Bristol gets extra £500k to cut congestion
A £536,000 "reward" has been handed to councils in the Bristol area for meeting targets to cut traffic congestion.
Journey times are more than 5 per cent quicker in the region since 2006, according to the Department for Transport, meaning it qualified for the government cash bonus.
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On the major urban routes more than 90 seconds has been shaved off journeys which typically took 30 minutes three years ago, studies showed.
The money must be spent on finding new ways to ease traffic jams in the city and neighbouring local authorities.
The West of England Partnership, which includes Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, has now had more than £1 million from the Urban Congestion Performance Fund, set up to help England's 10 largest urban areas tackle traffic problems on major routes.
Locally these include the A4018, A4, A432, and the Avon ring road.
The M32 was not included because the study was carried out during the construction of the Cabot Circus shopping centre.
Last year it emerged that the number of vehicles on the roads in the former Avon area had gone up by 15 per cent in a decade.
Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon has made it clear that he still wants local authorities with overstretched transport networks to look at introducing congestion charging.
In return the cities would receive government cash to pay for major transport improvement projects.
A West of England Partnership spokesman said: "The money will be spent on schemes to help further control or reduce congestion in the Greater Bristol urban area – including those within the city of Bristol and on major traffic corridors close to the city's boundaries.
"These might include major junction improvements and the monitoring and further improvement of traffic signals and traffic engineers are currently drawing up proposals for priority schemes that can be delivered with the help of this welcome additional resource."
Transport Minister Paul Clark said: "I am delighted that the West of England is being rewarded for beating its congestion targets.
The money will help local authorities give road users in these areas faster, safer and more reliable journeys - benefiting the local economy.
"Congestion has serious consequences for the economy and the environment and is a frustrating experience for all road users.
"Across England we have now provided nearly £23 million to the participating authorities to tackle urban congestion which is responsible for 80 per cent of all our congestion problems."
8 Comments
by Mike, Bristol
Tuesday, February 24 2009, 10:27PM
“I have been to many cities in the UK and abroad, they have no conjestion charges. Instead they have trams, subways or monorails. Why don't we have an alternative mode of transport in Bristol? The government are always pushing the idea of public transport yet the only mode of inner city transport is an overpriced bus service.
However conjestion charging will give the government more money to squander away on their yahts and overseas properties. Its about time they did something to improve our lives rather than just look at making money!”
by John, Bristol
Tuesday, February 24 2009, 11:53AM
“What ever happened to the Mini Busses.I know one place where Big single deckers belching fumes and smoke pass every ten minutes or so with 2 people on them.Surely it would be better to use small busses at off peak times ??.”
by MendipMan, Wurzel Country
Tuesday, February 24 2009, 11:32AM
“MikeB is spot on. Many traffic lights are inefficient for want of proper sequencing.
Other things that would help ease congestion are for drivers to move away promptly at traffic lights when in a queue; drivers able to judge the width of their vehicle more accurately to squeeze through gaps in congested streets; drivers not stopping in box junctions or parking in bus lanes.
I'm surprised that people believe buses travel around empty during the day. That is not my experience. They are used more than ever now the elderly can use them free.
Because many routes travel across the city from one side to another many people use them to access or depart the central areas and few use them for the entire route.
This can mean that in parts of the central areas the buses are less full as some passengers have got off (having travelled in from the outskirts) whilst those leaving the central areas have not yet boarded.
For instance, the 1 and 54 often drop many people at Union Street when coming in from the south of the city but then gradually fill up at the Centre, College Green and Clifton as they continue their journeys to Cribbs Causeway by different routes.
That said, I do agree that in the day some routes appear less full than others. Unless First is being subsidised for these routes one would imagine this company would not be slow in removing uneconomic journeys and would reduce frequencies.”
by Terry, Bristol
Tuesday, February 24 2009, 9:36AM
“Must agree with Sandra,why do we allow these empty buses to clog our streets during the day?”
by European, Bristol
Tuesday, February 24 2009, 9:16AM
“They should have included the A38 as part of their study, where major delays are consistent. An improvement of 5%, is that really worth mentionning?”
by Mike B, Bristol
Tuesday, February 24 2009, 8:54AM
“Quote from article . . "The money will be spent on schemes to help further control or reduce congestion" . . . . . Just translate that as, they are gonna spend £536,000 on yet more Traffic-lights ;-(
Wouldn't be so bad if the existing lights worked "properly", ie, going green for your lanes, when there's nothing in the other lanes, and no pedestrians crossing. Don't the modern Traffic-lights have sensors to detect things like that?”
by green bristol blog, blogspot.com
Monday, February 23 2009, 11:52PM
“Urban traffic has declined by about 1% over the last year as a result of first the high cost of fuel and now the recession. This accounts for the reduction in congestion.”
by Dave, Bristol
Monday, February 23 2009, 10:08PM
“Was this looked at during the current financial problems facing many family¿s who have cut down on car use because petrol prices were high, and indeed are creeping back up?”