Cycle Track Could Become Bus Route

[madhattie]

From the Bristol Evening Post (but reported first by me a few days back!)

BUS PATH - CYCLE TRACK COULD BECOME BUS ROUTE

A cycle path linking Bristol and Bath could be turned into a bus lane in a bid to beat congestion, it has been revealed.

Plans to revamp Bristol's transport links are being considered by the West of England Partnership, a group made up of councils in the former Avon area.

Stretches of the path running along a former railway line from Emersons Green into the city centre could be used for a Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) or "guided bus" route - which could then continue out to Bristol International Airport.

At the moment, the route is popular with cyclists, joggers and people who want to enjoy some tranquility.

But they could end up sharing it with futuristic hybrid fuel buses if the BRT plan goes ahead.

Concerned cyclists have organised a public meeting on Tuesday, February 5, to discuss the proposals. Mark Bradshaw, Bristol's cabinet councillor for transport and the environment, said: "The West of England Partnership, including Bristol City Council, is determined to bring forward a change in public transport provision in the city and its sub region.

"One obvious solution is to find innovative ways to bring back former railway lines into use as public transport corridors - and we are exploring how a "guided bus" could work alongside a cycle route on part of the Bristol to Bath path.

"The aim is to provide a fast, reliable, public transport service that would not be hampered by traffic congestion and would link the developments, housing and ring road connections at Emersons Green with Bristol city centre.

"Ultimately, it could run to Ashton Vale - opening up regeneration opportunities in South Bristol - and maybe even one day as far as Bristol International Airport.

"It would help transform public transport in Bristol and its surrounding sub region and I believe the vast majority of people in the city would welcome it.

"We are aware of the concerns of some cyclists - although we believe many will welcome the improvement to public transport this proposal offers.

"Through consultation with cycling groups, we are determined to design a scheme that will retain a cycle route along the corridor alongside any guided bus service."

The Evening Post understands that while crossing the city centre, the buses could be run on tracks around the Floating Harbour before heading out to Ashton Vale.

Questions have been raised over how the bus lane would operate in narrower parts of the cycle path, such as in Easton.

Pete Taylor of Bristol Cycling Campaign said he believed any such plan should be rejected.

He said: "I would rather there was peace and tranquility than buses going down there.

"The path is essential for people's well-being. They don't want to get rid of cyclists, and there is the problem of upsetting nature and losing the rural feel of the path.

"It is the jewel in the crown of the national cycle trail and I think it should be left well alone."

The cyclists believe only a narrow corridor will be left for people to ride their bikes next to a new concrete track for the futuristic buses and that trees and plants would be taken out.

The partnership is planning to bid for funding this year, and build the route between 2011 and 2014.

The partnership estimates the fleet of hybrid buses will cost about ú70 million.

Rachel Hicks from First Bus said: "Anything that will effectively help to take the bus out of the general traffic congestion has got to be good for the future of public transport in this area.

"The scheme reflects our desire to offer a practical alternative to people who currently use the car as their primary mode of transport."

Transport charity Sustrans has been behind the development of a national cycle path network, including the Bristol to Bath route.

Marketing director Melissa Henry said: "We are seeking clarity on the exact proposals from the West of England Partnership so we can base any action we take on the full facts. We expect to make a formal response next week."

David Cole, development director of Avon Valley Railway, which runs from the end of the path in Mangotsfield to Newbridge, said the proposal was a dilemma.

He said: "We support the potential for public transport in general, but we also see the benefit of the use of the path as a cycling and walking area as well."


31 users have commented on the BEP's page, worth going and having a look!

[horace]

Guided buses that will carry about 60 people at the most, so we then joining two together to cope with the passenger numbers and call it a train. Why not just put the rails back down?
Or better still stop BCC and the other local councils injecting their air con systems with wacky backy.
Baths dream machine is worse than bristols, a spa that cost a fortune, still dreaming of the Buchanan tunnel under the city for traffic, but nobody explained to them that it will probably affect the aquifer and stop the spa working.
What i find strange is when they get to the ring road where does the bus way go? what happens in fishponds where the track bed is nearly gone, what happens at Locksbrook road bath where the bridge is gone?

The fleet of buses will cost about 70 million is the figure stated, what about the cost of the track, is this included, i somehow don't think it can be, remember a single track will not be enough, it will need lots of passing places at a minimum or be doubled. Well there we are the answer to it all build a road all the way along the track bed.
Again i would say what a load of rubbish these people produce, and the city councils take it in and pay for with glee, using our money, no wonder the council tax is so damn high.

[John Ball]

How much money was the Bristol TM to Bath GP train service losing, back in the 60s when they closed it down as loss-making? I expect it was a lot less than the figures now being bandied about for a bus service - even allowing for inflation.

[BristleGWR]

Bristol Evening Post 29th January 2008

CYCLIST GROUP: NOW IT'S WAR

Angry cyclists and walkers are set to hold a "council of war" against plans to turn a cycle path into a bus route.

Part of the Bristol to Bath cycle path will become a rapid bus route if the West of England Partnership (WEP) gets its way.

The council association has tabled plans to transform the path, which is used for 6,500 trips each day, into a shared bus route and cycle track to help ease Bristol's congestion problems.

The Bristol to Bath cycle path was the first created by Bristol-based green transport group Sustrans in 1985.

CEO John Grimshaw said: "This is robbing Peter to pay Paul.

"While Sustrans supports the development of high-quality public transport to complement walking and cycling for local journeys, one should not be developed to the detriment of the other.

"The Bristol to Bath path is the most popular section of the National Cycle Network and the jewel in the crown for active, low-carbon travel, not just in Bristol but across the UK."

Responding to the WEP, he said the plan would "tear the heart out" of the path.

Campaign group Save The Railway Path (STRP) was formed to fight for the path, which begins in Newtown. An online petition attracted 1,400 signatures within 48 hours of being launched, and now stands at about 3,000.

STRP used freedom of information laws to unearth "anomalies" in the plans.

It says:

A plan to run the bus route along the M32 and Fishponds Road has quietly been dropped, despite being published in the Greater Bristol Strategic Transport Study 2005.

Cycle user groups consulted about the plan turned out to be in-house council cycling officers.

First Bus are on the project steering board, a position the campaign group is unhappy with.

Organiser, Dr Steve Meek, 45, said: "The route is not wide enough as it is, let alone reducing it by 3m. We've obtained lots of documents and found lots of anomalies.

"Four rapid transport routes are planned, but it's clear from the paperwork that this one is not the most effective at relieving congestion, just the most deliverable.

"Why not push ahead with one of the others rather than experiment with our cycle path and divide communities in east Bristol?

"Before July 2007 they were calling it a disused railway path. Only after that did they mention use by cyclists.

"I think they were far too committed by then.

"We think we can persuade them to change their minds.

"These councillors are elected and need an unpopular scheme like this like they need a hole in the head.

"We had to change our meeting venue because so many people want to come. Clearly there's massive public opposition."

It says it is "implacably opposed" to the new plans.

He questioned whether every road option had been fully explored and why the earlier M32/Fishponds Road plan had been dropped.

Sustrans' Mr Grimshaw asked whether investing the cash elsewhere would create better results.

Katie Buse, Green Party candidate for Easton, said: "These proposals would be the end for what is not just a cycle route but a 'linear park' and Easton's last remaining significant green space."

WEP spokeswoman Kate Hartas said: "The current proposal was selected instead of the M32 as research demonstrated greater benefits in terms of passengers.

"This is an important consideration if the scheme is to fulfil its purpose of cutting car journeys into Bristol and reducing traffic in the city.

"The popularity of the path is well recognised and the cycle and walking facilities are an integral part of the scheme.

"The council aims to consult closely with local groups who can work with them to preserve and enhance its unique character wherever possible.

"Lighting and safety in particular would be improved.

"The council has been in discussions with the main cycle organisation Sustrans."

The meeting will take place at Easton Leisure Centre on Tuesday, February 5 at 7.30pm

[Agency_Scum]

Let's all remember Mark Bradshaw's name the next time the dumb s.o.b. is up for re-election.
Take all the money they're going to urinate on this folly in feasiblity studies and publicity for their green credentials and channel it into a bit of track between Portbury and Portishead and lay on ONE SINGLE COACH COMMUTER UNIT.

[Portishead Prowler]

Let's all remember Mark Bradshaw's name the next time the dumb s.o.b. is up for re-election.
Take all the money they're going to urinate on this folly in feasiblity studies and publicity for their green credentials and channel it into a bit of track between Portbury and Portishead and lay on ONE SINGLE COACH COMMUTER UNIT.

Agreed.

A small project of station reopenings round Bristol,

ie St.Annes Pk, Saltford, Charfield, Horfield(?), Ashton, Pill for instance (all cheap as track already exists, would more than likely slash congestion, provided they were run reliably. I can never understand why Govt views Rail Expenditure as expense and Road Expenditure as Capital Investment.....

[Agency_Scum]

Good idea. Now there's new housing there why not add Flax Bourton to the list too? These twits-in-jags become so far removed from the public they cease to have usable ideas after a few years.

[tugboatcharly2]

Perhaps if we looked back to the good old days when the city and country routes were run by the Tilling group and Bristol Corperatiion.In those days we even had proper buses ,engine and frames by The Bristol bus builders and the bodywork by the Eastern Coach Works .Now we have for a very long time councils ?who were only interested in motor cars and not a bit interested in a proper transport system for the greater Bristol area.Just look at the attempts to come to some agreement with Banes and North Somerset councils.So why the nutty case for using a cycle track for buses?Answer they have been caught wanting and what have the citizens got the city of jams not dreams Perhaps one day we might get a transport system which will include a proper local rail and bus or tram system all intergrated. What council would allow a bus station to be put where Bristol is,should have been built near the Temple Meads station and could then used the waterways as well. I only wish the useless people on the councils had some real brains amongst them!

[tugboatcharly2]

one should read South Gloucseter not Banes although that council would be involved.

[BristleGWR]

Bristol Evening Post 1st February 2008

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE - GUIDED BUSES

A high-speed bus route from Cribbs Causeway to Bath could be the centre- piece of a new congestion-busting transport system.

Running north west and south east from central Bristol, it would be one of nine Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes planned to take traffic off the city's congested roads.

The proposed routes also include the controversial scheme to build a BRT along a popular stretch of the Bristol to Bath cycle- path from St Philip's to Emerson's Green.

It and the Cribbs Causeway-Bath route would be the first two built if the network is created as planned.

All nine BRT routes could be in place by 2026, as part of a bid by the West of England Partnership to cut congestion.

The partnership of all four councils in the former Avon area wants to build the first of these high- speed, guided bus links by 2014, with the second in place soon after.

The buses would be able to run on roads, paths and disused rail lines around the city, requiring up to 11 metres to run two lanes of track plus cycle lanes and footpaths in the guided sections.

This could mean compulsory purchase orders being sought to buy some land along the proposed routes to enable the buses to run past.

All four councils - Bristol City Council, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath & North East Somerset - would be affected by the routes, although much of the mileage would fall under the city council's authority.

It has been consulting with transport experts including city bus operator First, which runs a similar service in York, about the proposals.

But Mark Bradshaw, the city council's executive member for transport, said all discussions with First had so far been in a "purely advisory" capacity.

He said the contract to run the services would be up for open tender when the time came.

The BRT routes are a key ingredient in a ú2.5 billion transport masterplan called Our Future Transport.

The document forms the foundations of a bid, due later this year, for ú800 million of Government money under the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF).

Funding for the first route has already been earmarked by the Government, with an official bid expected in September this year.

If it goes ahead, the route from a new park-and-ride at Emerson's Green, along the cycle path, through the city centre and out to Ashton Vale could be in place by 2014.

The second route, which is intended to run from Cribbs Causeway through the city centre to Bath, would be dependent on the TIF bid being successful.

All the other routes planned by the West of England Partnership would also rely on this TIF money coming through.

Mr Bradshaw has defended the plans to run a route along the cycle- path from the city centre to Emerson's Green.

He said: "Doing nothing is not an option. We must find attractive and viable alternatives to everyday car use."

[James]

...transport experts including...First

*coughcoughCOUGH*

[BristleGWR]

...transport experts including...First

*coughcoughCOUGH*

I hasten to add that was what the Evening Post wrote, not me!!

[horace]

Now you can see why First want bus ways, it will allow them to state that they are involved in the (Pseudo) rail market around Bristol when they loose the FGW franchise

[jules]

We must find attractive and viable alternatives to everyday car use."

Er, like a railway?

[mow]

How does the cost of the guided bus lane compare with the light rail or tram proposal which was so recently scrapped? If compulsory purchase is involved, the housing market must be falling....

Looks like another management consultant employment scheme dreamt up by the useless politicians in Bristol.