Memorandum by the Pedestrians Association
(RT 46)
LIGHT RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEMS
The Pedestrians Association would like to make
the following points:
(a) the vast majority of people using LRT
(trams) will get to and from them on foot,
(b) the best illustration we know of this
walk/rail/walk relationship comes from main line routes in Kent:
in that County 60 per cent of peak period and 71 per cent of off-peak
rail travellers arrive at stations on foot (see attached graphic
from "Transport 93", Kent County Council Highways and
Transportation),
(c) far more tram travel will accordingly
be generated by creating good walking conditions around stations
and by promoting station-related development than by providing
car parks and park-and-ride interchanges,
(d) it follows that the fare-box income of
new LRT systems will depend not just on the engineering of station-to-station
routes, but on catering for door-to-door journeys that involve
walking as well as tram travel: women, for instance, will be deterred
from going to stations if routes to them are ill-lit or frightening,
(e) design for walking in the vicinity of
stations needs to be done by teams of planners, traffic engineers
and landscape architects with a remit to assess and upgrade walking
routes radiating in all directions,
(f) this work will involve, traffic engineering
(the provision or moving of Zebra crossings, improved street lighting
and signing), the opening up of short cuts, and the promotion
of new houses, offices, shops or other development,
(g) Old Trafford station on the Manchester
Metrolink, with its tortuous routes, poor lighting and derelict
buildings illustrates a location which is not good for walkers
and where the creation of the station should have been combined
with development,
(h) where new tram lines are planned to run
through sites, whether brownfield or fringe-of-city, partnerships
should be formed between tram companies and property developers
to create transit-focused "urban villages" at stations.
CONCLUSIONS
In the view of the Pedestrians Association tram
building in Britain has hitherto been more engineering than passenger
led. The Association therefore urges the House of Commons Transport
Sub-Committee to take note of this problem.
The Secretary of State for the Environment,
Transport and the Regions should be urged to ensure that careful,
door-to-door planning for journeys and, where appropriate, development
around stations, is part of all light rail transit schemes.
Stations should only be used for park-and-ride
where it can be demonstrated that this will generate more tram
travel than by maximising access on foot.
Making full provision for people on foot is
the key to creating tram systems that attract travellers and increase
cash flow.
Terence Bendixson
President
2 February 2000
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