Giving Bristol the transport network it deserves

November 06 2019
Giving Bristol the transport network it deserves

Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees writes for the St George & Redfield Voice

NOBODY likes to waste time in traffic. Being stuck in a queue, or waiting for a bus that keeps getting delayed is frustrating, and it damages our city. We must rise to the challenge and improve how we travel around Bristol.

Not only does congestion damage our economy, 25% of Bristol’s carbon emissions are transport related. Vehicles held up in traffic are a major contributor to poor air quality in the city. 

We are also a growing city. Bristol’s population is set to grow to over half a million people in the next ten years.

Our aim is to connect people with people, people with jobs, and people with opportunity. To protect our environment and connect citizens to an inclusive economy, we need to keep Bristol moving. Our growing city needs an efficient, integrated transport network we can all rely on.

This means improving our existing public transport options, promoting walking and cycling, and delivering new and sustainable ways for people to get across our city.

To do that, we need to do what no one in Bristol has done for decades – to work together and properly invest in our public transport system. Tinkering around the edges with a traffic light here and a junction there is not good enough. The status quo of delays and traffic congestion is not an option.

Our new Bus Deal is the start of the transformation of Bristol’s public transport that will deliver improvements across our bus network, and help you have confidence in public transport in Bristol.

The Bristol Bus Deal will see the council and our bus operators working together to make sure buses in the city are more frequent and more reliable.

We will do our part by investing in our transport system. We will use technology and infrastructure changes to give buses priority on vital routes. In return, bus operators will increase the frequency of buses on our key routes at peak commuter times.

I want people in Bristol to see immediate improvements. We’ll start by working with First Bus to deliver upgrades and extra services on the number 2 bus route.

This deal is part of plans to transform transport in Bristol. It will also help us build our case to government for an underground system that will take millions of car journeys off our roads make it easier for all of us to get around our city. We remain the only Core City without a mass transit system, and that must change. Bristol cannot wait for the transport network it deserves.