City Science was commissioned to support the development of an enhanced operating and street environment for bus passengers and other users of Eden Street in the heart of Kingston’s shopping district.
Overview
City Science was commissioned, in collaboration with Fern Consulting, by The Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames (RBK) to support the development of an enhanced operating and street environment for bus passengers and other users of Eden St in the heart of Kingston’s shopping district.
Eden Street sits on the edge of the mostly pedestrianised centre of Kingston, within a short walk of Cromwell and Fairfield Bus Stations, as well as Kingston Railway Station. It is a busy two-way throughfare within Kingston Town Centre, dominated by bus interchange and pedestrian movements, whilst also performing an important access role for servicing local businesses. Concerns have been raised around the adequacy and suitability of current alignment in particular in terms of:
- Safety, particularly for vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists
- Pedestrian level of service on the footway, particularly for mobility impaired users
- Amenity and safety for crossing the carriageway
- Quality of public realm as a key ‘gateway’ to town centre opportunities
- Air quality
The road provides a key public transport gateway to the town centre as a consequence of the large number (22) of bus routes that serve it. TfL estimate that annual boarders and alighters are currently approaching 8m. By comparison, usage statistics for Kingston station pre-pandemic (2019/20) suggest around 4.5m annual users (and just 3m in 2021-22).
Kingston bus spider diagram (Source TfL)
Narrow and congested footways, further constrained by people waiting to catch a bus, coupled with heavy bus traffic impeding opportunities to easily cross, make for a busy and unpleasant space to be.
The street has been fully or partially closed numerous times over the past five years, including for utility works and to support social distancing. Such a high volume of bs passenger activity occurs on Eden Street, that there are now no less than six separate bus stops. Over time this has resulted in narrowing of the available footway space, to the point that it is now impossible to traverse footway at peak times. Therefore, the space provided to bus infrastructure has come at the cost of the quality and amenity value of the public realm for other users.
There have been a number of collisions recorded on the road in recent years, with a particular issue being the safety of vulnerable road users (pedestrians and cyclists), with these users being involved in around half of the collisions on Eden Street. It is likely further action to reduce conflict between vehicles and vulnerable users is to be necessary if the Mayor’s ‘vision zero’ objective is to be achieved.
Scope
Our commission was to develop, evidence and test a series of potential short-, medium- and long-term options for the street and the bus services that operate on and around it.
Considering the objectives set out in the emerging new Local Plan & Town Centre Vision, and the Air Quality Action Plan & Climate Emergency Action Plan the following objectives were applied for any improvement scheme progressed on the road.
- WELCOMES ACTIVE TRAVEL: Declutter & widen footways to improve accessibility, comfort & 2-way movement
- REDUCE SEVERANCE: Simplify & reduce traffic movement to improve ambience, permeability & safety for users
- A BETTER PASSENGER EXPERIENCE: Improve bus passenger experience, whilst reducing operating costs & simplifying services
- A NEW GATEWAY: Enhance the public realm, to support businesses, and facilitate additional inward investment
- IMPROVED AIR QUALITY & NET ZERO CARBON: Reduce or eradicate emissions from motorised vehicles
Our Response
Our approach built on the extensive experience of our Head of Consulting from his time as Public Transport Strategy and Planning Manager at Transport for London, including developing and overseeing the London Bus Priority Programme.
We took a first principles holistic approach to the review, including looking in detail at the operation and passenger travel patterns of each route, to develop preferred options to elevate the pressure on the street.
- We conducted a baseline evidence review, including speed and collision statistics
- We produced a long list of 20 street layout options, which we appraised and narrowed down to a preferred option
- We conducted a Healthy Streets check of the area, comparing the current layout to the proposals
- We engaged with Transport for London on behalf of RBK to confirm current operations with London Bus Operations, secure a sponsor from Road Space Management and review/revise the bus routing with Public Transport Service Planning
Outcomes
This proposal has now been passed to TfL and will hopefully soon result in an enhance experience for people walking, wheeling, cycling or taking buses on and around Eden Street. We will continue to support the Borough and TfL in getting the positive outcomes of this scheme delivered.