In hindsight, it is recognised that the Beeching closures in the 1960s went too far as many larger settlements lost a very valuable lifeline to the national rail system leading to an explosion in motor vehicles for leisure and work and an equal increase in new road expansion and air pollution. The City Region hubs of commerce are now gridlocked in the peaks leading to high levels of air pollution from wear dust and exhaust emissions. 430,000 tons of tyre dust alone is produced annually from 50 million tyres. Particulate size less than ten microns become airborne and inhaled by all mammals and are small enough to reach the deepest parts of lungs causing pulmonary and coronary disease. Tyre wear dust also has a carcinogenic and mutatogenic effect on tissue cells contributing to 50,000 premature deaths annually from road traffic pollution. Many closed railway lines within urban areas are now essential in reducing city and town centre congestion and pollution. It is a known fact that bus usage has reduced at the same rate as rail footfall has increased in the last ten years to a point where more rail routes are desperately needed to increase capacity and opportunity to use rail. Rail is the preferred mode of transport in urban and inter urban travel and as such can encourage modal shift away from car by reducing travel time. There has been an increase in new rail route investment in Scotland and Wales, in the last fifteen years but not in England outside London. The Campaign for Better Transport has identified routes in every Region in England that would benefit local communities by being reinstated increasing connectivity and social inclusion with the rest of the UK. The Government would do well to take notice of Campaign for Better Transport's list of preferred reinstatements.

With the opening of the tolled Mersey Gateway Bridge, and the tolling of the Silver Jubilee Bridge and the Mersey Tunnels, there are now four toll ‘barriers’ along a substantial length of the Mersey which effectively divide the Region into two. These toll barriers damage both the local and wider economies and divide communities, families and friends. As the City Mayor said in his election manifesto of April 2017 “We are the only City Region in Europe where in the future all cross-river traffic movements will be subject to expensive tolls...… we need to ensure that our river ceases to be a barrier to movement and commerce.” Mersey Tunnels The region has been subjected to tolls since the end of 1933, when the tunnel from Birkenhead to Liverpool was opened to traffic. The £7 million cost of the tunnel was supposed to be shared between the Government, the local authorities and the users of the tunnels. The tolls were only intended to be for a limited period and should have ended before 1950. They did not. A second tunnel was opened in 1971, the twin-tube tunnel between Wallasey and Liverpool, at a cost of £37 million. This too was tolled and both the Queensway and Kingsway Tunnel toll charges have continued increasing ever since. During 2016, the total Tunnel tolls collected passed the one billion pounds mark. The tolls collected to date are now 23 times the original construction costs of the two tunnels. Money has been wasted on a vast scale and the Tunnels have been used as a cash cow to fund other activities. The two Mersey Tunnels provide important economic strategic links and they should be taken over by Highways England and funded from existing road-use taxes and not from tolls. Silver Jubilee Bridge This bridge linking the north bank of the Mersey at Widnes with the south bank at Runcorn was opened in 1961 and carried the A533. The £3 million cost was mainly met by the Government with contributions from Cheshire and Lancashire County Councils. It was never tolled in its 56 year history. It has now been closed to traffic and when it reopens it will become a tolled bridge crossing, making it the only free bridge crossing in Britain ever to have a toll imposed upon it. We want the plan to toll the bridge to be immediately abandoned. The bridge maintenance and repairs should be financed in the same way as it has been for over half a century – from Government highways grants. Mersey Gateway Bridge This bridge opened to traffic from midnight on the 13th October 2017. It is a tolled bridge crossing. There are many issues with this scheme, but we will mention just two. The Council and Government said that all such new bridges have to be tolled, but a larger bridge over the Forth was opened by the Queen in September 2017 and is not tolled. In fact most 'estuarial' crossings in Britain are not tolled, including all those in North Wales and the numerous Thames crossings in the Greater London Authority area, and of course the Silver Jubilee Bridge was not tolled when it opened in 1961 and has remained untolled – till now. The other issue is the effect on congestion in the wider North West road network. The tolling of the Mersey Gateway Bridge means that a significant number of drivers and businesses will actively avoid using it and are diverting to areas with free bridge crossings several miles upriver, adding to and even causing congestion in the greater road network in those areas. We want the Government to buy-out the private finance contract. This is likely to cost no more than the Government are already committed to spend to support the Gateway tolls, and the cost would be less than one week of one year of the taxes on drivers. The bridge should then be maintained by Highways England as part of the national road network.

Since the beginning of this school year, the existing service (the 835) had been over crowded beyond legal capacity. When this was reported the buses started shutting their doors or driving past children when they were full, leaving the children stranded and unsafe. The imposed solution by Longdendale High School and Transport for Greater Manchester that these children should use public transport is unacceptable. The roads and traffic volumes are unsafe, there is no appropriate safe guarding and the buses do not run at convenient times. Many of the children, some age eleven and just starting high school, simply do not possess the skills or confidence to negotiate busy main roads, public transport and issues with other bus travellers effectively or safely. The imposed solution was taken without any consultation with parents, despite multiple complaints to the school and Transport for Greater Manchester. It does not take into account the safeguarding of our children, and is failing to provide an effective community service as is a contractual obligation.

It is wrong for a political party to question the decisions of licensing officers. This is akin to rejection of the law to suit political ends rather than protection of the public or workers. This is important also because it shows an unashamed attempt to garner support from a voting section of the public. Moreover it does not represent the Local authorities inhabitants alone and cannot be proven. A political party should not be lobbying to obfuscate the work of those carrying out licensing.

Conductors are NEEDED on train's for safety reasons and for helping disabled people to access train's, all so tickets are not available at all stations which leads to delays and possible prosecution

The above is important because at the moment we are seeing a kind of bus pass apartheid, in that the sixty year olds of England are being treated grossly unfairly by this unjust law. Why should sixty year olds in, Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and London be treated better than sixty year olds in England. So either make bus passes available for all at sixty, or bring the aforementioned in line with England. This bus pass anomoaly is a glaring misscariage of decency, and England’s sixty year olds are seemingly deemed as less worthy than the rest of the country.

A little girl was ran over tonight in rush hour sadly she’s not the first this has happened to and may not be the last! A friend of ours was also ran over on that road in the same place couple years ago! There is a lot of children around this area as there is 2 primery schools on both sides not far from Liverpool road with also no school crossing (lolly pop). We’d like as many people to help get the concil to do this! For the safety of our community. As a friend has spoke to a PCSO and was told they’d need more fatalities to happen to go ahead which I think is wrong!! I’d like for this to happen ASAP so nothing else awful happens !

Birmingham is home to 1.5 million of us. We're the youngest city in Europe. We're home to a deep cycling heritage and some of the most innovative entrepreneurs of the future. We're a city capable of building amazing infrastructure. We're a city where every life matters. Or so you'd think. The truth is that in 2013 the second city recieved a grant of £24 million to spend on cycling improvementd in the city via the Birmingham Cycle Revolution. A major part of the BCR plan involved the installation of cycling infrastructure on major roads to help make Birmingham a ' safe cycling city'. These works were due to be completed by 2015. None of the meaningful on road infrastructure improvements have even started. The cold horrible truth is that £24m might sound like a big number but is totally inadequate for a city of our size and ambition. To put this into context Mayor Sadiq Kahn is commiting to spend £68 per head of population over four years (£770m). That compares to Birmingham's £3.60. We are not the second city. To 1.5m of us Birmingham is our first and only city. We need our mayor to respect this reality and ensure the delivery of the on road infrastructure we need. On Monday 9th October cyclist Dr Suzanna Bull lost her young and beautiful life in a fatal road traffic collision on the junction of Pershore Rd and Priory Rd. Suzanna was a doctor at Birmigham Childrens Hospital who devoted her life to routinely saving the lives of others. Her life was tragically taken. Her death could have been prevented had Birmingham City Council rolled out effective infrastructure on a par with other major cities. This tragedy happened at a junction recognised by the Birmingham Mail as one of the most dangerous in our region. Had safe segregated cycling been in situ Suzanna would, at the very least, have had an alternative choice of route offering her greater levels of protection. She had no such choice. While cycling remains one of the safest modes of transport (far far safer than travelling by car) the madness of under investment in on road cycling infrastructure needs to end. We all have families and friends we cherish. The call for immediate implementation of increased spend on infrastructure is a call for no more excuses, a call for children to have safe routes to travel to school, a call for loved ones not to live in fear, a call for those who can to begin delivering on very old promises. The Birmingham Cycle Revolution began in 2014 and has so far delivered zero on meaningful on road infrastructure. That's zero, not an inch! £24m and not a single piece of on road infrastructure. We therefore call on Andy Street as mayor for the region to both garauntee an immediate spend of existing monies according to existing plans and to further lobby for a £20 per head spend exlusively on segregated on road infrastructure. Remember this is a petition for everyone, cyclists and none cyclists. A lack of infrastructure means motorists are at a signififcantly higher risk of unintentional collision. Failure to build infrastructure makes us all vulnerable and merits immediate redress. We know our local authority can build amazing infrastructure. They prove it time and again as they plough millions into defending the car all we ask is that they now divert some of their attention and stop killing cyclists.

To ensure that the elderly, vulnerable & those without alternative transport are able to access vital services in Banbury Town Centre.

Scotland's publicly contracted ferry services carried over 5.5 million passengers and 1.5 million vehicles, including road freight in 2016. Audit Scotland estimate the annual subsidy to be around £153m. Lifeline ferry services are crucial links between remote island communities and the mainland, enabling people to visit family, work and access health, education and other services. They will always be needed, whatever the available profit levels. When the Scottish Government awarded the £243m 2012-18 Northern Isles Ferry Service (NIFS) contract for services between Aberdeen and Scrabster to Orkney and Shetland to Serco in May 2012, many thought that this would improve the service. In fact, despite a 10% (£18m) increase in subsidy Serco NorthLink and rising fares revenue, passenger and vehicle numbers have declined, along with punctuality and reliability of these lifeline services to remote Northern Isles communities. The Minister for Transport and the Islands, Humza Yousaf MSP announced on 2 February 2017 a review of ferry procurement policy, including the option of bringing all public ferry contracts permanently in-house, using a 'Teckal' exemption from EU competition and State Aid laws. In the short term, this has resulted in an extension to Serco NorthLink's current contract. The Scottish Government has also confirmed that a taxpayer subsidised fares scheme, Road Equivalent tariff (RET) will be introduced on NIFS routes in 2018, adding up to £4m per year in public subsidy. RET was rolled out on the larger, publicly operated Clyde and Hebrides (CHFS) contract in October 2015, driving growth in passenger and vehicle numbers on the lifeline ferry network serving communities and businesses off Scotland's west coast. A major programme of investment in new vessels and harbour infrastructure is also planned on the current £1 billion CHFS contract, which was awarded in May 2016 to CalMac for an eight year period. We want the best for passengers, staff, communities, businesses and taxpayers from Northern Isles Ferry Services and the only way to achieve that is to Nationalise NorthLink.

I have personally been knocked off my bike on this roundabout. I feel lucky to be alive. The police could not find the person who did this and the council say they are not willing to put any control measures in place. (because the layout is due to change in 2 years) More recently a good friend got knocked off her bike at the same location. We have since found out several other cyclists have fell victim to hit and run drivers at this same spot. Soon enough a life will be taken. I feel my suggested control measures are easily done. Personally I would like cameras to be added and speed bumps however I want to be realistic. Halton try to promote cycling which is really good for our environment however I feel in this case they have not done enough to put some preventative measures in place.

HGV drivers keep the whole of the UK moving. Parking charges of between £20-£40 per night is overpriced. Drivers are being forced to park in laybys and industrial estates at night. Services in countries across Europe offer free parking for HGV drivers. We need to take breaks and relax in places where we have toilet and shower facilities so that we can work to our maximum capabilities and be fully refreshed before spending 9 to 10 hours a day on the public roads. Drivers (who are being paid not much more than minimum wage in some cases) cannot afford to park in motorway services this is affecting their health and their rights to good working conditions. More and more companies are refusing to pay for this as soaring fuel costs force them into making cut backs. The motorway services are already over charging for other services with some not even including a free shower in their prices. It is time the minister for transport stepped in along with the RHA (road haulage association) to find a solution to the problem