Call for Partnerships

City Centre Transport consultation

The Transport Strategy for Manchester City Centre Consultation was launched on January 11th and runs until March 22nd.

This is a follow on consultation from the Regional Centre Transport Strategy carried out In December 07 / January 08, see this page.

The Transport Board will be holding an open forum which will include this consultation soon (I will give you the date and time as soon as I have it).

Below is the Executive Summary. If you have any comments/issues/suggestions that you would like fed into the TAG response please get them to me at least a week before the close (15th March 2010)

You can also use the comments feature to start a discussion and/or let your opinions/ideas/suggestions and comments on the consultation be known.

Feel free to contact me with any questions of if you would like more information.

The full consultation document is available to download as a PDF file here:
Transport Strategy for MCC Consultation Draft v2.pdf

Transport Strategy for MCC Consultation Executive Summary  

1. Over the last 15 years, Manchester has delivered a strong and diversified economy and a vibrant city centre. This has been achieved through the leadership of Manchester City Council and its strategic partners. This strategy aims to support this economic success story by identifying key transport policies and interventions for future delivery.   

2. The ambition set out in the Strategic Plan for Manchester City Centre, published earlier this year, is to put Manchester in the premier league of cities in Europe and across the world.  Transport’s role in delivering on this ambition cannot be underestimated.  Recognising the importance of a well connected city region, the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA), representing all ten districts together with the Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA), have agreed a radical funding package that will enable the area to maximise the benefits the transport network can deliver.

3. The Greater Manchester Transport Fund (GMTF) investment package will deliver £1.5bn of transport improvements.  Building on other significant improvements which have taken place over the last few years, the fund will cover a range of initiatives, from new and extended Metrolink lines, redeveloped transport interchanges, new road schemes, increased park and ride spaces, improved bus routes and measures to improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists

4. 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. This additional capacity will allow an increasing number of people to switch to more sustainable modes of transport, a process that will be encouraged through a package of measures to promote Smarter Travel and behavioural change.

5. As part of the strategy, road traffic that does not need to travel through the city centre will be intercepted early and redirected via a more efficient and better signed strategic highway network. This, in turn, will help ease the pressure on the Inner Ring Road and allow it to play a more effective role as a city centre access and distributor route.

6. The strategy stresses the need to continue to pursue measures to develop transport infrastructure to ensure that anticipated growth is not constrained or inhibited, and to ensure better access to the employment opportunities that will be created. The transport infrastructure investments and service improvements that will be funded by the GMTF will bring a significant increase in public transport capacity, giving more sustainable travel choices to commuters, shoppers and visitors, and so help to tackle congestion. Seeking to hold the number of cars entering the city centre at around existing levels will, in turn, give more opportunities to reduce the impact of traffic in the city centre, increase the scope for public realm works, enhance pedestrian safety and deliver public transport improvements.

7. The GMTF has given the city-region a great boost – we have the resources to deliver many of the strategic transport improvements required to continue growing the regional economy.  AGMA and GMITA are committed to making this significant public investment, but other key stakeholders and the major transport operators will also need to make contributions to ensure the maximum benefits of the strategy are achieved. As part of the discussions around the city-region pilot, AGMA and GMITA will also be seeking to examine how the city region can assume additional responsibilities and greater influence over the specification and delivery of transport investment and services.   

8. The successful delivery of this transport strategy is absolutely essential to the continuing economic success of the city-region, to ensure that it will be well placed to continue its role as the regional economic powerhouse and further contribute to the economic success of the UK.     

9. This is a consultation document and the City Council, with its stakeholders, would like your feedback on the contents.  The purpose of this consultation is to ensure that all stakeholders have the opportunity to respond to the proposals and that suggestions can be incorporated into the final document.  Full details of how to respond are located at the end of the document.

The full document (PDF) can be downloaded here: Transport Strategy for MCC Consultation Draft v2.pdf

Areas of interest: Advice, Information & Counselling, Alcohol & Drug Services, Black & Minority Ethnic, Carer Services, Child & Family Support, Community Arts, Conservation & Environment, Crime, Disorder & Community Safety, Disability, Education, Employment & Training, Funding Bodies, Health & Social Care, Homelessness, Housing Associations, ICT Resources, Immigration, International Links, Law, Leisure, Sport Activities & Hobbies, City Council, Media, Mental Health, Neighbourhood/Community Group, Older People, Refugees & Asylum-Seekers, Resources for VCS, Sexuality, Statutory Agencies, Tenants Associations/Residents Groups, Volunteering, Women, Young People, Venues,

Locations: City Centre,

Dates: 2010-01-15 - 2010-03-15