Impact: Transport Consultation Group

You can download the notes from this years (2026) Impact Transport Consultation Group meetings here.

Click on one of the tabs below for notes on the Impact meeting. Please contact us if you have difficulty accessing any of the information.

About Impact

The county council convenes Impact every six weeks in a Teams call. The group consists of county council officers, some city council officers and members of the public who have characteristics which are included in the Equalities Act of 2010. Some examples of these are people with mobility problems, wheelchairs users, those who are partially sighted or with hearing difficulties.

A member of Oxford 50 Plus attends these meetings, as often as possible,  to represent the older residents in the city. The opinions of the group are sought are a range of issues and there are discussions about future plans of the county council highway and place planning departments. Members of the group have been involved in the following for example:

  • Walkabout with officials to consider problems of accessibility, dropped kerbs, disabled parking and bus stop location in Broad Street and St Giles.
  • The temporary walkway required when the new bridge was installed in Botley Road. That involved a meeting with officials from Network Rail and a member of the Impact group.
  • Planning and redesign of Wantage Market Place with an official and a couple of volunteers from the Impact group.
  • Accessibility issues around the Network Rail work on Oxford station/Botley Road.
  • Discussions about changes to the layout of Cornmarket and Bonn Square.
  • Discussion about the expansion of e-scooter and e-bike loan schemes in Oxford.
  • A wheelchair user in the group suggested modifications to the design of lifts on the proposed new Cowley branch line and these were accepted.

Meeting on 23 March

Mobility Aids Legislation

Kevin Hickman from Wheels for Wellbeing gave a presentation on the possible new legislation for mobility aids, such as electric scooters and wheelchairs.

Network Rail

The diversion route for pedestrians and cyclists needed when the new bridge was installed generally worked well. I checked over the temporary walkway on 1st  February and pointed out some issues for those with poor mobility. There were only a few incidents of poor behaviour by cyclists on this walkway during the time of the bridge closure. The replacement bridge  work was completed ahead of schedule by a few hours, despite the heavy rain that week.

There was a brief update on the meeting of the Bus Enhanced Partnership Board

Members of the group were advised to report problems with pavements to Fix My Street.

Meeting on 27 April

The county council reported that there is a long backlog of repairs on pavements.

Network Rail

The work to re-open Botley Road is on schedule for 31st August 2026

The Oxfordshire Community Rail Partnership

A presentation was given about this group. There is a regular meeting with Cross Country Rail to discuss the lived experience of 15 people with lived experience of disability so that their needs can be taken into account in planning rolling stock and travelling experience.

There are also 15 ‘mystery shoppers’ who survey railway stations for accessibility.

There is a research project to support train operators to become more confident about disabled passengers. Contactbee@gocrp.org.uk

Rail operators must pay for a taxi journey for passengers to the next accessible station if a disabled passenger encounters accessibility issues at their local station.

Micromobility Update by Oxfordshire County Council

There are plans to issue a new contract for the provision of more e-scooters and e-bikes in  Oxford city and the county. The Oxford provision will increase so that there will be 800 scooters and 200 e-bikes;the number is capped. The contractor will pay for a Project Manager of the scheme.

There will be new parking bays, lots of Key Performance Indicators and discounts for some groups. More parking space for the vehicles will be made available at the Park and Ride sites.

The opinion was expressed that the behaviour of riders needs to be better regulated as does the dangerous and untidy parking of these vehicles.

Two officials, one city, one county, attended a meeting of  the National Centre for Accessible Transport.

They spoke about the Impact group’s work. They made the point that issues around equality and disability need to be discussed at the planning stage with the co-production of plans.

There was a brief report from the Bus Enhanced Partnership Meeting and issues were raised about the heaviness of electric buses, problems at the Ferry Hinksey lights and new better value bus tickets .

Meeting on 08 June 2026

Pat Kennedy, Oxford 50+ group

Click here to download a copy of this report

Micromobility: Expansion of e-scooters and e-bikes

  • There is a plan to expand the number of e-scooters and e-bikes in Oxford, then Oxfordshire.
  • The contract with Voi ends in September and there will be a new contractor.
  • There will be a stronger focus on policy manager, and the operator will be asked to cover the costs of a dedicated project manager.
  • The county officials are trying to identify new parking locations. They will be on highways, footpaths and on third party land
  • The members of the group agreed with My Vision that much more work must be done on ensuring that the parking is tidy and safe for pedestrians and wheelchair users.

Oxford Station

There will be an expansion of rail services in the next decade:

  • Direct route: Oxford - Bristol
  • Direct route: Oxford - Milton Keynes
  • Direct route: Oxford - Cambridge
  • Cowley branch line.

Station Developments

  • Step free access from Botley Road
  • A new waiting room will be constructed on platform 4
  • The main gate will be expanded
  • New signage and painting
  • More toilets and more accessible toilets
  • New retail units
  • Improved ticket office although 85% tickets are sold online.
  • Saturday is the busiest day at the station
  • New accessible travel lounge
  • It is hoped that the work will funding will be agreed in 2027 by the Department of Transport, and the local councils, then work should start in 2028

The OxPens River Bridge

Work should start in July 2026. The new alignment means that 77 fewer trees will be removed compared with the previous plans. The new bridge will meet current safety standards, and the footpath will not be susceptible to floods.

Meeting on 14th September 2026

There was a short meeting of the Impact Group on 14 September 2026.
The city council outlined its plan for improvements to the covered market. It is a two year programme and the market will be open throughout. The cheese monger will have a new location. The improvements include the following.
  • Better access and new entrance in Market Street.
  • More toilets including 2 disabled and 2 larger cubicles for changing babies
  • Relaid even floor
  • Better signage
  • Brighter lighting
  • Open atrium in the centre
  • Solar panels
  • Lighter and brighter paintwork
The city council is working on 6 junctions to improve dropped kerbs.
There is discussion about a K barrier in Rosehill recreation ground.
Work is being considered on the cycle barrier at the end of Wytham street.
There is ongoing work on the balance between disabled parking places and cycle parking in New Inn Hall Street, Longwall Street, High Street and Queens Lane.
AOB 
  • Members requested that the bus companies should be invited to discuss the timetable changes.
  • Botley Road will reopen as planned .
Pat Kennedy.  17 September 2026