Latest News

iTravelsmart Project Launches

- Article 15 – 12.5.13

Cheshire West and Chester Council has launched its very own itravelsmart project. The aim is to help people look at the way they get from A to B, and hopefully find smarter and more sustainable travel options.

Events are planned to help residents become aware of the above and the first of these occurred yesterday in Chester. The itravelsmart were available to discuss; walking, cycling, public transport and car sharing. There were events with the titles of; Pedometer Challenge. Treadmill Challenge, Free bike micro-chipping. Dr Bike Surgery , Bike Smoothie Maker, Public Transport Advice, Advice on setting up a car sharing scheme, Free on the spot journey planning for walking, cycling, public transport and car share options, Information on grants and free cycle parking for your workplace, Maps, timetables and other goodies to take away. In addition there was a free price draw to win a shopping voucher.

The Beeching report is now 50 years old. How are our railways doing?

Article 14 - 9.5.13

It is the 50th anniversary of the Beeching report into Britain’s railways, so how are these railways fairing?

Of the 2,363 stations identified for closure by Beeching, 211 were within the English Metropolitan areas. Research has shown that 80 of these 211 stations escaped the axe, remained open and thriving to this day and some now see passenger numbers in excess of one million. The remaining stations however saw no such reprieve and 80% had closed by the end of the 1960s.

The story doesn’t end there though because of the stations that did close, 23 later reopened, in many cases with funding from the PTEs which were set up in the aftermath of the report. It was the PTEs that also spearheaded the return of the tram to many of our cities and towns such as Croydon. In the years since Beeching, 79 stations have been reopened or been created in Metropolitan areas and there are 196 new light rail stations (such as the Docklands Light Railway in London) and stops, with more to come. Our city region rail networks are now booming and this shows that, despite the devastating impact of Beeching, our cities are fighting back.

The case for the urban bus

- Article 13 - 9.5.13

A new report shows that the urban bus is one of the best bargains in transport spending, which results in many economic, social and environmental improvements.

At the same time though, funding for buses in terms of national transport spending initiatives comes from a number of different government departments and it is recognised that this needs to change as reported in a recent briefing held in conjunction with the ‘Greener Journeys and Campaign for Better Transport’ group.

here will be a parliamentary even on 13th May entitled ‘The case for the urban bus’. It will be hosted by Transport Select Committee Chair Louise Ellman and Chaired by the LSE’s Tony Travis. The debate will hear from a wide range of authoritative speakers including Centre for Cities, the British Youth Council and the Association of Directors of Public Health.

Sat Navs and Warnings

- Article 10 - 18.4.13

A sat nav system that has been designed to warn lorry drives of the presence of roads where they might run the risk of hitting cyclist. Current exposure is to 100 London danger spots but there are plans to extend this.

Currently the indications are that this is working and lorry drivers are slowing down. This is necessary because despite only amounting to 5 per cent of the citys traffic, they account for 50 per cent of all cycling deaths.

Between 2009 and 2012 there were 53 cyclists killed on Londons roads Of these 28 had been hit by lorries.
Visual and sound alerts are sent to the driver. The scheme is run by Transport for London.