Plymotion green travel campaign is heading to Derriford
Plymouth City Council’s Plymotion campaign is getting ready to hit the road for a fourth year after securing £710,110 from the Department for Transport to support smarter travel in the Derriford area.
The £990,610 programme will build on the success of the city’s current Plymotion campaign, which has focussed on the corridor between Devonport and Stonehouse in the west, through the city centre to the East End, Plymstock and Plympton in the east.
The next phase will encourage sustainable travel in the north of the city (including the Derriford growth area) and to and from the Royal William Yard. It will deliver:
• Personal travel advice to 20,000 households in Manadon, Widey, the west of Derriford, Crownhill, Widewell, Southway, Tamerton Foliot, Whitleigh, Honicknowle and West Park
• An enhanced bus service between the city centre and Royal William Yard
• A comprehensive cycling programme for adults and children
Like the current programme, the 2015/16 campaign aims to make it easier to get around Plymouth by bus, by bike and on foot, helping to ease congestion on Plymouth’s road network as well as improve health.
It will include free cycle training for adults, free bike safety checks and subsidised bike maintenance courses, along with group cycle events. Travel advisors will once again be visiting homes to offer people free advice on greener, cheaper ways to get from A to B.
Since starting their visits in 2012, the Plymotion travel advisors have knocked on more than 64,000 doors and spoken to over 13,000 residents. By the end of phase four the team will have knocked on more than 80,000 doors and visited 73 per cent of all households in the city.
The Plymotion programme was due to end in March 2015 but a successful bid to the Department for Transport’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund means the project can now continue for another year.
The DfT commended Plymouth’s bid for ‘building on the existing Local Sustainable Transport Fund project and linking coherently with longer term proposals and infrastructure improvements, with a focussed list of interventions with true potential to achieve the objectives of the fund.’
Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “Plymotion has been a great way for us to engage with the community and let people know about the support that’s available to encourage them to use sustainable transport. Many people have told us their chat with our travel advisors was really useful and the team are looking forward to working with residents and businesses in the north of the city next year.”
The next phase of Plymotion has been endorsed by the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership for supporting the planned growth in the north of the city. It will be delivered in partnership with local bus companies, cycling organisations, Access Plymouth and Walking for Health.
For more information visit www.plymouth.gov.uk/plymotion, email plymotion@plymouth.gov.uk or call 01752 668000.
