Press Releases-Feb 2003
February 2003: Smith welcomes major step forward to transform transportation
The process of transforming transportation in the Belfast Metropolitan Area took a major step forward today according to Parliamentary Under Secretary Angela Smith MP.
The Minister was speaking at the opening of Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan (BMTP) working conference to delegates from throughout the Belfast Metropolitan Area including representatives from the six District Council areas of Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Lisburn, Newtownabbey and North Down.
The Minister said: "This is not just another conference to develop yet another strategy. We are seeking to facilitate consultation on the draft preferred strategy and emerging transport plan with a view to delivering measures on the ground as quickly as possible. "As its name suggests, the Regional Transportation Strategy sets out the overarching strategy for the future development of transportation in Northern Ireland. The BMTP supports this by identifying in more detail the actual schemes that could happen on the ground. "In order to speed up the real work of implementation, we need to produce a transport plan that has the support of the people and is capable of bringing about common sense solutions that meet the transportation needs of the Metropolitan Area up to 2015."
The Minister said that transportation has an essential role to play in helping the entire Belfast Metropolitan Area to improve economic competitiveness and promote social cohesion. She said: "I am anxious to get all the views of the stakeholders so that I can produce a plan in May of this year with the aim of getting work on the ground within the next year, subject to further detailed appraisals and the availability of funding."
The Minister stressed the importance of people using public transport and said: "We will hear lots of ambitious ideas on how public transport should be developed. We will hear that if only public transport was dramatically improved more people would use it. But please, don't make plans for public transport so that 'others' can use it. This is your public transport system."
Consultation has formed a vital element within the BMTP development, with the Working Conference the culmination of numerous previous meetings. Key features of the emerging plan include:
- A step-change in the quality of public transport provision that builds on the current commitments to invest in the core rail network and modernise the bus fleet.
- Creating a local public transport network formed by an ambitious Quality Bus Corridor programme.
- How best to introduce the commencement of the development of a rapid transit network, based on guided bus technology but with the potential to migrate to guided light transit or light rail transit at some point in the future.
- Providing park and ride in each main corridor targeted at journeys to and from central Belfast.
- Highway improvements focused on improving the efficiency and safety of the main strategic road network, supported by traffic management measures to reduce the impact of traffic on the local road network and give priority to certain types of vehicle.
- Demand management through parking restraint, focused on Belfast city centre.
- Improvements in facilities for walking and cycling.
- Measures to change travel attitudes through awareness campaigns and the promotion of travel plans.
The Minister concluded: "I believe that this draft plan represents a balanced package of measures in support of the Regional Transportation Strategy, which was endorsed by the Assembly last July."
Notes to Editors
The Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan (BMTP) is currently being prepared by the Department for Regional Development in conjunction with consultants Atkins. The plan will be framed within a strategy spanning to 2025, and it will outline and prioritise a programme of transport schemes and measures that people can expect to see on the ground by 2015, subject to further detailed appraisals and availability of funding.
The BMTP, which is one of three transport plans related to the implementation of the Regional Transportation Strategy (RTS), is being formulated in a manner that is fully consistent with the principles and strategic objectives of this overarching document
For further information, contact:
Belfast
Metropolitan Transport Plan Team
Hydebank
4 Hospital Rd
Belfast
BT8
8JL
