Monday 8 March 2010

They want your views !

Manchester City Council and Greater Manchester Passenger Ttransport Executive (GMPTE), in consultation with Salford City Council, have developed a new transport strategy for Manchester city centre and they want your views. Consultations should be submitted by 22nd March 2010.

The introductory blurb for the consultation says that:

"We have identified the need for a  comprehensive strategy to ensure that the transport network can support the significant economic growth forecast to 2020, and delivery of the Strategic Plan for Manchester City Centre published in 2009.   The Strategy sets out a transport masterplan to provide the city centre with a world class transport system and making it a better place to live, work, invest and relax. There is the potential for employment in the city centre to grow by 50,000 by 2020. These new jobs will cause the number of trips into the city centre to grow by a third. To retain essential labour market connectivity, the main thrust of this Strategy must be to maintain access to the city centre by all modes and to strengthen public transport capacity and quality, together with improving conditions for cyclists and pedestrians."

The consultation document is 41 pages long and is available here.   If the Council(s) are serious about making it easier and more enjoyable for people to choose sustainable travel modes to make their journeys into Manchester City Centre, then this strategy needs to include plans for developing effective infrastructure and promotional activities to encourage more people to walk and cycle. It will also need to make clear how these plans are going to be funded.

Please do send in your thoughts - either directly to Manchester City Council or leave a comment here.

No comments:

Post a Comment