South East regional factsheet

Map of Region

People in England want efficient, reliable and safe systems of transport. Of course, local transport problems need local solutions.

The Government is keeping the promise it made in the 10-Year Plan for Transport by giving local authorities £8.4 billion over the next five years to be spent locally on projects identified at a local level.

As part of the settlement, authorities in the South East have been given £173 million for 2001/02, and are expected to receive at least £747 million for the five-year period. In addition the region will benefit from a share of resources for future years that have not yet been definitively allocated. The settlement covers:

• major public transport and road schemes costing over £5 million;
• integrated transport schemes costing under £5m; and
• local road maintenance and bridge strengthening schemes.

Major schemes have earmarked funding, however, local authorities decide which of the other transport schemes identified they fund.

Major schemes in the South East

Crawley Fastway Guided Bus - £23.9m - has been accepted and will receive Government funding.
High quality bus priority and guided bus scheme which will cut waiting times, improve journey times, reliability and reduce congestion in the Gatwick area.

The following schemes have been accepted and will receive Government funds subject to:

• the completion of the Statutory approval process, or
• further work on the case, or
• funding being secured from a third party.

Surrey - School Bus Initiative - £16.4m
Improved safety for schoolchildren with school bus services across the county operating from new interchanges on residential roads and outside schools. The scheme will use special buses with highly trained drivers and escorts.

Kent - East Kent Access Phase 1 - £13m
Upgrading a section of the A256 to dual carriageway with dedicated peak period public transport and high occupancy lanes.

Kent - Fastrack Phase 1 - £8m
A new high quality, high frequency local public transport service in Kent Thames-side providing improved access to major development sites.

NB. Figures relate to gross scheme costs

In addition, there are a number of schemes for which we do not yet have sufficient information to form a view. The Government is keen to work with the authorities concerned to assist them in completing the work necessary for each scheme to be evaluated by Government against New Approach to Appraisal (NATA) criteria. The schemes in this category are:

Oxfordshire	A40 Bus Lane
Slough	Heart Of Slough Town Centre Improvement
Medway	Waterfront Tramway
Medway	A228 Main Rd To Ropers Lane (Phase 1)
Medway	A228 Ropers Lane To Grain (Phase 2)
Windsor & Maidenhead	Windsor Park And Ride
East Sussex	Newhaven Port Access Road
Kent	East Kent Access Phase 2
Surrey	Kiln Lane Link, Epsom
West Sussex	A24 Horsham-Capel Improvement
Buckinghamshire	A418 Wing Bypass
Milton Keynes	Bletchley Link
Reading	A33 Interchanges
Portsmouth/South Hampshire	South Hampshire Rapid Transit

Integrated transport schemes

The settlement provides funding for authorities to introduce:

• a number of interchange schemes, including:
• • improvements at many rail stations including Reading, Hanborough and Banbury; and
  • better road layouts throughout the region.
• up to 21 new, or extended, park and ride schemes. For example, authorities are considering proposals for sites at:
• • Bognor Regis and Chichester, West Sussex;
  • Crawley, East Sussex;
  • Wycombe, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire;
  • Guildford, Surrey;
  • Reading and Bracknell, Berkshire;
  • three sites around Brighton;
  • two sites in the Medway area; and
  • two sites in Oxfordshire.
• up to 1,000 road safety schemes, including:
• • 20mph zones in many areas, for example, Thanet, Tonbridge, Southampton and Twyford;
  • traffic calming measures throughout the region;
  • school crossing patrols and school travel plans in selected schools in nearly all local authority areas. For example, Buckinghamshire County Council aims to provide or facilitate safer routes to all schools in the County, where appropriate, by 2015 and to reduce casualty rates by 50 per cent at project schools; and
  • safety publicity campaigns in nearly all authority areas.
• up to 820 km of cycle routes and other measures to encourage cycling including:
• • new cycle routes, for example, by the river Medway between Rochester and Maidstone, Southampton City centre to the University, A23 London Road Corridor in Brighton and Lyndhurst to Ashurst in the New Forest;
  • reviews of cycle routes in, for example, Redways, Milton Keynes; and
  • improved integration with public transport or the introduction of partnerships for action, for example, at Hanborough in Oxfordshire.
• up to 75km of footway improvements and pedestrianisation and other measures to encourage walking including:
• new pedestrian routes throughout the region including an extra 6km of footpaths at Portsmouth's Millennium Promenades project and a new pedestrian and cycle bridge linking Port Solent and Stamshaw;
• footway maintenance schemes throughout the region;
• better personal security for pedestrians, for example, more CCTV or additional lighting in most areas;
• integration with public transport and the introduction of partnerships for action; and
• improved mobility arrangements for people with disabilities in most areas with, for example, improved road crossings, wheelchair access and tactile kerbs in many urban areas.

Public Transport Schemes

• improvements to bus transport, including up to 367 kms of busways, Quality Bus Corridors, bus lanes and other priority measures including:
• • increased frequency of rural/ urban buses in many areas, including Waverley and east of East Sussex to Conquest Hospital in Hastings;
  • new Bus Partnerships, for example, in Woking, Slough, Aylesbury and High Wycombe;
  • bus priority schemes in Oxford, Winchester and Andover;
  • enhanced funding for bus corridors in, for example, Portsmouth-Waterlooville-Horndean and Folkestone-Hythe;
  • better lighting and security arrangements for bus passengers at many locations;
  • better bus information systems; and
  • refurbishment of all council owned bus shelters in Brighton.

Local roads

• improvements including:
• • junction improvements at Beach Street and Alkham Road (Dover) and A274 Sutton Road/A229 Loose Road (Maidstone Road);
  • road widening at A24 Horsham-Capel; and
  • traffic management measures including new traffic control systems and improved parking strategies in most urban areas.

Maintenance Schemes in the South East

The 5-year LTP settlement provides funding for authorities in the South East to address the maintenance backlog on the region's 42,000km of local roads, and to start restoring the 447 bridges that need strengthening.