The Bath Local Plan Options consultations earlier this year set out a framework for development in Bath & North East Somerset for the next 20 years. Before the deadline in April 2024, Transition Bath offered guidance around responding to the Consultation in relation to three areas, including Transport.
B&NES Council say that their overriding purpose is improving people’s lives. A brief survey of local media sources suggests that a key way in which people feel their lives could be improved is through better travel. Inevitably, personal views on what needs improving vary widely, largely driven by individual needs and preferences.
For example, consider the different priorities of the following:
• an RUH car commuter from a rural area with poor public transport
• someone who would like their child to cycle to school
• a wheelchair user dependent on a reliable bus service
• a trader working across BANES
• and a student needing to get to their Campus from the City Centre.
This is why there is a seemingly endless debate about where to invest limited resources. And because it is human nature to pigeonhole, the debate is often factionalised into those for and those against the many transport modes. Not just existing modes, such as walking, cycling, wheeling, scootering, trains, buses, coaches, taxis and private cars, for example, but also future possibilities, such as trams, light rail, and driverless cars. As a result, the debate quickly gets heated as those championing different solutions defend their corners.
In search of a comprehensive solution, a good place to start is understanding the current travel problems in BANES; their nature, severity and volume. Much has been published that gives this context and background, such as the Council’s Journey to Net Zero document, which is about reducing the environmental impact of transport in Bath. Website browsing leads to many other official documents and opinion pieces about the transport issues in BANES and how to resolve them. Transition Bath does not claim to be an expert on all these matters, but a little research and the exchange of ideas ensures we are better informed!
Such research into this considerable and complex subject has lead to a plethora of conclusions; too many to articulate here. But some are:
- More working from home is the best way to reduce commuting journeys, but many jobs in BANES require a physical presence (doctors, nurses, teachers, skilled tradespeople etc).
- More active travel is the next most effective qualitative solution, with added benefits to health. The limitations of journey distance, weather, topography and ability to cycle or walk, however, means active travel will not be the whole solution.
- To reduce harmful carbon emissions and air pollution, a substantial reduction in internal combustion engine car journeys is required. Bigger cars and SUVs are worsening emissions.
- Electric vehicles still contribute to carbon emissions and air pollution. BANES’s expanding population and geographical and cultural limitations on road building mean that the switch from fossil fuel to electric vehicles is only a small part of the solution.
- The most effective quantitative solution is a massive increase in the quantity and quality of public transport. While such improvements should be targeted at current, heavily used car routes and destinations, to make them attractive to these groups and financially viable, they will also need to cater for communities that are currently poorly served by public transport.
- Nearly all public transport journeys require some active travel to get to a bus stop or station but different transport modes need to be better connected with more room for bicycles, making combined public transport and active travel journeys more attractive.
- Better transport systems are not the only solution. Building affordable housing in areas that reduce occupants’ travel times would be one example of tackling the problem differently.
Transition Bath supports the move towards a more sustainable transport system that delivers the greatest benefit and works for everyone. This is why we advocate solutions that result in progress up the sustainable travel hierarchy. The advice and guidance we publish from time to time on specific BANES transport initiatives is based on this approach and an understanding of BANES’s transport problems.