Traffic filter factcheck

Was the 2022 traffic filters consultation sound?

Yes. We are confident that the 2022 traffic filters public consultation and decision-making process to implement a trial was sound.

The 2022 consultation was designed to gather feedback to inform the proposal to implement traffic filters on a trial basis as part of an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO). It was not about introducing a permanent change. Consultations before an ETRO is in place are commonly more limited in scope.

However, almost 6,000 people gave their views. We listened and, after the consultation, changes were made to the traffic filters proposal based on people’s feedback.

The main opportunity for the public to give views on an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO) is during the six-month consultation period once the trial has started. During the trial, monitoring data will be published so respondents will be able to draw on both measured data and their own experiences when giving their views. This will help us to understand the impact of the filters in real time so we can adapt our plans during the trial, where needed, and, together with consultation outcomes, this will help inform the decision on whether to continue with them.

Consultation is one part of the decision-making process and feedback is reviewed alongside other information when decisions are made in the council’s public meetings. You can view the meeting where the traffic filters trial decision was made online.

Was the traffic filters decision pre-determined to meet ZEBRA (electric bus funding) deadlines?

No. We have always been open that commitment from bus operators towards the electric bus funding is dependent on reduced bus journey times.

Our zero emission bus regional areas (ZEBRA) bid for funding for electric buses requires over £40 million of private investment by Go Ahead and Stagecoach. Both companies maintain that there is no commercial case for this investment unless bus productivity in and around Oxford improves by at least 10 per cent. The project considered most likely to deliver this improvement is the traffic filters.

The deadline for the submission of our £32.8m ZEBRA funding bid was January 2022. At that time, although the traffic filters were a long-standing council policy, we felt we needed to carry out further consultation and secure a further cabinet decision on a specific design before we could give a commitment to bus operators and the Department for Transport (DfT) that the traffic filters would be introduced.

We set out our position to the DfT in our ZEBRA bid submission letter. We referred to the planned consultation and cabinet decision and set out a plan B should cabinet decide not to proceed with the traffic filters.

All other successful ZEBRA areas were awarded funding by March 2022. The DfT decided to give Oxfordshire extra time to complete further consultation and seek a cabinet decision on the traffic filters, so deferred Oxfordshire’s funding award to 2022/23.

Neither the council nor DfT assumed the outcome of the planned traffic filter consultation and subsequent cabinet decision would be positive.

Special arrangements were made by DfT to allow us to follow due process before committing to the ZEBRA funding.

Was key traffic modelling data withheld during the 2022 traffic filters consultation?

No. An accessible summary of key information from transport modelling was published alongside a range of supporting information as part of the 2022 consultation when it opened on 5 September.

The consultation did not start until we felt sufficient information was available for people to give informed views on the proposed changes.

After the consultation, a more detailed transport modelling report was published alongside other information to support the council’s decision making. The report provided further detail but it did not alter the overall conclusions set out in the summary provided alongside the survey.

The decision was taken to only provide accessible summary information during the consultation because providing too much technical detail can be overwhelming and reduce the number of responses; and for an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO), the main opportunity for people to gauge any impacts and give their views is during the six-month consultation period once the trial has started.

The information provided during the 2022 traffic filter consultation was sufficient and appropriate, and the consultation complied with the Gunning Principles (a set of best practice consultation standards).

During the consultation, a member of the public requested more detailed modelling information under the Freedom of Information Act and released it online without context.

We concluded that publication of this additional modelling information as an update to this consultation was unnecessary. We also concluded that publication mid-consultation would require the consultation to be extended or (more likely) restarted to ensure all respondents had access to the same information. Restarting the consultation would mean discarding all the responses received to date, of which there were already well over a thousand. This would have delayed the project significantly but would also have generated significant confusion and ill-will towards the project and the council.

The traffic filters are expected to lead to changes in people’s travel behaviour. These changes are difficult to forecast using even the most sophisticated traffic models. A trial will give the council, communities, stakeholders and businesses an opportunity to observe and measure the effects of the project first-hand. This will help inform the decision on whether to continue with the filters.

Will there be another consultation?

Yes. The filters will be implemented as a trial, as part of an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO), after works to improve Oxford Station are completed by Network Rail in late 2024. To support the trial, there will be a six-month consultation where anyone will be able to give their views on how the filters are working.

During the trial, monitoring data will be published as soon as possible so respondents will be able to draw on both measured data and their own experiences when giving views on the changes. This will help us to understand the impact of the filters in real time so we can adapt our plans during the trial, where needed, and, together with consultation outcomes, this will help inform the decision on whether to continue with them.

Will the Oxford traffic filters be physical barriers?

No. Oxfordshire County Council, supported by Oxford City Council, is proposing to install traffic filters as a trial on six roads in Oxford. 

The traffic filters are not physical barriers of any kind and will not be physical road closures. They are simply traffic cameras that can read number plates. 

If a vehicle passes through the filter at certain times of the day, the camera will read the number plate and (if you do not have an exemption or a residents’ permit) you will receive a fine in the post.  

Buses and taxis will be able to pass through the traffic filters freely at all times, people can walk or cycle through them at all times, and there will be exemptions and permits for blue badge holders, emergency services, health workers and both professional and non-professional care workers. People receiving frequent hospital treatments will also be eligible to drive through the filters.

Oxford residents (and residents of some surrounding villages) will be able to apply for a permit to drive through the filters on up to 100 days a year. Residents living in the rest of Oxfordshire will be able to apply for a permit to drive through the filter on up to 25 days a year.  

The traffic filters work in exactly the same way as the existing traffic cameras in High Street, and are widely used in cities across the UK to manage congestion and support public transport. 

Residents will still be able to drive to every part of the city at any time – but in the future, during certain times of the day, you may need to take a different route (e.g. using the ring road) if you want to travel by car. 

The reason we have proposed these changes is because – as everyone who lives and visits Oxford knows – the city has had congestion for decades. This is damaging both our economy and our environment, and is making the bus network unviable. 

Our aim is to reduce traffic levels and congestion, make the buses faster and more reliable, and make cycling and walking safer and more pleasant. 

Oxford needs a more sustainable, reliable and inclusive transport system for everyone, particularly for the 30% of our households who do not own a car. 

The county council has already made amendments to the scheme after listening carefully to feedback from residents and stakeholders earlier this year.  

The scheme will be introduced as a trial, during which an additional consultation will be carried out to further refine the scheme. A final decision will then be made on whether or not the filters should be made permanent. 

Will Oxford residents be confined to their local area? 

No. The misinformation online has linked the traffic filters to the 15-minute neighbourhoods proposal in the city council’s Local Plan 2040, suggesting that the traffic filters will be used to confine people to their local area. This is not true. 

The 15-minute neighbourhoods proposal aims to ensure that every resident has all the essentials (shops, healthcare, parks) within a 15-minute walk of their home. They aim to support and add services, not restrict them. 

For the benefit of Oxford residents, what we are aiming to do is to ensure that areas of the city such as Barton, Blackbird Leys and Rose Hill have all the essential services that areas such as East Oxford and Jericho already have. 

Under the traffic filters, residents will still be able to drive to every part of the city at any time – but in the future, at the times when the filters are operating, you may need to take a different route (e.g. using the ring road) if you want to travel by car. 

Will Oxfordshire residents need permission from the councils to travel across the city? 

No. Everyone can go through all the filters at any time by bus, bike, taxi, scooter or walking. Furthermore, residents will still be able to drive to every part of the city at any time – but in the future, during certain times of the day, you may need to take a different route (e.g. using the ring road) if you want to travel by car. 

There will also be exemptions to the fines for carers, blue badge holders, businesses, and emergency services. 

Oxford residents (and residents of some surrounding villages) will be able to apply for a permit to drive through the filters on up to 100 days a year. Residents living in the rest of Oxfordshire will be able to apply for a permit to drive through the filter on up to 25 days a year.

If residents in the permit areas are not using a permit or run out of permits, they will still be able to drive to any destination in Oxford or elsewhere, whenever they like, as often as they like. Depending on their location and destination, they might have to use a different route to avoid the filters, which would usually be the ring road.

The reason we have proposed these changes is because – as everyone who lives and visits Oxford knows – the city has had awful congestion for decades. This is damaging both our economy and our environment, and is making the bus network unviable.

Our aim is to reduce traffic levels and congestion, make the buses faster and more reliable, and make cycling and walking safer and more pleasant. 

Oxford needs a more sustainable, reliable and inclusive transport system for everyone, particularly for the 30% of our households who do not own a car. 

Have Oxford’s councils tried to secretly introduce traffic filters?  

No. The concept of traffic filters was first introduced in 2015 in the Oxford Transport Strategy.

The proposals for traffic filters were first consulted on in 2019 and then updated in February 2022. Following this update, several months of engagement work was carried out with stakeholders across the city to inform further updated proposals which were announced in August 2022. A large number of changes were made to the scheme as a result of the consultation, including the introduction of 100 day passes for each resident, and reductions in the hours of operation of some of the filters.

A consultation on the proposals was carried out from 5 September until 13 October 2022 in which 5,700 people responded to the consultation survey and another 485 emails were received by members of the public and businesses, schools and other organisations. This engagement work included an in-person and virtual engagement session with members of the public, as well as meetings with businesses across the city.  

The responses were analysed by an independent research company and the feedback received resulted in a number of updates to the scheme. This was used to inform Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet meeting on 29 November 2022, where an extraordinary meeting was held and cabinet members made a decision on whether to proceed with the trial.  

The scheme will be introduced as a trial, during which an additional consultation will be carried out to further refine the scheme. A final decision will then be made on whether or not the filters should be made permanent. 

Did a public consultation find that 93% of people disagree with the Oxford traffic filters? 

No. The figure stems from a misreading of results from a public consultation carried out on the traffic filters in September and October 2022. 

One question asked people: “Do you have any comments on the scheme’s benefits?” A free-text box was given to answer the question, meaning the 4,814 people who responded could answer with as many words as they wanted. 

An independent surveying company was then hired to better understand the responses. They categorised each of the 4,814 responses into 45 broad themes, summarising people’s responses in general terms such as: “Plan will increase congestion/traffic”, “Plan will increase pollution” or “Negative opinions of LTNs”. 

The independent survey company summarised some responses as generally positive or negative. This showed that 8% of the answers could be broadly categorised as “Disagree with schemes/Can’t see benefits”, while 7% could be broadly categorised as “Support/agree with scheme/Can see the benefits”.  The 93% figure is not found anywhere in the 73-page report.