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23.04.18
8 Deputy C.D . Curtis of St. Helier Central of the Minister for Infrastructure
regarding sustainable transport (OQ.64/2023)
Will the Minister provide an update on the progress of his Ministerial priority which reads: “Working on sustainable transport measures in line with the Sustainable Transport Plan and delivering a Sustainable Transport Roadmap.”?
Deputy T. Binet (The Minister for Infrastructure):
I would like to thank the Deputy for her question. The transport team have already delivered 12 minor projects to improve cycling and pedestrian infrastructure under the Strong Start Active Travel Plan that sits under the sustainable transport policy. In addition, the Government has launched behavioural change initiatives, such as the Jersey’s Love to Ride challenge, which has been a great success, achieving higher statistics than any region in the U.K. (United Kingdom). More action is needed, so officers have been collecting data, travel data, evidence and facts from a variety of sources, including desktop studies, parking and bus ticket information, which is being analysed and compiled into a report called the Preferred Strategy, which is due to be published towards the end of June this year.
[11:30]
This will need to be accompanied by a bid for funding in the next Government Plan. I do not want to give the Minister for Treasury and Resources a heart attack, but it is going to be between £10 million and £12 million over 3 years. But it is just to say that we really will be looking for more investment because when I refer to a team in the initial paragraph it is one plus 2 part-time assistants. So progress is not as quick as I would like and that is basically a funding-related issue.
- Deputy C.D . Curtis :
So could the Minister give some more detail on any progress about walking and cycling routes through town?
Deputy T. Binet :
These are the issues that are being put into the plan that will be published in June, hopefully before the end of June but certainly by the end of June.
- Deputy R.J. Ward :
Can I ask the Minister: given that the bus contract is currently out for tender, is one of the integral parts of that negotiation how it fits into a sustainable transport measure and a sustainable transport plan?
Deputy T. Binet :
It certainly is and that will also include over time the electrification of the bus fleet, hopefully. To that end, I had a meeting with the J.E.C. yesterday evening at La Collette working on the provision of all the charging infrastructure that is going to be needed to be put in place for that to be achieved.
- Deputy R.J. Ward :
Does the Minister feel that increases in bus fares recently is congruent with a sustainable transport policy and encouraging people out of private cars and on to public transport? What is he going to do to try and make it a more affordable and the go-to means of transport for the majority of the Island?
Deputy T. Binet :
That is an acceptable concern, I think. The simple fact is that if you do not raise prices you have to subsidise it, and it is a very delicate balance that needs to be achieved. So I do understand the desire to keep prices down, but we do live in a real world where inflation at this point in time is particularly high.
- Deputy C.D . Curtis :
Will the plans that the Minister has mentioned include a priority for the cycle track from the east of the Island into town?
Deputy T. Binet :
As to whether that can be a priority or not we could certainly take a look at that, but there are a number of priorities and there are other areas in the Island where cycling is particularly dangerous. I will confirm that we will try to put some prioritisation as a result of that comment.