Transport Initiatives LLP
23 Grand Parade
Brighton BN2 9QB
P: 01273 695785
M: 07725 466840
We are an independent transport planning consultancy, formed in 2005. Our five members all have strong in-depth knowledge of all aspects of active travel, with a particular focus on cycling.
We specialise in innovative ways of developing and promoting active and sustainable transport options, covering every step from initial strategies and audits to managing implementation and monitoring outcomes. Our clients include local authorities, national parks, development bodies, Government Departments, larger consultancies and anyone else requiring practical and achievable sustainable transport solutions.
The Transport Initiatives team mainly developed their skills working in or for local authorities. They also contributed to the work of Cycling England between 2005 and 2010. Our team are internationally recognised as being experts in their field.
Our latest project – Taking a Shortcut – Arnside to Grange over Sands
Transport Planners probably find themselves consulting train timetables rather than tide tables but a project in Arnside required tide tables even through trains were involved. Arnside and Grange over sands stations are only 5km apart but the cycle route between them around the head of the River Kent Estuary is 25km long. Those sneaky trains cheat by using a viaduct over the river that is inaccessible to everyone else. But what if it wasn’t? When the railway viaduct was last upgraded, provision was made to be able to fix a walkway to its side. The problem comes with choosing which side to fix the walkway and also arranging access to it; access is required from both sides at the Arnside end, the north side has better views but access at Grange over Sands is only possible from the south side of the railway. To connect up the demands for accesses from both sides of the viaduct we needed to find some way of crossing the tracks.
The secret is to go under the railway next to the river but that depends on there being space between the water levels during a spring high tide and the soffit of the viaduct. Hence the tide tables with their information on water height. But there is no tide table for the viaduct itself so watching for the exact point of high water, as well as its height, was part of the job. As long as you have a coffee to hand watching water hardly moving is quite a pleasant way to spend an hour on a sunny afternoon.
Transport Initiatives 