Enabling Travel Choices

We want to make it easier for residents to choose different forms of transport as we progress along our Journey to Net Zero. Building on our successes like the introduction of the first Clean Air Zone outside London, the first Liveable Neighbourhood trial schemes, the innovative eScooter trial, and on-road bike hangar storage, we will:

  • Continue to develop Liveable Neighbourhood schemes, jointly designing meaningful improvements with residents making them safer for walking and cycling, more accessible, and cutting rat-running and speeding.

  • Prioritise pavement building, maintenance, and improvement.

  • Prioritise infrastructure to enable pedestrians and particularly residents with impaired mobility to cross safely to access bus stops, shops, work, school and other activities.

  • Pilot School Streets programmes to ensure safe conditions outside school entrances.

  • Increase traffic enforcement for the protection of pedestrians.

  • Enable community co-design of safe cycling infrastructure links.

  • Continue the roll out of our planned programme of on-road cycle routes.

  • Improve our network of walking and cycling infrastructure away from main roads, for example: Bath Riverline and a cycle and walking track from Midsomer Norton to Bristol.

  • Prioritise cycle lane and road margin maintenance and improvement.

  • Create a maintenance and gritting budget for cycle tracks, road margins and pavements.

  • Provide cycle hangars for secure, dry cycle storage on road.

  • Ensure there is safe provision for pedestrians and cyclists when we plan roadworks.

  • Campaign for WECA to maintain and develop bus services for disadvantaged and isolated rural communities.

  • Create walking and cycling maps and apps for the district, to help people find suitable routes for every occasion.

  • Support WECA’s plans to extend and improve local Metrowest rail services and its plans for mass transit, and campaign for a station for Saltford.

  • Continue to campaign for First Bus, WECA and central government to deliver fast, affordable, direct, reliable bus services, with integrated ticketing.

  • Turn our Park & Rides into solar-powered Transport Hubs.

  • Trial running Park & Ride services into the evening.

  • Establish more car club infrastructure, and support car sharing.

  • Work with National Grid to enable more people to choose an electric vehicle by increasing charging infrastructure.

  • Maintain easy access for blue badge holders and disabled residents.

  • Continue to implement RPZs where requested by residents.

  • Press hard to “detrunk” the A36 & A37 and change the primary route designation between M4 and South Coast to stop freight traffic using Bath as a cut through.

  • Publish a 10-year future planned cycling route map for our district, as well as a vehicle circulation plan for the city.

  • Further investigate a Workplace Parking Levy scheme, to raise funds for improved sustainable transport links.

  • Extend 20mph speed limits.

  • Extend emissions-based car parking charges to visitors through our city centre car parks.

  • Work with WECA to ensure new homes, workplaces and communities are built with easy access to sustainable transport links and practical alternatives to the car.

  • Introduce a local target for Bath of 36µg/m3 of NO2 (lower than the national legal limit of 40) and use air quality as a measure of success of for our wider transport policy.

  • Act to limit HGVs on our city streets, rural roads, towns and villages.

  • Introduce a public engagement programme focusing on the health benefits of using alternative modes to the car, and encouraging individuals to aim to reduce their car use by 25%.