Residents and businesses on the Isle of Wight are being urged to have their say on a proposed 30-year transport strategy for the South East which aims to improve journeys, boost the economy and protect the environment.
The strategy outlines how, with the right investment in our region’s transport network, the South East’s economy will more than double by 2050 to between £450billion and £500billion per year – creating an additional 500,000 jobs, boosting quality of life and access to opportunities for all and helping cut the South East’s carbon emissions to net-zero.
The strategy does not cover cross-Solent or other ferry crossings, however.
It has been produced by Transport for the South East, a unique partnership bringing together local authorities, business leaders and transport organisations to speak with one voice on our region’s transport priorities.
A major focus of the strategy is reducing the region’s reliance on private cars to reduce congestion, cut carbon emissions and improve air quality. Today, cars account for 70% of all journeys in the South East compared to just 4% by rail and 5% by bus. It also highlights how better transport links can support economic growth around our key international gateways, such as Southampton and Portsmouth, which are vital to the local, regional and national economy.
To do this, the strategy sets out a 30-year framework to guide decisions about where, when and how money is invested in the South East’s transport network, along with a range of schemes and initiatives to make sustainable travel easier and more attractive to people and businesses. These could include better and faster rail journeys, improved links to ports and airports, a real-terms freeze on rail fares, cheaper off-peak fares and extra funding to protect and enhance vital bus services.
The Isle of Wight Council is represented on Transport for the South East’s board by cabinet member for infrastructure and transport, Councillor Ian Ward.
Cllr Ward said:
“The Isle of Wight is an important part of the South East region and many businesses here rely upon efficient and effective transport within the region and beyond.
Successful delivery of the proposed thirty-year transport strategy for the South East will have huge benefits to the Island’s economy and accessibility, and link us more closely to vital services and business partners across the region.”
The draft transport strategy identifies priorities for future investment by looking at the challenges people and businesses will face in moving around the region and the opportunities these present to support sustainable economic growth.
These include a range specific schemes as well as wider policies and initiatives. For example, the strategy argues for greater use of new and emerging technology such as connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs) to boost connectivity. It makes the case for policy changes to enable more joined up planning, particularly between transport and housing, to help reduce the need to travel and build more sustainable communities. And the strategy also recognises that tough decisions will need to be made about how, not if, we manage demand on the busiest parts of our transport networks.
The final transport strategy is due for publication in April 2020, with a strategic investment plan planned for publication in 2021. This will provide a prioritised, costed and deliverable list of schemes, initiatives and policies to start turning the South East’s vision into reality.
To read the draft transport strategy and take part in the consultation, go to www.tfse.org.uk/transport-strategy. The deadline for responses is Friday 10th January 2020.
The ‘Public’ may get a ‘say’ but it won’t be taken into consideration UNLESS it is what they were going to do anyway.
All the time the UK embarks upon mass immigration, more building, more traffic, and more stress will be forthcoming. Especially as these new people often have huge families, and imagine how many extra people there will be when their offspring all start reproducing.
My vision of the future will be that ‘private’ ownership of a personal car will be only available to the elite, as roads will never cope if the growing masses are all private car owners.
The rest of us will have to rely on electric driverless taxis, which will take us to work, or shopping, or hospitals etc, drop us off, then return to out of town bases to await the next call, or to be recharged.
They will be ordered by phone, paid for by phone, and will then leave the streets free of so many cars, so those at the ‘top’ will still own a private car, but the majority will not.
As it is now, your car is taking up a space whilst at work, or at home, whereas it could be parked out of town in a huge car park, solving both the congestion AND the ‘charging’ issues of providing individual charging points outside EVERYONES home.
HMG will get it’s lost revenue from the driverless electric car fares in taxes.
What planet do you actually come from, Az?
I Eye, THINK back thirty years, see how life and the huge amount of people, and building has occurred since then. Now with talk of banishing petrol and diesel cars, the FACT we can now have driverless cars, the huge difficulty in finding a charging point to EVERY car owner, many who live in flats etc, so cannot easily access their own space for charging.
Then read what I suggest will likely happen, and you ‘may’ have the vision to see that you live on the same planet as me, yet you prefer to imagine life will stay similar as it is now.
Sadly IT WON’T.
Well it’s not exactly a complete South East strategy as it excludes the Solent Crossing. The IoW is being discriminated against, the rest of the south east will perhaps benefit long term. Reminds me of the early days of the Channel Tunnel, where the trains would be high speed from Paris to Folkestone then a comparative crawl to London. People in the South East travelling to the IoW will benefit from better transport connectivity, until they reach Southampton, Lymington or Portsmouth where their journey will grind to a halt/slow ferry crossing. Assuming, it has not broken down, have staff shortages, or the wrong kind of wind.
Why should the Isle of Wight always be lumped in with the South East? *Island roads are different*!
True that mate, we still ride around on horse and cart where I come from!
Another pot of money for the council to plunder like the pfi.
Oh come on Ian Ward make daft decisions on our behalf? Will never happen!!!
There needs to be a Commercial airport on the Island to give an alternative for when the ferries aren’t running on a near daily basis it seems these days and to increase competition too due to the incredibly expensive fares. Also before people say move if I don’t like it! I already have to London safe in the knowledge that often even with my railcard discount to the Isle of Wight I can fly to other islands for less Jersey and Isle of Man and if I want to go via Ryanair I can go for £20 return often to many places in Europe. These are just a few examples for residents and visitors alike would you not prefer to fly than drive or get the train from Liverpool, Edinburgh, Dublin etc?
This is wrong. We a have the right to pursue the ideas to better or understand what is better for the future. But to halt the discussion on the islands future and even freedom is disgusting and based on various moves made in stopping just a feasibility study stinks hence my stand regarding a fixed link. What people do not realise is that they are all (decision makers) in it together, protecting their own interests. This is so obvious. Let’s say it turns out that the island refuses the link, then so be it but to not have a choice is WRONG, and the decisions made by people with vested interests in the ferry companies should (if you have any cpmmen sense) set alarm bells off. You are a being duped. Also I’d say, we are all happy to use the funding of the United Kingdom and everything about our lives evolves around being part of the UK, but we don’t want the UK here, we suddenly find the UK to be full of dirt and undisirables (when it suits us). We are an island we wl always be an island, tunnel or no tunnel. The euro tunnel keeps out the world, that seems to work and on a smaller scale its possible to limit the flow of cars, people etc etc. My main point is regardless of whether a fixed link is viable, is the underhand tactics to refuse us of the right to discuss our future, and these decisions made by quite a few people that we mostly spend our lives slating or voting against. WAKE UP, we can have a better future without spoiling the island!!!