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People at Temple Meads train station

Transport and Movement

 

 

Bristol’s transport infrastructure is critical to creating cleaner and safer places.  Our future-focused strategy puts economic recovery and renewal at its heart. We are proactively responding to changes in travel patterns, addressing air quality and connecting all our businesses and citizens with efficient, accessible choices to navigate the city.

  • TRANSPORT OBJECTIVES
  • Improve transport to meet increased demand from the growth in housing, jobs and regeneration
  • Create an inclusive transport system that provides realistic transport options for everyone
  • Create healthy places that promote active transport, improve air quality and improve road safety
  • Make better use of our streets to enable more efficient journeys
  • Help make journeys more reliable by minimising the negative impact of congestion

Priorities

Our transport and movement strategy aligns with our development priorities for Bristol. This means it will ensure we deliver future homes, jobs and quality places, alongside improved connectivity and protection for our green spaces.

Concentrating on areas with communities experiencing long-term deprivation, all improvements must be achieved while tackling the climate and ecological emergencies at every step.

Bristol Transport Strategy

Joint Local Transport Plan

Bristol City Council COVID-19 Transport plans and projects

Stapleton Road Station, view of train on the track

Accelerating the transformation of city centre transport

  • The pandemic in 2020 brought many challenges but also saw a drop in air pollution as more people took up working from home and fewer vehicles were present on our roads.

    We’ve made improvements in the city centre, to prioritise walking, cycling and public transport and create more space for people and businesses to thrive in. The changes include:

    • Pedestrianising the Old City area by restricting vehicles during core business hours.
    • Introducing a bus priority route over Bristol Bridge and at the entrance to Baldwin Street to establish reliable bus journeys and dedicated walking and cycling areas.
    • New sustainable transport, walking and cycling upgrades in central areas.

Alignment

This project aligns with our ambitions to make the city centre a destination for work, leisure, tourism and investment, key to our sustainable development goals:

  • The City Centre Framework set out ambitions for regeneration, land use, transport, public open space and quality and safe walking/cycling routes. SDG: 5.3, 11.2, 11.3, 11.
  • Promote the city as a safe destination, including incentives to use public transport and supporting the #BristolTogether campaign. SDG: 11.2
  • Promote the city as a safe destination, including incentives to use public transport and supporting the #BristolTogether campaign. SDG: 11.2

 

 

A adult person on a bike with graffiti in the background

New transport, walking and cycling upgrades in central areas

We want to give local businesses and residents more space to use Bristol roads and provide safer walking and cycling routes. This means we have retained access to roads, but prevented through-traffic by closing it at one end or in the middle.

The project will also create protected bike lanes and improvements to walking routes and pedestrian crossing facilities, as well as new high-quality, on-street, secure cycle shelters across the city for residents in flat or terraced apartments.

Alignments

This project directly drives both a core principle of our transport strategy:

  • Cycling to be safe, segregated from other modes wherever possible, simple, accessible and convenient, either as an option for the whole journey or as part of a journey combined with public transport.

And, our city-wide Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) development framework:

  • Promote the city as a safe destination, including incentives to use public transport SDG 11.2

It is a crucial anchor in the #BristolTogether campaign.

Street showing traffic lights and pedestrians

Regional and local mass transit transport plan

For Bristol to be an attractive place to work, live and visit for everyone, it needs a transport network that supports the local economy, enhances the urban environment, and contributes to high-quality, people friendly places.

The city is experiencing the biggest investment in living memory with around £800m already being invested in transport infrastructure in recent years.

This investment includes the first three routes of a MetroBus Rapid Transport network linking the city centre to the North Fringe and South Bristol.

The MetroWest suburban rail scheme includes introducing a number of new cross city services and better timings.

Cycle ambition Fund programmes are helping to improve cycle infrastructure and transport investment linked to the Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone that will provide sustainable transport access to new jobs.

We are also working with neighbouring West of England councils on plans for a mass transit system. This is a high-capacity public transport network that provides fast, frequent and reliable services. It could lead to more people moving away from cars, resulting in less congestion, lower carbon emissions and improved air quality. Find out more.

Alignment

Our commitment to these broader plans drives two of our core Sustainable Development Goals:

  • Develop an area-based economic strategy for Avonmouth which maximises the locational advantages and sectoral strengths. SDG: 9.1, 11.2
  • Accelerate infrastructure investment to create the conditions for equitable and sustainable growth. SDG: 9.1, 11.2
Bus outside a building evening shot

Contact the team

Economic Development Officer

Or send us an enquiry