Month: August 2019

For a number of years, boroughs across London have been encouraged to engage with schools through citizen science projects which help pupils and school communities to understand and mitigate for the challenges of poor air quality.

Hup Initiatives have recently updated and delivered our bespoke programme of sessions to reflect our experience in delivering school air quality sessions as well as the ongoing improvements to air quality across London and the UK.

Our programme is based on the installation of Nitrogen Diffusion tubes on and around the school site as well as hands on investigations conducted by the pupils with the overall aim of identifying sources of air pollution understanding the average levels of Nitrogen Dioxide in the area and developing behaviour change strategies to reduce production of and exposure to air pollution.

The programme also supports the national curriculum in areas such as science, history, geography, maths, and literature. Our consultants are trained to be as flexible as possible in the delivery of the sessions to enable pupils to engage in the programme through related topics such as climate change, active travel, energy supply and local governance.

The response from the school staff, local authority and most importantly the pupils has once again been hugely positive and encouraging and we hope to work with them all again soon.

Hup Initiatives conducted a thorough audit of the cycle parking infrastructure surrounding rail and underground stations throughout the London Borough of Ealing. The purpose of the audit was to assess the quality, quantity and utilisation of the existing provision and also to identify locations for the installation of additional cycle parking facilities in line with the boroughs policy of providing a minimum of 50 cycle parking spaces at rail and underground stations in the borough and where additional capacity was identified as being required.

In total 19 sites were audited with nearly 700 existing spaces identified and the possible installation of approximately 900 further spaces outlined.

Consideration was also given to the provision of covered and uncovered spaces, ease of use in line with best practice guidelines, distance from station entrances, cleanliness and security, location and quantity of electric and hire bikes, and the recording of feedback from users and staff where possible.

Recommendations were also made on areas to prioritise and possible borough wide campaigns and considerations such as issuing further guidance to cyclists on how to best secure bicycles to cycle parking infrastructure.

The response to the audit was very positive, the final report was sent to TfL as part of a bid for additional funding for cycle parking.  They were very impressed with the content/ recommendations and have released £50K to Ealing Council to improve cycle parking at the train stations audited.

In response to concerns from residents that a number of bus stops were not accessible for disabled passengers; Ealing Council’s Transport Planning Team commissioned Hup Initiatives to undertake a full accessibility audit of bus stops in the borough (c700).

A London-wide audit previously commissioned in 2015, had suggested a high-level of accessibility compliance, but the assessment considered only 3 basic parameters, these were:

1. Bus Stop Clearway in place (yes/ no)?
2. Kerb height at bus stop being greater than 100mm (yes/ no)?
3. Access free of impediments (yes/ no)?

Although in line with advice from Transport for London, the above parameters did not provide a true representation of accessibility. For example, to determine if buses could pull-up to the kerbside footpath and allow step free access – stops were considered compliant if a Clearway was in place, yet the length of bus stop cages, or peak hour frequency were not recorded.

To better understand the level of accessibility, and to check asset condition, Hup Initiatives developed a more detailed assessment tool utilizing a simple set of compliance parameters, that better reflected Bus Stop Accessibility Guidance.

The compliance assessment was a simple Yes/ No against the following parameters:

1. Length of Bus Cage (bus stops with peak hour frequency of 30 buses per hour or less)
   • in areas of unrestricted parking – 33m to 37m
   • downstream side of junction – 29m
   • downstream of Zig Zag Lines – 23m
2. Length of Bus Cage (bus stops with peak hour frequency of more than 30 buses per hour)
   • 52m or split into two bus stops.
3. Length of Bus Cage (Bus Boarders/ Buildouts)
   • Full Width – 2m deep x 9m to 17m long bus cage
   • Half width – 1m deep x 27m long cage
4. Kerb height at boarding and alighting points of bus stop – (including any rutting)
   • Min 100mm
   • Max 140mm
5. Access to Boarding and Alighting zones (free from obstructions/ impediments),
   • 2m x 2m at Front access door
   • 2m x 4m at side access door

Each bus stop was visited in person (not remotely through mapping software). The full results of the audit were provided in Excel spreadsheet format, including details of each bus stop with a Yes/ No (pass/ fail) recorded against each parameter. Bus stops where then deemed as either ‘Accessible’ or ‘Not Accessible’ with comments provided for each Non-Accessible stop. Headline findings and summarized charts were also included as part of the final Report.

The assessment has provided Ealing Council with a much clearer understanding of the level of accessible bus stop provision in the borough. The report is used to target and prioritize bus stops requiring improvements, and to assist in the bidding process for associated budgets.

Client – Russell Roberts – Principal Transport Planner – LB Ealing.