Local transport plan

The Local Transport Act 2008 requires all Transport Authorities such as Essex County Council to have a Local Transport Plan (LTP) that covers all aspects of travel and transport in Essex.  Our third Local Transport Plan The “Essex Transport Strategy” was developed following an extensive period of evidence gathering and consultation and was adopted by Essex County Council in June 2011. A copy of this document is available below.

This third Local Transport Plan is wider in scope than previous plans, providing a framework for the effective and efficient delivery of all transport services provided by or on behalf of the Council. It informs and guides the work of the Council, our work with other organisations and local communities across Essex,  our relationships with other transport operators and our wider partners including the Department for Transport. It aims to ensure that transport services are delivered in ways which effectively respond to local needs and offer good value for money to local taxpayers.

 While LTP3 remains the statutory transport plan for Essex, there have been significant changes to both the local and national policy backdrop since the publication of LTP3 in 2011. These are:

• The adoption by Essex County Council of Everyone's Essex: our plan for levelling up the county that sets out 20 commitments to improve the lives of the people of Essex.
• The Essex Climate Action Commission published its Net Zero: Making Essex Carbon Neutral report in July 2021. At a Cabinet meeting on 24th November 2021, ECC committed to making Essex Carbon Neutral, and to working with partners to deliver the Commission’s vision for a net zero, climate resilient county.
• Transport East is the sub-national Transport Body for Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Southend and Thurrock, formed in 2018 as one of seven Sub National Transport Bodies that together cover all of England outside of London. ECC formally endorsed the Transport East Transport Strategy at a Cabinet meeting on 19th July 2022. The Transport East Transport Strategy, its priorities for transport, and delivery goals will be reflected in future transport strategy and policy developed by ECC.
• The publication in 2018 of Road to Zero, the Government’s carbon reduction strategy for road transport and the publication in July 2021 of the Transport Decarbonisation Plan.
• The Future of Mobility: Urban Strategy 2019 and the complementary Future of Transport: supporting rural transport innovation 2023.
• Publication of Gear Change, the Government’s vision for walking and cycling,  new guidance on the design of cycle infrastructure and changes to the Highway Code.
• New approaches to rail and bus service delivery contained within Bus Back Better and the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail published in 2021.  

Together,  these place greater importance upon the alignment of transport provision with the delivery of economic growth, improved health and wellbeing, improved opportunity and life chances, the provision and use of sustainable transport, and the decarbonisation of the Essex transport network by 2050.

To meet these challenges, ECC has commenced the development of a new fourth Local Transport Plan, LTP4, that will replace the current Essex Transport Strategy. This new LTP will be evidence-led and focussed upon the delivery of our wider outcomes, addressing both the important role transport plays in enabling the movement of people and goods and the impacts that transport has on the places where people live and our environment. LTP4 will be focussed on understanding the travel needs of people and businesses in Essex to raise awareness of the travel options people have and to enable more sustainable choices and journeys to be made.

Essex County Council will develop LTP4 with our partners during 2024 and will consult widely before formally adopting LTP4 later in 2024.