Lets have a free bus service to the Hospital!

Green Councillor Rob Murphy sent the following letter to Sir Andrew Cash, Chief Executive of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust

12 November 2009

Dear Sir Andrew

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust’s Travel Plan

I am writing to you, on behalf of Sheffield Green Party, to ask you to ensure that the Trust’s very significant Travel Plan is implemented speedily and fully.

We fully recognise that patients, visitors and staff need to be able to get to and from the hospitals easily and safely. When you published the Travel Plan, we were very pleased to see the emphasis on non-car modes of travel, including public transport, car sharing and free shuttle buses, while we recognise that certain patients and other people genuinely need to use cars to get to and from the various hospitals. Within these broad categories, there might be scope for new travel arrangements, eg additional bus services.

If the Travel Plan is implemented fully, this should reduce both traffic congestion and the need for car parking at the various hospital sites. We were disappointed some months ago to see that the Trust was proposing large new car parks at the Hallamshire and Northern General sites. But we are pleased that you have now put the Hallamshire proposal on hold. We hope that you will also review the need for additional car parking at the Northern General, given your Travel Plan’s proposals for non-car modes of travel.

In taking forward your Travel Plan generally and your thinking about car parking specifically, you will presumably want to work closely with South Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority and Sheffield City Council. You might like to note that I have discussed this subject briefly with David Brown at the Transport Authority. I imagine you will also want to consult the local communities surrounding the various hospital sites, as well as hospital staff, patients and relatives.

I hope that you and these other interests will give serious consideration to new and creative options, eg a new free bus service as an addition or extension to the current city centre FREEBEE (the contract for which is up for renewal in 2010) to provide an efficient link between the centre, the Broomhill hospitals and the University of Sheffield.

Finally, if it would be helpful, I or one of my Green Party colleagues would be happy to take part in a discussion about travel arrangements relating to the Trust. I am sending a copy of this letter to David Brown at the Transport Authority and Councillor Ian Auckland at Sheffield Council.

Yours sincerely

Councillor Robert Murphy
Sheffield Green Party

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