I do believe the buses are a major problem for Oxford and no doubt put an awful lot of visitors off Oxford as a city to visit. I only moved to Oxford 3 years ago and while there were many things that attracted me to the city, buses certainly weren't one of them. I would think that the idea of bus gates should be, just that - a place where buses do not go beyond, thereby keeping the city cleaner, without the noise and pollution they bring.
We have a shop on the High street opposite Queens College with a major bus stop outside and although most of the buses boast to being electric, when you look closer they are in fact only hybrid and thereby still puffing out plenty of diesel fumes as is evident by the thick, black dust we are constantly wiping off the ledges of our shopfront. We've moved from Guildford (and still have a shop there), where they have just taken delivery of electric buses for their park and ride, so why in Oxford do we have to put up with these now outdated hybrids? Anyway, that's another argument. My point is that there are way too many buses in the city centre as it is and I feel the city would feel a safer place to walk or cycle if the buses could be prevented from being in the city centre beyond certain points. This in turn would make the city a more attractive destination to all visitors.
As an infrequent visitor to the city since childhood, my lasting impressions of the city were one of many dirty, polluting buses, making it feel like a little London to me. Other similar sized cities that attract large numbers of tourists, such as Cambridge and York seem to have managed to successfully keep buses out of the city centres, so why is Oxford so determined to give them such privileged treatment? It actually shocked me to see that when Westgate re-opened that Queen St. which appeared to me at first glance to be pedestrianized, suddenly had buses weaving their way through the crowds of shoppers on the street (all be it at very slow speeds). Why?? It's totally unnecessary.
I come to the point of what you're proposing to do with these so called bus gates. Long Wall St/Parks Road serves as an essential artery holding the city together for the car driver (as does Beaumont St/St. Giles). I would say that the road is rarely congested and fail to see what benefits it would bring the city to put bus gates in place. We surely need to keep the various parts of the city connected for cars still, but by all means pedestrianize various roads in the city centre such as Broad Street, St. Michaels, Queen St., part of St. Algates, part of High St and other smaller central streets that would hopefully benefit from pedestrianization (and by pedestrianization I include buses and taxis as otherwise it simply isn't pedestrianized). If you do as you propose it will surely only mean extra congestion on the ring road and Botley Road at best. At worst, it will mean less people will be attracted into our fantastic, historic city centre, which would be a huge shame and have detrimental effects on many businesses in the city. As businesses are trying to deal with the reality of the pandemic, it has become more apparent than ever, how important it is to attract locals to our city centre, not just foreign and UK tourists (as great as it is to have these as well). Unfortunately, my feeling is that too many locals around Oxford i.e. Kidlington, Yarnton, Woodstock etc. prefer not to go into the city for shopping or eating out, as it's simply too much hassle and they're more likely to go elsewhere (i.e. Witney where they can enjoy free parking). Although bus services are excellent from these areas, it doesn't attract enough people in for leisure - I for example am happy to take the bus into work, but I certainly wouldn't if I were going out for lunch or to shop. Make it more difficult for me, and I'm more likely to join others in going to Witney where I'll feel more welcome in my car.
Finally, it also concerns me to hear that you're using Government funds meant for improving cycle lanes and walkways for your proposals and using this as an excuse to fast track it without proper public consultation. Please think again, as the cities' cycle lanes certainly do need upgrading when you consider the amount of cyclists on our roads and how many more could be attracted to cycling if there were more safe cycle lanes that you don't have to share with buses.
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