Highways & Transport

Transport Strategy
Merrion House
Leeds
LS2 8BB
31st January 2023

Brief to Consultant: Woodhouse Lane Mass Transit

Leeds City Council (LCC) are working to develop a Mass Transit proposal to connect Headingley to
Leeds City Centre. Part of this route will run past the University of Leeds at Woodhouse Lane and the
junction with St Marks Road.

LCC are looking for a consultant to advise on the design and impact of this space.

The proposals are expected to:

 Review existing Mass Transit systems and make a recommendation on the technology to be
considered.
 Consider the design implications of the new route past Parkinson steps and
o Suggest a new junction layout for St Marks Road / A660
o Recommend a one-way access route for vehicles on Blenheim Terrace
o Propose a way to improve public realm design
 Assess the impacts on network traffic
 Work out a plan to engage stakeholders
 Consider the economic impact of the proposal
 Plan for current bus use and the frequency of the new Mass Transit service
 Assess environmental impacts from reduced traffic

The proposals will be assessed by:

1. A group presentation made to the Institute for Transport Studies on 27th February.
2. A Group Report of the proposals, detailing your recommendations and vision for the site.

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 1. Scheme Objectives and Key Research Questions:

1.1 Scheme Objectives

The objectives of the Mass Transit are as follows:
1. To attract new users to more inclusive public transport, reducing congestion, carbon
emissions and improving air quality.
2. To encourage sustainable growth in housing, business and enabling infrastructure, with
reduced reliance on cars; and
3. Support and facilitate local development and regeneration through connectivity
enhancements.

1.2 Key Research Questions to be Answered

Investigate and report the following key questions as part of the Group Report. This should include:
1.2.1 Task 1: A review of previous Mass Transit schemes and passenger capacity of each
mode, and then recommend a technology option.
Our reliance on the car is harming productivity, public health and the environment. Better public
transport is central to West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s plan for recovery from the pandemic and
for enhancing our region’s competitiveness in the longer term. What technologies should be used to
provide the infrastructure and to power the Mass Transit vehicles will be an essential consideration
for decarbonising transport. In the meantime, transport options need to work in harmony with each
other, to give people affordable access to jobs, leisure and essential services. An ethical transport
development plan must make sure the most disadvantaged communities will benefit from the scheme
and not suffer from its impacts. Ensuring the safety and security of all users should be at the heart of
how the Mass Transit is designed and operated.
Mass Transit, linked to cycling and walking, bus and rail, is essential to providing a public transport
system fit for the 21st Century. This section requires a review of other Mass Transit schemes (e.g.
Manchester, Sheffield, Coventry, Bogota) to gather a broad understanding of the key impacts of such
schemes (patronage, modal shift, economic benefit). Refer to the National Infrastructure
Commission’s latest strategy if necessary. You should consider the benefits and disadvantages of each
system. Consultation with Dr Tony Whiteing is advised.
Walking or cycling is a good way of travelling to Mass Transit stops and train stations as part of a longer
journey. It is recommended to consult with Dr Joey Talbot to understand active travel behaviour and
safe design principles for cycling / walking infrastructure.
1.2.2 Task 2: Highway Design
In order to facilitate Mass Transit in this area, 3 design questions in relation to the provision of
highways need to be answered.
(i) St Marks Road / A660: Create a suitable design for a new junction that accommodates the
new Mass Transit system, and the change in flows associated with the reallocation of traffic
flows from Blenheim Terrace to Blenheim Walk.
(ii) Blenheim Terrace Access: With Mass Transit requiring 2 of 3 lanes, the remaining highway
capacity can only accommodate a single lane of traffic. Make a recommendation as to which

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 way the One-Way road should flow, including consideration of existing business access and
the impact on the junctions at either end of the section.
(iii) Parkinson Steps Public Realm:
Having reviewed the One-Way changes to Blenheim Terrace, consider the access point to the
university and propose improvements to public realm space in this area, being mindful of
access to the university, drop off facilities, pedestrian and cycle access.
Geometry design of highways should refer to the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB). The
Manual for Streets (MfS) explains how to place traffic and other activities in our communities, and
where buildings and spaces, and the needs of people, not just of vehicles, shape the area. Junction
design should be supported by an assessment of the capacity, calculated either manually or using
specialised software (see Section 3 Resources). You are expected to describe the input data and
comment on the modelled/calculated outputs.
A lecture on design of signal-controlled junctions will be provided by Dr Chandra Balijepalli. Students
are encouraged to make use of materials provided in module TRAN5241M. Groups who need expert
consultation on road / junction design should book an appointment with Dr Angelica Salas Jones.
1.2.3 Task 3: Modelling plan using SATURN
LCC would welcome a plan as to how the proposed scheme could be modelled. Specifically, the plan
should outline a number of logical steps that will be taken to model the scheme using SATURN. These
steps should include (though are not necessarily limited to):
(i) Description of ‘do-minimum’ SATURN network (i.e. without the scheme), that will be supplied
by LCC, and any cordoning required for this network;
(ii) Specification of changes required to be made to the (cordoned) do-minimum network to
represent the scheme;
(iii) Description of do-minimum trip matrix (supplied by LCC);
(iv) Justification of changes to be made to the do-minimum trip matrix to take into account
differing assumptions about the demand effects of the scheme (thus resulting in a number of
revised trip matrices);
(v) Specification of performance indicators (PIs) that will be quantified by using SATURN, showing
how SATURN output can be used to calculate these PIs;
(vi) Description of which SATURN modules will be used for carrying out the SATURN analysis,
specifying what data is required for each module; and
(vii) A template for a final report to be produced (in the future) on the modelling results, once they
have been produced.
Accompanying the plan, a short overview should be provided indicating any shortcomings in using
SATURN for modelling the scheme, indicating how these shortcomings might be overcome. It should
be emphasised that groups are not being asked to actually model their scheme; rather, they are being
asked to devise a plan as to how such modelling could be carried out in the future. Specific guidance
on using SATURN and expectations around the SATURN analysis will be provided in a lecture given by
Dr Paul Timms. Such guidance will make use of material provided in module TRAN5291M.
1.2.4 Task 4: Stakeholders engagement
A consultation and stakeholder engagement plan should be prepared for the scheme. The purpose of
the consultation is to:

(i) Understand public and stakeholders’ opinions about the scheme, and

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 (ii) Gather insights relevant to the scheme which may be held by members of the public and
stakeholders.

You plan should cover the following:

(i) Decide on three key questions the consultation should aim to answer, and give reasons for
choosing these questions.
(ii) Explain which stakeholders and groups you will seek to involve, and why you will seek to
involve them. As well as consulting the general public, a list of key groups representing a range
of local residents, users and other stakeholders (such as businesses or voluntary
organisations) should be considered.
(iii) Considering the identified groups, reflect if any of these will contribute to best design
principles.
(iv) Outline the engagement activities and actions which will form part the consultation and
stakeholder engagement plan and explain the sequence of these activities. You might consider
activities such as public meetings and drop-in sessions, focus groups, questionnaires,
invitations to submit written comments online and/or by post. Think about how you can
publicise the consultation to the public and stakeholders you want to involve. Consider
whether you need to make provision for different people to engage with the plan, for instance,
providing information in different formats, and providing transport to public meetings. Think
about whether to involve public or stakeholders at different stages of planning and
implementing the scheme, and give reasons for your decisions.

A lecture will be provided by Dr Morgan Campbell.

1.2.5 Task 5: Economic impact of the new Mass Transit service1

In order to plan a Mass Transit service in this location that best serves the needs of the city and of its
users, it is good practice to:

(i) Understand the needs of future users, including residents and visitors - the first part of this
task will be to identify both trip attractors and trip origins in the A660 corridor and
particularly those which are likely to drive demand for the 'University' stop on this service;
(ii) Understand the size of public transport flows - including current flows and the potential for
growth;
(iii) Understand the flow capacity provided by different Mass Transit technologies, and relate
these to the A660 context - taking into account the future role of buses alongside any Mass
Transit development, and possible integration between them;
(iv) Focus on the stop location in detail, use the knowledge gained to plan a stop that best
serves the users in terms of location and access, is of a suitable capacity, and can
accommodate the type of Mass Transit system your analysis suggests is appropriate.

LCC would like you to

(i) Produce an appraisal of your proposed access improvements to the new Mass Transit, and
(ii) Consider how this strengthens the appraisal of the scheme. The appraisal will be a mixture
of quantitative and qualitative outputs.

Resources available to help students with this task will include: the review of Mass Transit
connectivity, accessibility and land use for West Yorkshire Combined Authority by Nellthorp and

1 Task 5 is not required for the Part Time group.

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Johnson (2022); NOMIS data on residential density and employment locations at detailed spatial
level; any public transport flow data from own count; GIS/mapping tools available as standard
through the university; references to other key sources including analysis by Centre for Cities (UK)
and relevant international evidence.

The work will use a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods. You will be briefed on this task
in a lecture given by Dr John Nellthorp. As part of the task, students will be asked devise a strategy
for estimating the numbers of potential users and to organise a targeted count of current bus users
as a contribution to this.

Then each group will select ONE from the following two tasks to investigate, and report your findings
in the Group Report:

1.2.6 Task 6: Suggestion of potential headway and changes to bus services

Drawing on your review of other Mass Transit networks, suggest an appropriate headway for the A660
corridor connecting Leeds City Centre to the Asda at Holt Park. (e.g. 5mins / 7mins / 10mins / 15mins)
at different points during the day (AM/PM/EVE). Consideration should be given to:
(i) The key places for the Mass Transit vehicle to stop - assuming a minimum of 800 m between
stops and an appropriate allowance for stopping time. Do NOT consider the engineering
viability for these stops at this time.
(ii) Estimate the passenger demand of the new transit system and propose a timetable for the
Mass Transit specifying the arrival and departure times of each service at each stop. Assume
the vehicle moves at the same speed as a car. Justify why your timetable’s pattern (e.g. evenly
distributed or demand-oriented).
(iii) Based on the timetable, propose a vehicle schedule plan, i.e. propose a vehicle fleet and
specify how the timetabled trips are covered by the vehicles. Assume the same type of vehicle
is used for the whole fleet. The primary goal is to use as fewer vehicles as possible per day,
depending on the timetable pattern you give. In other words, we aim to achieve more efficient
bus vehicle circulation. You may consider:
o The use of non-stop deadheading (a bus without passengers from the origin to
destination) to optimise the overall circulation, or
o The use of coupling/decoupling operations to provide higher capacity at peak-time and
lower at off-peak time (rail-based).
For the vehicle scheduling task, you can either use direct calculations (plus trial-and-error), or more
accurate optimisation models. For the latter, you can use tools such as Excel’s Solver or MATLAB to
get the results. Either case, details of the methodologies, calculations and results should be given in
the report. If they are too long, an appendix can be used. Further, bearing in mind your choice on
headway in the timetable, consider the impact on existing bus services utilising the A660 and whether
their frequency should be reduced. Be mindful of where the services end. You should report on
changes expected to the following bus services: 1, 6, 8, 19/19A, 27, 28 and 56.
The viability of a service is dependent on how many buses is required to run it. This could be explored
through comparison of other sites and the journey times required for a round trip. You are free to use
Excel for calculating demand and pricing, but details of formulating for optimisation should be shown
in the report. You must clearly state the criteria in your report and explain how the objectives are met

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through any rescheduling proposed by your group. It is recommended to consult with Dr Zhiyuan Lin
for principles of bus scheduling.
1.2.7 Task 7: Explore environmental benefits associated with reduced traffic
A key goal of any transport scheme is to maximise the reduction in carbon emitted, as well as assess
other environmental benefits such as Noise and Air Quality. Using the provided SATURN model and
traffic count data, assess the noise and tonnages of emissions, e.g. CO2, NOx and PM2.5 emitted on the
links pre scheme.
Your team will need to make reasonable assumptions on the volume of vehicles expected down each
route. Use this information to assess a post-scheme scenario. Further, Mass Transit is expected to
incentivise modal shift. Using the research from Task 1.2.1 on other Mass Transit systems, estimate a
percentage of modal shift, and modal a scenario in which this would occur.
Use of the DEFRA emission factor toolkit is recommend. These emission factors are typically applied
to the output of traffic modelling tools that simulate traffic demand and movements through road
networks. There are however shortcomings with the ‘average-speed’ emission modelling approach,
and you are expected to comment on their robustness varying with the vehicle mix, level of traffic and
congestion.
The change can then be used to estimate (with assumptions) impacts on the local populations’ health.
It is recommended to consult with Dr James Tate for questions related to Air Quality and Dr Like Jiang
for questions related to Acoustics.

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 2. Reporting Procedure

There are three assessed coursework.

- Coursework 1: Group Presentation

- Coursework 2: Group Report
- Coursework 3: Individual Reflective Report
- Coursework 3a: Peer and Self-Evaluation Form - used to adjust individual mark

Deliverable: Content: Date:

Group Presentation2 – 30 Outline your initial vision and Monday 27/02/2023
minutes + 15 minutes for plans for Mass Transit Time – 9:30am to 4:30pm
questions

Group Report – Max. 7,000 Response to brief Monday 13/03/2023

words + appendices
Individual Reflective Report2 –
Max. 2,000 words
Peer and self-evaluation form
Reflect on your contribution Monday 20/03/2023
and the group experience
Rate the contributions of Monday 20/03/2023
yourself and your fellow group
members

Coursework 1: Group Presentation

Your group will present your initial vision and project plan to the ‘client’. You will be assessed on
both what you present on the day and how you respond to questions.
Coursework 2: Group Report
The Group Report will outline your vision, design and evidence of your calculations, evaluation and
other research requested in the brief.
Coursework 3: Individual Reflective Report
The Individual Reflective Report will outline your contribution to the project and your reflections on
how the project was delivered, what you learned from working in a multi-disciplinary group and how
you can apply that learning in the future.
Coursework 3a: Peer and Self-Evaluation Form
In the peer and self-evaluation form, you will rate the contributions of both yourself and your fellow
group members in this group project. This will be taken into account when individual reflective
reports are being assessed. It will also be used to adjust individual mark you get for group report.
Details will be provided by module leader on the Launch Day and in the lecture on 06/03/2023.

2 Lectures on group presentation and report writing skills will be provided, see Appendix 2.

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 3. Resources

A number of resources will be made available to you to assist with this research brief. They can be
found within a series of folders on Minerva and will be available from 06/02/2023. The material is
outlined below:

(1) SATURN folder – containing SATURN outputs for the local road network
(2) Engagement and Consultation folder – contains examples of previous engagement and
consultation strategies, plus other related learning materials

In addition you may want to draw on additional resources which can be found at:

(1) Emission modelling tools: http://laqm.defra.gov.uk/review-and-assessment/tools/emissions-

factors-toolkit.html
(2) Air quality appraisal: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/assess-the-impact-of-
air-quality/air-quality-appraisal-impact-pathways-approach
(3) OSPM is a practical street pollution model, developed by Aarhus University (DK):
https://www2.dmu.dk/1_viden/2_Miljoe-
tilstand/3_luft/4_spredningsmodeller/5_ospm/enter_download.asp
(4) DMRB CD116/123 Geometric Design of Roundabouts/At-grade Junctions:
https://www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/dmrb/search?q=CD&pageNumber=1
(5) OpenPopGrid (GIS): http://openpopgrid.geodata.soton.ac.uk/
(6) GIS Mapping: to enable the downloading and annotation of maps of the site and the
surrounding area. QGIS is principally a menu driven GIS and the link is
here: https://plugins.qgis.org/plugins/CADDigitize/
(7) Google Earth and Google Maps have some 3D features, e.g. building height coverage in
Leeds: http://earthviewmaps.com/.

(8) Excel’s Solver or MATLAB available to use for bus scheduling and optimisation.

(9) Some students (on engineering programme) may have used AutoCAD, BIM (building
information modelling) or ARCADY/LINSIG (has junction design capabilities). They could also
search for other openly available software.

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APPENDIX 1 Module Objectives and Learning Outcome:
It is worth highlighting here that one of the key driving forces behind this module is the ITS External
Advisory Board, whose members are drawn from transport industries, consultants, professional
bodies and various levels of government. They expressed a collective wish for students to enhance a
range of personal and professional related skills, such as technical applied transport skills and project
management skills, by placing them in a multi-disciplinary project group (to reflect the range of
transport masters programmes) and asking them to undertake a specific transport project as
suggested by a client (an external organisation or ITS).

The TIP module encapsulates this and builds upon the Shaping Future Transport Systems
(TRAN5015M) module, which outlined to students the contribution of different roles in the
development of transport sector projects, and in doing so has helped equip them with the
fundamental techniques necessary to work in inter-disciplinary teams as part of the TIP module.

On completion of the TIP module, students should have achieved the following key learning outcomes:

1. To understand principles of applied transport analysis

2. Integration of transport principles covering the core transport masters programmes
3. Application and demonstration of technical skills
4. Team working in a multi-disciplinary environment including evaluation of team
performance
5. Communication – both outward facing (clients) and inward facing (project team)
6. Working to a programme with agreed milestones
7. Project reporting across a team

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APPENDIX 2 Lecture Plan:
Launch Day (Monday 6th February 2023) Agenda

09:00-09:15 Module introduction Yue Huang, Tony Whiteing

09:15-09:45 Woodhouse Lane Mass Transit Robert Mason, Leeds City Council
09:45-10:15 What, why, when and how - a consultant’s Chris Payne, Mott MacDonald
perspective
10:15-10:45 Team dynamics, communication, planning Steve Keetley, AECOM
and project management
10:45-11:00 Q&A

Recordings available on Minerva:

Subject Staff
Junction design Angelica Salas Jones
Past Mass Transit projects Anthony Whiteing
Air quality James Tate
5-minute
Active travel Joey Talbot
11:00-11:45 introduction by
Economic appraisal John Nellthorp
subject experts
Traffic noise and GIS Like Jiang
Stakeholder engagement Morgan Campbell
Network modelling using SATURN Paul Timms
Timetable scheduling Zhiyuan Lin
11:45-12:00 Module assessment Yue Huang

Other Lectures

Week Date Time Topic Staff

15 6th February 2023 15:00-17:00 SATURN Paul Timms
16 15th February 2023 12:00-14:00 Economic appraisal John Nellthorp
16 15th February 2023 15:00-17:00 Junction Design Chandra Balijepalli
16 17th February 2023 12:00-14:00 Stakeholder engagement Morgan Campbell
17 22nd February 2023 13:00-14:30 Group presentation skills Kasia Drozdziak
19 6th March 2023 9:00-10:30 Writing reflective report Kasia Drozdziak

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APPENDIX 3 Project/Supervision Timetable:
You are advised to structure your project delivery in the following manner:
Week Staff Activities3
15 Group TIP Launch Day (06/02/2023)
mentors & - Module leader and Leeds City Council to outline the project.
external - Subject experts to introduce themselves.
speakers - External speakers to outline their vision and teach you on
project management and communication skills.

1 hour group supervisory meeting

- SATURN Lecture by Dr Paul Timms

16 Group 1 hour group supervisory meeting
mentors
- Appraisal Lecture by Dr John Nellthorp
- Junction design Lecture by Chandra Balijepalli
- Stakeholder engagement Lecture by Dr Morgan Campbell
17 Group 1 hour group supervisory meeting
mentors and
experts Experts available to book - 5 hours per expert across groups
18 Group TIP Intensive Week:
mentors and
experts Group presentation (27/02/2023)

2 hours group supervisory meetings

Experts available to book - 5 hours per expert across groups

(subject to availability)
19 Group 1 hour group supervisory meeting
mentors and
experts Experts available to book - 5 hours per expert across groups
20 Group report submission (13/03/2023)

Prepare Reflective Individual Report

21 Reflective Individual Report submission (20/03/2023)

Preliminary research (week 15):

- Understand the project brief
- Identify key inputs, roles & critical path
- Review previous studies/schemes

Developing your vision (weeks 16 and 17):

- Consult with experts
- Piece together your visions
- Design and evaluate

Implementing your vision (weeks 18 and 19):

- Intensive week – present and make good use of the feedback
- Organise team and individual work – 24/7 – ‘chow down’
- Deliver and review

3Please note that whilst we will endeavour to keep to this schedule, changes are sometimes necessary. Any
changes that are required will be announced via the VLE and/or email.

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APPENDIX 4 Module Team:
The module leader is Yue Huang. The group mentors are:

Name: Room: Email:

Dr Andrew Tomlinson A.Tomlinson@leeds.ac.uk
Dr Angelica Salas Jones ITS 1.05 A.M.SalasJones@leeds.ac.uk
Dr Anthony Whiteing ITS 3.04 A.E.Whiteing@its.leeds.ac.uk
Bryan Matthews ITS G.02 B.Matthews@its.leeds.ac.uk
Douglas Chapman External Douglas.chapman@eastsussex.gov.uk
Dr James Tate ITS 2.16 J.E.tate@its.leeds.ac.uk
Dr Jin Liu ITS 2.14 J.Liu12@leeds.ac.uk
Dr Kate Pangbourne ITS 1.04 K.J.Pangbourne@leeds.ac.uk
Dr Morgan Campbell ITS 1.04 M.F.Campbell@leeds.ac.uk
Dr Like Jiang ITS LG.01 L.Jiang2@leeds.ac.uk
Dr Mahdi Rezaei ITS 2.11 M.Rezaei@leeds.ac.uk
Dr Paul Timms ITS 2.02 P.M.Timms@its.leeds.ac.uk
Steve Keetley External Steve.Keetley@aecom.com
Dr Tom van Vuren External T.VanVuren@its.leeds.ac.uk
Dr Yue Huang ITS 1.02 Y.Huang1@leeds.ac.uk
Dr Yvonne Barnard ITS LG.02 Y.Barnard@leeds.ac.uk
Dr Zahara Batool ITS 1.08 Z.Batool@leeds.ac.uk
Dr Zhiyuan Lin ITS 2.01 Z.Lin@leeds.ac.uk

The role of group mentors will be to provide high-level guidance, just as a project director would within
a consultancy or local authority. They will not micro-manage the project, nor will they have a direct role
within the project. You will meet with them on a weekly basis and report your progress, your future plans
and any issues you think need resolving. They will monitor individual contributions and this will be taken
into account when they assess your individual reflective reports. You will have to take on the
responsibility to organise meetings with your group mentor and should retain the flexibility to meet at
different time of the day and different day of the week. There will be an intensive week (w/c 27th February
2023). This is your opportunity to work intensively on your Group Report. During this week, your group
mentor will try to meet with you more frequently, but this depends upon his/her availability.

In addition, you will have access to a number of subject experts from the 3 rd week of the module. The
experts are there to advise and answer specific questions; they are not there to provide direct input into
your project. You will be able to book a slot (10-15 minutes) on a weekly basis (subject to availability)
and so will need to be prepared to ensure you fully utilise the time during these meetings. An elected
group leader or subject lead will book a time slot for the meeting on behalf of their group.

The subject experts are:

Expert: Area: Room: Email:

Dr Angelica Salas Jones Junction/Road Design ITS 1.05 A.M.SalasJones@leeds.ac.uk
Dr Anthony Whiteing Past Mass Transit Projects ITS 3.04 A.E.Whiteing@its.leeds.ac.uk
Dr James Tate Air Quality ITS 2.16 J.E.Tate@its.leeds.ac.uk
Dr Joey Talbot Cycling ITS 2.04 J.D.Talbot@leeds.ac.uk
Dr John Nellthorp Appraisal ITS G.02 J.Nellthorp@its.leeds.ac.uk
Dr Like Jiang GIS & Acoustics ITS LG.01 L.Jiang2@leeds.ac.uk
Dr Morgan Campbell Sustainability/Social Policy ITS 1.04 M.F.Campbell@leeds.ac.uk
Dr Paul Timms Network Modelling ITS 2.02 P.M.Timms@its.leeds.ac.uk
Dr Zhiyuan Lin Bus Scheduling ITS 2.01 Z.Lin@leeds.ac.uk

Contact time with group mentors and experts is outlined in Appendix 3.

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