Norwich City Council Elections, Thursday 1 May 2008

Manifesto - Promoting reliable and sustainable transport

"Our strategy is sustainable, in that it does not demand continual expansion of transport infrastructure (which would be financially infeasible), it does not rely on privatised companies to implement it (which would be unreliable), and - most crucially - it plays its part in reducing the impact of dangerous climate change." Councillor Rupert Read, Transport Spokesperson for the Green Party City Councillors.

Green thinking on transport

Norwich Green Party's Sustainable Transport Strategy would reduce pollution and improve access in Norwich with the aim to make every journey a pleasant and enjoyable one. Green policies also seek to reduce the need to travel in the first place by, for example, protecting local shops and services.

A Green council would encourage people to use the most appropriate form of transport for their needs for a particular journey, taking the healthier options of walking or cycling where practical. In cases where the use of vehicles is unavoidable, a Green council would take the lead in using and promoting genuinely lower emission vehicles (for example, electric cars powered by renewable energy). We will provide special incentives for the use of such vehicles, through such measures as providing dedicated parking places for them.

Our proposals imagine a future in which our roads perform their function better, enabling those whose journeys are really necessary to travel faster and more freely (such as emergency vehicles, people who are elderly, infirm or disabled and those transporting large items).

To achieve these objectives we must ensure that there are reliable, comprehensive and reasonably-priced bus services across the city. We would therefore use the powers provided by Government legislation, such as the Local Transport Act, to maximise the local councils' control over bus routes, fares and timetables. A Green Council would ensure that the service met the needs of the traveling public.

We must also ensure that the roads are as safe as possible for pedestrians and cyclists. We would achieve this through prioritising investment in road safety measures and cycle routes over expensive road-building schemes.

The way forward

A Green Council would:

• Provide rapid investment in a 'Norwich Cycle Network'.
• Encourage walking - make all pelican/puffin crossings instant response (no more that 10 seconds wait on main roads). And we would prioritise putting money into creating more Zebra-crossings, which are cheap and very effective (look for instance at the way installation of a zebra crossing outside St. Andrew's Hall has transformed that piece of roadway).
• Widen footpaths to ensure that Norwich's footpaths are at least national regulation minimum width.
• Encourage cycling - we would put in place a large number of 'Advanced Stop Lines' for cyclists at junctions; and we would ensure that bus and bike lanes remained just that.
• Provide major investment in pedestrian crossings and other pedestrian safety measures across the city, including the closure of more roads to motor vehicles, including Westlegate and St Augustine's Street, and a car-free area around St Peter Street and Gaol Hill.
• Provide rapid investment in making the Norwich road network cycle-friendly, including building the 'Norwich cycle network'.
• Seek to take back control of bus fares, routes and timetables to the councils to ensure a reliable, comprehensive and reasonably-priced network of local bus services (through a Quality Bus Contract).
• Road safety, including 20mph speed limits on residential streets, as a top funding priority.

Transport is currently primarily under the control of the County Council. However, Green City and County Councillors will lobby for these goals and a Green-controlled unitary council for Norwich would be able to introduce them.

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Manifesto

Candidates