PUBLIC TRANSPORT LONG TERM VISION FOR MILTON KEYNES

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1 PUBLIC TRANSPORT LONG TERM VISION FOR MILTON KEYNES CONSULTATION January 2004 We are seeking comments on the final results and recommendations from a study (November 2003) of a long term vision for public transport for Milton Keynes. English Partnerships and Milton Keynes Council commissioned the study from transport consultants, Faber Maunsell. Could you please comment on the consultant s Study Report and/or Technical Executive Summary by Monday 15 March Your comments will be considered before decisions are taken on the final results and recommendations from the Study Report and should be sent to the address below: Land Use and Transport Strategy Milton Keynes Council PO Box Saxon Gate East Milton Keynes MK9 3HQ Tel: (01908) Fax: (01908) transport.policy@milton-keynes.gov.uk. The Study Report can be viewed at the Civic Offices, at all council libraries (including the mobile library) and on the Internet, in three parts, at We can also provide a CD-ROM version of the Study Report. Additional free copies of the Technical Executive Summary can be ordered from the Land Use and Transport Strategy sources above. Milton Keynes Council

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3 Milton Keynes Council and English Partnerships Public Transport Long Term Vision Technical Executive Summary January 2004

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5 Milton Keynes Public Transport Long Term Vision Study MILTON KEYNES PUBLIC TRANSPORT LONG TERM VISION STUDY Technical Executive Summary - January Introduction This document presents a summary based on the assessments and recommendations from the Study Report (November 2003) which has developed a Public Transport Long Term Vision in Milton Keynes. The Study was jointly commissioned by Milton Keynes Council and English Partnerships and was undertaken by transport consultants, Faber Maunsell. The study started with a wide ranging look at potential future solutions, and then by a process of discussion, consultation, assessment and modelling, arrived at a more specific range of options. The aim was to ensure that the direction of change should be practical, affordable, and involve proven technologies. 2. Long term role of public transport The vision for the long term is that public transport will play a much greater role in the overall transport mix than at present. This involves the mode share of public transport in Milton Keynes being at least 3 to 4 times higher than its present share of around 4%. Given the increase in the city s population by 2031, through the governments growth plans, this would equate to the number of public transport trips per annum rising from about 7 million at present to about 35 to 40 million. This vision cannot be realised without both a great expansion and improvement of public transport services, and the implementation of strong measures to contain the growth in car use. In addition, the vision of a greatly enhanced role for public transport will involve overcoming major obstacles in terms of both the structure of the city, which is not conducive to public transport use, and the culture of the city, whereby people with cars use them, and other modes are used only when a car is not available. The study examined the structure of the city and its suitability for public transport. For example, Milton Keynes was designed to cater for easy travel by car, with high speed roads, plentiful parking and dispersed land uses. This urban structure is ill-suited to the operation and attractiveness of public transport, and it is therefore unsurprising that use of public transport in Milton Keynes is at a level of around half the national average for towns of that size. 3. Linking public transport with city growth The long term vision is highly dependent on plans for the expansion of Milton Keynes. Growth can only take place on a sustainable basis and allowing for provision of sustainable accessibility of both Central Milton Keynes and the rest of the City, including the growth areas. Development and expansion offers the opportunity not only to increase the number of potential public transport passengers, but also to re-structure parts of the city so that such potentials can be realised. There are already firm plans for the restructuring and expansion of Central Milton Keynes, and the study takes these further in 1

6 Milton Keynes Public Transport Long Term Vision Study terms of what is required to enhance public transport access. Expansion of the city s population is also planned to continue, and recent proposals at national and regional level are promoting even higher rates of expansion. Again, if properly handled this can provide both a mechanism and a requirement to shift the balance of travel modes away from the car and towards public transport. The vision is not simply wishful thinking. A higher proportion of travel by public transport is essential to meet two key objectives. First, the cost and difficulty of expanding CMK with current levels of car use would place severe constraints on its development. This in turn would constrain the economic expansion of Milton Keynes. Second, current policy commits all levels of government to developing in ways that are more sustainable than in the past, and reducing or avoiding the growth of car use is an important part of this. 4. The Assessments Procedure and Results Having explored the long term vision in terms of the enhanced role for public transport and how new development can assist this, the study proceeded to model a number of different land-use/transport scenarios with the aim of short listing the preferred combinations of development, public transport network and technologies that would best deliver that vision. Initial scenarios were designed to highlight potential differences between higher and lower densities, and resulting public transport configurations. Broad testing of these scenarios indicated that the more compact and higher density option would produce the best result in terms of take-up of public transport use, and public transport cost. Following this, the assessments included testing of differences in public transport development options against two main land use options. First, the best pro-public transport land use option developed within this study (Option A), and second, the land use option put forward as part of a parallel study by Roger Tym & Partners (Milton Keynes and Aylesbury Vale Growth Area Study) for the South East England Regional Assembly (Option B). These two land use options are presented as Figures 1 and 2. The two options are broadly similar as the terms of reference for both Studies required all work to take full account of sustainability issues. In addition the respective Study teams engaged in extensive consultation during the course of their work. The result of the modelling and testing is that Option A provides a slightly higher travel share for public transport than Option B, but this is unsurprising given that Option A was specifically configured to maximise public transport share. The second part of the modelling exercises was to assess the likely demand for and cost:benefit ratios of different modes of public transport serving Milton Keynes over the period 2002 to For the initial stage of upgrading the public transport system in Milton Keynes, plans for a complete re-structuring and simplification of the bus network and services were developed. This was based on simplification of the current 23 main routes and their numerous variations to 8 diameter routes (serving one extremity of the City through to the opposite 2

7 Milton Keynes Public Transport Long Term Vision Study extremity via Central Milton Keynes) as the core public transport routes in Milton Keynes, each running to a minimum frequency of every 15 minutes based on a simple clockface timetable. This option was referred to as the bus improvement option and formed the basis of all further upgrading options. A broad representation of the eight diameter routes, superimposed on land use option A, is presented as Figure 3. Above: The Civis trolleybus. Building on the upgraded bus network and services, two of the diameter routes are proposed to be further upgraded to a higher level of public transport or a transit system. This consists of about 51 kilometres of public transport route in two corridors. First, a route on a north-south axis, mainly serving existing demand, plus some new higher-intensity development which will also provide support for the regeneration of Bletchley, which formed an important consideration of the client group. Second, a route on an east-west axis mostly serving entirely new developments, on the east and west/south-west of Milton Keynes. A number of assumptions were adopted in testing these further upgraded corridors, including higher quality and image vehicles and critically, segregation from car traffic throughout their route, and where this not physically possible (mainly on the existing older parts of the north-south route through Bletchley, Wolverton and Stony Stratford) provision of extensive priority over car traffic. Three system types were tested for these mass rapid transit type routes, namely segregated busways, Guided Light Transit (GLT) and Tram/Light Rail (LRT). A broad representation of the corridors served by these further upgraded systems is shown in Figure 4. 3

8 Milton Keynes Public Transport Long Term Vision Study Above: Phileas tram-like bus. A list of scenarios tested is set out in Table 1, below: Table 1 - List of Tested Scenarios Busway GLT LRT Do-Min Bus Improv. E-W E-W+N-S E-W E-W+N-S E-W E-W+N-S Option 1 (MKPT) Option 2 (MKAV) Notes: Do-minimum refers to maintaining the current network and services with small improvements. Bus Improvement refers to restructuring of the network and services to the eight diameter routes concept. Of these, the most attractive results, in terms of mode share (ie attractiveness of the system to passengers) came from the Tram/Light Rail (LRT) option. However, neither this nor the GLT option came anywhere close to offering sufficient benefits to justify their high capital cost. The busway option could be delivered at a fraction of the cost, and would be likely to attract between 85% to 95% of the passengers that would be attracted by the more expensive track-based options. The busway option therefore provided the highest economic returns from the selection of upgraded public transport transit systems tested. Chart 1, provides a summary of the public transport mode share against the estimated costs of each of the improvement and upgrading scenarios. Chart 2 provides a summary of the Benefit to Cost ratio and Chart 3 presents the absolute values of discounted costs, benefits and Net Present Values for each of the improvement and upgrading scenarios. It should be noted that figures shown for Busway, GLT and LRT are based on these systems operating on both north-south and east-west corridors together with the remaining six diameter routes operating in the rest of Milton Keynes as high quality bus services with extensive priority. Bus improvement refers to restructuring of the network and services to the eight diameter route concept and Do-minimum scenario refers to continuation of the current network and services with small and reactive improvements. 4

9 Milton Keynes Public Transport Long Term Vision Study Chart forecast public transport mode share* against costs by system type PT Mode share Costs ( m) 16% 14% PT Mode share Costs 13.5% 14.4% 15.6% % 11.2% % 400 8% 7.2% % 200 4% 2% 0% Do min Bus Imp Busway GLT LRT Note: Figures shown are based on the pro-public transport land use option (Option A.) Mode shares shown refer to motorised mode shares, ie Public Transport (PT) as proportion PT and Car. Chart 2 Benefit to Cost Ratio Performance by system type Interpretation of the Benefit / Cost Ratio B/C Ratio 3 Very Good 2.0 Good Poor Very Poor 0.0 Bus Imp Busway GLT LRT 0 Note: Figures shown are based on the pro-public transport land use option A. 5

10 Milton Keynes Public Transport Long Term Vision Study Chart 3 Benefits, Costs and Net Present Values (NPV) by system type 800 Millions Bus Imp Busway GLT LRT Benefits Costs NPV Note: Figures shown are based on the pro-public transport land use option (Option A). It should be noted that, the mode share performance of the east-west route was found to be better than that of the north-south, as the east-west axis is assumed to accommodate a significant proportion of the planned future growth which will be specifically configured to maximise the attraction of public transport. 5. Conclusions on the transport network On the basis of the assessments summarised above, the study concludes that for the long term Milton Keynes should concentrate on developing a radical restructuring of the network and services to include high quality bus routes and facilities, with segregated busways provided on the key routes wherever this is needed to maintain reliability of journey times and protection from the disruptive effects of general road traffic. In addition, every opportunity should be exploited, particularly with respect to the new development sites, to ensure that segregated public transport routes are developed, regardless of whether they form part of the two proposed East-West and North-South upgraded routes, or not. In particular, the infrastructure for any new routes through development areas must be integrated into the master planning and development frameworks prepared for these sites taking account of land use densities to ensure that these sites are developed based on the Public Transport Orientated Development principles set out by the Public Transport Long Term Vision Study. 6

11 Milton Keynes Public Transport Long Term Vision Study 6. Achieving the vision programming change It is not possible to switch from the current low-key system to an enlarged, high quality system in a short time. This is not just about needing time to build infrastructure, but also time needed to develop a culture of public transport in Milton Keynes car-dominated travel environment. The Study therefore sets out a path for achieving the long-term vision that involves changes and investment in the short and medium term. 7. Recap of the Study Recommendations The two most important changes are the radical re-structuring of bus services in the city, and changes to the bus infrastructure in CMK. The bus services should be restructured so that they can appeal to car users as well as non-car users. This will be achieved by a simplification of the present 23 routes with many variations, into 8 diameter routes, as the core public transport routes in Milton Keynes, each running to a minimum frequency of every 15 minutes, increasing overtime to accommodate increased demand. A key part of the recommendation is that the services are regularised on clockface schedules to eliminate the need for carrying detailed timetables. Users will need only to remember the number of minutes past the hour that the bus serves their stop. The restructuring will also enable passengers to get between most origins and destinations in Milton Keynes with no more than one interchange. The interchange itself will take place at one of the groups of comfortable and attractive bus stops on Midsummer Boulevard. These changes will be reinforced by operational improvements including better vehicles, service reliability, ticketing (to allow interchange with no fare penalty), good quality and easy to understand information and facilities at stops. Achievement of the long term vision will involve many further specific assessments, studies and decisions. Some issues have to be tackled immediately, and the resolution may be relatively clear. Other issues will need to be tackled as development occurs, or as a result of further investigations. The most important actions required immediately and in the short term are mostly to do with Central Milton Keynes (CMK). It is important to exploit opportunities for public transport improvement as they arise, and equally important not to allow changes to occur in CMK that would prejudice the long-term vision. The Long Term Public Transport Vision Study recommends a number of actions that need to be taken in the context of land use development, road and traffic management, and bids within the Local Transport Plan context for Government funding towards essential public transport infrastructure. The most important actions relate to the restructuring of bus services for Milton Keynes as a whole; the creation of a bus-only way along Midsummer Boulevard; and the provision of bus priority on all roads within and around CMK where bus operation might otherwise be under threat of delay and disruption from congestion. 7

12 Milton Keynes Public Transport Long Term Vision Study A summary of the key measures (extracted from the full list of recommendations) is set out below. In the short term (up to 2007) Provide high quality attractive bus shelters for all bus stops in Milton Keynes with easy to understand information**; Provide high quality visible interchange facilities at key locations**; Restructure and simplify route numbering; Re-organisation of Milton Keynes Central rail station square to provide priority access for buses over car access; Review the role of the MK Central bus station; Continue to increase the proportion of charged spaces in CMK; Ensure that all new development in CMK and at other locations use shared rather than dedicated parking All new parking access points should be designed and located away from routes that are to become bus-only or bus priority routes. Seek to differentiate travel costs in favour of public transport by ensuring that cost of bus travel is less than car travel using price and availability of car parking. Medium term (2007 to 2011) All CMK bus routes to be focused on Midsummer Boulevard (MSB), and this Boulevard created as a single public transport spine route through CMK*; Midsummer Place and the railway station to become key points of interchange and interconnection for CMK buses**; Reconfigure Midsummer Place to create a true bus mall for use by low/no emission vehicles subject to feasibility studies; Develop extensive bus priority and traffic management measures to be introduced at all junctions, pinch points and accesses approaching CMK**; Improve bus priority routes with judicious infill and other development to create bus user-friendly environments, and to link more effectively with existing development; Develop new Park and Ride sites; Develop real time information system*; Further differentiate in favour of public transport for trips to CMK relative to car travel through price and availability of parking. Long term (Post 2011) Increased frequency and quality of service on the eight core diameter bus routes; Busways constructed on the east-west and a north-south axes; The planning authority must ensure that strict guidelines are in place with respect to structure, configuration and densities of developments; The highway authority, together with the planning authority must ensure that public transport routes and busway routes over the existing network as well as in new development areas are safeguarded. Note: *: funding for these measures has been secured through the Local Transport Plan Annex E bid submitted as part of the LTP Annual Progress Report 2003 process. **: funding for a part of these measures has been secured through the Local Transport Plan Annex E bid submitted as part of the LTP Annual Progress Report 2003 process. 8

13 Figure 1. Land Use Option A

14 Figure 2. Land Use Option B

15 Figure 3. Core Bus Routes and Land Use Option A

16 Figure 4. East-West and North-South corridors