Plans for a new travel survey are being explored by Brackmills BID - as part of the estate’s five-year strategy and commitment to investing in infrastructure.
Sara Homer, CEO of Brackmills BID, said: “One of our most pressing challenges for us on the estate is congestion.
“Brackmills is one of the most populated estates in Northamptonshire, with 14,000 employees, many of whom start and leave at the same time. Also it is peak season for logistics with the approach of Christmas and large amounts of additional staff working on the estate.
“In addition, there are extensive maintenance works on the A45, which is a main route through the county. We are just one junction down from the M1 and close to the town centre, which has its own congestion challenges.”
The BID held its first traffic survey in 2009, mapping out where the then 11,000 staff travelled from and by what means. The survey found that 90% of staff travelled by car, just 4% by bus and 3% by cycle. The BID implemented measures such as improved cycleways and footpaths, lobbied for additional bus services and designed a campaign to promote sustainable travel.
Sara added: “It is 10 years since our last travel survey, so it is timely to do another one. Since our last survey we have 3,000 more employees on the estate, even more cars and yet more congestion. The additional bus service the BID successfully lobbied for ended last year and Cycle CoNNect then closed in September.
“We had two Cycle CoNNect cycle docking stations on the estate and at the last count we had more than 140 people using these cycles each month. Less buses, no more cycles and more congestion.