Scheme of the Month - York District Hospital Travel Plan
York Hospital lies about a kilometre north of the Minster, west of the Wigginton Road radial. A constrained site, it has its back to the York-Scarborough railway line, the grounds of the PCT owned Bootham Park Hospital to the south, and housing to the north.
Despite proximity to the city centre, the hospital is served by only one direct bus service, although two other services run nearby. Car parking is limited on-site and locally. Given the popularity of cycling in York, the Trust promotes cycling strongly in its Travel Plan. The main thrust has been the provision of better, covered, secure bike parking. However, developments on the site eliminated some existing, covered, secure cycle parking areas, and it was only in the early days of the second Travel Plan that the first major new facility - the covered Central Cycle Park - was provided (see photo). It is very popular and the capacity was recently increased to 120. Top-sliced funding from new developments allowed the scheme to proceed, and groundworks were included to permit low-cost future additions. The concept of secure, covered facilities at all four points of the compass is now agreed, and the north end of the hospital is next.
Travel Plan targets:-
- Cycle lockers for 28 bikes were 50% grant aided by the DfT in 2004.
- A salary sacrifice scheme for cycle purchase has operated for just over a year, during which time staff have acquired nearly 150 new bikes.
- The provision of an extension to the strategic north-south cycle route through the grounds, linking to existing cycle routes and eventually York Station, is nearly finalised.
- In the last survey, cycling accounted for 17% of staff trips and the 2012 target of 21% is now looking very achievable.
For further details please contact Mike Silk, Travel Co-ordinator at York Hospital:
