Category: travel

OXFORDSHIRE County Council has been told that its transport team has been ranked the top authority in the South East by the Government and is among only 20 in the country to be ranked as ‘excellent’ for its work in easing congestion.
The Department for Transport ranks all local councils on their performance levels against pre-set transport network management duties.

In 2005 the Government imposed such duties on all councils responsible for transport issues, to ensure that they are effectively managing congestion on their roads.

The report is the first time that the Government has assessed the effectiveness of the measures authorities have in place against a range of criteria and praises the county council for covering all of the requirements very well.

Councillor Ian Hudspeth, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “Our transport teams work incredibly hard to do their jobs and this is a reflection of their efforts.
“You only have to look at the recent work at the Green Road roundabout and at St Clements to understand the high standards they bring to their work.
“There are real challenges ahead for us. We will have to make yet more effective use of our transport network with all of the new housing that has been allocated to Oxfordshire by Government as part of the South East Plan.
“I have confidence that our transport planners will dedicate themselves to that work and make the best of the situation for Oxfordshire.”

OXFORDSHIRE County Council is proposing the introduction of a 40mph speed limit on the A4129 and B4012, Thame, replacing the existing 50mph speed limit between Cromwell Avenue and Pickenfield.
But first the council is obliged to carry out a consultation with the local community and various bodies and organisations like the police.

The Schedule of the speed limit is available for viewing in the Thame Information Centre in the Town Hall. Comments should be sent to Brian Short, Area Engineer, Oxfordshire County Council, Environment and Economy, Milton Road, Drayton, Oxon OX14 4EZ no later than December 1, 2007.

Local residents and some town councillors have been concerned for some time about the danger to vehicles pulling out of side roads on to the Thame By-pass into fast-moving traffic.

THAMES Valley Police continue to work with the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) to crack down on uninsured and unlicensed drivers.

A magnetic poster was launched in February, which was produced to stick on the side of vehicles recovered under Section 165 of the Road Traffic Act and boldly warned drivers ?No insurance, No Vehicle?. After some testing the posters proved to be unwieldy and as a result new A3 stickers have been produced to get the message across.

The power to seize uninsured vehicles was introduced in the Thames Valley in February 2006 and gave Roads Policing Officers the power to immediately seize any motor vehicle which is being driven without insurance or by an unlicenced driver.

The owner then has the choice of signing away the ownership of the vehicle to police, who will arrange its disposal or they can return to a police station with valid insurance and driving licence and pay a

NEW regulations coming soon will mean that all Taxi companies licenced by South Oxfordshire District Council, must have a some vehicles that comply with the 1995 Disability Descrimination Act.
The new rules will come into effect when the taxi companies next apply for their licences to be renewed and will apply to all new licences.

CHILTERN Rail has nicknamed its ‘FastTicket’ machines ‘time machines’, because they save passengers time.
FastTicket machines dispense a variety of tickets, including; singles, returns and 7-day season tickets to virtually any destination on the National Rail network. In just seconds, you can choose the right ticket and pay for it securely and safely by debit card, credit card or good, old-fashioned cash.

They’re also able to produce car-parking tickets; and at Banbury, Bicester and Haddenham, you can simply post it the ticket in the box by the booking office, rather than walking back to put it on the car.

Another service the time machines offer is ticket collection for web or telephone bookings for any Network Rail journey. The system, similar to that used by cinemas, means an end to queuing at the ticket office.
Kirsteen Robertson, Head of Marketing and PR said: “We are providing our customers with the fastest and most efficient ways of purchasing their tickets.
“One thing that previously worried passengers about using these machines was the fear of the machine eating their card. While the risk was minimal, we have listened to this feedback and changed the slots on the machines so that you only insert your card part way in the machine – your card will stay visible and recoverable at all times.
“These ‘time machines’ are really easy to use – you just follow the on-screen instructions. Should you have any problems or want help the first time you use the machine, we’re providing extra staff at many stations to help show passengers how use the FastTicket machines.”

THE Mayor of Thame, David Bretherton, officially launched the town’s first cycling and walking map at an ‘All About Bikes’ event last weekend.
As well as a bike exchange where several bikes were found new owners, Thame’s PCSOs were in attendance to post code bikes and the ‘On Yer Bike’ mobile cycle repair van was there to advise on matters mechanical.
Refreshments were provided by Harvey’s Snacks of Thame.
21st Century Thame’s Project Manager, Alison Isherwood, who co-ordinated the map’s production, said: “This is a great achievement of co-operation between all those volunteers on the working party who gave their time to produce what will be a very useful aid to walkers and cyclists who want to explore the town and the surrounding villages. We are also very grateful to the map’s financial sponsors, Oxfordshire County Council, Thame Town Council and to Pindar, the publishers for all their help.”
Copies of the map will be distributed to all Thame schools to coincide with International Cycle To School Month in October.

OXFORDSHIRE County Council is set to undertake a large program of travel surveys during the autumn.
Motorists will be asked to participate in roadside interviews at various places around the county to help give planners a clearer picture of current travel patterns.

The information will be used to help decide how best to focus future investment in the county?s transport network and help guide future planning decisions, including where future housing, shopping and employment developments should be located.

Whilst all efforts will be made to keep disruption to minimum, motorists are requested to be patient and give survey staff full co-operation during the surveys; in the long-run the information will be used to help make journey times more reliable and reduce congestion.

In addition to the roadside interviews the county council will also be visiting up to 10,000 residents around Oxfordshire to find out about their travel habits as well as carrying out traffic counts, journey time surveys and surveys on Oxfordshire?s bus and rail services.

Councillor David Robertson, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport Strategy, said: “Oxfordshire faces many challenges over coming years, including the need to accommodate many thousands of new homes.

“In order to ensure this development is planned sensibly, and to help secure future transport funding, it is crucial we know how people currently use our transport network so we can target improvement in the right areas.”

YOUNG drivers, aged 17 to 22, from The Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire districts are being offered an exciting opportunity to attend a Drive 4 Life event to check out their driving skills free of charge with professional instructors from the emergency services, and to have a chance to win free Pass Plus driving courses.
South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse Community Safety Partnerships are organising the high profile, interactive event, in which young drivers will be invited to put their skills into practice with professional drivers who will provide feedback on how they handle the vehicle over a set course.
In the wake of government concerns about the high number of accidents among new drivers, the partners have decided to act to cut casualties in this age group with this innovative and powerful initiative, which will take place on Saturday, September 29.
Other activities will include a DVD on road safety choices and consequences, a demonstration of how a driver is extracted from a crashed vehicle, a visit to Oxfordshire County Council?s Road Safety trailer and the chance to view the council?s Trading Standards ?Kill U Car? ? adapted to show potentially lethal faults.

Free Pass Plus driving courses will be awarded to five of the young drivers who attend on the day.

Partners include South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils, Oxfordshire County Council, including Fire & Rescue, Trading Standards and Road Safety Services, South Central Ambulance Service, Thames Valley Police and key local agencies.

All drivers between the ages of 17 and 22, who live in the Vale of White Horse or South Oxfordshire and who passed their driving test between August 1, 2006 and August 1, 2007, can apply for a freeplace on the day.

To take part, drivers should visit: http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk and follow the link to the Drive 4 Life webpage where they can download a form to email to the organisers. The closing date for entries is Monday, September 10, 2007.

The organisers will invite 100 young drivers to attend the Drive 4 Life event, when the venue, which is local, will be revealed. Each driver may bring one guest.

Funding for the day has been provided by the Community Safety Partnerships. Sainsbury?s is also contributing to the event.

Bob Swanton, Fire Risk Manager for South Oxfordshire says:”Newly qualified young drivers often haven?t had the chance to drive in difficult conditions or to deal with unexpected hazards, and the casualty rate for this age group is three times as high as for older, more experienced drivers. Far too many young people are being killed or seriously injured. This event will hopefully encourage the 17s to 22s to drive safely for life.”

THE driver of this car had a lucky escape when this Renault car left the road yesterday, in Thame Road, Great Milton.
The picture was taken by a regular ThameNews.Net reader.
It is not known whether any other vehicle was involved in the incident.

THE final touches are being put to Thame’s first local map, dedicated to cycling and walking routes around and out of the town.
The map will include cycling and walking routes from the warren-like Lea Park Estate, to the town centre, which it is hoped by its promotors, The 21st Century Thame Partnership, will encourage people who live there to leave their cars at home when they need to pop into town.

The map should also appeal to visitors to the town who might like to explore Thame and the surrounding villages, by bike or on foot. It includes places of interest to visit, places of refreshment, public conveniences and lots of other relevant information to ensure a great, green day out in and around our town.

The Thame Cycling and Walking Map will be launched at an ‘All About Bikes’ event on Sunday, September 16, at Lord Williams’s Lower school, in Towersey Road, Thame.

The event begins at 10am and will last for a couple of hours, and will include opportunities to buy, sell or swap bikes. There will be Free bike postcoding, a bike repair van and information about cycle helmets, their correct use and fitting.

Anyone selling a bike is asked to take it along labelled with a price and contact details of the owner.

For more information call Alison Isherwood on 01844 215215, or email her: ai@221stcenturythame.org.uk

Sponsors of the map include Thame Town Council and Oxfordshire County Council. It is being printed and designed by Pindar Press.