Future projects
Upgrading of Bath’s Park & Rides to multi-modal interchanges
The Joint Local Transport Plan 4 (JLTP4) supports increasing travel options on arterial routes and reducing private car travel. As part of this, we will investigate further high-quality, sustainable travel options for the City of Bath in order to expand, complement and offer alternatives to existing Park & Ride sites at Lansdown, Odd Down and Newbridge.
Potential improvements could include the following:
- Improved signage to increase visibility
- Direct buses from sites to key destinations, such as the University of Bath and Royal United Hospital
- Long distance bus services to terminate at these transport interchanges
- Mobility hubs (as per the Future Transport Zone Delivery)
Status: Developing
Delivery timescales: Medium- to long-term
Other themes supported:
Providing for travel on bike and foot
Creating improved places to live and work
Potential scale of carbon impact: Medium
Bus shelter and stop upgrades
In addition to the bus stops that are being upgraded as part of the bus service improvement plan (BSIP) or other major programmes, we will be upgrading bus stops within the city, as well as across the district. We will be applying the Combined Authority’s Bus Stop Design Standards when developing our proposals to ensure that the upgraded bus stops are accessible to all. Our starting point for these upgrades would be bus stop assessments, to determine the current state of bus stops and identify what improvements are required.
The improvements could include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Better lighting
- Better security
- Real-time passenger information
- High-quality waiting and seating areas
- Wi-Fi
- Location of pedestrian crossings
- Location of bus stops
- Bike and/or e-scooter parking
Status: Developing
Delivery timescales: Medium-term
Other themes supported:
Connecting Bath to rural communities and market towns
Potential scale of carbon impact: Medium
West of England Mass Transit
What is mass transit?
We want to deliver an attractive, high-quality transport solution offering seamless journeys for everyone. Mass transit is a type of public transport network that provides high-capacity, fast, frequent and reliable services that are predominantly segregated from other traffic. This could include over or underground routes and consist of several different types of transport in an integrated system.
The West of England Combined Authority is leading work to deliver a new and ambitious mass transit system. This will revolutionise the way people move around the region, dramatically improving congestion and improving air quality, by encouraging modal shift (the choice of different modes of transport). A variety of transport options are being assessed, to understand which technologies might work best for the region. Route options that have the potential to connect the highest volumes of people, city and town centres, and employment hubs will be developed across B&NES, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
This programme will build on the A4 Bristol to Bath Corridor Study also being undertaken.
Status: Developing
Delivery timescales: Long-term
Other themes supported:
Providing for travel on bike and foot
Creating improved places to live and work
Potential scale of carbon impact: High
Bath mass transit
In addition to the West of England Mass Transit programme, we are considering the potential for mass transit within the City of Bath area itself. The intention of this study is to understand whether there is a case to investigate mass transit in the city further. There are several constraints to delivering mass transit in Bath, including a small population size (compared with other places that have successful systems), and the constraints as a result of the historic nature of the city.
This evidence-based study is currently underway and will consider the various types of mass transit technologies and their applicability in the context of Bath, as well as whether there is the potential demand to make the system financially viable and sustainable.
Status: Future
Delivery timescales: Long-term
Other themes supported:
Creating improved places to live and work
Potential scale of carbon impact: High
What does this mean for me?
If you are travelling to Bath by car, enhanced multi-modal interchange facilities ('mobility hubs') will provide the opportunity to complete your journey quickly, more directly and conveniently, by whatever type of transport that suits you.
Mobility hubs will connect you into the wider transport network, even from smaller rural settlements. This will greatly improve accessibility to services by sustainable modes of transport.
Bus stop upgrades will provide a waiting area that is not only accessible by all modes, but it will also provide an area in which users will feel safe and have access live travel information and wifi.
Universal, integrated ticketing will make it easy to purchase a ticket to get from A to B, even if the journey requires the use of different operators along the way.
An enhanced public transport system will provide an excellent alternative to the car for all journeys, but especially for existing car journeys of between 10 and 20 kilometres in distance, which currently contribute the majority of carbon emissions.