Key Contacts:

Torbay Council Transport Planners

Torbay Council Cycling Officer and Cycle Forum

Torbay Council Walking Officer and Travel Plans

Mid Devon Cycling Club

Transport in Torbay is overseen by Torbay Council through the Local Transport Plan. Basically the plan says how the money from government will be spent in Torbay , the priorities are:

•  Improving accessibility

•  Reduced congestion

•  Improved safety

•  Reduced pollution

The Key Areas are:

Travel Plans for schools and businesses

The Government is keen to promote Travel Plans which analyse how people travel to work or school and promote greener and safer forms of transport. Some schools in Torbay have Travel Plans, details here .

Torbay Council, Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust have developed Travel Plans. The Council promote business travel plans, information here .

Cycling

The Council are developing a Cycling Strategy. They are also working to promote cycling and improve infra-structure and facilities across Torbay . There is little data on cycling rates in Torbay . The Council is also working with the Primary Health Care Trust to develop a Cycling Referral scheme as part of the new Exercise Referral Scheme, contact James McKechnie.

Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust wants to promote cycling to its sites such as Cockington Country Park and Berry Head National Nature Reserve.

Info rmation on local cycling clubs is here .

Walking

The Council is developing a Walking Strategy, contact Nell Cruse.

A partnership of organisations in the Torbay setup the Baywalks Project. This promotes regular healthy walks led by trained volunteers across the Bay.

Torbay has the benefit of The South West Coast Path and many walks on the sites of Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust.

Walking buses are increasingly being promoted, often through school travel plans, as a way of encouraging children and their parents to walk to school.

The use of public transport

The use of public transport reduces carbon emissions and congestion on the roads.

Access

The Council have set up an Access Forum .

Cleaner vehicles

Cars contribute around 1kg of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere every 5km driven which promotes global warming. There is a Carbon Calculator here .

Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust is converting its vehicles to run on bio-fuel which is re-processed waste vegetable oil. This can be used in ordinary diesel engines and is provided by a local company in Plymouth Bio-fuels Ltd . The Trust also has an electric car inherited from the Council which can be seen at Cockington Court .

The Environment Forum would like to see more companies and organisations use greener fuels in Torbay . A target is to introduce one green fuel bus in the Bay.