As a long-term advocate for active travel PJA are very encouraged to read of Sustrans’ challenge to the government to create a “golden age of cycling”.

The timing has never been better as people are seeking healthier and sustainable modes of travel post-Covid and there is new guidance and funding to support this quiet revolution.

In the 1940s at the end of the working day, cycling was the go-to method of private transport. Looking at cycle use of over the years it has declined substantially in line with increased car ownership.

People often say the high use of bikes in the Netherlands is just because it’s a flat country, but the UK was no flatter in the 1940s! This shows that that there is the opportunity to grow the amount of cycle users again. This is further proven by the huge increase in cycle use during the pandemic when less traffic on the roads made them more ‘cycle-friendly’.

The benefits of cycling are immense, and it’s something we’ve spoken about in detail here. Much of the traffic on the roads is due to short trips that could be made by cycling and with our roads in recent years struggling to accommodate the levels of cars on them, encouraging active travel is an effective way of reducing congestion and improving air quality.

PJA recognise the importance of providing safe and adequate facilities to enable more walking and cycling, having over the years provided support to the UK and devolved governments on how best to create safe and attractive infrastructure. We have produced documents such as guidance on producing Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans, the Wales Active Travel Design Guidance and Local Transport Note 1/20 – Cycle Infrastructure Design which was commended in the Transport Planning category of the CIHT Awards 2021.

Additionally, the work PJA have carried out with Welsh Government to set the agenda for default 20mph speed limits in urban areas will help encourage more walking and cycling. PJA have been applying these principles in places such as Faversham in Kent, where a town-wide 20mph limit was introduced and which led to a change in the County’s speed limit policy to enable more places to make the change.  LINK to Case Study (JMCQ)

Through careful and considered design and with national and local government support to deliver suitable and sustained cycle routes we certainly do see this as an opportunity for the golden age of cycling to begin.

PJA were the lead author of LTN1/20, the new cycling infrastructure design guidance which was published alongside ‘Gear Change’, and co-authored the guidance on Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans. Made up of some of the UK’s leading transport planners, engineers and place makers we work together to achieve a robust, evidence-led approach to creating better places and new developments.

For more information on our active travel services, please contact [email protected]

Sign up for more news from PJA here

Watch our Chairman, Phil Jones, talk at Traffex Digital 2021 about ‘Gear Change – The Cycling Revolution’

We’re excited to welcome Rebecca Jones as a Principal Consultant at our London Office.

She will be working closely with both our placemaking and civil engineering teams to deliver footway, cycleway and active travel schemes.

Rebecca joins us as a Principal from Urban Movement where she has worked on a range of projects including the design of ‘pop-up’ cycle lanes in Ealing, community engagement in Dartmouth Park and GIS analysis in Glasgow and Sutton. Further to this, Rebecca was Senior Engineer at Sustrans, working on the design and implementation of key projects including Quietways and the DIY Streets Marks Gate project.

Qualified to a Prince2 Foundation level, Rebecca brings her extensive experience of project management to the team, and has a proven track record of relationship management and project delivery with local authorities across London.

Rebecca is a regular public speaker as well as being guest lecturer at Cardiff University for their Transport and Planning MSc course.

Jerry Muscroft, Director of London and Southeast, said “There is huge investment through the government’s Levelling Up and Building Back Better initiatives with new infrastructure projects and the development of a low carbon transport network to serve a growing and changing economy. Public sector demand for our services is growing, so we’re delighted to have Rebecca on board to strengthen our offering in active travel.

“Rebecca has extensive experience in developing and delivering ambitious and transformative schemes including the award-winning DIY Streets Marks Gate project. Her track record in developing and delivering active travel and community-focused public realm projects brings added expertise to our growing London team. She is a great advocate for sustainable travel and is a guest lecturer at Cardiff University as well as presenting at events such as UDL’s Urban Design Summer School in 2020 making her a great fit for PJA.”

Rebecca added “Having worked in active travel and transport planning for over eleven years, I have long been aware of the excellent reputation that PJA has in the industry, and I am really pleased to be joining the team at this time.

“The past year has brought many challenges, but as more people have been choosing to walk and cycle during the pandemic, our work to make our streets safer and more inviting is more important than ever. I am passionate about designing high-quality streets and I am excited to bring my skills and experience to the London team in my role.”

Get in touch with Rebecca: [email protected]

Sign up for more news from PJA here

PJA are proud to be part of the team that developed proposals for what promises to be an incredible landmark: Curzon Wharf.

We are providing transport planning services on this £360 million mixed-use regeneration project in Birmingham city centre.

This innovative project will reuse 1960s industrial land next to the Dartmouth Circus island and the A38 Aston Expressway to develop a range of residential accommodation and commercial space.

The masterplan contains proposals for a 172m building over 53 storeys, making it the Birmingham’s tallest, housing 498 apartments. An adjacent 41-storey building is proposed with up to 732 student accommodation units and a third 14-storey building would have 265 units of co-living space.

The scheme also includes plans for nearly 130,000 sq ft of office and other commercial space, 3,000 sq ft of retail space and 15,000 sq ft for leisure uses as well as improved public realm including walking and cycling routes.

For more information on our transport services, please contact [email protected]

Sign up for more news from PJA here

We’re set to play an integral role in the creation of the West Midlands Gigafactory – a plant to manufacture electric car batteries – at Coventry Airport.

Working for joint venture partners Coventry City Council and Coventry Airport, we will advise on infrastructure, major highways, drainage and flood risk for the scheme, while also informing the masterplan.

Securing the factory could create thousands of green jobs, attract up to £2bn of investment, and support the drive for Net Zero. The West Midlands is already the heart of the UK automotive sector, and home to several automotive manufacturers, including Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin Lagonda, BMW, LEVC and others. Securing a Gigafactory in this location has been identified as vital for the continued success of the industry.

The UK Government is actively pursuing investment in a Gigafactory and has made up to £500m funding available to support the growth of the sector. The site has been endorsed by the West Midlands Combined Authority and other regional stakeholders and, if plans are successful, could be operational by 2025.

As advocates for cleaner greener travel this is an incredible opportunity for us to contribute to the UK’s electric vehicle industry.

For more information, please contact [email protected]

Sign up for more news from PJA here

In 2018, 1137 people were killed or seriously injured in collisions on Welsh roads, 80 of these were children. The largest proportion of these serious or fatal casualties occurred on roads with a 30mph speed limit.

There is overwhelming evidence that lower speeds result in fewer collisions and a reduced severity of injuries; and consistent evidence that casualties are reduced when 20mph limits are introduced. Mark Drakeford, First Minister for Economy and Transport, said: ‘We know that 20mph zones reduce speed of traffic, reduce accidents – particularly accidents to children – and we want to see that become the default position right across Wales.’

Presently just 1% of the Welsh urban road network is 20mph. Having to make the case to lower the speed limit for every small scheme is inefficient and slow and will never achieve widespread change in driver behaviour.

The Wales 20mph Task Force Group, chaired by PJA’s Phil Jones, was formed on the direction of Lee Waters, the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport, in May 2019. Task Force Group members included representatives of local government and transport providers as well as experienced campaigners such as Rod King MBE, founder of 20’s Plenty for Us, and experts such as Adrian Davis advising on best practice to help pave the way for this national law change.

The Groups’ objective was to identify the outcomes which would be expected from changing the default speed limit for restricted roads in Wales to 20mph; and the practical actions needed to implement this change.

The Group’s report included findings from international research showing that a 20mph limit on most urban roads and streets will result in fewer collisions and casualties. It also found that the lower speed limit will lead over time to more walking and cycling, improvements in air quality and improved noise levels.

On 15 July 2020, in a world first, the Welsh Parliament voted 45 to 6 in favour of accepting all 21 recommendations of the Task Force Group to reduce the default speed limit for restricted roads in Wales to 20mph.

The new speed limit will apply to roads with street lights at least every 200 yards and is expected to become law by April 2023. It will not be a blanket 20mph, as higher limits will be appropriate on some lit roads – and the Task Force developed a GIS system to enable authorities to quickly identify them – but the vast majority of urban roads will see the new limit. This will enable a rapid roll out of 20mph limits with authorities only having to identify the relatively few exceptions to the rule, thus helping to encourage walking and cycling as sustainable modes of transport quickly and over wide areas.

Lee Waters, the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport, said: “The investment will reap rewards. Lives saved, costly accidents prevented, mental and physical health improved and the more intangible but equally valuable community fabric strengthened. I am hugely grateful to Phil Jones for leading this substantial piece of work over the last year, systematically identifying the barriers to implementing this significant change…”

The campaign for 20mph default limit was supported by numerous Welsh organisations and NGOs including the Institute for Welsh Affairs, Public Health Wales, Sustrans Cymru, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Living Streets Cymru and BRAKE.

The significance of the change being made in Wales should not be underestimated. No country has previously chosen to reduce the default speed limit for urban areas to 20mph and there will be global interest in learning from and building on Wales’ experience.

The report from the Welsh 20mph Task Force Group can be read here.

For more information, please contact [email protected]

Sign up for more news from PJA here

PJA were part of the team that helped secure consent for a dedicated space to educate the next generation of healthcare professionals at The University of Worcester.

The former Worcester newspaper office, known as Berrows House, on Hylton Road is being developed to provide a new Centre for Health and Medical Education. The centre will include a state-of-the-art anatomy laboratory, a suite of GP simulation rooms, and a range of general seminar and teaching rooms. There will also be offices, break-out spaces for group study and a café.

PJA provided transport planning advice to the University of Worcester to ensure planning success for what will be a high-quality teaching facility, creating hundreds of new opportunities to gain a first-class education and vital professional qualifications in a wide variety of health professions.

The fully refurbished building, which will open at the end of 2022, will be a most significant addition to the University’s Severn Campus, whose focus is on health, wellbeing and inclusive sport.

For more information on this or our transport planning services, please contact [email protected]

Images courtesy of Glancy Nicholls Architects

Sign up for more news from PJA here