Working together for people of South and West London - TPP Settlement for 1999-2000

January 1999

In striving to make the South and West of London a better place to live, visit and work, SWELTRAC submitted its fourth Transport Policies and Programme (TPP) bid for 1999/2000 to the Government Office for London in July 1998.

In response to the bid, the government has allocated £1 million towards implementing bus priority and associated measures along two corridors in the South and West of London together with £850,000 for improvement of station interchanges.

The 1999/2000 bid, like previous years, outlined SWELTRAC strategy and how the partnership is working towards developing sustainable transport policies for the South and West of London, in line with the Transport White Paper.

Schemes, which have been developed by the partnership, include new bus only lanes, new traffic signal timings to give priority to buses and better interchange arrangements at rail stations. The developments have concentrated on the town centres where most congestion occurs and where improvements to pedestrians' environment can have the greatest effect. Some of the schemes are listed below.

• Twickenham Town Centre - improved bus, pedestrian/cycle access and environmental improvements;

• Kingston Town Centre - extension to bus lanes and new signal priorities;

• Wimbledon Station - forecourt improvements;

• Hounslow Town Centre - high quality travel information and improved pedestrian signage;

• Wimbledon Town Centre - new traffic signal system giving priority to buses;

• Kingston Station - improvements to forecourt facilities, particularly for pedestrian and cyclists.

• A multi-million pound scheme, which has been taken through the partnership and is due for completion in March 1999, is the Feltham interchange (a 'gateway' to Heathrow).

• The 'gateway', due to be launched in April would provide good quality facilities at the station for trains and buses, with efficient bus services to and from the airport. It would also provide rail services with connections from Waterloo, Reading, Woking and Guildford.

SWELTRAC (South and West London Transport Conference), is a partnership between eleven Local Authorities in the South West of London (with the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames as lead authority), London Transport, Railtrack, the bus and train operators together with representatives of business and passenger interests.

The partnership was set up in 1994 to work towards improving strategic bus and rail movement and reduce car dependency thereby ensuring the areas continue to be prosperous and pleasant for all those who live, work and visit.

The partnership has shown the benefits of working together to achieve a common objective, including joint funding of schemes. The government, recognising this, has made funds available to the initiative since its conception.