In March 2001, Cornwall received recognition by the
Department for Transport (DfT) for its efforts to improve rural
transport provision in the County and was declared a Centre of
Excellence for Integrated Rural Transport (the first in England). The
award highlighted the innovative transport projects that had already
been completed in the County, and set the agenda to continue the
successful partnerships to develop new projects that help combat social
exclusion, and improve access to services. A challenging programme was
set out to maintain the momentum on these numerous important
partnerships and projects.
The five aims of the Centre of Excellence are:
- To promote improved integration and co-ordination of all the
different transport services
- To combat social exclusion by reducing isolation for those without
a car
- To promote sustainable tourism by offering alternatives to the car
for journeys into and within the area
- To provide access to essential goods and services for everyone
- To improve safety and personal security for all transport users
The Centre of Excellence award comes with a duty to disseminate best
practice in rural integrated transport to other local authorities. Since
2001, the County Council has presented at a series of regional and
national conferences in addition to producing an annual progress
document, charting the development of new innovative projects. This
Centre of Excellence website is a further method of dissemination and
aims to provide an accessible ‘step by step’ guide to the development of
the transport projects that earned Cornwall its Centre of Excellence
status. Importantly, the website will attempt to highlight the problems,
as well as the successes, experienced in the development of these
transport initiatives.
This website is funded by the DfT as part of the ongoing process to
disseminate best practice to other local authorities. It is an ongoing
project and will be updated on a regular basis to illustrate the
continual work on the ground. Please help us to monitor the use of the
website by completing the
feedback
form and ‘visitors book’. Last revised - 12th August 2003
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