Date: 10th April 2009

SEStran’s board has approved a report that recommends the development of a new park and ride site, in Fife, for Dundee-bound commuters and expanding car parking provision for Edinburgh-bound commuters at Leuchars station.

The report recommends that the Park & Ride Site should be located to the south of the Tay Road Bridge to provide an eventual maximum of 500 parking spaces. The estimated cost of the project would be £2.8 million.

As much of the benefit of the scheme will accrue to the City of Dundee, SEStran will work closely with Dundee City Council, TACTRAN and Fife Council, to develop the project.

The report also recommends expanding the current capacity of Leuchars station from 158 to 258 spaces, to meet increased demand. This would cost £635,000. The car park currently operates at near capacity, and the recent doubling of train frequency from one to two per hour has led to a marked increase in traffic and an urgent need for additional parking.

SEStran Chair, Cllr Russell Imrie said:

“It is important that we think ahead if we are to persuade travellers to use public transport as their mode of choice. Although there is relatively little congestion on the Tay Road Bridge at present, the imminent redevelopment of Dundee waterfront is likely to mean a significant increase in Cross Tay traffic”.

“By anticipating demand now, we can avoid congestion problems in the future that could impact on Dundee’s economic development.  The need for a Bus park & Ride facility in this area of Fife has been has been identified by both SEStran and TACTRAN as a priority in our Regional Transport Strategies(RTS,) and has also been recognised as being of strategic importance in the government’s  Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR)”.

“The pressing need for additional parking facilities at Leuchars is a simple question of supply and demand. The recent doubling of rail services to Edinburgh means that far more people now have the option of using public transport to get into the capital. If we want to encourage people to continue to leave their cars and use rail, we have to provide them with the necessary facilities. The extent of the take-up of rail services at Leuchars is an encouraging sign that people will use public transport as their mode of choice given the option.”

“However, further discussion is necessary between SEStran, TACTRAN and other bodies, including; Transport Scotland, Fife Council, Dundee City Council and the Scottish Government to determine how these proposals would be funded. “

ENDS

SEStran - South East of Scotland Transport Partnership - is one of seven new Statutory Regional Transport Partnerships (RTP) created by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005 and is a partnership of eight local councils covering the Borders, East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian, Edinburgh, Fife, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire.

For further information, please contact:

Andrew Dougal, SEStran Communications Officer

T: 0131-524-5161

M: 07889-010-291

E: Andrew.dougal@sestran.gov.uk

Notes :

1.      Full copies of the SEStran Cross Tay sustainable Transport study and the accompanying Landfall site final report may be downloaded from the Sustainable publications section of the SEStran website at www.sestran.gov.uk

 

2.    Executive summary of Cross Tay Sustainable Transport Study

 

 1.1 SESTRAN, with financial contribution from TACTRAN, appointed JMP Consultants Ltd. to identify a package of sustainable mode interventions that will also contribute to a reduction in single occupancy car trips across the Tay Road Bridge. The options examined included the provision of new rail stations and new rail and bus based Park+Ride/Choose facilities.  1.2 The appraisal of the options in the first stage of the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidelines (STAG 1) process concluded that the development of a bus based P+R/Choose site on the southern approaches to the Tay Road Bridge and the provision of additional car parking facilities at Leuchars Station should be pursued and were taken forward to STAG 2 appraisal. This also included, through an extension of the study, the feasibility/implementability of a Bus based Park and Ride/Choose Facility to the south of the Bridge.  1.3 Both Regional Transport Partnerships have identified the provision of bus based Park and Ride facilities in the Bridgehead area as a high priority in their approved Regional Transport Strategies and indeed, in the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) recently published by the Transport Minister, the provision of such a facility in the locality of the A92 in north east Fife has been approved as a project of strategic importance.  Leuchars Station Car Park  1.4 It became clear during the STAG 1 part of the study that partly due to the recent increase in rail services at Leuchars from one train per hour to two trains per hour, and with the current parking demand being in excess of car park capacity, that there was demand for additional Park + Ride/Choose facilities at Leuchars Station for trips to Edinburgh. Accordingly this option was taken forward to STAG 2 appraisal (although it did not meet the Planning Objectives of the CTST study brief of reducing the number of single occupancy car journeys over the Tay Road Bridge).  1.5 It is therefore recommended that the station car parking provision at Leuchars be extended by use of the open land adjacent to the station which is reserved in the relevant local plan. The recommendation is to provide a further 100 at grade spaces which would be subject to the same operational regime as the current car park.  1.6 This scheme, estimated to cost £635,500, showed a Benefit to Cost Ratio of 1.55. It is therefore recommended that this scheme be taken forward to identify funding mechanisms in partnership with Fife Council, Transport Scotland and the rail industry.  Bridgehead Bus Based Park and Ride / Choose  1.7 Due to the current and future need to attract traffic to a P+R/Choose site destined for Central Dundee, Ninewells Hospital and University, it is recommended that the Landfall Site at the Tay Road Bridge (the existing car park facility and that to the south) be progressed as soon as possible through discussions with all stakeholders, including bus operators, the Tay Road Bridge Joint Board and other landowners, and that detailed negotiations and designs are undertaken.  1.8 Accepting that there is land ownership and planning policy issues at the Landfall locus, the Forgan Roundabout should be considered as the next best alternative should there be implementability issue at the Landfall Site.  1.9 Both sites identified a positive Benefit Cost Ratio:  Landfall site 1.77:1 with a capital cost of £2.8m  Forgan Roundabout 1.49:1 with a capital cost of £1.79m   1.10 Both sites have existing bus services that access the key traffic and people attractors in Dundee. The Landfall Site offers the best bus service frequency and catchment area. However the Forgan site offers a good level of bus services for a P+R/Choose operation should the Landfall site be too problematical.  1.11 The site will be designed to encourage park and choose with a small number of spaces set aside for car sharers and those who wish to park and cycle or walk into Dundee. Adequate parking will be provided for cycles.  1.12 It should be noted that a significant part of the overall economic benefits of this scheme befalls (collectively) to non bridge car users in Dundee City Centre, with the users of the Park & Ride/choose scheme itself as well as Bridge traffic also benefiting significantly.  1.13 It is recognised that there is relatively little congestion on the Tay Road Bridge at present but this will most likely increase, particularly with the regeneration of the Dundee City Centre and the waterfront development. It is therefore envisaged that bus priority measures will be required in due course to ensure that Bus Park and Ride remains an attractive option for people travelling to Dundee from Fife.  Financial Resource  1.14 In the delivery of the P+R/Choose sites it is recommended that the public sector funding partners seek to pass maximum commercial accountability to the private sector as they are best placed to deal with revenue related issues.  1.15 In addition, it is recommended that the public sector funding partners seek a mechanism that will allow for the recovery of site operating costs from the additional fare box revenue.  1.16 A significant level of Capital funding for the P+R/Choose should be sought from Scottish Government resources since a P+R/Choose scheme adjacent to the A92 in north east Fife was identified in the STPR to be of national strategic significance.  1.17 It is recommended that work on the detailed planning application be made as soon as consideration to the land acquisition and subsequent detailed design issues has been made.  1.18 This recommendation is also made on the basis of the need for a P+R / Choose site to be operational during the major part of the re-development of the Dundee Central Waterfront area which will restrict access to and from the Tay Road Bridge, in order to enable the redevelopment works to progress whilst maintaining acceptable progress on this strategic and local distributor route

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