Transport and Travel

 

The prices of fossil-fuel based diesel and petrol have increased on average more than inflation since 2008, due to increased demand, principally from China and India, and the reduced supply of these fuels as ‘peak oil’ is passed. This trend has influenced the prices of all fuels, and hence all transport, both public and private. Renewable sources, such as biofuels, have still been unable to fill the supply-demand gap, subsidies for the conversion of food crops having be largely withdrawn.

However, international, EU and government policies have had varying effects on private and commercial road transport, and on public transport generally.

Prior to 2007, legislative demands on motor vehicle engine technology emphasised reducing gas emissions harmful to health (unburned hydrocarbons, CO, NOx, SOx, etc), to some extent at a cost in fuel efficiency. Insistence, against continued motor industry lobbying, on reducing carbon dioxide, has brought the average car’s emissions to 120g CO₂/km, but with still a long way to go if the internal combustion engine is to remain the prime power source for cars. One problem is that even more technology has been required to reduce consumption! Such technology adds to the “embodied energy content” of cars, which counteracts environmental benefit, while the associated rise in prices of new cars delays uptake of the latest environmentally friendly designs even though taxation is making ‘gas guzzlers’ very expensive to keep.

Lorries and tractors are generally using turbocompounding, recovering exhaust energy, to improve engine efficiency and some lorries now carry on-board energy storage which makes them electric hybrids.

Lower road tax and fuel consumption have much encouraged greater use of smaller, powered, two-wheeled vehicles (e.g. petrol or electric scooters) where improvements of 30% over 2008 efficiencies now yield in excess of 150 mpg, and  200 mpg with more advanced technologies is expected in the near future. These vehicles are exempt from the increased restrictions on access to, and parking in, central Winchester.

Following the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report in 2007, which demonstrated that 40% of Wintonians who commute to work go outside Winchester, the City Council persuaded local bus companies to run commuter services from/to outlying areas which connect with the major fast trains to/from London Waterloo. With new Park-and-Ride schemes at Junction 11 and Barton Farm, this has cut commuter road traffic to the station by over a third.  Redesignation and resiting of Shawford Station as Winchester South railway station near Junction 11, and similar facilities at Springvale, are now in the planning stage.

Attempts to persuade parents to cut down on the number of school-runs by car were only partly successful but the countrywide decrease in average engine size, and the more general acceptance of car sharing among parents, have led to a marked reduction in traffic emissions and fewer journeys. A related local initiative to assist all children of primary school age to undergo cycle training was largely successful. This led to an increase in youngsters cycling to school, eased somewhat by the reduction in rush-hour traffic, greater legal penalties for car drivers involved in cycle accidents and some local 20 mph speed limits.

The Government’s Cycle-to-work Scheme has had limited take up in Winchester because of the city’s unfavourable topography, narrow streets and lack of cycle-only lanes, while many adults are still uneasy cycling in busy traffic. The same lack of take up applies to bicycle hire schemes. A proposal to make half the road lanes in central Winchester open to buses, taxis and two-wheelers only is still being debated. Winchester continues to have very few cycle lanes where they are needed, a fact highlighted by a recent national survey carried out by Sustrans. Car pooling has enabled reduction in on-street car parking which makes life easier for cyclists.

Traffic management in Winchester continues to be a problem because of the unsuitable street plan. Traffic flows separately in City Road/North Walls and St George Street were improved by coordinating the traffic lights and 20mph speed limits so that traffic flowed more smoothly. The imposition of a height limit at the entrance to almost all car parks in central Winchester, and the higher parking charges levied on vehicles exceeding the limit, has contributed to the demise of 4x4 and SUV vehicles on Winchester’s streets. Electric and electric/petrol hybrid cars are commonly seen however; owners appreciate the lower charges they pay for parking and the facilities to re-charge their vehicles, at fixed cost, while parked.

Vehicle emissions have also been slightly reduced by the general ethos of careful driving introduced after the Driving Theory Test started to include a section on low-carbon driving. Lower speed limits in urban areas have led to fewer casualties but higher traffic emissions. Nationally the strict enforcement by automatic camera systems of the new 60 mph speed limit on motorways and dual-carriageways, has given 15% reduction in emissions on those roads. Plans for general road use charging were dropped by the government some years ago; they were worried about the public’s reaction to the necessary satellite tracking of all vehicles and the immensity and complexity of the IT system required.

The greatest disincentive to train travel continues to be the high fares even though government subsidies are now greater than they were 7 years ago. Many people still commute to London on a daily basis but increased home working has reduced peak-time congestion on the trains to Waterloo. Cross-country links to other parts of the UK from Winchester continue to be popular; a new interchange between Farnborough Main and Farnborough North is opening access to the North Downs (Reading to Tonbridge) line and its extension to Ashford International with links to the Continent making this an alternative way to access Eurostar services as well as Kent and Surrey and increasing competition for airlines from high-speed rail links to many parts of western Europe. Through tickets to most Continental destinations can now be bought at Winchester station. New North-South high-speed railway lines in UK, as proposed by Network Rail and local authorities in 2008, are still keenly awaited.

There is now a national awareness of the true damage to the atmosphere, and its impact on climate change, caused by flying. This, and the introduction of air fuel taxes as part of the EU’s carbon emissions trading scheme, has led to a marked decline in air travel and in the number of airlines. Unfortunately, the heavy carbon tax now imposed on aviation fuel has produced a surplus of aircraft, aircrew, and airport facilities which has actually cut overall operating costs and an international fund has been proposed to buy old, inefficient aircraft for scrapping. So, as a regional airport, Southampton International Airport no longer services 2 million passengers a year to over 43 European destinations, as it did in 2007, and reduced congestion at London Heathrow, with better coach and rail links, has furthered this reduction.

 

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