Agenda item - Bus infrastructure investment

Bus infrastructure investment

Meeting of Joint meeting - West of England Combined Authority Committee and West of England Joint Committee, Friday, 19th June, 2020 10.30 am (Item 18.)

- Report for consideration by the Combined Authority Committee and the Joint Committee.

Decision:

The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED:

1. To agree the strategic criteria for initial prioritisation.

2. To agree the prioritised corridors.

3. To agree to the principles set out in Section 7 for progressing Operator Agreements.

4. To note progress on the Mass Transit project and Bath Transport Study.

5. To agree to the creation and funding of the Bristol to Bath Strategic Corridor programme and agree the suggested delivery approach.

The West of England Joint Committee RESOLVED:

- To note the report.

Minutes:

The Combined Authority Committee and the Joint Committee considered a report setting out proposals for further investment in bus infrastructure (agenda item 18).

The Chair highlighted the following aspects of the report and commented as follows:

· The report summarised the funding opportunities available through the Department for Transport and progress on bus infrastructure development, including Park and Ride, the M32 corridor study, bus priority measures, and updates on Mass Transit and the Bath Transport Study.

· The report also highlighted proposed priorities for bus corridors – these were split into 2 phases, based on deliverability. Phase 1 included assessing and taking forward interventions, including:

- A4 Bath Road (Bristol to Bath Strategic Corridor)

- A4018/A37 (First Route 2, and Bristol City Centre)

- A38 North (Bristol City Centre to Thornbury)

- Bristol city centre

- A4174 Ring Road / A432 to Yate

- A37 (S) - Bristol to Midsomer Norton

The recommendations as set out in the published report were then moved by the Chair and seconded by Cllr Dudd.

Cllr Dudd welcomed in particular the commitment to continue work on mass transit and the bus corridor priority proposals. He also drew attention to the benefits arising from Bristol’s Covid-19 response/decision to close Bristol Bridge and Baldwin Street to general traffic and introduce a bus priority route over the bridge.

Cllr Savage generally welcomed the report.

Cllr Romero particularly welcomed the A4 Bath Road (Bristol to Bath Strategic Corridor) proposal and also raised the following points:

· She stressed her broad support for Park and Ride sites at appropriate locations which took account of commuters’ needs and were clearly identified for that purpose.

· It was important to find a way to be able to submit bids for financial support through the Rural Mobility Fund to support rural bus services.

· Where there were issues/conflicts around the use of road space (e.g. in relation to the use of narrow roads in cities/towns), these should be resolved locally.

Cllr Davies stated that it was essential to improve information flows, particularly to bus passengers. He was concerned that the use of electric cars should not be incentivised - this may increase the use of electric cars (by those who could afford them) instead of fuel-powered cars but would not contribute positively to modal shift.

Professor West commented that social distancing requirements presented an immediate challenge to Park & Ride services in the short term and that it would be important to ensure effective communications with communities and the public to manage the immediate expectations around this.

The Chair then moved to the voting on the recommendations. Voting took place as per constitutional requirements.