‘We can’t build our way out of gridlock’

The Good Transport Plan sets out a vision for the future of travel in Bristol. It’s a document that has taken over 12 months to pull together with input from voices across the city.

Produced by Sustrans on behalf of the Green Capital Partnership the document was inspired by the Good Food Plan for Bristol, which has had wide ranging impacts on policy for food production and consumption across the city.

Bristol’s year as European Green Capital in 2015 presented a unique opportunity to establish a Good Transport Plan to make transport across our city cleaner, cheaper and more efficient.

Sustrans is the core strategic partner for transport within the Green Capital Partnership and this role has enabled us to bring together the leading voices on transport in the city to develop the Good Transport Plan.

We have been able to create a vision for the city that includes all of the ways we travel and ensure that all groups are considered and given an equal voice. We’ve looked at how we can work together to improve transport in the city. This is the only way we’ll find success and ensure that Bristol starts to punch well above its weight for our transport future.

The Good Transport Plan recognises that transport isn’t just the responsibility of others – that we all have a role to play in deciding how and where we travel, and importantly – how we shape the future of transport.

The project was funded by a strategic grant from Bristol 2015 European Green Capital and the Department for Energy and Climate Change.

It’s a plan by the people, for the people

Transport affects us all, we all use it, we’re all impacted by it, and not many of us would call our experiences good. Whether you’re bus is late, your cycle lane just stops, your drive is blighted by that junction, or your walk doesn’t leave you with space to breathe or think because all of the above.

The Good Transport Plan recognises all of these faults, and doesn’t accept the status quo, but raises the level of ambition for the future. It has done this in two ways:

1. It is a document written on behalf of the Green Capital Partnership’s Transport Action Group which provided an opportunity to bring together the often disparate voices discussing transport across the city and;

2. It has been widely discussed with the public with over 1,300 contributions, informing the themes and objectives.

Over the next 20 years, over 85,000 houses are planned and/or needed to meet demand across the West of England and our population will grow by as much as 22 per cent over the same period.

With this population growth, there will also be job creation with an estimated 70,000 new jobs across the West of England, increasing pressure on an already creaking transport system.

We’re already one of the most congested cities in the UK, so we cannot go on as we are. We cannot build our way out of traffic gridlock in Bristol, what we need is smarter use of our existing spaces, prioritising people rather individuals in cars.

This means more people on more busses, more people on more trains, more people walking and cycling with improved environments for all. In order for our streets to cope, this does mean smarter use of the private car – more car sharing, and where car journeys are unavoidable, the use of cleaner fuel technology.  

What’s already happening?

We need to improve everyone’s transport choices whether travelling within Bristol or from outside and we’ll only be able to deliver this change by working together and investing in a collective ambition.

We’re at the cusp of change, and have a series of major transport projects either in the development of delivery phase such as the MetroWest urban rail package and MetroBus rapid transit system.

There’s the Cycling Ambition plans for a more joined up network and Go Ultra Low West, which would support the uptake of ultra-low emissions vehicles. In all, there’s over £500million planned investment in transport across Bristol to start to bring about the changes we need for the city to continue to prosper.

The Plan lists nine objectives that would promote clean and convenient travel. These include:

• An affordable and reliable public transport system

• A well-connected walking and cycling system that is of high quality

• Increasing the use of low-emission, shared vehicle usage and accessible refilling points

• Reducing the number of heavy vehicles on the road and coordinating delivery vehicle patterns  

• Creating a people centred city centre by reducing its traffic flow

• Encouraging collaboration and empowerment to communities

• Giving employees the chance to work from home when possible

• Allowing children the opportunity to scoot and cycle to improve their well-being

• And overall, to prove that sustainable and active travel is beneficial to everyone

The development process has been so collaborative that over 20 commercial and community organisations have signed up to support the Good Transport Plan including FirstGroup; DHL; Business West; Enterprise Rent-a-Car; Greater Bedminster Community Partnership; Bristol Civic Society and Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways.

How do you get involved?

The Good Transport Plan launched on Thursday, and copies can be downloaded here but more importantly, use the plan as a mirror to ask what you can do to improve transport in Bristol. We’ve spent too long waiting for the magic bullet.

Think about the impact your travel choice to work or to the shops has on our air quality, how your speed increases our reluctance to allow our children to walk, cycle or scoot to school.

Think about how you could be an ambassador for an alternative fuelled vehicle, the bus or the train, could you inspire others to walk or cycle that journey rather than drive it? Think how you can positively contribute to calling for ambitious change by taking part in the West of England’s Joint Spatial Plan and Transport Study consultations.

If we don’t ask, we don’t get… and it doesn’t stop here!

Everyone can be involved in the conversation over the coming weeks by following #goodtransport

Jon Usher is Sustrans’ Programme Manager for the West of England covering Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset