in June – although the media were not invited in – from the conversations I had during the lunch interval, you can see that morale at the council and bus operators is high, and that they want the planned changes to be implemented as soon as possible.

[/wlm_ismember]