Following the start of the consultation on the Central Oxfordshire Travel Plan last week, Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) would like to update you on their proposals for a workplace parking levy, traffic filters and expanded city centre zero emission zone in Oxford.
Since announcing the updated proposals in February 2022, OCC has had close to a hundred meetings with stakeholders, including local businesses, schools, disability groups and hospitals. Feedback from the 2019 consultation and engagement from February 2022 onwards have informed the latest revised proposals.
Support from OCC’s stakeholders will be essential to ensure the success of the proposals. A request from many of these groups was to phase the consultation and implementation of the three schemes.
OCC has decided to prioritise the traffic filters and are now proposing to introduce them as a trial next summer 2023. This will allow them to monitor the impact of the traffic filters on the ground, seek views on how they are working and make changes, if necessary, before any decision is made about whether to make them permanent or not.
A consultation on proposals to introduce the trial traffic filters will start on 5 September 2022 and last for 28 days, ending on 3 October 2022.
If approved by county council cabinet, OCC would expect the trial to start in the summer of 2023 and continue for a minimum of six months. Members of the public and stakeholders will be able to continue to give us their views on the trial during this six-month period. The implementation of the traffic filters is needed to unlock the commitment from bus operators, Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach West, and the Department for Transport to invest in 159 new electric buses for Oxford and allow reinvestment into the Oxfordshire bus network.
Please visit OCC’s website to find out more about the traffic filters and respond to the survey: letstalk.oxfordshire.gov.uk/traffic-filters-2022. The survey and supporting documents will be available from 5 September.
OCC will also continue with the assessment and modelling of the likely impact of the traffic filters alongside the workplace parking levy and zero emission zone on the economy, air quality and traffic levels. Public consultation on the workplace parking levy and zero emission zone is likely to take place next year. OCC will continue to engage with stakeholders and members of the public during this consultation period and beyond.