Integrated Public Transport Strategy - Worcestershire County Council

The WITS is a balanced strategy which does not rely on one initiative to achieve the basic
aim of reducing reliance on the private car. This strategy has been broadened in the light
of the Government's White Paper on Integrated Transport to include a number of new
initiatives. The WITS can be broken down into a number of individual toolboxes, such as
cycling, walking, public transport, parking, etc. And sub split again into tools under each
heading such as bus priority, bus stop/interchange improvements, bus fleet renewal, bus
gates, park and ride, etc. beneath the public transport heading.
In terms of effectiveness, public transport, particularly the bus, is seen as the greatest
potential contributor to reducing reliance on the private car. The effectiveness of many
sustainable transport initiatives is not fully realised until restraint on car use can also be
applied. As a consequence, parking restraint is seen as essential to the success of public
transport and much of this restraint can only be fully applied in the City Centre and its
suburbs by the introduction and Park and Ride facilities at or near the City boundary at
three sites as a minimum. The introduction of Park and Ride as an effective alternative for
travellers from the rural hinterland also provides the necessary displacement parking to
allow full introduction of residents parking schemes which will require effective
enforcement powers through the decriminalised parking regime.
The Package Area
Profile
The Cathedral City of Worcester lies on the River Severn some 30 miles south west of
Birmingham and surrounded by an extensive rural hinterland. It has grown to become a
very important regional retail, employment and administrative centre attracting trips from
the whole of Worcestershire and beyond. Tourism also contributes greatly to the economy
of this historic City and it is important to the continued success of this industry that
convenient access to the City Centre is maintained and its environment is preserved.
Worcester has a population of over 94,000 people living in about 39,000 dwellings. In
1995 the Census of Employment recorded a total of 41,350 jobs in Worcester of which
31,800 were in the service sector and 8,450 in the manufacturing sector.
In 1991 Worcester City residents had access to 31,289 cars. Car ownership levels across
the whole City were relatively high with almost 70% of households having access to at
least one car.
The scale and diversity of the 'High Street retailers’ means that the City competes in
shopping and employment terms with other cities and towns of a similar nature. Such
competition extends to Cheltenham and Gloucester in the south, Stratford-upon-Avon in
the east, and Birmingham and Merry Hill in the north.
The rural population surrounding the City of Worcester has a very large influence on its
traffic problems and also on the type of solutions that can be employed to offer realistic
alternatives to the car.
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Chapter 22 - Worcester City Package