Category: projects

The Transport Planning Service (TPS) Team at Ealing Council commissioned Hup Initiatives to analyse ‘free-form’ feedback from 3x questions included in a recent public consultation exercise (part of plans to develop medium and long-term improvements to cycle infrastructure in the borough).

The 3 questions were:

1. What prevents you from Cycling, or Cycling more confidently?
2. Are there any existing routes which need improving?
3. Where would you like to Cycle?

The Process:

Consultants at Hup Initiatives led on the following:

• Developed an initial Matrix/ ‘List of Headings’ to tabulate comments against (for the 3x questions).
• Establish a list of typical issues/ suggestions that constitute: a Quick, Short-Term, or Longer -Term scheme/ issue.
• Reviewed each comment, tabulating and listing according to content. Comments provided alongside mapped pin drops to help with future data filtering and hot spot identification.
• All comments/ suggestion identified as either: Quick Win, Short-Term or Long-Term will also be prioritized (e.g. 1 to 3) with improvements to safety and usability being a major focus.
• The identification of ‘Hot Spot’ schemes.

Outcomes:

The creation of a Master Spreadsheet that very easily (with the use of basic filter functions) identified/ prioritised schemes and/or initiatives for Quick, Short & Long-Term improvements to cycling in the borough

Croydon Council Commissioned Hup Initiatives to lead on the auditing and reporting of cycle parking provision at 15 train stations located in the borough. The purpose of the exercise was to:

• provide councillors/ Council Officers information on existing/ potential cycle parking provision and current utilization.
• highlight stations in most need of improved cycle parking provision.
• Use the report as a working document, e.g. take to site and use for future cycle parking installation phases.

The stations included in the audit are listed in the table below

Summary of Findings:

• 466 cycle parking spaces were identified within 50m of the station entrances.
• Utilisation of existing cycle parking facilities across the stations is approximately 25%.
• Across the whole of Croydon, existing capacity appears to be meeting demand subject to further monitoring however Thornton Heath requires immediate expansion.
• 12 stations had existing covered cycle parking provision. Norwood Junction, Reedham and Thornton Heath stations should be considered for the installation of covered provision in the near future.
• Ease of use was found to be good at most stations however older facilities frequently do not meet LCDS standards particularly in regards to the provision of wide / non-standard bays.
• 3 of the stations had abandoned items secured to stands.
• Improvements to the cycle parking facilities have been outlined for all but 1 of the 15 stations.

Ealing Council’s School Travel Team commissioned Hup Initiatives to lead on the production of Active Travel Maps for schools in the Borough.

The walking maps were created using a programme called SALI (Pindar Creative). The process required desktop research (utilizing G/Earth to gain an understanding of areas surrounding the schools + review of Control Parking Zone Maps to identify possible Park & Stride locations); pupil postcode plots to identify the routes to school; a site visit to select specific walking routes/ ‘Park & Stride’ locations (and times) and producing the maps on SALI.

Hup Initiatives successfully produced 20 School Walking Maps on time and to budget.

Ealing Council has set an ambitious and exciting challenge to have 50 School Streets by 2026. Schools are prioritised based on a selection criterion that includes the following categories:

• Road safety – casualties
• Air Quality
• Index of Multiple Deprivation
• STARS engagement
• Active travel
• Location suitability

(A School Street is where streets around a school are closed to the majority of traffic at school opening and closing times).

Hup Initiatives have been commissioned by the council to lead on the production of Evaluation Reports (pre-implementation) for future ‘School Streets projects’, as well as the production of Monitoring Reports for each School Street implemented, approximately 1 year after delivery.

An Evaluation Report outlines and displays results from three provided data sets; TfL ‘STARS’ school travel surveys, a ‘Give My View’ survey of the local / school community, and an official Traffic Management Order (TMO) consultation in regards to the proposed highway access changes.  The Monitoring Reports utilise similar information, with the addition of post-implementation Parking Beat & Traffic Count data.

Analysis of the Travel survey data forms the main bulk of the report.  The purpose of the Survey being  to distinguish between various groups such as Pupils, Staff, Parents, Residents and Businesses who will be impacted by the School Street.

Questions in the survey seek to understand the respondents’ views on various aspects of the current situation and establish levels of support for the scheme. The survey states the scheme’s aims and responses are made on wider concerns through the use of multiple-choice answers or a sliding scale relating to how strongly the respondent feels.

Additionally, respondents are given the opportunity to provide further ‘free text’ comments on the proposals. All comments are read and coded by Hup Initiatives to provide further numerical analysis as well as key findings and suggestions based on the school and local community’s feedback.

The completed Evaluation and Monitoring reports include:

• Overview of the scheme
• Survey Results – analysis of all data
• Key findings
• Recommendations i.e. Evaluation Report – whether to move forward with the implementation of a school street and Implementation Report – whether to retain or remove a School Street following a min of 1 year in operation.

Hackney Council are undertaking a programme of Green Screen installations at 26 schools in the borough. The purpose of Green Screens is to reduce pupils exposure to vehicle emissions. The Green Screens are typically Ivy Screens (Ivy species – Hedera Hibernica ‘Woerner’), are either surface mounted Free-Standing solutions – Trellis and Planter, or In-Ground Planting – planting Ivy Screens directly into the ground.

Hup Initiatives led on the auditing of sites in the borough, to identify the schools best suited and in most need of a Green Screen installation. To date we have undertaken preliminary assessments of 29 schools, led on 16 site visits and produced subsequent reports for each detailing possible locations on for Green Screens and the most appropriate method of installation.

Hup Initiatives also project managed the successful installation of a Green Screening Project at Rushmore Primary School, which included 57m of Ivy Screens (at 2.2m height).

Hup Initiatives were commissioned to ‘help facilitate’/ ‘make it easier for’ schools to access funding for new, upgraded or additional cycle & Scooter parking facilities, as well as help manage installation.

Selected schools were able to choose from a parking ‘shopping list’ (created by Hup Initiatives) that included: Cycle Shelters, Stand-alone Cycle Stands and Scoter Parking facilities.

Hup Initiatives reviewed all requests, creating a short list for the installation company. Our (Hup Initiatives) involvement from this point onwards was to ensure the correct facilities were installed to an appropriately high-standard and in time to meet the constraints of the budget.

As a result of our efforts, 80 additional new cycle parking spaces and 300 scooter parking spaces were installed across 15 schools in the borough.

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.