Safe, Sustainable Travel Torbay

I’ve probably already lost a few people already and that’s ok. I would have felt the same two years ago.

But once you realise how car dominated Torbay is, it is impossible to unsee it. If you are still with me, let me examine a few reasons.

Economic: 

The cost of implementing a bay-wide default speed limit is around £1.1million pounds, £10 per person. Each year casualties on Torbay’s roads cost each resident £169. Police and NHS time, loss of earnings, costs of inquests, investigations, road and vehicle repairs have a knock-on effect on us all. 

Even without any enforcement there will be a casualty reduction of at the least 20%. The intervention will pay back in less than 4 months, and then save a further £3.6million pounds a year. Since the changes they made, Wales has seen nearly a third less road casualties and each driver is now saving an average of £50 on their car insurance as a result.

The above fails to even take account of the cost of falls, inactivity and social isolation experienced by many across the bay all of which have the potential to contribute to further savings in the future.

Tourism: 

Cornwall, one of our big competitors for tourism, is rolling out 20mph speed limits the county-wide, set to be completed by 2026. We know that tourists love quiet, peaceful, less stressful places. Once they experience Cornish towns like this, I strongly believe Torbay’s noisy, smelly, stressful environments will not compare favourably.

But what about journey times? Honestly, this took me a while to believe but, astonishingly, due to speeding up, slowing down, traffic lights, congestion, junctions and the like, journey times change very little. If you have ever overtaken a bicycle, just to have it annoyingly catch up with you further on in your journey you will understand this logic. It may be the case that you need to factor one extra minute in, if you are planning a long journey, but sat navs will also take this into account. Traffic flows more smoothly at 20mph.

Children and school run traffic:

No doubt we all experience or know of the issues that congestion around schools at drop off/pick up times cause. It clearly is an aspiration of many that children gain ‘travel independence’ at a younger age by being able to walk, cycle or take the bus to school. In the Netherlands this is achieved by the majority of children by age 9, quite different to here in Torbay.

We know that children under the age of 12 cannot reliably judge traffic speeds and so are more likely to step out in-front of traffic, occasionally with horrific consequences for all involved. Therefore, parents are right to be cautious in allowing their views on the above, reinforcing the case that we need to put in steps to protect these most vulnerable road users. 

One option for active travel by families with younger children is being made possible in other urban areas by electric cargo bikes. I know this is a stretch for some due to current road conditions, but we do need to be aspirational, innovative and willing to embrace new concepts if we want to change. 

Finally, don’t believe what the media has told you about the changes in Wales – those with 20mph on their street really do not want to go back to 30mph and the doubling in ambient noise that occurs as a result.

Despite being in my 30s and often on tight deadlines to get from place to place, I now drive at or below 25mph in urban areas. It did take a mindset shift and some time to get used to, but now  it is a change I find really positive. I am more relaxed and able to react to hazards and pedestrians waiting to cross as I turn into side roads. I strongly believe that a 20mph default speed limit would have hugely positive effects for Torbay.