Agenda item

The Director of Strategic Partnerships &Integration provided an update on the Rapid Transport Corridors Studies and the progress and outputs of the programme. He also provided an update on the work of the Local Transport Plan and detailed the priority rapid transit corridors, the long-term proposal, and the headline milestones of projects within the programme before highlighting the consistent approach being taken.

Councillor John McNicholas noted that in regard to the regional map, Coventry was only being connected to the rest of the region by rail and asked if there was room for other areas of rapid transport that could connect Coventry to the region. He also asked for clarification on what the proposal for the Foleshill corridor planned to be. The Director of Strategic Partnerships & Integration confirmed that the new station studies would be included in the work being conducted, but also stated that councillors would receive communications for specific areas in relation to Foleshill and Coventry.

Councillor Leslie Kaye asked about passenger demand within the region, the prospect of it further reducing and that the ability to maintain the current bus services. The Director of Strategic Partnerships & Integration responded to say that bus patronage had been declining nationally, including within the West Midlands, over many years, but despite this, efforts were being made to strengthen bus usage, as buses played a key part of the region's transport system. He also reported that one of the key factors behind the decline was the availability of other transport options, making the Local Transport Plan critical for setting strategies to improve accessibility for all residents. He confirmed that this was particularly important in areas with low car ownership, where people relied on public transport for essential needs and that focus was on meeting current demand while also planning for future needs by ensuring new housing and commercial developments were well connected.

Councillor Carol Hyatt asked that Ring & Ride be included within the Local Transport Plan as separate to the Demand Responsive Transport as one was available to all, and one was for vulnerable users only. This was acknowledged and due to be actioned by the Director of Strategic Partnerships.

Councillor Liz Clements requested a report to a future meeting on Very Light Rail and how it fared in comparison to the introductions of bus lanes as an effective way of moving people around. The Director of Strategic Partnerships & Integration agreed to consider this request. Councillor Liz Clements also enquired about the list of milestones and their relatability and validity due to resource constraints for transport projects and the possibility of bringing them forwards. She considered that both mass and rapid transport were very important for both the economy and to meet the needs of those in lower socio-economic situations. The Director of Strategic Partnerships &Integration replied that if the studies on the Rapid Transport Corridors were identified and robust then it would be easier to gain funding through City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement 2 in order to implement the projects. He conceded that the timescales were broad but confirmed that they would be confirmed in due time. He shared that it would be unlikely for funding to be received and projects delivered in one go but the opportunity would be there to prioritise the funding in phases.

As a result of questions from both the Chair and Councillor Robert Alden, discussions were held around the upgrading of sprint and metro projects and the use of disused rails track on metro and Very Light Rail projects. The Director of Strategic Partnerships &Integration confirmed that comprehensive work on the lessons learned from projects both nationally and internationally had been undertaken. He also confirmed that the projects would need to be commercially viable complete with finding the right solution for now and the potential for evolution in the future.

Councillor Pervez Akhtar indicated his support for an integrated transport system and thanked officers for their work, noting the importance of capacity funding. The Director of Strategic Partnerships &Integration explained that this was provided to support early work that could not be funded by the main City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement fund, he confirmed that projects were funded by a combination of sources and all projects would be taken to a certain point to confirm requirements, benefits, funding and other early work deliverables.

Resolved:

The update and progress on the development of the West Midlands Rapid Transit Priority Corridors and associated work programme be noted.