NEW railway stations and a “total transport portal” for planning journeys are just two of the solutions being proposed to cut car traffic in Somerset.

Somerset County Council has published a new passenger transport strategy, laying out its aims for improving public transport across the county up to 2026.

The council is seeking to reduce congestion on major roads in light of new housing developments, providing more park and ride options and working with community transport operators.

The public will now have six weeks to have their say on whether these priorities are right for Somerset.

The strategy was discussed in detail in Taunton on Tuesday (May 22) by the council’s policies and place scrutiny committee.

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In her written report, highways officer Lucy Bath said it was difficult to provide “viable and sustainable” public transport in Somerset because of the county’s “challenging” geography.

She said: “Owing to its rural aspect it has high car ownership and usage, which leads to congestion ‘hot spots’ at peak hours.

“The diverse array of settlements, ranging from small rural villages to the densely populated urban areas of Bridgwater, Taunton and Yeovil, and the dispersed population mean that commercial bus operation is extremely marginal or non-viable in many areas.”

Ms Ball said that the council wanted to work with public service operators and community transport groups to deliver an “integrated” bus, rail and community transport network for the whole county.

The strategy has been “developed at a time of severe financial restraint and economic uncertainty” – meaning that the council will not be able to stump up significant amounts of money for feasibility studies into new infrastructure.

Nevertheless it has pledged to maintain bus services which are “most essential in meeting transport needs where the commercial market is unable to provide viable services”.

Among its wider aims for the bus network, the council intends to introduce a “total transport portal” in early-2019, a “one-stop shop” online which will allow Somerset residents to plan their journeys more effectively.

Mike O’Dowd-Jones, the council’s strategic commissioner for highways and transport, said that he would be seeking to open discussions with “a number of large bus operators” who operate in the south west but do not currently serve Somerset.

Bridgwater Mercury:

He admitted: “We are very limited at the moment in terms of the number of bus operators in the county.

“A free bus pass for no bus is not that helpful – more flexibility in the concessionary fares system would make sense for those in our position.”
Councillor Bob Filmer added: “Since the demise of Webber Bus, we’ve seen a real loss of services – some rural areas have no bus service at all. Where are we going to find these new entrants? At the moment that doesn’t seem to be happening.”

The council will also ensure that major new housing developments will have bus infrastructure in place – such as the 2,000 homes approved for the western side of Taunton, which will have its own park and ride facility.

Councillor John Hunt, however, said that putting more buses on the A38 would be “chaos”, claiming that no-one would use the new park and ride.
He said: “There is no way you can put a bus lane on the A38. The only way we can get people from A to B is to bring in Gene Roddenberry and use his beaming technology.”

The council’s strategy states that more than 300,000 single passenger journeys are undertaken every year at the existing two park and ride sites in Taunton.

Much of the council’s rail commitments are tied up with the aims of the Peninsular Rail Task Force – a body comprising six councils and two local enterprise partnerships (LEPs), which is pushing for improvements across the whole region.

This includes improving the resilience of existing lines, so that services can still operate in extreme weather or be diverted following an incident on one section of the network.

Increased capacity on board and shorter journey times between London and the south west are also key targets, with an aim to shave seven minutes off journeys times by 2029.

The county council has already approved upgrades to Taunton and Bridgwater railway stations, with the funding for this coming from Great Western Railway, EDF Energy and the Heart of the South West LEP.

The strategy acknowledges efforts to open new stations in Wellington, the Somerton and Langport area, and Chard Junction, as well as introducing mainline services between Taunton and Minehead on the West Somerset Railway’s heritage line.

However, the council’s input is currently restricted to “providing advice to communities”, with no money being committed upfront.

Mr O’Dowd-Jones said that the council had requested that the case for reopening a station at Wellington should be included in the new Great Western franchise, which could begin in 2022.

He said: “These [new stations] aren’t happening quickly, and there is a big barrier to get over with putting in the early work.

“Wellington is the furthest along, but it is important to support all these stations.”

Taunton Deane Borough Council has already pledged £40,000 towards a business case for a station in Wellington, as part of wider plans to improve the line between Taunton and Exeter.

Deputy leader Mark Edwards said: “The updated business case continues to support delivery of Wellington station through the Devon and Somerset Metro project.

“A brief is currently being constructed for the next stage of the work and meetings are planned over June and July to progress the project.”

Mr O’Dowd-Jones added that the county council was “closely involved” in discussions over a possible rail link between Taunton and Bristol Airport, but said that “there is no specific option on the table at this stage”.

The council’s strategy will now go out to public consultation over a six-week period, before coming back to the cabinet for formal approval later in the year.