Shaping Birmingham's Transport

Back to work

Pav Dhande — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:09:56 +0000

The first post in a long time, and I’d like to start with an apology for leaving this so long – with most of the steering group involved in A Level exams and being out the country in the periods after the conference, we didn’t have the resources to ensure the blog was kept up to-date. That said I’m pleased to publish the first set of feedback and outcomes established at the Shaping Birmingham’s Transport conference. There is a mass of information out there, and for the same reasons The Telegraph didn’t release all the MP’s expenses data at once, neither will we. A special thanks to Sandra Hale from Birmingham City Council who collated and processed everything written down on the day too – we’re all very much appreciative. Bilal will be preparing a report of all the feedback after all the input has been published here – the easiest way to keep up-to-date is to subscribe to the RSS feed.

We’ll be starting by listing what you felt were your concerns, with the focus for today’s post being on public transport. Most of the issues here regard the journey itself, with some delegates feeling problems include:

The Midlands Metro is full in the morning
Congestion on the roads is a problem
Public transport is too expensive to use
There is overcrowding on public transport; it’s uncomfortable having to stand, and many people prefer therefore prefer the comfort of their own car.
Anti-social behaviour on public transport can be a problem.
Change isn’t given on National Express buses
Public transport isn’t always reliable
Disabilities should be further considered
Fares are constantly rising.
Train stations are not always localised.
Bus frequencies aren’t always consistent, and don’t always keep to time.
Finding bus routes and stops can be difficult.

Another area that was particularly picked up on was journey planning when using public transport:

Buses do not provide journeys to deprived areas, or outer city areas.
Buses will not drop you off where you want – lack of connectivity.
Poor co-ordination on changing buses.
Buses are not frequent enough.

Other miscellaneous issues on public transport include:

Bus drivers have little protection or power and are at risk – the police text reporting service helps though.
Bus drivers do not care if people are drinking on the bus.
Bus drivers can be rude or arrogant towards young people.
Laws or fines aren’t always enforced on public transport.
Better bus lanes and junctions are required.
More stations for trains are required.
Is the idea of a green bus contradictory?
Chewing gum is often stuck on bus seats?

More to follow.

Group Presentations

Pav Dhande — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:19:52 +0000

We’ve had a few requests urging us to hurry up with the group presentations. As promised, you can find them below. Congratulations again to all of our finalists.

Brumderground - winners

The Brumderground group, consisting of Jamie Phillips, Jamie Hodgson and Aaron Pereira, proposed two main improvements to Birmingham’s public transport network: the creation of an underground network, linking our suburbs to the city centre and increasing Centro’s power to regulate public transport.

Birmingham currently contains three suburban lines operating at high frequency. Our intention is to expand our rail network with an underground system, connecting suburbs which are not currently served by trains. An east-west line would run from Merry Hill/Halesowen, along the Hagley Road to Castle Vale as part of the east Birmingham regeneration scheme. A north-south line would run through Kings Norton, Druids Heath, and Moseley and then across the city centre towards Perry Barr and Kingstanding. The third line would link Birmingham with Sparkhill and Solihull. Being fast, frequent and easy to use, an underground system would certainly improve Birmingham’s connectivity and help to reduce the number of trips made by car. Nonetheless, we accept this is a costly proposal, amounting to between £10-15bn.

Our other main aim would be to give Centro more control over the multitude of private transport companies. This would ensure that public transport is being run for the benefit of those who use it, rather than to generate large profits for the operators. Connectivity between different modes of transport, such as in London, would take greater prominence and smartcards, similar to the oyster card, would be introduced on all buses, trams and trains, eliminating the need for cash fares.

Lastly, all tickets and passes would be interavailable for use on all companies’ buses.

Handsworth Grammar School - runners up

Our team [from Handsworth Grammar school consisted of; Nadeem Pervaiz, Minh Ngoc Nguyen, Simrat Singh & Akaash Hussain] gave it their all in a competition to try and revolutionize transport for the wider Birmingham conurbation in the near but also distant future. Our group’s presentation collated all of our major ideas together. The topics which we incorporated into our slideshow ranged from a cable cart system, to smart cards used for public transport, and even grass powered cars!

An entertaining part was where Minh engaged the audience with his latest invention/innovation, the ‘Panda 5000’, a really cool car that could be powered by Solar, Wind, Hydro-electricity and even gerbils – the latter being a joke.

We felt that a Cable Cart system, similar to those found at Ski resorts would serve the thriving city of Birmingham well, linking many major landmarks together: Connecting the Bull Ring to Symphony Hall, then to Broadway Plaza etc.

Private Pod incorporated the following: Comfort, Speed, Design, Reliable, Own ‘POD Lines’, Private for friends and family but still relatively cheap to travel, eco-friendly!! (The private is unfortunately not run by gerbils)

The Plant – A car which is powered by the same energy a plant needs to survive: Water + Light. Though the vehicle design was just grass on top of a car, the plant was to show how renewable energy resources must be the way forward for all vehicles

Much hard work went into preparing our colour-rich information boards. One of the boards consisted of rhetorical questions such as; ‘Do you feel safe using public transport?’ could get people’s views on modern day public transport. The other board consisted of future transport, idea’s that we came up as a group such as cars powered by renewable energy resources such as poo (already tried and tested in industry) – a plentiful source!

Day Savers - runners up

Conference Photos

Bilal — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 21:31:42 +0000

All photos courtesy of Dan Alani.

Click here to view photos.

And so, it ends?

Pav Dhande — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:56:26 +0000

Wow, what a conference. As I sit in Starbucks surrounded by the steering group and some of the UKYP Birmingham members reflecting on today, we realise what exactly what it is we’ve done today. Young people make up 37% of our population, and today they were able to speak to high-level decision-makers to do with transport in Birmingham. The guests they were consulting with were:

Councillor Len Gregory: Cabinet Member for Transportation
Councillor Jon Hunt
Councillor Tim Huxtable
Stephen Rhodes: Bus and Highways Director, CENTRO
Martin Hancock: Commercial Director, National Express
Inspector Gordon: British Transport Police
Ben Martin: Friends of the Earth
Andy Marlow, Richy Rana and Tyrone Fowles: UK Youth Parliament

A huge well done to Jamie P, Aaron and Jamie H for winning the Your Vision: 2026 competition with their Brumderground concept. Congratulations also to the two runner-up entries.

The idea of today was always to produce practical actions that the council can act on, tommorow, in the short-term and in the long-term… we certainly had a wealth of ideas that came from the rich discussion on each table. The Birmingham Mail attended and commented on how successful they thought it went. The young people involved really did make it what it was, so thanks to them for attending, and also to all those who put in so much to make the event happen. We’ll be updating this blog with the solutions you came up with over the next few days and weeks, as well as some of the photos taken on the event. Alternatively, you can find us on Facebook to keep up to date. Leader of the Council Mike Whitby has said he’s interested in hearing how the event went, and where we can take it from here; we’ll let you know how it goes. We recommend subscribing to stay informed.

As Bilal said in his closing remarks: “This isn’t going to be compiled into some big report where we try and pass it on to the relevant agencies; the appropriate people have already heard and noted what you’ve said.” He’s right. And so it ends? Don’t be silly; this is just the beginning.

48 hours and counting

Gregory Yates — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:31:08 +0000

With two days to go until the conference, we’re very excited - as was certainly shown in our meeting yesterday! We’ve been putting the final touches to our agenda, accomodating the last minute changes to the timetable (all good ones; don’t worry) and finalising who is saying what, where and how, and in what order. Not an easy task, I assure you, but it’s all fitting nicely into place.

I should note at this stage that we’re going to be joined by reporters from the Birmingham Post and the Birmingham Mail; they’ll be covering our event live, which is great. Also, the current guestlist stands at:

Cllr. Len Gregory
Cllr. Jon Hunt
Cllr. Tim Huxtable
Inspector Gordon (British Transport Police)
Stephen Rhodes (CENTRO)
Ben Martin (Friends of the Earth)
Martin Hancock (National Express)
Andy Marlow (UKYP)

Remember, it’s by no means too late to register! We still have some seats to fill, so please fill out the form HERE and come along on Thursday. Wednesday night is the deadline to book places.

We hope to see you there, and hear your ideas!

Transport Summit 2009

Sahar Rezazadeh — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:06:11 +0000

Yesterday, Pav and I brought an end to the busy week by attending the Transport Summit 2009 held in the Council House, attended by delegates from across the country. It was a fantastic opportunity for us to meet with important decision makers in Transport some of who demonstrated a lot of interest in attending the Young People’s Transport Conference next week. The discussions during the day ranged from electric cars and the climate challenge to the New St Station regeneration project which I am really looking forward to!!!

We both had a chat with Councillor Mike Whitby, who delivered a dynamic speech on the BIG City Plan, and met Councillor Len Gregory who was excited about the conference as he mentioned, in his speech, the importance of consultation on transport with our young people.

Do not forget to register for the up-coming conference this Thursday 2nd of April as places are filling up fast. Click here to register and we thoroughly look forward to seeing you there for an outstanding event!

Time is ticking…

Carys Evans — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:03:50 +0000

With only a week until our event it is set to be better than ever! Myself and the rest of the group have been working hard over the past few weeks to prepare a video that will be aired at the beginning of the April 2nd event. We have travelled around Birmingham collecting the opinions of young people and transport experts alike all in an attempt to incorporate as many different opinions on our system as possible. The video will open the event, introducing the delegates to the themes and discussion points of the day. Last week we interviewed the Leader of the Council, Mike Whitby! Sahar and myself travelled to Birmingham Council House and were greeted with an excited leader and some Chinese green tea. The leader was happy to film the introduction of our video, in which he congratulated all those who wish to make a difference through attending the event. We were delighted at the level of enthusiasm that met our hard work, and we left the meeting with the request to continue developing our project, with the possibility of hosting annual events like next week’s.

With all the final details confirmed there is no better time for you to book your place to attend our ‘Shaping Birmingham’s Transport’ Event. The day is the perfect opportunity for you to air your views and opinions to important figures who make changes every single day. Remember, places are limited, so book as soon as possible to ensure you can attend! I look forward to seeing you all there.

Fantastic News!!!

Sahar Rezazadeh — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 19:27:22 +0000

I realise that some of you are still contemplating attendance to the event or are unsure about submitting entries to the superb competition opportunity! I hope that the hot and great updates below will help you make the right decision about getting involved and shaping your city’s transport system.

Firstly, The HOT News!!! The Leader of the City Council, Councillor Mike Whitby, has confirmed to attend the conference, as has the BBC Midlands Today’s Transport Correspondent, Peter Plisner. Remember that if you do decide to enter for the competition and your entry does make it to the final round, you will be presenting it to ‘important’ people in the city which now includes Cllr Mike Whitby and Peter Plisner from the BBC!

Furthermore, for those who are worried that they will not be able to get involved because of time constraints, after our meeting yesterday it has been agreed that the Competition deadline be extended to 19^th March 2009!!! This gives you longer to get your group together and submit an entry. Go to ‘Tips and Advice’ for more information on how to make your entry successful. Remember: you can be as creative as you like but it is always a good idea to keep it simple!!!

Transport - it’s pretty hot

Ankita Chadha — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:54:44 +0000

With a month to go until the competition entry deadline, it seems transport has never been a bigger issue on the public agenda. This month the Transport Steering Group made the front cover of the City Council’s ‘Forward’ Newspaper, delivered to every house in Birmingham, showing the scope of interest and progression in ameliorating the current system.

The issue is also the focus of the UK Youth Parliament who are holding an upcoming summit discussing the accessibility and affordability of public transport. Brendan McGowan, Interim Head of Programmes, explained: “Our aim for the Fares Fair event is to bring together young people from across the country and support them to share and learn from other 11-19 year olds how they’re shaping transport services where they live- whether this is about customer services training for drivers, more affordable trains and trams or a reliable bus to get you to school, work or to see your mates.”

Also in the news this week a Facebook group campaigning specifically about Travel West Midlands’ fares which continues to grow by at east 1,000 people per week. We spoke to group creator Michael Burke about why he set the group up: “I felt that there was no real way of people getting their opinions across to TWM, and that starting this group would be a good way for those people to voice their concerns. And the group has been very successful in doing this.”

As the awareness of the problems with Birmingham’s public transport system and suggestions for future developments continue to grow, what better time to submit an entry to our competition!

Updates, registration and Facebook!

Bilal — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 16:18:15 +0000

Well, the build-up towards the event is certainly picking up pace as we near 2 months to the date of the youth conference. We recently launched the competition, and this week we’re doing some further press work - so keep your eyes and ears open.

Stephen Rhodes (Director of Bus and Highways, CENTRO) and Martin Hancock (Commercial Director - Bus and Coach, National Express) have confirmed that they will be joining Cllr Len Gregory (Cabinet Member for Transportation, Birmingham City Council) to attend the event and listen to young people’s ideas on Birmingham’s transport. This shows how seriously the project is being taken by the decision-makers across the city. In the next few weeks, we will be confirming many more names of relevant people who have been invited to attend.

Registration for people wanting to attend the event was also opened recently and we’ve had keen interest from a lot of young people across the city, so I’d suggest that you head over to the Conference page and fill in the application form as soon as possible to snap some places. To ensure that we have a representative group of young people attending the event, we are limiting places to 5 per institution (i.e. school, college, youth group).

The Shaping Birmingham’s Transport group on Facebook has been rapidly increasing in members since its launch, and there are some interesting discussions taking place on it. So I’d definitely recommend having a look and adding your own input - as it could influence what is discussed at the conference.