Stepping off the Road to Nowhere: The future of road traffic forecasting and planning

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Government guidelines for transport plans insist on traffic forecasts that are biased towards roads and cars. It is time to consider alternative approaches.

We are very pleased to host David Milner, Deputy Director of Create Streets and author of Computer says road.

Wednesday 12th October, 7pm. Shipley Kirkgate Centre, 39A Kirkgate, BD18 3EH, Room 1.

We will provide refreshments – hot drink, samosas, baklava. The meeting will include the annual report of BSTA and a brief AGM. We hope for a good turnout, so please come and bring a friend.

The Clean Air Zone is up and running

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It sounds as if an area of Bradford has received an award for its clean air! In fact the whole of Bradford within the outer ring-road, plus the valley up to and including all of Shipley, has been selected because of its dirty air. Commercial vehicles will need to have engines that don’t emit so much harmful exhaust, or pay a charge that will go towards further measures to get dirt out of the atmosphere. The Clean Air Zone is required by national government and implemented by Bradford Council.

Bad health due to traffic emissions has been estimated to cost the health services more than half what is collected from Council Tax every year. Over one third of asthma among Bradford’s children is due to traffic fumes.

So Bradford-Shipley Travel Alliance welcomes the Clean Air Zone. It is a crucial first step in tackling air pollution in the city. We would like it to go further, to achieve not just legal air quality but healthy air quality.

That’s what we said in our press release to mark the occasion.

Frizinghall, Manningham and Owlet

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Over the summer Street Space and BSTA have been talking to people who live or work between Shipley and Bradford. We understand the value people put on the convenience of cars for short trips, and at the same time their support for healthier and safer streets. Very few people had heard about the proposed widening of Canal Road and likely impact on rat running to avoid the bottlenecks.

We are planning open meetings to draw on the ideas people have, to raise awareness of the impact of road traffic on health and climate, and to press for alternative transport investment. Watch this space.

Get involved / Meet the author of Computer says Road

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We are here to make sure that the investment to increase road traffic along Canal Road between Bradford and Shipley is used instead for healthier ways of travelling. This is the way to better health, and to global cooling. Come and join us at the next BSTA meeting:

Wednesday 21st September, 7pm, Tambourine Café, Bingley Road, Shipley BD18 4RU.

And here is advance notice for our public meeting:

Road Traffic Forecasts, by David Milner author of ‘Computer says road’

Wednesday 12th October, 7pm, Kirkgate Centre, Shipley BD18 3EH

David Milner argues that traffic forecasts are unreliable and build in a bias that encourages road expansion. He says residents and communities can control how cities should look and feel.  This meeting will incorporate a short AGM where we will receive a report of work and elect the Travel Alliance committee.

Our concerns about increased traffic in Bradford, and our health factsheet, had good publicity in the Telegraph and Argus on 11th August, with a follow-up becoming the lead letter on 16th August.

Streets for People go live

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Road-end closures are being put in over the summer in the Active Travel Neighbourhoods in Bradford. The aim is to make roads safer by reducing traffic on side roads. Bradford Council’s Consultation is open for six months to assess your reaction to the changes.

Measures like these have been labelled ‘Streets for People’ by George Monbiot, who points out that traffic grew by just 36% on minor roads between 1995 and 2019 and has surged since 2010. On major roads it rose by just 1% in the same period. Some of the rise has been encouraged by satnav driving.

He says that as local streets become more dangerous, fewer local people are prepared to walk or cycle so they, too, turn to their cars. Measures to reduce traffic cutting through on minor roads are key to Active Travel Neighbourhoods, called Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in some places.

Despite opposition these measures are usually welcomed, and their success is seen by roads being reclaimed by people walking and using the space outside their houses for leisure and social activities.