Councillors will next week be asked to approve a vision for how we travel around Brighton & Hove in the future.
A document, which will form the basis of the city’s next Local Transport Plan (LTP5), will be put before members of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability committee when it meets next week (June 22).
They will be asked to approve a set of key principles and outcomes and a plan to engage with city residents, partners and stakeholders later in the year.
This will give everyone in the city the opportunity to have their say on the emerging proposed priority areas and required interventions and bring forward their ideas for travel and transport in Brighton & Hove.
What is LTP5?
The Local Transport Plan is a statutory document setting out the strategy for the management, maintenance and improvement of the city’s transport network.
LTP5 will set out our outcomes and priorities for transport and travel across the city to 2030 and what we need to do to deliver them. It will help everyone move around the city more safely, sustainably, and easily, and for the cleaner transport of goods, from the restocking of shops and restaurants to online deliveries.
LTP5 is the fifth of these plans and will replace LTP4, which was adopted in 2015, and build on the work of previous plans.
The proposed vision for LTP5 is: ‘Better connected residents, businesses and visitors, for an improved quality of life in a healthy, inclusive and carbon neutral city.’
It proposes this is measured on six key outcomes:
• A sustainable, strong and fair economy, where everyone has affordable access to education and employment opportunities, and benefits from a growing, open, talented, fair, and sustainable city
• Safe, healthy and welcoming streets and neighbourhoods, where everyone feels confident however they travel, and our streets and local centres become vibrant places to enjoy, relax and socialise
• An accessible city with a transport network that everyone can use, where affordable door-to-door journeys, especially for disabled people and residents living in suburban areas, can be made with ease and certainty
• Improved air quality to safeguard the health of our communities, where the way we travel will ensure that people have the best opportunity to live a healthy, happy and fulfilling life
• Reduced carbon emissions to protect our global environment, and contribute to reaching our 2030 carbon neutral target
• Travel that respects our local environment, by minimising the impact on transport on our natural, built and historic environment
Changing travel and meeting future challenges
Chair of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability committee, Amy Heley said: “LTP5 will give us a great opportunity to set new standards for traveling around our city, improving everyone’s health and quality of life.”
“We’ve seen in the last year that our travel habits can change. We were given funding to support active, sustainable and inclusive transport and we’ve begun to see the potential of more remote working. But the climate crisis remains our biggest challenge and we have to do more.
“Only by building a transport infrastructure that supports walking, cycling and public transport use will we really encourage changes to people’s travel habits and hit our carbon neutral goals.
“This document sets out an exciting vision for transport in the city and I look forward to reading everyone’s views and comments when it goes out to consultation later in the year.”