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Access to efficient, affordable transport options is a key issue underpinning well-being and improves social inclusion and connectivity. Good transport links facilitate existing relationships and can help develop new ones – both in an economic context for businesses, service providers and their workforce, but also for people and communities, as transport connectivity effects social interaction, access to retail and essential services, and the opportunities to participate in cultural and leisure activities.
The principal means of access to, from and within the area are the A55 coast road (Euroroute E22), the parallel railway from Manchester and London to Holyhead, and the A5 road to the south. In Conwy, the A470 provides a north-south road link which is paralleled by a railway linking Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog. In Denbighshire the A525 also runs north to south and links the market towns of St Asaph, Denbigh and Ruthin.
In particular people at risk of being socially excluded often experience real difficulties in getting to places. The people most likely to experience travel barriers are those without access to a personal vehicle, especially those living in more rural areas. Regular and reliable public transport services are not always available in every community, are sometimes unaffordable for people on low incomes or simply do not take people where they need to go, at the time they need to go. Car clubs and car sharing is not common place in either area. Walking and cycling may not be suitable options for accessing services which are distant or in environments where traffic levels and accident rates are high, or they may not be accessible for people with a disability.
Research commissioned by North Wales Public Service Boards during 2019 to 2020 used a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to assess the travel barriers experienced by employers, job seekers, job mentors and members of the public across North Wales. The research concluded that access to work problems were linked to transport difficulties for those who:
- Lived in rural communities
- Paid very little rent or those who owned their own homes and faced significant cost implications if they move (likely to be younger people and people living with parents or have inherited parental property)
- Did not drive and were reliant on public transport
- Experienced health difficulties and/or were disabled (and as health is linked to mobility and age, this disproportionately affects those who were disabled and older).
- Worked in employment sectors where hours of work were irregular; and
- People who considered themselves unavailable for work outside of school hours.
The research concluded that a number of these factors were linked to poverty and social exclusion and thereby may be readily associated with particularly poor rural communities of North Wales. It found that some factors (such as driving or childcare) are gendered, and serve to disproportionally act as barriers to women accessing the workplace.[1]
Within the economy, transport affects the ability of businesses to undertake trade with customers and suppliers and to recruit a workforce. The availability of good transportation routes in an area can influence the location of business and encourage new investment. Shifts within the wider UK economy from industries based on transporting primary/secondary sectors to the service sector means that many of our existing transport routes may not fit new ways of working.
Despite increasing traffic volumes overall figures suggest road traffic accidents and casualties are generally both reducing over time. The rise in accidents caused by driver distraction due to mobile phone usage are a concern however.
Transport was responsible for about 34% of the UK’s carbon emissions in 2019, and was the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the UK.[2] Whilst data is not yet available for 2020, it is anticipated that this fell during 2020 as a result of reduced road transport from impact of COVID 19.[3]
Some of the issues around transport now are:
- Road capacity – including traffic flows, constraints on expansion, and increases in traffic volumes following road improvements.
- Impact of lack of integrated public transport provision particularly for peripheral communities. Particular concerns were raised about evening travel (whether for participation in social events or for employment which requires shift or unsociable hours working) and about travel difficulties associated with attending Job Centre appointments.
- Integrated active travel network and promoting active travel (safe walking and cycling routes).
- Provision of safe school transport routes – including subsidised bus services (particularly in areas where population is dispersed) but also traffic flow round schools, walking to school, drop off zones.
- The environmental impacts of transport, including air quality, carbon emissions and impact of flooding and extreme weather events on transport infrastructure.
- Electric vehicle charging infrastructure (for residents, visitors, tourists and users of public sector fleet vehicles) and the potential opportunities and challenges associated with hydrogen-powered vehicles.
- The impact of tourism on local transport.
It is important to note that active travel is the term used to describe walking and cycling for ‘purposeful journeys’. Cycling or walking, within three miles, to a place of work, education, retail, leisure and so on, where it displaces private vehicle journeys, is considered to be ‘active travel’. Whilst important (delivering many health and environmental well-being benefits), walking or cycling for leisure (mountain biking for instance), where the purpose is not to displace use of a private vehicle, is not considered to be active travel.[4]
Changing travel habits, often referred to as modal shift, is the key aim of Llwybr Newydd, the Wales Transport Strategy. A shift to active travel for short journeys and public transport for longer journeys is at its heart.
[1] Dr Ben Binsardi, Joshua Payne, Professor Iolo Madoc-Jones, (2020). Accessing Employment and Travel Barriers in North Wales: Understanding what the issues are, identifying where they exist and exploring the solutions.
[2] 2019 and 2020 annual provisional emissions results, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
[3] More data is available here: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/723c243d-2f1a-4d27-8b61-cdb93e5b10ff/uk-local-authority-and-regional-carbon-dioxide-emissions-national-statistics-2005-to-2019
[4] Welsh Government (2021). Active Travel Act Guidance July 2021. https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2021-07/active-travel-act-guidance_0.pdf
The number of recorded road accidents has been decreasing in both counties since 2015. Down from 250 in 2015 in Conwy to 114 per year in 2020, and 228 in 2015 in Denbighshire to 104 per year in 2020.[1] There has also been a reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured during the same period.[2]
Issues and frustrations with transport for those unable to drive or without access to a private vehicle have persisted for many years.
Transport-related carbon emissions remain stubbornly consistent.[3]
[1] Reported road accidents system, Welsh Government https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Transport/Roads/Road-Accidents/accidents/allroadaccidents-by-area-year
[2]Reported road accidents system, Welsh Government, https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Transport/Roads/Road-Accidents/accidents/roadaccidents-by-severity-area
[3] More data is available here: https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Environment-and-Countryside/Greenhouse-Gas/emissionsofgreenhousegases-by-year
One of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution in Wales is transportation. Over the past decade, the distance driven by cars in Wales has increased by 13 per cent, while the emissions from these cars has fallen by nine per cent. Despite these efficiency improvements, overall surface transport emissions have remained mostly unchanged from 1990 levels. Based on current trajectories, car traffic in Wales is increasing. Travel by van and rail have seen significant increases in the last decade, whereas travel by bus has decreased. Cycling demand has more than doubled in the past decade, but still accounts for a very small share of overall travel. The popularity of electric vehicles has also risen sharply across the UK in recent years – a trend which is set to continue and is likely to reduce overall car emissions.[1]
One of the most pressing concerns for many communities, public and private organisations and travel providers will be to reduce carbon emissions associated with travel. However, the resilience of our travel infrastructure is of concern. Across Conwy and Denbighshire, the main mode of transport is likely to continue to be private vehicle – at least in the medium term, and our public transport infrastructure will have to adapt to changing usage as people increasingly work from home or their local area. In addition to any larger scale transport infrastructure developments, electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refuelling needs to form part of our response now to ensure the future resilience of our travel infrastructure but also the sustainability of our environment. There are also economic barriers to electric vehicle ownership currently.
The modelling assumptions used in the North Wales Energy Strategy include an assumption that 55% of vehicles will be electric by 2035 and that we will see a 15% reduction in private vehicle mileage with increased public transport and active travel.[2]
Covid-19 has shown us that removing the need to travel (e.g. by a requirement to be physically present at a workplace), the transport barrier can be removed (so long as effective digital infrastructure is in place). However, those most at risk of experiencing socio-economic disadvantage are more likely to continue to experience travel barriers, for example due to the lack of private ownership, employment in jobs that cannot be conducted remotely, affordability and availability of public transport.
Active travel offers serious health and environmental well-being benefits. The quality of provision for walking and cycling access for staff and pupils, or staff, patients and visitors respectively must be at the forefront of all education and health related projects which bid for Welsh Government capital and revenue funding.[3] In order to achieve long term sustainable changes to travel habits, the culture change needed to achieve modal shift (a shift to active travel for short journeys and public transport for longer journeys), might be best focussed on children and young people.
For those without access to a private car, transport challenges are likely to remain broadly the same. Developments in the provision of electric vehicles and charging provision are likely to come to fruition sooner in more urban and coastal areas. Access to affordable electric vehicles will be a barrier for those on low incomes, and it is likely that those most at risk of socio-economic disadvantage will only have access to increasing inefficient and penalised petrol/diesel vehicles or older less effective electric vehicles. In order to prevent the continuation of access issues, in particular access to private electric vehicles, we will have to consider future barriers now.
There is significant potential for public sector bodies to help reduce transport emissions through local authority funded transport systems and infrastructure, and travel planning which can be undertaken by all public sector organisations. Promoting cleaner vehicles within our own transport fleets and facilitating the provision of alternative fuel points (for example electric car charging points) is also within the remit of public sector organisations. Car sharing and active travel to school, work and services are credible alternatives to travel by personal vehicle.
Environmental issues are associated with scrappage and hydrogen storage and pose serious safety and environmental concerns that are of global importance. We will need to ensure our thinking reflects national and regional approaches to transport and ensure our own policies and functions deliver (and do not undermine) sustainable transport.
[1] Welsh Government (2021). Future Trends Report Wales. https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2021-12/future-trends-report-wales-2021-narrative-summary.pdf
[2] https://gov.wales/regional-energy-strategy-north-wales
[3] Welsh Government (2021). Active Travel Act Guidance July 2021. https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2021-07/active-travel-act-guidance_0.pdf
Older people experience unique challenges with transport, and particular barriers to accessing healthcare.[1]
In the study conducted by Wrexham Glyndwr University in 2020, “respondents were positive about travel options that were greener, healthier and communitarian.” The paper concluded:
“There is a favourable wind at present, therefore, for radical solutions to travel challenges which promote use of public transport. However, it is well known that people are reluctant to give up the freedom and control that driving affords and raising local taxes (e.g. business rates supplements, applying a tourist tax, a congestion charge or increasing council tax precepts) to pay for a more connected and reliable public transport system would be extremely unpopular.
Yet, these are the necessary starting points for the greener more sustainable and connected transport system for North Wales that almost everybody agrees has to be created.[2]”
People are concerned about a range of issues associated with transport and active travel. They have told us that:
- Public transport is expensive, inconvenient, with a lack of routes throughout the county and poor onward/national connections. This was cited as an issue in particular for young people and those going to work.
- Town centre parking is an issue. People would like to see more parking made available, free parking to encourage people to shop locally, better signage, with enforcement action taken to manage double parking.
- They would like to see electric/environmentally friendly public transport e.g. more electric buses and Flexi Bus initiatives that people can book online.
- They would also like to see increased active travel routes connecting neighbouring towns and villages, with better maintenance of cycle lanes and footpaths.
- Some people might need to be encouraged to switch to walking or cycling, and that increased signage, more benches, water taps and additional toilets could help. Other improvements include bike locks throughout the county to support those who want to shop locally or cycle to work.
[1] Older People’s Commissioner for Wales (2021). Accessing Health Services in Wales: Transport Issues and Barriers.
[2] Dr Ben Binsardi, Joshua Payne, Professor Iolo Madoc-Jones, (2020). Accessing Employment and Travel Barriers in North Wales: Understanding what the issues are, identifying where they exist and exploring the solutions.
The research commissioned by North Wales PSBs in 2019/20 attempted to connect with a range of employers across North Wales especially those located on industrial or business parks. Engagement with the research was poor and we cannot say with any certainty the extent to which employers struggle to attract or sustain employees because of travel barriers.[1]
How resilient are people at risk of being socially excluded or with protected characteristics to transport barriers?
[1] Dr Ben Binsardi, Joshua Payne, Professor Iolo Madoc-Jones, (2020). Accessing Employment and Travel Barriers in North Wales: Understanding what the issues are, identifying where they exist and exploring the solutions.