Sustainable Bristol

Measures to make the City move

Posted on 25 August 2011

Ask anyone what the least green aspect of Bristol is, and nine out of ten will cite the traffic. The city suffers from a higher than average car dependency. But September signals the latest in a series of low carbon transport improvements that are helping reverse this trend in recent years.

Three years ago, Forum for the Future helped launch a walking website for Bristol which is taking over 22,000 short car journeys each year off the city’s congested roads.

Over the same period, Bristol was named the UK’s first ‘Cycling City’, a campaign that’s seen over 5,000 extra people abandoning their car in favour of a bike, with some large rises of 44% on some routes, thanks to almost
30 new or improved cycle paths and road junctions. By 2020 Bristol wants to be one of the top European cities, achieving at least 15% modal share for cycling.

Watch the Video: One of the new Cycling City routes to the Station

Bristol much maligned bus network is improving too. Forum for the Future helped the development of a smart travelcard for the region which will soon be introduced on Bristol buses, enabling more reliable services and a further modal switch from car to bus.

And September marks another important milestone for Bristol’s buses. The City Council and its partners submit their final bid to the Government for Bristol’s Bus Rapid Transit Network. Running for much of the route on fast, dedicated lanes, the Network would provide a fast, high-quality alternative to commuting by car.

Watch the Video: BRT services stopping outside the Arnolfini

Given the state of the economy, it’s almost certainly the city’s last big chance to secure national finance for this major transport scheme. There simply aren’t going to be more huge slugs of central government investment money in the future.

The City Council plan to raise the money for their part of the investment required by introducing a workplace parking scheme in the city’s central area. As well as paying their share for the transport improvements, making
firms pay for people to park will also make them look hard at alternatives, such as working from home, car-sharing and putting in showers and racks for cyclists.

Bristol’s Bus Rapid Transit Network will cut journey times by as much as 40 per cent, and that will be just the ticket if Bristol is going to successfully retain its current business crown as the most competitive city outside London.