Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council have announced proposals to support a zero carbon transport network.
The proposals will see the introduction of a city wide workplace parking levy, traffic filters and a wider zero emission zone, together with improved public transport and cycle routes.
Over the coming months, the councils will gather feedback on the plans, by engaging with businesses, service providers, hospitals, transport providers, schools and town and parish councils.
Consultations on these proposals will take place in late summer 2022, with the schemes to be implemented between 2023 and 2024. The plans will support people to walk, cycle and make faster journeys by public transport.
The new proposals include:
- Workplace parking levy: The councils are proposing to extend the Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) to cover employers across the city. By law, money raised by the levy must be spent on improving transport in the city.
- Traffic filters: Six traffic filters are proposed on certain roads to reduce traffic congestion, improve bus journey times and create safer routes for cyclists and pedestrians.
- Zero Emission Zone (ZEZ): The councils propose to extend the ZEZ from the current pilot area to cover the entire city centre.
Councillor Duncan Enright, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Travel and Development Strategy, said: “The climate emergency and inequalities across the county and city mean Oxford needs a more sustainable and reliable transport system for everyone.
“We want to make walking, cycling and using public transport the first choice for people. The new plans will not only help us move towards a progressive transport network in the city, but they will also improve the quality of all our lives.
“Oxford has always been a leader in innovation and these new plans will help us move towards a zero-carbon transport system in the city, while making Oxford a safer, cleaner and better place for people who live and work here and for those who visit.
“While the county council is leading the development of these plans together with the city council, we also intend to work with key partners such as our businesses, universities and bus operators.”
Councillor Tom Hayes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Green Transport and Zero Carbon Oxford, Oxford City Council, said:“Gridlocked traffic is bad for everyone – it is bad for residents, bad for the economy, and bad for the environment. Our air must be cleaner to protect our health. Our energy must be cleaner to protect our futures. As well as tackling air pollution and our climate crisis, everyone must be able to move swiftly and simply from A to B. Citizens have lives to lead and they want to enjoy the best possible health and transportation, and to look to the future with hope.
“That’s why we’re expanding the planned workplace parking levy across the city and the zero emission zone to the whole city centre, as the city council has long called for. In closer partnership, both councils are throwing our weight behind our critically important bus network. We must back Oxford’s buses to recover from the pandemic and move around the city without significant delays, and that must take place immediately and, with these plans, over the medium-term.
“Everyone in the city struggles with the same congestion choking their roads, worries about the air they breathe, and looks to our climate future with nervousness. We all want to fix our problems—by proposing these plans, both councils want to speak directly to citizens and organisations over the next few months ahead of further public consultation later this year. We want everyone to have their say.”
Initial engagement on a workplace parking levy and traffic filters took place in 2019. Consultations on temporary city centre bus gates took place in 2020. Since then, the two councils have been working together to enhance these proposals drawing on feedback from over 10,000 residents, businesses and community groups, as well as the continuing climate emergency and the impact of COVID-19 on the way people travel.
More information can be found at: Core transport schemes for Oxford
