Summary Of Points From Proof Of Evidence - Transport 1.

Summary of points from Proof of Evidence - Transport 1. The basis for assumptions as to supporter travel to games at Goodison Park is a travel survey conducted in regard to Everton v Birmingham City, which took place on Saturday 3rd November 2007. 2. The Transport Assessment states “this survey is unlikely to accurately reflect future spectator travel to a new stadium at Kirkby, due to ‘significant differences between the location of the existing stadium at Goodison and the proposed new stadium in Kirkby’. 3. Much of the Transport Assessment is based around Saturday afternoon kick off’s, and the same demographic is used for weekday evening, and Sunday afternoon matches. However, supporters attending these games will create an entirely different dynamic which should have been considered. 4. The figures used by SDG assume that 85% of spectators will wish to leave within the first hour after kick off. Why this figure has been used is not explained, but the effect of it has been used consistently across all modes of transport. 5. A total of 18,550 spectators are forecast to use the Park and Ride and new Local Matchday services. Using the 85% in the first hour figure, this means that 8,500 Park & Ride and 7,267 using local bus services. 6. Using a load factor of 60 passengers per bus, the projected number of journeys in the first hour – 87 – would only allow 5,220 passengers using the ‘Local Matchday’ services to depart, making a total of 3,330 still waiting to catch buses over an hour later – a requirement of a further 56 bus journeys taking a further 40 minutes to clear. 7. The volume of buses assigned to the ‘Blue’ routes – 9 buses making 3 journeys each taking 20% of local bus service users does not seem proportionate to the number of season ticket holders in the zones covered by those routes. 8. The proposed Westvale bus park has 30 loading bays. 15 will need to be allocated to the 15 local bus routes, leaving 15 to service the Park and Ride sites. 9. With 8,500 passengers projected to want to use the Park and Ride in the first hour, this means that at a 10 minute frequency, there would be 3,100 still waiting at the end of the first hour, with a further 1,500 to join them. At the same frequency, it would take a further 50 minutes to clear them.

10. It is simply unrealistic to project continuing full attendances if people are expected to wait over 90 minutes after the first buses leave (NOTE: not 90 minutes after final whistle) before even beginning the journey home. 11. The Addendum to Document 9.1:Volume 3, at point 10.23 concludes: “There are sufficient buses available for weekday evening and Saturday afternoon matches. However, these uses will only become available after the end of the evening peak. The buses required for prematch weekday evening matches and pre-match Saturday afternoons will need to be carefully managed around the commuter and weekend peaks” 12. Stagecoach confirmed that 98% of their available fleet are in use during the period 6pm to 6.30pm, with 80% available between 6.30 and 7pm. Arriva also confirmed the 98% figure in the first period, with 95% still in use after 6.30pm. 13. Figures for the matchday travel survey for Goodison, conducted in 2007, when applied to the projected attendance for Kirkby would see NO increase in rail travel. 14. It is inconceivable that car usage would fall from 72% to 55%, yet train usage would not increase at all. Of course, the problem that any significant increase in rail travel would highlight is the lack of capacity on the line. Only 4,000 passengers per hour can be accommodated. 15. For evening kick-off’s, with the last train leaving at 11.18pm, it may not be possible to load all the passengers in time to meet the last train, and, there is little margin for error – if 5,500 people decided to travel by train, some wouldn’t get home from an evening kick off by the same mode. 16. Reference is made to current train use at Goodison Park, and mentions that spectators make use of Kirkdale and Sandhills stations. Bankhall station has been omitted, providing a third option. This big difference with these stations when compared to Kirkby is that they have trains moving in both directions, and on multiple services, thus enabling rapid dispersal of passengers. Trains per hour Kirkby 4 Bankhall 8 Kirkdale 16 Sandhills 24

17. As a consequence, there is no requirement for rail users to queue in car parks for over an hour, no need for police controlled crowd marshalling. 18. As the Transport Assessment has evolved, the percentage of mode share has been amended, most notably the huge increase in perceived use of ‘Park and Walk’ by introducing additional Parking at Kirkby Industrial Estate, up from 1,700 vehicles to 3,700 vehicles. 19. The premise for this assumption is that PPG13 quotes that people are wiling to walk up to 2 miles (40 minutes) and that people will choose to walk to their cars rather than queue for buses to Park and Ride sites. 20. In 2006, the National Travel Survey found that the average distance walked when part of a bus or car journey was just 0.2 miles, or 0.4 miles when part of a rail journey. Of journeys which were entirely walking, the average was 0.6 miles, and only 4% were over 2 miles. 25% of respondent NEVER walk more than 20 minutes in a whole year. 21. It therefore questions the assumption that a very significant number of spectators would be willing to walk up to 40 minutes each way to their car. 22. The assumption that car usage will drop to 55% appears to be arbitrary, and based upon the fact that a combination of the rigidly enforced CPZ, and less-convenient Park and Walk and Park and Ride schemes will discourage drivers and divert them to public transport. 23. The likely effect of this is not to force car-driving spectators on to public transport, but to discourage them from attending at all. 24. No studies or surveys appear to have been carried out to canvas opinion from supporters as to whether the assumptions which have been made for Kirkby are realistic. 25. It should be noted that whilst spectators travelling to the stadium pre match will be able to use the large fleet of Liverpool licensed taxis, these will not be available in the post-match period, as Liverpool taxis are only allowed to pick up with in the City area. 26. In his evidence, Mr Ellis comments, at 2.18, that ‘..there is some congestion at peak times at a number of junctions. However, this congestion is limited in both coverage and duration.’ 27. In Document 9.1 Vol 8 Transport - Other Matters it is stated that ‘…, it is somewhat imprecise to assume 85% of car borne spectators will be on the strategic network within one hour after the final whistle’ 28. It is stated that ‘Cherryfield Drive is likely to experience queuing during the post match hour…’

29. Closer inspection of the results from the Arcady 6 program, which are appended to Volume 8 shows that the 156 vehicle queue actually occurs at 6.15 pm – around 1 hour 20 minutes post match, with 116 vehicles still in the queue at 6.30. 30. To put this into perspective, this is a queue of almost 900 metres at 6.15pm and 667 metres at 6.30pm. For an evening kick off, these times would be 11.15pm and 11.30pm. 31. In the summary of his evidence, Mr Ellis states: ‘Based on the evidence it is my view that a new stadium for Everton Football Club at Kirkby will be as accessible as that at Goodison Park.’ 32. There is no question that: • • • •

Rail travel is less convenient than Goodison There is a need for a huge bus scheme for Kirkby which is not required for Goodison Journey times for most spectators will increase considerably Congestion in the local area will be more severe, and last longer

Given that a central premise to the relocation of Everton Football Club is to increase revenue by increasing attendance, the Transport Plan will serve only to discourage spectators, rather than encourage increased attendance. Football is largely a winter sport, and people will not be inclined to walk long distances or queue for transport in the open in cold, inclement weather.

Much is made of improved sightlines, better stadium facilities such as toilets and catering. However, the matchday experience begins when leaving home or work, and ends when arriving back home. If a large part of that experience proves unpleasant, fans will not come back and the objectives of the stadium will not be met.