Innovative travel hub pilot unveiled across Halesowen

Communities will now benefit from convenient new local travel hubs offering sustainable transport options for short-distance trips.

They are being rolled out across Halesowen as part of a year-long pilot project.

The first two hubs, known as Local Travel Points, have been installed at Huntingtree Park and Andrew Road, by Halesowen bus station. A third hub will open on Cross Street later this summer.

Local Travel Points are modular hubs designed to give people alternative and convenient options for trips around the local area. They fit into small public spaces, bringing together a range of local travel and community services to suit the location, while better linking communities with local transport facilities and wider amenities.

At the pilot locations, people can now access West Midlands Cycle Hire bikes and eBikes, secure bike storage, a cycle tool station, and passenger information.

Seating, canopies and benches have been installed alongside these services, to help revitalise the public realm. Electric car charging and by-the-hour ‘car club’ car rental will be introduced soon.

The Local Travel Point at Cross Street will feature a public sculpture co-created by Black Country artist Tom Hicks and members of the local community.

TfWM and IKON Gallery commissioned the three-dimensional artwork, which will celebrate the industrial heritage of the Black Country.

Halesonians will be offered a series of offers to encourage use of the new services and support residents to travel affordably. In the coming weeks, residents will receive 100 minutes of West Midlands Cycle Hire credit, redeemable until the end of Summer. Six months of free secure cycle storage will also be available.

The £400,000 project has been designed and developed by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) in partnership with Dudley Council and Black Country Transport.

It is being funded as part of the region’s Future Transport Zone. The initial three instillations will lead the way for further rollouts of Local Travel Points across the region.

TfWM is looking for the views of the public and other stakeholders. People can already have their say using Commonplace – the online engagement platform for the project.

West Midlands mayor Richard Parker said: “These hubs represent an important milestone in delivering an improved local transport network.

“They will link up services like cycle hire with the wider bus, rail and tram networks meaning residents in Halesowen can get further across the West Midlands using greener transport.

"Our investment in this pilot scheme is just the beginning, with the potential to roll these hubs out to more neighbourhoods across our region.

“I want our local transport system to work for all of our residents, and to ensure everyone, wherever they are in the region, can access the services they need.

“The success of these hubs will play a crucial role in shaping our transport network – one that will keep our region moving now and in the future."

To learn more about the pilot, visit the Local Travel Point commonplace on the TfWM website.

Pictured: Cllr Damian Corfield, cabinet member for highways and environment, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, with Chris Brown, senior future mobility developer at Transport for West Midlands at the Andrew Road Local Travel Point