The Rural Community Council for Kent and Medway
Rural Transport issues
Is there a difference between rural and urban issues? I suspect the majority of concerns are common to both – although the appropriate solutions may be different…..
Traffic related issues
- Speeding cars and HGV traffic can make rural lanes unusable and town and village streets at best unpleasant
- And potential solutions?
- 20mph limits and traffic calming are now appearing in towns but a very good case has to be made to Kent Highways before they can be implemented.
- "Speedwatch" can be used in settlements wherever there are 30 or 40 mph limits. Parish councils work with the police who supply equipment - flashing limit signs rather than speed guns for this scheme - and training. The costs and equipment can be very easily shared between a number of parishes. For more detailed information click here -
- Quiet lanes have been trialled in West Kent on the Greensand ridge and at several other sites around the country - for details see Quiet Lanes Demonstration sites. Alternatively, the CPRE published a guide to quiet lanes which is available here - CPRE guide to quiet lanes.
- Walking buses are now well established in Kent and provide a means of safeguardingpupils in urban and some rural settings. Could they perhaps be more widely used in rural areas if combined with quiet lanes initiatives?
- Volume – with the associated evils of congestion, pollution and parking demands - is a major headache for many urban areas, usually less so for rural areas except at peak times and pinch points such as rail stations and schools. Personal choice and community transport options can lessen the use of the car.
Service related issues
- Journey times – are extended by congestion in urban areas, and by physical distance and circuitous routes in rural districts. Several of the community transport options below can ease these problems.
- Public transport - low levels of service, especially at evenings and weekends and inadequate bus shelters are a problem everywhere but especially in rural areas. With local authority subsidy for services already overstretched, community solutions to their own particular transport needs are perhaps the only way of extending services into evenings and weekends.
- Timetable information – not a problem for urban areas as ‘real-time’ displays become more widespread, still a serious difficulty for rural communities where such accurate information and reassurance is not available. Simple initiatives such as simplified local service timetables can help as will the increasing use of mobile phone technology being developed by some service providers at the moment.
- Security – personal safety for the elderly and lone females in particular, “yob” culture or the fear of it are issues for all areas. CCTV is an appropriate solution for towns and unmanned railways stations. Community transport may be the only sensible solution in isolated rural settings.
- Narrow unlit lanes with broken verges make walking or cycling dangerous for rural dwellers at any time, but especially after dark. Quiet lanes might be an answer where personal security is not also part of the problem.
- Centralisation of services – medical, retail and leisure increasingly centred on single, possibly out of town sites, increasing journey times and making access more difficult from rural areas other than by car.
For more information on community transport in rural Kent contact Nigel Whitburn on 01303 850816.
Or click this link to submit an enquiry