Youth & Women
Please note that the views expressed in the below consultation summary were recorded during the Reference Group meeting held September 2001 and do not necessarily reflect the views of the BMTP team.
Introduction
Traffic congestion is an important problem but attendees (who were regular public transport users) were primarily concerned about the state of public transport in the Belfast area.
There is a need to improve public transport, however, benefits could be obtained through better use of the rail infrastructure and bus vehicles (through and orbital routes). There is also a requirement to encourage greater use of public transport through promotional initiatives.
Roads Traffic Issues
Given current PT provision the car is a more attractive mode. Its attractiveness is encouraged through the availability of cheap improvised parking within the city centre.
Concern was expressed that the Regional Transport Strategy seemed to suggest that increased car use was inevitable. Attendees thought that this suggested a resigned attitude which would discourage exploration of public transport options
The increase in congestion is likely to be having an impact on the health of people in the city but there is a need to know more about the precise impact.
Public Transport
Public transport provision came in for some criticism including:
General
- Prices go up without evident increases in quality
- Ticketing could be made more automated
Buses
- Buses are not frequent enough at school times
- Student discount on buses in not particularly good (10%)
- Lack of through and orbital routes across the city, necessitating 2 buses to reach destinations and thus lengthening journey times.
- Insufficient number of ‘accessible buses’, these are important for women with small children
- There is a significant decline in services during the evening, requiring travellers to use taxis
- Increased frequency needed on some routes to meet demand
- A more transparent and rational pricing policy is required
- Bus information provision compares poorly to that offered in other countries like Belgium
- Drivers in a rush to meet schedule can affect the safety of travellers
- Particular observations included:
- Policy of blanket exclusion of sudents wearing particular uniforms (following incidents in relation to particular schools) is overly harsh
- Nightline service can be intimidating (sectarian chanting)
Rail
- The rail service is not good: carriages are cold and dirty and the services are too infrequent and slow.
- No rail link to international airport
- Security can be a concern for women in the evening in outlying stations/trains
Cycling/Walking
- Pedestrians appear to come at the bottom of the list of priorities. Some other continental cities accord higher priority to pedestrian travel
- There is insufficient pedestrian lighting in places
- No pedestrian traffic light sequence at Ormeau road and Rosetta Park junctions
- Little provision for pedestrians at busy roundabouts
- Need for a distinguishable cycle lane serving destinations that people want to go to.
Suggested Initiatives and Solutions
As a matter of priority it is important to improve the rail system. But increased frequency of both bus and rail travel would improve attractiveness of PT.
Specific measures should also be taken to improve the attitude among the general public towards the PT system. This is particularly true for young people who could be encouraged to make more use of public transport in the future
Reservations were expressed about a lot of funds in a limited budget were being focused on the EWAY project
Attendees would like to see a reworking of the RTS away from the ‘self-fufilling assertion’ assumption of the continued predominance of car based travel. Walking and cycling, for instance, should be considered as means of taking traffic off the road. However, it was acknowledged that car travel currently offered significant advantages
Home zones should be examined as an option to improve community environments
More investment in PT required but more could be obtained from existing infrastructure especially in relation to trains.
Need to focus on integrating services and need to focus services on where people want to go – universities
Public transport should remain publicly owned
Need for parents, Translink and school authorities to come together and reorganise services at end of school day. Huge demand by pupils not being met. Part of the solution could come from the Walking bus and other initiatives (addressed in Safe Routes to School). As part of this could emphasise the danger of car travel for people in general compared to walking
