University of Birmingham School Travel Plan September 2013 Weoley Park Road Birmingham B29 6QU Travel Plan Contact: Gill Brook 0121 675 6935 Type: Secondary/Sixth Form Page 1
Table of Contents 1. Introduction... 3 Purpose of the Report... 4 Related initiatives... 5 2. School Profile... 6 Staff and Student Numbers... 6 School Catchment Area... 6 3. Existing Transport Options... 7 Pedestrian Access... 7 Access by Bicycle...7-8 Rail Access... 9 Access by Bus... 9-10 4. Travel Patterns and Mode Share Information... 11 School Census Data... 11-14 5. Accessibility... 15 Introduction... 15-16 6. Development Proposal... 17 Parking Provision... 17 Cycle Parking... 17 Summary... 17 7. Transport Issues... 18-19 8. Travel Plan Initiatives... 20 9. Sustainable Travel Action Plan... 22 Main Objectives... 22-27 10. Monitoring and Review... 28 Monitoring... 28 Review... 28 11. Summary and Conclusion... 29 Page 2
1. Introduction 1.1 The is a new school development and the school will be required to be proactive in ensuring the safety of pupils travelling to the site and encouraging, once occupied, students to walk to school. This travel plan has been produced to support a planning application. The school is proposing to have a phased pupil intake over a 5 year period. The proposed number of pupils is 750 in years 7-11 (150 pupils per year group) and 400 pupils in the sixth form (200 pupils per year group). The school will have 1150 pupils by end of the process. In addition, there will be 50 Initial Teacher Training Students (ITT). 1.2 The travel plan includes measures to mitigate the effect of a substantial number of new students travelling to the school by promoting sustainable modes of travel e.g. walking, cycling and public transport. With the phased introduction of the new cohort, specific students can be targeted to encourage sustainable travel. 1.3 The school is easily accessed on foot in any direction from the surrounding area, with well lit footways provided on both sides of the A38 Bristol Road and Weoley Park Road. The A38 Bristol Road runs from north-east to the south-west in the vicinity of the site and forms a major route between the city centre and junction 4 of the M5 motorway. Figure 1.1 School location Page 3
Figure 1.2 Photograph showing current school site Purpose of the Report 1.4 This School Travel Plan (STP) will act as supporting information for the planning application. It will help evaluate what impact the proposed development will have on the local highway network, and discusses sustainable travel options which could mitigate the effect of the large number of journeys being made to the school. Related Programmes 1.5 There are well documented benefits of active travel. The majority of regular exercise is achieved through everyday activities such as travelling to school. Engaging in regular physical activity such as cycling and walking to school can improve the health of children and determine patterns of behaviour later in life. There are national and regional policies to support the STP process as well as related programmes linked to promoting active and sustainable travel for example the Healthy Schools Programme. These related initiatives are set out below: Page 4
Figure 1.3 Related initiatives Healthy Schools Programme Physical activity is a key theme Sustainable Modes of Travel Strategy Promoting sustainable travel to school Bikeability and Road Safety Training Improving safety on the school journey University of Birmingham School Travel Plan Eco Schools and Sustainable Schools School travel plan contributes to both OFSTED School travel plans demonstrate a commitment to a partnership approach Walk to School Campaigns & School Travelwise Promotional campaigns and tools to encourage sustainable travel Page 5
2. School Profile 2.1 This section provides information about the school and how the site is used. It includes information about accessibility to and from the school by the different transport modes. Staff and Student Numbers 2.2 Based on information received from the University of Birmingham, the current estimate for the number of full-time equivalent staff at the (UoBS) is 120. In addition there will be a maximum of 50 initial teacher training students (ITT s) on the site at one time, however there will typically be only 25 ITT s on-site who will undertake their training at the UoBS whilst the remaining 25 ITT s will undertake their training at other school placements in Birmingham. School Catchment Area 2.3 This school may have a wide catchment area, at the moment we are unable to specify where students will be travelling from as we have been unable to collect pupil data. We can however give examples of other schools in the area and how far their pupils are willing to travel. Based on this it is anticipated that approximately 50% of students will leave within 2km of the school and 74% within 3km of the school. There are good public transport links to the school site and it is expected that many students will travel by public transport. 2.4 The UoBS admissions policy states that pupil places will be allocated to four nodes across the city, based on the proximity of the applicants home address to the main entrance of the nearest nodal point. The nodes which have been selected for the UoBS site are: Hall Green Rail Station, Small Heath Rail Station and Jewellery Quarter. These nodes have been selected as being representative of Birmingham in terms of factors such as socio economics and ethnicity, as well as being areas where there is a predicted shortage of secondary school places. 2.5 The following proportion of places will be allocated to each node: 50% around UoBS site, 16.7% around Hall Green Station, 16.7% around Small Heath Station and 16.7% around the Jewellery Quarter station. This equates to 75 pupils living locally and 25 pupils from each of the nodes. Current Facilities 2.6 Access for cyclists will be from the site frontage on Weoley Park Road, with a marked cycle route leading to the secure cycle parking area. The development includes provision of 72 covered, secure cycle parking spaces at the front of the school. Page 6
3. Existing Transport Options 3.1 The accessibility of the school by different modes of transport will impact on the travel behaviour of students attending the school. The following sections set out the infrastructure and service provision for each of the main modes of travel. Pedestrian Access 3.2 The main pedestrian access to the site is at the site frontage on Weoley Park Road. In addition, provision has been made for users of the car park and drop off/pick up facility to the rear of the school. Access by Bicycle 3.3 There are cycling routes around. These are illustrated in figure 3.1 which is sourced from Birmingham City Council. The school is situated very close to the Birmingham Advisory Cycle Network (yellow). These routes are supported by specific cycle facilities where required. The advisory network of unsigned recommended routes, directs cyclists along quiet roads which link to most city destinations. There will be cycle storage for 72 cycles on site. Figure 3.1 Cycling routes serving Page 7
3.4 Birmingham City Council s Local Sustainable Transport Fund Project includes a proposal to upgrade the existing signalled controlled pedestrian crossing to the north of the A38 Bristol Road/Weoley Park Road junction to a Toucan crossing, which would allow cyclists to safely cross from the cycle route on one side of Bristol Road and the other. The proposals also include a possible cycle link between Weoley Park Road and College Walk, subject to agreement with the landowner. 3.5 The site has good accessibility for cyclists travelling from the surrounding area with figure 3.2 showing the areas accessible within a 20 minute journey from the site, based on a cycling speed of 4.2m/s. BCC have been successful in securing a bid from the Cycling Ambition Fund to make further infrastructure improvements across the city. 3.6 Northfield, Kings Norton, Bournville, Selly Oak and University (of Birmingham) railway stations are all within cycling distance of the proposed development, offering opportunities for linked trips. 3.7 In terms of cycling infrastructure within the existing site, there are five Sheffield cycle stands located outside the OLRC building, to the south of the development site. Figure 3.2 Cycling Isochrones Page 8
Rail Access 3.8 The closest national rail station to the site is Selly Oak which is a 13 minute walk to the site and is operated by London Midland. The station lies on the Cross- city line between Redditch, Birmingham and Lichfield. Services from Selly Oak are summarised in the table below 3.9 Station facilities at Selly Oak include a car park with 376 spaces including 15 accessible spaces, 16 cycle parking spaces, real time information boards, ticket machine and ticket office staffed from 6.00-21.00, Monday to Friday, 07.00 21.00 on Saturdays and 9.00 19.00 on Sundays. A secure cycle parking cycle hub was installed at the station in 2014. This is accessed by a swipe card system that users pay a 20 returnable deposit for. Figure 3.3 Typical journey time and frequency of rail services at Selly Oak station. Destination Typical Journey Time (mins) Approximate weekday frequency (mins) Bournville 2 10 Kings Norton 4 10 Northfield 7 10 Longbridge 11 10 University 3 10 Five Ways 7 10 Birmingham New Street 10 10 Sutton Coldfield 33 10 Lichfield 48 30 Access by Bus Page 9
Weoley Park Road bus service Route Number Operator Route description Frequency X64 National Express West Midlands Rubery Great Park to City Centre Monday to Friday Every 20 minutes Bristol Road bus services Route Number Operator Route description Frequency 61 Various Operators Birmingham-Gannow Via Bristol Road, Frankley Monday to Friday Every 8-12 minutes or 63 National Express West Midlands 98 National Express West Midlands 144 National Express West Midlands Birmingham Rubery, Great Park via Bristol Road Birmingham to Great Park Birmingham to Bromsgrove less Monday to Friday Every 8-12 minutes or less Monday to Friday Every 20 minutes Monday to Friday Every 30 minutes Oak Tree Lane/Harborne Lane bus service Route Number Operator Route description Frequency 11A National Express West Midlands Birmingham Outer Circle anticlockwise via Harborne Lane/Oak Tree Monday to Friday Every 8-12 11C National Express West Midlands Birmingham Outer Circle clockwise via Oak Tree Lane/Harborne Lane minutes Monday to Friday Every 8-12 minutes Page 10
4. Travel Patterns and Mode Share Information School Census Data 4.1 This school could potentially have a wide catchment area. At the moment we are unable to specify where students will be travelling from as we have been unable to collect pupil data. We can however give examples of other schools in the area and how far their pupils are willing to travel. 4.2 Please see below information we have gathered from schools located within a similar area to the. These examples show current modes of travel and the distances the pupils travel. 4.3 Travel patterns have been predicted taking into account the nodal approach to admissions that the school is using. Local pupils and wider area pupils have been considered separately. For pupils and sixth form students that live locally, the modal splits for Bournville School were used. This school is similar in size and location, in terms of distance to public transport links and distance from A38 and is therefore more appropriate than taking an average of all local schools. For the wider area pupils, the Green Bus company were consulted over the uptake of their services at similar schools in order to estimate the number of pupils and sixth formers that would travel by the dedicated bus. The walking levels recorded for Bournville School were discounted and the other modes adjusted, to reflect the distance between the school site and the three nodes. 4.4 As further education students, it is envisaged that the ITTs will follow a similar pattern to the higher education students at the University of Birmingham in terms of their choice of transport to the UoBS. Roll Number 2012 Walking % 2012 Cycling % 2012 Car % 2012 Car Share % 2012 Public Transport % 2012 Taxi % 2012 Other % 2012 Total Pupils School Name Bournville School and Sixth Form Centre: Business Enterprise College 1152 44.9 1.1 16.7 0.8 34.5 1.6 0.5 1152 Dame Elizabeth Cadbury Technology College 592 18.3 2 21.7 1.4 53.1 2.9 0.5 592 Harborne Academy 481 4.1 0 12.4 1.6 81.7 0 0.2 481 Lordswood Girls and the Sixth Form Centre Harborne 870 35.5 0.3 37.7 5.4 19.9 0 1.2 870 Queensbridge School 691 50.9 3.1 24.1 1 20.1 0.7 0 691 St Paul's Catholic School for Girls 957 6.7 0.1 16 0.5 76.1 0.4 0 957 Table 4.1 Travel Statistics for local schools (%) Page 11
Total Blank Total Car / Van Total Car Share Total Cycle Total Private Bus Total Bus Total Train Total Taxi Total Walk School Name Total Other Bournville School and Sixth Form Centre: Business Enterprise College 71 180 9 12 371 2 17 485 5 Dame Elizabeth Cadbury Technology College 40 120 8 11 293 16 101 3 Harborne Academy 45 54 7 355 1 18 1 Lordswood Girls and the Sixth Form Centre Harborne 117 284 41 2 1 149 267 9 Queensbridge School 110 140 6 18 2 115 4 296 St Paul's Catholic School for Girls 43 146 5 1 260 422 14 4 61 Proportion of pupils travelling within Name of School Bournville School Dame Elizabeth Cadbury Lordsword Girls St Paul's School for Girls Queensbridge School 1k 2k 3k 4k 5k 10k 20 >20 Total 193 479 335 77 20 40 7 1 1152 18 220 234 55 28 33 2 2 592 94 460 230 25 14 41 6 0 870 43 76 107 126 98 392 110 5 957 147 418 82 17 11 15 1 691 Table 4.2 Travel figures of local schools total numbers Page 12
Table 4.3 Predictions made for pupil and sixth form students travel Mode split of local pupils and students Mode Mode Share Number of Pupils Number of Students Total Walk 44.9% 168 17 185 Cycle 1.1% 4 0 4 Car 16.7% 63 6 69 Car Share 0.8% 3 0 3 Public Transport 34.5% 130 13 143 Taxi 1.6% 6 1 7 Other 0.5% 2 0 2 Modal Split of Sixth Form Students from the wider area Mode % mode share students Number of Students Walk 0 0 Cycle 0.9% 3 Car 13.3% 48 Car Share 0.6% 2 Dedicated school bus 39.0% 141 Public transport bus 27.5% 100 Rail 17.0% 62 Taxi 1.3% 5 Other 0.4% 1 Page 13
Table 4.4 Modal split of ITTs Mode % mode Number of ITT s Walk 55% 27 Cycle 4% 2 Car Driver 9% 5 Car Share 3% 1 Public transport bus 12% 6 Rail 17% 9 Motorcycle 0% 0 Table 4.5 Predicted modal Split for UoBS pupils (7-11) Sixth form students and ITT s Mode % mode split Number of People Walk 17.7 212 Cycle 1.3 16 Car 20.6 247 Car Share 0.9 11 Dedicated school bus 30.5 366 Public transport bus 20.8 249 Rail 5.9 71 Taxi 1.8 22 Other 0.5 6 Page 14
5. Isochrones Introduction This note presents current isochrones to the site ranging from 0-5 minutes up to 16-20 minutes travelling by bike to the school site. Figure 5.1: Isochrones for cycling at Page 15
Figure 5.2: Isochrones for walking to the site Page 16
6. Development Proposal 6.1 This section sets out the development proposals and summarises the implications for student and staff numbers. 6.2 The proposal is to demolish the existing buildings on the development site, including the Hamilton Building, Frank Price building, Brooksbank building and Mary Burnie House, and to construct a new University Training School with associated bus and car parking facilities to the front of the school and a pick up/drop-off area to the rear. 6.3 Based on information received from the University of Birmingham, the current estimate for the number of full time staff at the UoBS is 120. In addition there will be a maximum of 50 initial Teacher Training Students (ITT s) on site at one time; however their will typically be only 25 ITT s on site who will undertake their training at the UoBS, whilst the remaining 25 ITT s undertake their training at other school placements in Birmingham. The proposed number of pupils is 750 pupils in years 7-11 (150 pupils per year group) and 400 pupils in the sixth form (200 pupils per year group). However it should be noted that the school will not be fully occupied until 2019. 6.4 It is proposed that the UoBS will have an extended school day, with a breakfast club and after school activities. This would result in a school day running from 8.30am to 4.30pm. Not all pupils will attend the breakfast club, however the majority of pupils will be expected to stay behind for the after school activities until 4.30pm. Parking Provision 6.5 There are three existing vehicular accesses at the site frontage on Weoley Park Road. It is proposed that the two accesses closest to the Weoley Park Road/Bristol Road junction will be replaced by a new entry only vehicular access, to be constructed between the two. This will provide access for the dedicated school bus service, visitors to the school, disabled motorist and motorcycle riders. 6.6 The existing vehicular access to the west of those described above, that leads to the existing internal access road known as Hamilton Drive will be retained under the proposals and will be used as an egress by the vehicles described above. The junction will allow two way access for vehicles travelling along Hamilton Drive to the rear of the school. These will include parents undertaking drop off and pick ups, delivery and service vehicles. Staff parking will be provided to the rear of the school. 6.7 Following the public consultations that were held during summer 2013, a decision was made to utilise the Johnston House car park for school users. This car park is accessible via the existing well-established access road that adjoins the A38 Bristol Road (northbound) via a priority junction. Cycle Parking 6.8 Access for cyclists will be taken from the site frontage on Weoley Park Road, with a marked cycle route leading to the secure cycling parking area. The development includes provision of covered, secure cycle parking for 72 bikes at the front of the school. Improved Access Arrangements 6.9 As discussed in previous sections access has been looked at and improvements made to accommodate all modes of travel to the site. Summary 6.10 Initiatives set out in section 8 are intended to be used by the school to encourage staff and pupils to travel by alternative modes. Page 17
7. Transport Issues 7.1 It is anticipated that a significant number of pupils will travel by public transport. At this present time we are unable to know exactly how pupils will be travelling to school, but local empirical information has provided predicted figures for pupil travel. It is anticipated that the majority of pupils will be travelling on public transport, and the school is looking at either dedicated bus services (or piggy-backing on existing services to other schools) to serve the catchment nodes for the school and/or discounted travel on existing public services. A parent drop off and pick up facility is to be provided on site to alleviate congestion on Weoley Park Road. 7.2 The has good pedestrian linkages to a number of locations and facilities and will also be accessible via frequent transport services. This will ensure that this development is highly sustainable through the provision of pedestrian and cycle links and accessibility by the local and dedicated bus services. 7.3 The school have put a number of measures in place to help alleviate the congestion around Weoley Park Road at the peak congestion start and finish school times, these are: Drop-off/Pick-up Loop Operation 7.4 For parents undertaking pupil drop-offs and pick-ups, a loop will be created to the rear of the school building, through the existing OLRC car park. This approach has been taken as it brings these cars off the public highway and into the site, therefore minimising any effects on the local highway network. The length of the proposed route that vehicles will take within the site ensures that there is considerable queuing capacity, which can accommodate a large number of vehicles off the local highway network. The vehicles using this facility will enter from Weoley Park Road at the existing Hamiton Drive junction. Following the Public Consultation that was held during summer 2013, a decision was made to utilise the Johnstone House car park for school users. 7.5 Looking at the proportions of travel modes at other schools in the area, car use is particular high. The provision of dedicated bus services to the school will help to reduce this further, provided it offers a sustainable travel solution. The number of cars travelling to the school will be low to begin with, as the school will fill up year on year through the phased entry of academic year groups, reaching full occupation in 2019. 7.6 Following concerns raised by local residents regarding potential parental parking issues in the vicinity of the school, the District Engineer is looking at measures to prevent such issues occurring and will consult with community members. A site meeting also took place to look at the location of the existing bus stops on Bristol Road, and their proximity to existing formal crossing points that it is intended pupils will use. Buses 7.7 The school is committed to encouraging and supporting pupils to using public transport where possible, as a sustainable and affordable mode of transport, both on the journey to and from school and outside school. It is the intention to produce specific guidance for pupils and families regarding bus routes, and to work in conjunction with National Express to promote the discounted Term Plus travelcard that pupils attending the school will qualify for. The pass is available to all young people aged 5-15 and 16-18 years old in full time education. The school will also continue to collaborate with the University and National Express to review local bus routes to help improve the services for local people and students. 7.8 The school is also investigating a number of possible dedicated bus routes. Initial negotiations with the Green Bus Company have looked at the possibility of piggy-backing on existing bus Page 18
services to other secondary schools that currently pass close to the University School site. Six bus parking bays will be provided in an echelon arrangement at the site frontage. These will allow for independent bus company arrivals, parking manoeuvres and departures for maximum flexibility. Buses will turn into the site from the new entry only access on Weoley Park Road, and will pull into the furthest available bay and load and unload pupils, and then exit onto Weoley Park Road. 7.9 It is anticipated that these bus services would transport a significant number of pupils from the wider area, in addition to services on existing routes. The routes will be planned using the pupil postcodes, to ensure that the routes are convenient to a large number of pupils. As the postcode data for the first pupil admission at the school is not available, the exact routing of these services is not yet known. The dedicated buses will use existing public bus stops on their routes. This suggests that in addition to pupils travelling from the wider area, pupils living in the local catchment area may choose to board the dedicated school bus. These buses will arrive 15-20 minutes before the school day and will depart 10-15 minutes after the school day ends. Pupils will be assigned a bus and will continue to use this bus as long as needed. Bus passes will be sold to students and parents. 7.10 In terms of staff travel, the school is investigating the possibility of offering a discounted bus pass for staff, as well as promoting other forms of sustainable travel, for example a cycle scheme. Cycling and Walking 7.11 Have been discussed in other parts of the plan and have shown that these are variable form of transport. Conclusion 7.12 The site is easily accessible to sustainable modes of travel and the new school will promote the use of these modes. In addition, the school have put in place a number of measures to reduce congestion and the site is conveniently located to offer realistic alternatives choices to the private car. Page 19
8. Travel Plan Initiatives Local School Travel Initiatives 8.1 There are many local school travel initiatives that could benefit the school. A brief description of these is set out below. Promotional Campaigns 8.2 The Smarter Choices Team at Birmingham City Council work together to run Bike Week initiatives with city schools in order to encourage modal shift. Bike Week is held in June each year, and all schools with travel plans in place are offered resources and information to promote the event. Transition Training 8.3 A large part of the Smarter Choices Team s work is delivered in schools where road safety is part of the Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) curriculum. The team offers transition training that helps pupils prepare for the moving on up from primary to secondary school. Cycle Promotion 8.4 Cycling is promoted through the TravelWise travel awareness campaign in the West Midlands. BCC has supported numerous promotional activities and campaigns during the life of the strategy, for example Bike Week, TravelWise Week and Active Travel Day. In addition, cycling is promoted and encouraged within the schools to staff and pupils through the STP initiatives and through the Smarter Choices Team at Birmingham City Council. Healthy Schools Programme 8.5 The National Healthy School Programme provides a model of partnership working between the health service and schools, with the aim of promoting a coherent and holistic message about the importance of a healthy lifestyle. A healthy school promotes physical and emotional health by providing accessible and relevant information and equipping pupils with the skills and attitudes to make informed decisions about their health. STPs support the work of the Healthy Schools Team and a large amount of joint promotion is carried out. Birmingham s Smarter Choices Team contribute to accreditation for the standard and feedback to the Healthy Schools Quality Assurance Group. School TravelWise 8.6 School TravelWise is a website which provides detailed information on school travel infrastructure and bespoke journey planning to encourage sustainable and active travel to school. Schools are asked to register on the site to receive their own school web page, and schools are then in charge of entering more in-depth information onto this page such as school activities, term dates and images. The facility includes: - A search facility to find your closest schools - Bespoke journey planning for bus, rail, road and walking routes. - Information on carbon savings and calories burned if non-car travel modes are chosen. - Mapping of transport facilities around a school such as: crossing points, local bus stops, cycle routes, park and stride locations. Page 20
Summary Table 8.7 Summary Table 8.1 sets out the school travel initiatives that will be implemented by the to support this travel plan. Initiative Staff Parents/Students Undertake a baseline travel survey Prepare and submit annual monitoring report Promotion of national awareness days such as Bike Week Register on School Travelwise Undertake bikeability training Hold Road Safety Workshops Provide bicycle storage and shower facilities for cyclist and pedestrians. Repeat travel surveys on an annual basis Continuation of promotional schemes and the updating of information Identify pupils living within 1km of the school who travel by car and encourage them to walk. Regularly promote active travel to pupils to help achieve the target set in the school s travel plan. Regularly support and encourage independent use of public transport Regularly promote and monitor the dedicated bus service to both students/parents/staff Regularly promote and monitor the Drop-off and pick up loop service to both students/parents/staff Table 8.1 Summary of School Travel Activity Page 21
9. Sustainable Travel Action Plan Main Objectives 9.1 The main objectives of this travel plan are: - Increase levels of walking to school and reduce levels of car use. - Raise parental awareness of safety and sustainability issues - Improve the road safety awareness of pupils. - Encouraging more pupils to travel to school by bicycle. - Promotion of sustainable transport choices Objective 1: Increase levels of walking to school and reduce levels of car use. Target Actions Date Responsibility Monitoring and Review Plans To increase the number of To continue to promote travelling to school May 2016 To continue to pupils travelling on foot to by foot through national campaigns or gather pupil school by 3% to 21% by 2017 school curriculum census using a baseline of 18% in 2013 information to reflect this Note that the above figure for 2013 are using predictive figures, as no actual figure will be available until 2015 when the school is open. To promote travelling by foot at new parent induction meetings. To promote active travel at parents meetings, welcome evenings. July 2015 September 2015 Principal Senior Management Team Principal Information for parents Sample letters kept for reference Impact Increase numbers of pupils walking to school. Parents know, understand and support the STP Fewer cars being parked inappropriately Page 22
Objective 2: Raise parental awareness of safety and sustainability issues Target Actions Date Responsibility Monitoring and Review Plans To ensure that ALL parents at July 2015 the school have access to information on an annual basis For the School Travel Plan s ethos and objectives to be integrated into the school prospectus. To promote sustainable transport choices to parents at new intake meetings. To remind parents of the dangers of inappropriate parking around the school site, and to promote the drop off and pick up loop system. September 2015 Principal Senior Management Team Principal Keep copy of prospectus and ensure included in future revisions. Sample letters kept for reference Impact Parents know, understand and support the STP Fewer cars being parked inappropriately Page 23
Objective 3 : Improve the road safety awareness of pupils. Target Actions Date Responsibility Monitoring and Review Plans Take part in Walking Campaigns each year. To offer road safety training for year 7 as they school increases offer to appropriate year groups Pupils to be encouraged to take part in national campaign. To re-invite a Road Safety Officer to discuss a programme of road safety training for all year groups. (Smarter Choices Team on 0121 303 7683) May 2016 PHSE Co-ordinator November 2015 PHSE Co-ordinator To keep records for future use Impact To encourage more walking to school, fewer cars, congestion reduced. Consider sustainable travel options Highlight rights of responsibilities on public transport and the dedicated bus service To look at transition training workshop on for travelling by bus or train. (Smarter Choices Team on 0121 303 7683) To develop a code of conduct September 2015 and June 2016 September 2015 PHSE Co-ordinator School Council To keep records To keep a record for future use. To improve the pupils skills when transferring from primary to secondary school. Page 24
Objective 4 : Encouraging more pupils to travel to school by bicycle. Target Actions Date Responsibility Monitoring and Review Plans To reduce the amount of cars To offer Bikeability to Year 7 (Smarter July 2016 To keep records and enable pupils to cycle Choices Team on 0121 303 7683) PHSE of the pupils safely. Co-ordinator trained for the review To promote local walking and cycling routes around the school to pupils and parents September 2015 To keep records of the number of pupils walking and cycling to school Impact To encourage pupils to travel in a more sustainable manner and reduce congestion around the school gate. Page 25
Objective 5: The promotion of sustainable transport choices to reduce congestion on local highway Target Actions Date Responsibility Monitoring and Review Plans The promotion of sustainable transport choices To increase the use of the dedicated bus 3% to 34% by 2017 using a baseline of 31% in 2013 To increase the use of public transport by 3% to 24% by 2017 using a baseline of 21% in 2013 Note that the above figure for 2013 are using predictive figures, as no actual figure will be available until 2015 when the school is open. To promote the use of public transport and also monitor the dedicated bus service being offered by the school through the school prospectus, pupil induction days, newsletters (The dedicated bus service will operate where it offers a sustainable transport solution) To promote and monitor the drop off and pick up loop system being offered by the school through school prospectus, pupil induction days, newsletters (The dedicated bus service will operate where it offers a sustainable transport solution) September 2015 September 2015 Principal and Senior Management team Principal and Senior Management team To keep records of usage for promotional purposes and school records To keep records of usage for promotional purposes and school records Impact To encourage pupils to travel in a more sustainable manner and reduce congestion around the school gate. Page 26
Objective 6: The promotion of sustainable transport choices to the staff Target Actions Date Responsibility Monitoring and Review Plans The promotion of sustainable transport choices To promote and monitor the sustainable transport choices to the staff e.g. cycle to work schemes, discounted bus passes To mark up the staff park with 2+ spaces to promote car sharing among staff members as the demand for car parking increasing as the school grows. To explore the possibility of extending to school staff, the University of Birmingham s interest-free season ticket loans to benefit members of staff who wish to use public transport to commute to work. September 2015 Principal and Senior Management team April 2015 Principal and Senior Management team July 2015 Principal and Senior Management team To keep records of usage for promotional purposes and school records To keep records of usage for promotional purposes and school records Impact To encourage staff to travel in a more sustainable manner and reduce congestion around the school gate. Page 27
10. Monitoring and Review Monitoring -All feedback and comments made by the various stakeholders over the 12 months will be recorded and considered when reviewing the travel plan. - All incidents which could have impacted on the travel plan, including accidents outside the school, poor parking or complaints by residents etc will all be recorded. - Monitoring of the drop off and pick up loop system and the dedicated bus and the road outside the school..- Monitoring of comments and complaints made by residents regarding traffic congestion or inappropriate parking will all be recorded. Review -The Travel Survey will be repeated every year and undertaken by the Principal and school staff. - The review will consider pupils needs arising from new development in education and transport provision and the STP will be revised as necessary to take account of these. -The school travel plan measures will be incorporated into the school development plan. - The school will continue to make contact with the School Travel Plan Advisor every year for help and a progress up-date. -An annual review with the Head Teacher and Assistant Head, School Governors, will take place. - Review and resurvey of pupils every year. Page 28
11. Summary and Conclusion 11.1 The proposal is to demolish the existing building on the development site and to construct a new University Teaching School with associated bus and car parking facilities to the front and rear of the school. 11.2 The school is located in an area that is easily accessible by walking, cycling and public transport. A number of measures have been put in place to deter parking on the local highway network, such as a drop-off and pick-up loop on the site to allow parents to drive their children to school without causing congestion on Weoley Park Road during the peak drop-off and pickup times of the school day. The Johnston House car park to the south of the school is also available for school users and the intention is to support students to develop independent use of public transport, as well as to operate a dedicated school bus service, provided it offers a sustainable travel solution. 11.3 School census information available from surrounding schools has been used to indicate how their pupils are likely to travel to school. Data from other school s mode of transport shows that the most popular way to travel for pupils is by bus. This indicates that the majority of pupils are likely to travel by public transport or a dedicated bus service. 11.4 The long term target of the travel plan is to achieve high levels of sustainable travel on the journey to and from school and measures are in place to achieve this. 11.5 The school will eventually have a large number of pupils travelling to its site. It is hoped that many of these will choose to do so by sustainable modes of travel to reduce the congestion around the school gate. The school will monitor this year on year as the school expands and continue to promote the measures they have put in place as their location offers a realistic alternative to the car. 11.6 In terms of staff travel, the possibility of the University extending their interest-free public transport season ticket loans to staff is being explored, as well as the cycle scheme. Both of these measures will reduce demand for staff parking on-site. Page 29