Councils thank residents for ‘huge’ response to Oxford transport survey

Over 3000 Oxfordshire residents, employers, businesses and other organisations responded to a survey on proposals to reduce congestion and improve journey times into and around Oxford.

Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council ran a major engagement survey to gather views from residents, employers and commuters. Both councils thanked everyone for taking part.

The proposals called ‘Connecting Oxford’ included new bus routes to the ‘eastern arc’ connecting areas like Summertown, Headington and Cowley to Witney, Kidlington and Abingdon; traffic restrictions on main routes into and around the city allowing buses to flow more freely, and improved walking and cycling provision. The scheme would be funded in part through a ‘levy’ on workplace parking spaces.

The survey responses will be considered by the Cabinets of the county and city councils in January 2020 when decisions on whether and how to go ahead with the project will be taken.

Eric Owens, Assistant Director of Growth and Place in Oxfordshire County Council said: “We would like to thank all the residents, employers and other organisations of Oxfordshire for taking the time and care to respond to our survey which will help us to determine the future of the city’s transport plans. We value the feedback which will now be analysed.”

Caroline Green, Assistant Chief Executive, Oxford City Council, added: “We are delighted that residents in Oxford and Oxfordshire have responded in such high numbers to our Connecting Oxford proposals. We all recognise that we need to make a change to how we travel in to and across the city. We will be using the feedback from this consultation to address the concerns that were highlighted by residents and to further strengthen the proposals in order to make travelling in and out of Oxford easier, quicker, and more reliable for all. We would like to thank everyone who took part and shared their views on our proposals.”

Two thirds (64%) of respondents travelled from within Oxford city or surrounding villages against 36% from postcodes beyond. 85% of those that responded work in postcodes OX1-4. Drivers, cyclists and bus users accounted for 78% of the responses.

Around 150 representatives from business and other organisations also took part.

The survey ran from 18 September until 20 October 2019 and was open to residents, employers and other organisations across the whole county.