Low Carbon in Knaresborough

A bit of a surprise this one. Added to the list of places that currently have (or are thinking of) measures to control emissions of vehicles, we can now add the beautiful Yorkshire town of Knaresborough. A recent article in the Knaresborough Post advises that Harrogate Borough Council are considering applying for powers to "require service buses passing through any area that is designated as an Air Quality Management Area to be of a low carbon emission design.” Below photograph of Liberal Councillors Hoult, Jones and Willoughby linked directly from the Knaresborough Post website.

My first comment here is that three politicians have to be pretty blinkered if they seriously believe that a few buses having emissions kit will result in a drastic improvement to air quality on its own. I would be interested to see any actual statistics that the council may commission, but I suspect that it will take a reduction in the number of cars at this location for a noticeable improvement to air quality. For those who don't know, Knaresborough and Harrogate are an affluent part of Yorkshire, where car usage has traditionally been high and council support for public transport has traditionally been low, however both these factors are changing. To illustrate the latter point, neither town has any bus lanes. French government subsidiary Transdev Harrogate Connect operate around eight buses an hour between the two towns (most extending to different suburbs of Knaresborough and local bus company ConneXions Buses operates a further four, which extend to the Knaresborough Retail Park. The services of both of these companies are provided at the commercial risk of each operator (i.e. without public funding). A further local company Eddie Brown Tours operates services under contract to North Yorkshire County Council which also pass through Bond End on their way from Harrogate to Ripon. We welcome anything which creates an improvement and a more positive passenger experience for bus and rail users. We would like to see a range of solutions provided for Knaresborough Bond End, which encompasses all of the following: -creation of a defined area that is to receive enhancements. I would personally suggest that rather than just Bond End, this ought to be the whole of the Knaresborough Road from the west side of the Empress Roundabout in Harrogate to just before Knaresborough Bus Station on the high street. -creation of an emissions specification for all buses and trucks passing through need to comply with. I would suggest Euro II as being suitable initially. There would be exemptions for vintage vehicles and vehicles not being used for hire or reward. -installation of bus lanes on the approaches to the empress roundabout, and after it on both Wetherby Road and Knaresborough Road. -installation of bus lanes leading to the Starbeck railway level crossing (in both directions) allowing buses to bypass queues of traffic -bus priority measures to allow buses to exit all bus lanes without stopping (essentially, a sensor which detects an approaching bus, and turns the traffic lights for cars to red) -North Park Road in Harrogate (the main bus way in and out of Harrogate) to have Bus Gate just before meeting the Knaresborough Road (i.e. a short bus only stretch). -Restrictions on parking and loading on Knaresborough High Street (this is probably the most significant cause of the traffic holdups at Bond End) to have the effect that loading/unloading of lorries was only allowed at certain times (evenings and early morning) and that the only parking on High Street itself would be a small number of disabled spaces. Given that 95% of public transport in the area is wheelchair-accessible, we see no reason why these spaces (and all other parking spaces in Knaresborough) shouldn't be chargeable. -Ownership of Knaresborough Bus Station to be transferred to Harrogate Borough Council, to thereby mirror the situation at other bus stations in North Yorkshire, including Ripon and Selby, where the infrastructure is owned by an independent body, which would result in the stands there being allocated impartially and the ending of use of stands on the highway itself. -at least one large Park and Ride site to be created, where car drivers can park their vehicle in safety, then transfer to a bus to finish their journey into either Harrogate or Knaresborough. -the creation of a Harrogate Bus Quality Partnership, to mirror the successful scheme in place in York, and elsewhere in the country. Among other things, this would result in an end to the ludicrous situation where return tickets are only accepted on buses of the same colour. -installation of the latest generation Kassel kerbs at all bus stops along the route. Whilst an early design of kassel kerb was installed to most stops several years ago, level boarding technologies have moved on apace since then. -consideration to installing overhead catenary to enable all buses to take their power direct from the overhead, and be zero emission instead of just low emission. How might these improvements be paid for? Well, the bus operators are being asked to spend £200,000 each on new buses. It is self-evident that the borough and county councils ought to allocate a sum of money each to the project. I see the balance as coming from a road toll/congestion charge from motorists who enter, exit or move within the defined zone. I would suggest that a daily charge of £2 per vehicle in the case of low emission vehicles and £5 for other vehicles. Purely as a suggestion and to avoid over-burdensome regulation, I would suggest that the lower charge could apply to vehicles upto eight years old that pay roadtax in the VED bands A to D, or between £0 and £105 per year. It is time to make the right decisions for the health future of Knaresborough's children. Below photograph linked from flickr user jep2510.