Background - 'something must be done'

Up to £350m is lost to our economy each year due to time spent in congestion and this is expected to rise to almost £600m by 2016. Congestion is having a negative impact on how we live and work and if we do nothing it will get even worse.

Poor air quality, delays and unreliable journey times are placing huge pressures on existing infrastructure and services. Access to key services and facilities is becoming increasingly difficult for many, including those in rural area and the one in five households without access to a car. 

Traffic in Bristol urban area is averaging 15 mph in peak hours – one of the slowest in England.  Public transport is badly affected by congestion affecting reliability and journey times – this affects confidence in public transport and is a factor preventing more people using public transport. 

It really is time to ‘do something’.  That ‘something’ will cause some people to be unhappy, it will disturb current road junctions, change bus routes, perhaps build more roads, perhaps affect some previously pedestrian only areas or cycle routes – but ‘something’ must be done.

The press will be approached by pressure groups, petitions will be compiled, but ‘something’ has to be done. 

Our vision, developed by the four councils over the past 4 years, is to provide a significant change in the delivery of transport across the West of England and provide rapid, reliable, frequent and punctual public trasnport that meets both rural and urban needs for all sectors of the population.

As the travel to work map shows, people travelling to work travel large distances every day from around the region. This is a major reason why the 4 councils have to act together to tackle congestion – why we are looking at transport schemes and routes that connect towns and villages some distance away from the main employment hubs.

Our transport vision (the Joint Local Transport Plan) to 2026 will cost £2.5bn. Existing and committed sources of funding already account for over £750m of this.

A number of transport measures have already been agreed with funds allocated to implement them. 

To seek to implement the 20 year vision relying on current funding would take over 200 years. 

On these pages you can read about the different parts of the overall plan and find out what stage they are at and how they link into each other.   

No one scheme will work for everyone or has the single answer.  To make a difference any one scheme has to attract or change just 10 % of peoples travelling habits. If a scheme works for some people, it works for you, as it means less traffic overall. 

All these plans come together under the Travel+ name, which will be appearing on vehicles, information, leaflets and where work to tackle congestion and encourage sustainable transport is taking place.

Travel+ projects sit at the core of the local authorities vision for change

Together these projects will deliver realistic, integrated, sustainable and equitable travel choices for all our communities across the area

Travel+ offers real alternatives to the private car for local journeys and should help encourage us to change our travel behaviour

Travel+ projects will help manage congestion and maintain our quality of life, delivering real choice and supporting future economic growth.