Bath Package

Bath has a road network which is constrained, over 20,000 work journeys by car are made into the City every day causing pollution and congestion. Congestion is costing in the order of £50m a year. These are some of the reasons we need to improve transport in Bath.

The Bath Package is a series of transport measures designed to reduce congestion, pollution and energy consumption whilst improving public transport making travel throughout Bath easier for residents and visitors.

The proposals underpin the 'Vision for Bath' and support regeneration. The major scheme bid submitted to the Department for Transport in July 2006 was granted Programme Entry Status in October 2007. Work to progress the scheme continues with planning applications anticipated at the end of 2008.

The Package aims to provide a modern integrated easy to use public transport system which seeks to:

Create a step change in public transport providing an attractive alternative to the private car Reduce congestion and improve air quality Bring environmental improvements Create an effective and efficient transport system that will support the Bath Western Riverside regeneration project and other future developments.

The Bath Transportation Package (BTP) is a £54 million scheme designed to tackle congestion in Bath and the surrounding area by improving public transport and enhancing pedestrian access for the benefit of residents, commuters and visitors.

The BTP includes the following elements:

• Expanding the City's three existing Park & Rides and creating a new Park & Ride to the east of the City, thereby increasing Park & Ride capacity from 1,990 to 4,510 spaces.
• Creating a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route, including a 1.4km section of "off-street" dedicated bus route which will remove Park & Ride buses from congestion for a significant amount of their journey;
• Creating a more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly City Centre through the introduction of access changes on a number of streets and the expansion and enhancement of pedestrian areas;
• Improving nine bus routes to Showcase standard, including raised kerbs for better access, off-bus ticketing to speed up boarding and real-time electronic information for passengers;
• Introducing active traffic management with real-time information to direct drivers to locations where parking spaces are available.

The Bath & North East Somerset Council website pages on the Bath Package includes a page of Frequently Asked Questions, and the full Major Scheme Business Case as submitted to the Department for Transport.  Read about the major schemes process.

The scheme has been developed through technical assessment and stakeholder and public consultation and is made up of the following elements:

Showcase bus routes - upgrading 10 local bus routes throughout the city to showcase standards by improving accessibility with the introduction of level bus boarding, new shelters, and real time information on the busiest stops.

• Bus-based Rapid Transit - BRT will provide significantly faster journeys. The route will use the existing road network and make use of a disused railway route running from Newbridge in the west, connecting through Bath Western Riverside, the City, the Bus and Rail Stations and to a new Park & Ride on the east of the City, bringing better penetration of the City by public transport. A dedicated right of way for buses for a proportion of the route will segregate the bus from congestion and this will result in more consistent journey times on state of the art vehicles using cleaner fuels.
• New and expanded Park & Ride sites - doubling the current Park & Ride space provision from around 2000 to around 4000.

City Centre vehicle access restrictions, bus priority measures, and pedestrian enhancements are proposed.

• Travel Information Systems providing Access to good information about travel choice and parking availability.

The Bath Package is one of the West of England’s Travel+ projects that together aim to tackle congestion, improve air quality, ensure that alternatives to the car are a realistic first choice for the majority of trips, offer real travel choices - affordable, safe, secure, reliable simple to use and available to all  - and meet both rural and urban needs.