City of Stoke-on-Trent Local Transport Plan 3 Focus Groups

AECOM <strong>City</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Stoke</strong>-on-Trent Local Transport Plan 3 38Capabilities on project:Transportationthat, a lot <strong>of</strong> those things can be done through schools,schools can do that, the council don’t need to spendmoney on perhaps doing that, you know, the teacherscould take, as long as the teachers know about it theycan do it.”3.5.4 ParentsThe top three areas in terms <strong>of</strong> spend amongst the parentsgroup were as follows; the percentage <strong>of</strong> the total parentsgroup spend is shown in brackets:- Works to Highways & Streets (24%)- Safety (19%)- Public transport & public transport information (17%)One <strong>of</strong> the most important issues amongst parents was safety.“And the amount <strong>of</strong> idiots I see driving round when I’mwalking my dog at night is unbelievable, so that’sdefinitely something.”“It doesn’t matter how much you drum it into a child,they’ll just still do …, as a parent you instil that safety,but when they’re with their mates and things like that,they’re very much taken by their peers.”you’ve got to give it priority, like a lot <strong>of</strong> major cities, likeManchester, they have places that only buses can g<strong>of</strong>or a reason, not to clog up the town and so on and s<strong>of</strong>orth. Also if you had better information, as somebodysaid, you’re probably going to use it more.”“Some <strong>of</strong> the transport systems work in the right sort <strong>of</strong>towns, like Manchester, you can get on a tram, you canget on a bus, because it’s built and designed around it,whereas like you can’t do that to <strong>Stoke</strong> [-on-Trent]unless you bombed it first and then you’d have to likerebuild it all round it, because like you said before it’svery Victorian, it’s very old in the way it’s laid out. You’dnever get a transport system working unless you wentunderground, which is what they do in London butLondon’s old and Victorian, the only way it works is it’sall underground, here it would be exactly the same buton a far smaller scale. You’re not going to lose sort <strong>of</strong>whole lanes <strong>of</strong> roads, to put buses on or trams, unlessyou start knocking more buildings roads and winding theroads.”“The amount <strong>of</strong> roads I drive down I don’t see whythere’s a speed camera there, apart from the fact thatit’s a trap and the amount <strong>of</strong> roads that I’ve walkeddown and seen cars coming down that should have aspeed camera on it that don’t is like beyond my sort <strong>of</strong>comprehension and logic, do you know what I mean.So that’s my reason.”It was felt that improvements in safety would encourage morepeople to walk and cycle, which in turn, would lead toimprovements in health.“Well, I’ve got children and, it’s for the kids and myself,safer places and better places for them to …, andencourage them to go out on their bikes and stuff more.”“It’d reduce obesity.”Improvements in public transport were seen to underpin a lot <strong>of</strong>other improvements. The group felt that larger cities, such asManchester or London, provided good examples <strong>of</strong> how thiscould be achieved.“When I read through it, I think the only way to get a lot<strong>of</strong> these points is by public transport is the fact that3.5.5 Bus UsersThe top three areas in terms <strong>of</strong> spend amongst the bus usersgroup were as follows; the percentage <strong>of</strong> the total bus usersgroup spend is shown in brackets:- Walking & Cycling (24%)- Public transport & public transport information (20%)