Rural Transport in a wider context

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Rural Transport in a wider context

• Gordon Stokes
• 28th February 2008
• Transport Studies Unit

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Content of talk

• What do we mean by Rural?
• Travel behaviour in rural areas
• Whats distinctive about rural transport?
• The wider rural social context
• What does this mean for transport policy?

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The Commission for Rural Communities

• Formed out of Countryside Agency in 2006 funded
  by Defra
• Provide independent advice to Government on
  rural issues relating to social and economic
• Rural expert
• Rural watchdog
• Rural advocate

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What do we mean by rural?

• Way of defining rural areas
• Countryside/ built-up (localities)
• Rural economy (regions)
• Typologies of rural inhabitants
• Income
• Wealth
• Type of employment
• Location of employment
• age, gender etc
• (People live side by side to a much greater
  extent than in urban areas)

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Rural Urban Definitions(Office of National
Statistics)
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ONS Urban Rural Definitions Settlement types
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Census output areas defined
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Whats rural? Didcot Power Station?, Harwell Labs?
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Population by settlement size
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Defra Classification ofLocal Authority Districts

• of population not in urban areas (R80 and R50)
• Signicant rural roughly over 25 rural

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Defra Lagging rural areas

• In lowest quartile of average earnings of the
  resident population of working age
• Does not take local productivity into account

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Where does that leave rural?

• If rurality is defined by population density
• and performance is defined by average earnings
  
• then what is different about rural areas other
  than population density?

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Different view of rurality

• Preserved countryside more accessible
  counter-urbanised countryside (eg SE England)
• Contested countryside traditional and new rural
  communities exist with scope for conflict (eg SW
  England)
• Paternalistic countryside dominated by estates
  and tradition (eg Northumberland)
• Clientalistic countryside peripheral dependent
  on state support (eg Mid Wales)
• Murdoch et al, 2003

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Typologies of rural areas for transport

• A Peri-urban areas
• A1 Rural peri-conurbation (Inner Surrey,
  Cheshire)
• A2 Rural peri-urban (Around Oxford)
• B Market town hinterland
• B1 with nearby urban area (Witney dominated by
  Oxford)
• B2 with dispersed hinterland (Mid Suffolk)
• B3 with valley hinterland (Yorkshire Dales)
• C Remote areas
• C1 Tourist area (Lake District)
• C2 Remote rural village (North Norfolk)
• C3 Isolated periphery (NW Highlands)

David Gray for CfIT (2000)
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Travel behaviour in rural areas
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• Rural people make same number of trip, spend
  slightly more time travelling
• But travel much further

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T

• Virtually all this distance difference is due to
  more use of cars

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T

• And more trips are by car
• Though walk still accounts for many trips

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Modes used urban and rural
Trips per person per year

• Car used more in rural areas
• Walk and bus used less
• Walking far more commonly used than bus

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Car ownership by income

• Those with the lowest incomes in hamlets have
  very much higher car ownership rates

Figure 2.3.9
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Miles per car, by rurality and income

• The high mileage of those with high incomes in
  rural areas is not mirrored by those on low
  incomes

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T

• T

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Accessibility indicator for all services

• Composite indicators of access to various service
  types, weighted by the modes that people use
• The smaller the number the better the
  accessibility

Figure 2.3.7
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Method of travel to school

• Rural children do use cars more
• They use buses more
• They walk less

Figure 2.3.10
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Car ownership relative to bus service

• Good bus service within 13 minutes of an
  hourly or better bus service
• For those with good bus service 89 have a
  household car, 94 for those without
• For those in lowest income quintile with, 54
  have car, compared with 70 without,
• 6 with have 2 cars, compared with 25
  without

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Whats distinctive about rural transport?
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Summary of rural travel behaviour

• Greater access to cars,
• but for people on low incomes, ownership is often
  a necessity
• 40 on lowest incomes did not have car in 1990
  now 15
• Car running costs somewhat higher
• distances people have to travel to access
  services
• higher cost of many non-urban petrol stations
• but petrol spending only 10 higher
• Fewer services outlets
• 78 parishes had no general food store in 2000
• 72 had no small village shop
• BUT Highly polarised
• HIGH Mobility accompanied by LOW Accessibility

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From Top Ten community concerns

• Difficult for old and disabled to access
  healthcare
• Link transport systems in a sensible way
• Improve sports facilities
• Set up taxi voucher/ car sharing scheme
• Traffic calming measures on main roads into
  villages

From analysis of Countryside Agency Parish Plans
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The big issues in transport (national)

• Congestion
• Pollution
• Safety
• Accessibility
• Accessibility is the only one where rural areas
  figure

10
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Traffic growth

• T

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• Factors behind traffic growth
• Increases in car ownership and use
• Counter urbanisation
• Location of job and facilities
• Increases in long distance travel
• Globalisation of markets
• Consequences of unchecked trends
• Faster traffic growth in rural areas
• Greater land take (transport and other and uses)
• Fewer local service outlets
• Worsening isolation (for those isolated)

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The wider social rural context
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Age profile 1985-2005

• 1985 slightly fewer younger people in rural
  areas, and slightly more older
• 2005 same pattern but much more exaggerated
• Very obvious dip in 15 to 29 year olds

Figure 2.2.2
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Median age

• Median age is higher in most rural areas
• Especially high in coastal retirement areas
• One area of East Devon has median age of 62.9
• Rural areas with young median age are generally
  military areas

Figure 2.2.3
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change in number of service outlets

• Most service types are declining in numbers
• Not much rural urban difference (for most) but
  impacts can be greater
• Free cashpoints dentists -

Figure 2.3.2
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Service deserts

• Areas with no post office within 2kms, or free
  cashpoint, bank or building society within 4kms
• More in remote areas, but can be found in all but
  areas close to cities

Figure 2.3.5
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Annual household income 2007
Less sparse areas Sparse areas

• Hamlets highest with villages higher than urban
  areas and towns
• Sparse areas lag behind

Figure 3.2.1
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High and low income areas

• As might be expected, but there are surprises
• EG West Cumbria

Figure 3.2.5
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Areas where over 25 residents with no
car2001 Censususing Census Output Areas as
units(about 120 households)
Ex mining areas Coastal retirement Other
lagging rural areas Various outliers
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House prices

• House prices 22 higher in rural than urban
• Hamlets about 60 higher than urban
• Price rising faster in sparse areas

Figure 2.4.3
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Lower quartile Housing affordability

• Lowest quarter of incomes buying lowest quarter
  priced house ratio
• Very bad in South West, but also many other areas
• Lower quartile is worse than for average

Figure 2.4.6
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Hard to heat homes Off main gas and With
solid walls

• Sparse rural areas are much more likely to be
  hard to heat
• Less sparse villages and hamlets also likely to
  not have mains gas, and more have solid walls
• (Older houses have solid walls)

Figure 2.4.10
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Summary financial statement

• Rural people spend 60 more than urban (on
  average)
• Extra is on transport, consumables, household
  goods, recreation
• Housing lower, mainly due to number who own
  houses outright

Figure 3.2.9
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Taking exercise

• People exercising more than 30 mins 3 times per
  week
• High in central south, and bits of Yorks
• Low around the Fens and other poorer areas

Figure 2.5.5
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Trips to Countryside by Car Access

• Have car will travel

Figure 4.3.8
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Combined air quality

• Rural air quality better than average
• But higher along transport corridors
• Ozone worse in rural areas (only pollutant this
  is the case)

Ozone
Figure 4.4.2 and 4.4.3c
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TranquilityCPRE analysis
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Carbon footprint (1)

• Rural areas only slightly higher than urban
• From Stockholm Environmental Institute (York)
• Tonnes of carbon per person per year

Figure 4.5.1
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Carbon footprint (2)

• Regional nature of much analysis, but rural still
  only a but higher when analysed at regional level

Figure 4.5.1
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Social Exclusion

• Urban areas - lack of transport an effect of
  social exclusion
• Rural areas - lack of transport a cause of social
  exclusion
• Urban exclusion tends to be concentrated in
  deprived wards
• Rural exclusion can be found anywhere

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What does this mean for transport policy?
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Perspectives on Rural transport issues

• Mobility of residents as paramount
• Protection of countryside as paramount
• Protection of rural lifestyles as paramount
• Accessibility as paramount
• Bringing rural areas into the 21st century
• Limit other peoples car use - (not mine)
• (The above are extremes)

3
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Contentious issues in policy?

• Accessibility rather than mobility
• Extent of anti car direction
• Focus on demand management rather than catering
  for demand
• Safety rather than speed
• Balance for rural economy vs environment

5 What follows
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Transport policy and rural areas

• Transport policy aimed at major problems
  (congestion and environment)
• so mainly urban and interurban in nature
• Whatever decided in rural transport policy will
  have less effect than urban and interurban policy
• Discussion of rural transport policy must
  therefore-
• assess impacts of urban and interurban policies
  on rural areas (rural proofing)
• not treat rural transport policy initiatives as
  though they are in a vacuum
• Small measures will make the difference to the
  socially excluded
• need to think BIG and SMALL
• need to link Top Down and Bottom Up

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Transport for those without cars
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The BIG trends affecting public transport in
rural areas

• Increasing car ownership
• Sparse populations
• Low priority for policy makers and operators
• Problem of accountability cross sector benefits
  of transport provision

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Is it Public Transport?

• Commercial buses
• Tendered buses
• Group bus services (S19)
• Community bus services(S22)
• Taxi buses (S12)
• Shared taxis
• Rail
• Light rail
• Schools transport
• Hospitals transport
• Social services transport
• Supermarket buses
• Post buses
• Community car schemes

• Works buses
• College buses
• Dial a rides
• Demand responsive transport
• Wheels to work
• Liftshare schemes
• Car clubs

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Is it Community Transport?

• Group bus services (S19)
• Community bus services(S22)
• Taxi buses (S12)
• Taxi/ PHV share on demand (S10)
• Taxi/ PHV share book ahead (S11)
• Supermarket buses
• Post buses
• Community car schemes

• Dial a rides
• Works buses
• College buses
• Demand responsive transport
• Wheels to work
• Liftshare schemes
• Car clubs
• core Schools/ Health/ Social Services transport

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Expected costs of service provision
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Likely impacts of current spend on rural public
transport

• Difficulty maintaining bus service levels in some
  areas
• Continued support in others
• Question mark over Rural Transport Partnerships
  and Community Transport funding
• Very variable picture
• Necessity may spark new initiatives

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The role of public transport in rural areas?

• A safety net for those without cars?
• A safety net for those without cars where we can
  afford it?
• A public service that should provide a reasonable
  level of service to all?
• A service that should enable people to freely
  choose between car and public transport?
• Providing Choice or Meeting Need?

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Lincolnshire InterConnect
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Vision for rural integrated transport?
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And what to do about those with cars?

• Disproportionate mileage by high income drivers

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Forthcoming CRC work on rural transport

• What long term trends in technology and responses
  to climate change will mean for rural areas?
• What should we do about rural public transport?
• Work on a system that provides for a small
  proportion who do not have cars?
• Create a system that many more will use?

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Thank You

• Gordon Stokes
• gordon.stokes_at_ruralcommunities.gov.uk