Boulton Moor Bus Hub Feasibility

Our Customer

Cannon Consulting Engineers(working on behalf of Derby City Council)

CCE specialise in supporting landowners, promoters and developers through the ever changing development planning process, and then taking the scheme forward to implementation.

What we were asked to do

The objective of the study was to assess the feasibility of a bus hub that would primarily serve Boulton Moor residents (and others accessing Derby City Centre by road from the South East), and provide Cannon Consulting Engineers with an evaluation of available options with which to aid their discussions with developers, bus operators and Derby City Council. Boulton Moor was currently undergoing housing development and subject to s106 planning gain funds for additional bus services.

What we did

We undertook the following:

A site visit to Boulton Moor to inspect the general road conditions for bus use and the potential bus hub site;

Requested feedback from bus operators;

Studied relevant planning documents, and background data

Studied Bus Hub and Park & Ride arrangements elsewhere

Researched the local situation regarding bus routes and parking facilities, and

Tested a number of scenarios against key criteria e.g cost, practicality, likely take-up, sustainability etc.

Outcomes

Our report provided:

Background Context & Current Situation in Derby – background of Boulton Moor development, demographic data, site visit report, and review of Cannon / Arriva Transport Assessment;

Car Parking – Background Context – car parks in Derby, Car sharing / lift sharing, Derby City Council car parking policy, Air Quality Management Areas, commuting habits of Derby residents, and issues for Boulton Moor hub;

Case Studies – we examined five examples of practice from elsewhere of what are supplementary or ‘pocket’ P&R sites, with some common attributes that might be applied to the Boulton moor situation;

Bus Hub Feasibility Analysis – we considered some key principles of a successful P&R, the position of a Boulton Moor facility in terms of the existing P&R in Derby, as well as pricing and capacity issues;

We summarised the situation for the Boulton Moor Bus Hub, provided an options matrix and recommended the next steps that might to taken to develop the project further. We also provided a useful intermediary between the client and the bus operators, being able to hold bi-lateral dialogue with each party.