Oxford is the county’s main centre for employment and healthcare, as well as being a global tourist destination and home to a number of world-class higher education establishments. As a result, many parts of Oxford have experienced the negative effects of the daily transport pressures placed on the city, and tackling these problems will remain a high priority.

We’ve achieved a great deal already towards addressing the worst of these transport problems, most notably in 1999 when the High Street was closed to general traffic during the day and Cornmarket Street was fully pedestrianised.

However, we are well aware that there is still much to do to help people move around the city more easily and tackle the safety and environmental problems caused by heavy traffic.

For example, there are still significant congestion problems on parts of all the major roads into the city centre, air quality does not meet national targets in some city centre streets, and accident levels remain high in some places.

The Oxford programme will tackle the city’s transport problems in a targeted and co-ordinated way. We review what we have done in the past to make sure it is working as planned, and this process helps us to make sure we introduce schemes that work as effectively as possible.

Just a few examples of where we will be focusing our efforts are:

• A comprehensive scheme to reduce congestion and improve safety and the street environment on London Road;
• Improvements to the High Street;
• Measures to make bus travel more attractive and reliable along key routes such as Marston Road; and
• A review of the city wide cycle network