Newcastle looks beyond Metro to tackle congestion

Sally Herbert, travel plan officer for the Newcastle City Council, talks to MindsinMotion.net about mobility in Newcastle and how environmental issues are being addressed.

Public invited to conference

Sally joined the Newcastle City Council in July 2007, after receiving a degree in sociology and social policy and working for several years with the Institute for Public Policy Research, a research think-tank.

Her work at the council includes developing workplace travel plans and organising sustainable mobility projects. One such project was a "Clean Air for All" public conference on 22 September, which she organised to coincide with European Mobility Week’s "In Town Without My Car" day.

A tradition of public transport

Newcastle has a strong public transport infrastructure, with the Metro train system having been in operation for almost 30 years. The Metro – which is operated by Nexus, the operations arm of the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority – serves the whole county of Tyne and Wear. Between 2006 and 2007, it accounted for 39 million public journeys.

"Public transport is already very popular in Newcastle because we have a good bus and Metro infrastructure," explains Sally. "But there are still issues with congestion, and therefore air quality, throughout the county. We’re working towards improved air quality, and have 'air quality management' areas in the city centre. So far, the results have been encouraging."

City boosted by EMW

One of the ways in which the council has been working to reduce congestion in recent years is through participation in European Mobility Week. Newcastle first participated in 2003, and the "In Town Without My Car" day has been a consistent success ever since.

"It is a boost for the city to be affiliated with a Europe-wide initiative," says Sally. "It helps us generate greater media coverage which, this year, has been particularly widespread."

Engaging the public

Indeed, increasing public awareness is Newcastle’s central focus when it comes to sustainable mobility. The Clean Air for All conference covered numerous issues related to sustainable transport, with a particular emphasis on air quality and congestion.

Much of the sustainability agenda in Newcastle has had a strong academic slant, with two major universities and a number of consultancies in the city. However, Sally wants to go beyond the academic aspects, and as a result, the aim of the conference was to provide a platform for practical learning and knowledge-sharing among the attendees, who were researchers, academics, students, private companies, lobby groups and consultancies.

Speakers included Margaret Bell, the professor of transport and the environment at NewcastleUniversity, and Ken Kemp, Nexus’s interim services and integration director. They covered topics such as the effects of driver behaviour on exhaust emissions, the impact of the changing nature of vehicles on the region’s roads, what causes air pollution problems, and the changes that can yield positive improvements. Mr. Kemp also gave a detailed presentation on plans to re-invigorate the Metro system.

Plans for the future

"The conference was a huge success and exceeded capacity, which was great to see," says Sally. "It was a good way of really engaging with the public and getting people to better understand the issues. Sustainable transport is important for Newcastle, as it is throughout Europe, and the more we can do to change public behaviour and encourage greener practices, the better. I intend to roll out a series of lectures like this throughout the coming year."