A report providing an overview of the work which has been undertaken to prepare the draft Reading Transport Strategy 2040, the new Local Transport Plan (LTP) for the borough, and to seek approval to undertake a 12-week statutory public consultation on the draft strategy.

The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report that provided the Committee with an overview of the work that had been carried out to prepare the draft Reading Transport Strategy 2040, the new Local Transport Plan (LTP) for the Borough and sought approval to carry out a twelve week statutory public consultation on the draft Strategy.  A copy of the draft Strategy was attached to the report at Appendix 1.

The report stated that the draft Reading Transport Strategy 2040 set out an ambitious vision to create healthier, greener and more equal communities through the future provision of travel options in Reading.  The Strategy was focused on promoting sustainable transport options as a realistic alternative to the private car, setting out how transport facilities and services in Reading would be developed to 2040 to help achieve the Council’s wider objectives for the town, including the Reading 2050 Vision and the new zero carbon ambition by 2030.  It had been acknowledged that it would not be possible for every car journey to be replaced by a more sustainable mode as people might need to drive on certain occasions, therefore the Strategy included the objective of a transition to electric vehicles which had a reduced impact on carbon emissions compared to diesel and petrol equivalents.  However, it was clear that this transition alone would not achieve the overall objectives of the Strategy as electric vehicles still produced particulates which led to poor local air quality, did not reduce traffic congestion or encourage more active travel with the associated health and wellbeing benefits.

A key focus of the Strategy was tackling social inequalities in the Borough through the provision of affordable transport solutions to enable access to education, training, employment and leisure opportunities for everyone.  Further important themes of the Strategy related to carbon reduction and improved air quality, health and wellbeing, economic growth and making use of the latest technologies to be at the forefront of innovation.  The Covid pandemic had had a significant impact on travel behaviours in the Borough and the draft Strategy had been updated with a view to longer-term behavioural changes which had resulted from the pandemic.  The report included the latest analysis of travel behavioural changes that had resulted from the pandemic which had been reflected in the updated draft Strategy.  The report also included details of the key content of the Strategy, key updates and information on the statutory consultation.

Finally, the report explained that following the statutory consultation the feedback would be reviewed and the draft Strategy would be updated accordingly, alongside any updates required by the new LTP guidance when this was published by the Department for Transport, the updated Strategy would then be submitted to a future meeting for adoption.

Chris Maddocks, Strategic Transport Manager, informed the Committee that there had been an error in the appendix of the LTP with the London Road and Oxford Road schemes having been mixed up.  The version of the SEPT Committee papers on the website contained the correct version of the appendix.

The Committee discussed the report and the draft Reading Transport Strategy 2040, asked a number of questions and raised a number of points including the following:

·         The Committee thanked officers for producing a very comprehensive Strategy, the aim now was to get the people of the Borough to engage with it;

·         It was acknowledged that the car provided people with a very flexible means of transport, but people needed to be asked if they really needed to make the journey in their car;

·         There was a need to work with neighbouring authorities with the aim of achieving a shift in transport away from Reading;

·         The Strategy provided an opportunity to accelerate the work on climate change and it was recognised that the status quo was not an option and that inter connectivity was vital;

·         Post pandemic people were traveling to local destinations rather than into the town centre which meant that the way thought was given to the transport network would need to change;

·         The current Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) would include evidence of bus lane use and, with regard to Demand Management, a range of options would be investigated in greater detail;

·         The aim was to provide separate paths for pedestrians and cyclists on more routes in the Borough, however there were often restrictions on space and therefore shared paths could provide an alternative as the only possible option;

·         Dropping kerbs to road level and providing raised tables over side roads would be investigated as part of the scheme to help those who used wheelchairs or had mobility issues;

·         Early evidence had suggested that a significant proportion of traffic passing through the town had nowhere in the Borough as its final destination and therefore levying a charge on vehicles that used the town as a short cut would be investigated.

Resolved –

(1)      That the work which had been undertaken to date to prepare the draft Reading Transport Strategy 2040 be noted;

(2)      That approval to undertake a 12-week statutory public consultation on the draft Strategy be granted.