Following our Climate Emergency declaration of 2019, we have committed to get to carbon neutrality by 2030. We will not achieve this unless we make changes to the ways we currently choose to travel. To achieve long term change, we need to provide transport infrastructure and environments that will make sustainable modes of transport a genuine alternative to the car. We want to ensure we prioritise access to Bath from rural areas, as well as considering the issues of those who live in the city itself. We are committed to improving the connectivity of isolated rural communities.
We are rethinking our approach to transport, to curb the environmental impact of travelling by car, and to rebalance our streets and public spaces, reducing the dominance of the private car. We aim to achieve this, while still protecting access to shops, businesses and services, for those whose needs cannot easily be met by other modes of transport.
These are not easy decisions to make, but the Journey to Net Zero is our first step. It identifies the changes in transport measures we need to enable people to make the change in their travel habits, as well as identifying how we can ensure that more of our roads and public spaces are handed over to active and sustainable travel modes. This plan doesn’t seek to take away choice, but makes it easier to make alternative and sustainable choices.
Progress so far
The pandemic has shown that people's travel habits can change fast, in extreme situations. The Journey to Net Zero is an important step in recognising how longer-term change might become possible. It identifies the changes in transport measures we need, to allow people to make the change in travel habits. These are wide-ranging, and bring together many different policy areas:
- Access and use of public spaces
- Provision, management and payment for parking
- Support for more sustainable cars
- Provision of safe, clean, affordable, reliable and convenient alternatives to travel by car
This plan shows how we are working to ensure that more of our roads and public spaces are handed over to more active and sustainable travel modes. This plan doesn’t seek to take away choice, but makes it easier to make alternative and more sustainable choices in the longer term, while seeking to reduce the environmental impacts of using motor vehicles now.
We want to ensure that those living in rural areas get as much consideration in terms of accessing Bath, as those who live in the city itself. We are committed to improving the connectivity of isolated rural communities.
Current challenges
Current levels of car use are damaging our air quality, health and wellbeing, and damaging our regional economy, through road congestion. This has led to the introduction of air quality management areas (or AQMAs) within five areas of Bath and North East Somerset, including central Bath, due to the levels of emissions from queueing traffic. This means an area where traffic pollution is so bad that we have had to create a public plan to reduce it.
At the same time, slow-moving traffic and limited parking in Bath cause stress and waiting time for you when travelling by car, affecting your quality of life, as well as the quality of the air you breathe.
A combination of limited travel choices for rural commuters and local residents, and a lack of safe routes for school children, means that you may feel forced into your car for relatively short trips.
Cars also take up a disproportionate amount of our road and public spaces, both in use and when they're parked. This affects the safety of other road users, and can damage the character of our neighbourhoods.
Now that we have declared a Climate Emergency, it is our responsibility to provide safe, convenient alternatives to the car, and enable people to use these, to support our objective of carbon neutrality by 2030, and help protect the future of our planet. This will also have the effect of improving public health through reduced pollution, and more active journeys.
What you've told us
The response to our consultation in early 2021 indicated that there is a public appetite to reduce the number of journeys made by car and support cleaner car travel, where this option is necessary:
- Reallocation of road space, a network of key routes and removing traffic from the city centre were the most supported concepts in Creating Improved Places to Live and Work.
- Widescale electric vehicle charging, integrated public and shared transport services and electric-based shared transport schemes were the most popular concepts for Supporting Future Mobility.
- Respondents also strongly supported all concepts presented in providing Cleaner, Greener School Travel.
What this plan means for you
Our vision
We want to take the opportunity to provide convenient and affordable alternative transport options, so that people feel confident leaving their car at home. In future, the only people driving in the centre of Bath will be those who have no choice. We can all play our part in becoming carbon neutral by 2030.
Reducing the environmental impact of travelling by car
- Bath's Clean Air Zone will continue to deliver better air quality and reduced traffic congestion in our historic city centre, improving health and decreasing journey times for trips which have to be made by car.
- The development of Liveable Neighbourhoods in a number of areas in Bath will re-route motor traffic away from residential streets and high streets, making them more community-focused. Measures in these plans will result in more separation between motor vehicles and other road users, increasing road safety for everyone.
- Traffic cells will encourage more careful journey planning, and reduce traffic movements through the historic city centre.
- Parking policy is moving towards reducing the impact of parked cars on the street, by better utilising available off-street parking space. This will remove obstructions and make roads safer, both for drivers and other road users.
- New residents parking zones will reduce commuter parking in residential areas, and should make it easier for you to park your car near to your home, if there is no space to do this on your property itself.
- Emissions-based parking permit charging makes a direct link between cost and environmental impact, encouraging the eventual move to cleaner, more sustainable vehicles.
- Planned increases in Electric Vehicle charging provision will make driving an ultra-low-emissions vehicle much more convenient than it is today.
More choices for travel
- Reallocation of road space within Bath will mean we can make significant improvements to active travel facilities, public transport services and the public realm.
- Improved bus and cycle provision and better conditions for pedestrians will give people more travel options, and make these options more attractive.
- Journeys across multiple transport modes or operators will become seamless, with new technologies to enhance the experience.
- Shared electric transport schemes and car clubs will provide the opportunity to make ad-hoc journeys easily and cheaply, using the type of transport that suits you.
- Further support for public transport journeys to school will improve accessibility and reliability for those who live too far away to walk or cycle.
Cleaner, safer streets for schools
- New walking and cycling facilities near schools will encourage more children to walk or cycle, rather than being driven.
- Harmful pollution levels around schools will be reduced, protecting children’s health.
- Road safety around schools will be improved by parking management, traffic calming and speed restrictions.
- Opportunities to share, buy and lease bikes and e-bikes, supported where practical by financial measures, will make cycling accessible for more people.
Find out more
To learn more about parts of the plan which will benefit you in particular, you may want to explore the following sections.
Themes
- Supporting future mobility
- Cleaner, greener school travel
- Connecting Bath to rural communities and market towns
- Creating improved spaces to live and work
- Providing for travel by bike and on foot