BT1665 Traffic Sensors

We want Luton to be a healthy, fair and sustainable town, which is carbon-neutral by 2040. More people travelling by active travel is front and centre to realising this ambition. Increasing the number of people cycling and walking in Luton will have a transformational impact. It will improve air quality, increase health and wellbeing, strengthen social cohesion and stimulate economic growth. We predict that our population will grow to over 230,000 people by 2031. We need to reduce car dependency now, particularly for local journeys, otherwise there is a risk the volume of vehicle traffic rises to unacceptable levels. The council is also working with the Institute of Health Equity to become a Marmot Town. One of the eight ‘Marmot principles’, aimed at reducing health inequalities is to create and develop healthy and sustainable places and communities. Increasing levels of active travel will contribute towards achieving this recommendation.
The government has produced framework documents and guidelines to develop active travel policies and the implementation of active travel infrastructure, this includes, (but is not limited to), the requirement for local authorities to produce an LCWIP, address recommendations within Gear Change setting out a vision for walking and cycling, Local Transport Note 1/20, (LTN1/20) detailing cycling infrastructure design guidelines and Bus Back Better, which is the long term strategy for buses in England and Wales. In November 2022, the DfT granted the Council funding to implement its BSIP. The BSIP includes funding for bus priority measures that will require quantifiable data to establish whether there has been an improvement in journey times. There will also be a requirement to refresh the Councils Local Transport Plan, (LTP5) for which the programme of work will commence in winter 2023/24 financial year.
In order to assess and montior the success of Luton’s LCWIP and BSIP and to gain access to future funding to realise the schemes identified in the plan, Luton Council wishes to establish a network of portable multi-modal traffic sensors. Having access to a network of multi-modal traffic sensors will enable the council to collect traffic data to inform future long term planning and decision making.