Spend the money on railways instead

“@Slotboy

"Regarding money in the pot.

There was a grant from London but that was a result of our bid with regard to the Rapid Transit Bus proposal. Whether this could be transferred to a more feasible project I have yet to find out. 40 million would buy quite a few busses though and would provide much needed competition to First Group.
Rich fisher - Independent"


Sound to me that you're saying "Its been approved to waste it on an insane rubbish proposal that nobody wants, but we're not sure we're allowed to spend it on something worthwhile which people would welcome and actually use, whilst avoiding bulldozing the historic docks"”

“I went to Cabot Circus yesterday and there's a new yellow sign under the private property stuff which states the shopping centre now uses anonymous mobile phone tracking. I think this would be a priority for The Post to investigate how data is being used, especially as BCC is one of the partners in the project.”

“Spot on Tim M
The post started this off by emphasizing 1 possible destination of the pod.In fact as has been pointed out by several its primary purpose would be around the enterprise zone.If you want to attract in the right mix of high end firms and jobs then there needs to be good infrastructure.This system has possibilities,especially as it can be built where many other technologies would require massive demolition and heavy construction.
It has possibilities but has yet to get a detailed appraisal.It is regarded as being of interest by government and financial help may be available.It should not be forgotten that getting the right mix into the enterprise zone will bring in huge amounts of revenue.

The next piece of distraction comes in the headline for this diatribe.
The money for the rail based metro (portishead line,4 tracking Filton henbury loop Etc Etc )to deliver the west of England agreed plans is agreed.
The electrification up to Temple Meads and beyond is agreed and funded.
The station itself will be massively modernised and we are getting a transport hub with access for BRT.

To pretend that this ambitious scheme in any way interferes with any of that is nonsense.

To keep on doing what you have always done and expect a different result is a sure sign of madness so perhaps the post needs to look in a different direction for the men in white coats.

All of the mainstream parties are agreed that ,despite the fact that some will want adjustments and some wanted a different technology but know it has been looked at and cannot happen, the BRT must and will proceed.
Cancellation would cause major rows with neighbouring councils and with government.It would also mean that not only would the £100M + funding for BRT would go back but the £100M for rail would vanish. We would be back exactly where Bristol has been many times before with no government support and no prospect of the massive improvements needed to our transport infrastructure.
Real businesses will tell you over and over again that although Bristol is a great place to do business the transport improvements (including BRT) are the most important jobs to be done.

That includes Transport for Bristol company that the Tories oppose and local Labour started off trying to kill and now recognise is the only way forward and are trying to claim ownership which will integrate the transport and introduce integrated smart ticketing.”

“Public transport is the most important thing that needs fixing. The Post is right - we should have the railway open to Portishead, Ashley Hill, Horfield and Henbury, with at least two trains per hour, and no extra charge for catching the bus from the station. We need a bus service that serves passengers, not the bus company, with core routes from every housing area to a decent hub next to Temple Meads, before carrying on to hospitals, schools, shopping areas, etc. We need to scrap the stupid £49 million BRT2 route to preserve the rail route, to use in the first tram-train route in Britain, after the forthcoming successful trial in Yorkshire. Once we've done all this, then we can start installing fairground rides.”

“@Tiny_Steve "PUBLIC transport and the need to improve it is a constant issue in Bristol.'
Or perhaps it's just a constant obsession by the Post."

No, I suspect it's not a constant obsession. The bus service in particular in Bristol is lamentable and has been for many years. When they turn up on time, the buses themselves are either too full, too hot, too draughty and the seats are too cramped for anybody above average height to sit in any comfort at all.

"'failed deliver any meaningful improvement in public transport'
By this I guess that the annual rise in passengers on public transport in Bristol over the past six years isn't meaningful?"

A rise in passenger numbers does not equate to an improvement in the public transport itself, as I'm sure you know.

This is a bonkers proposal and I hope it dies a quick death. I'm all in favour of spending money on local public transport if the money is available, but let's spend on something useful. In Southampton you can catch a free bus to the shopping centre from the main station, I think that is a more sensible plan, if people are too lazy to walk.”

“Regarding money in the pot.

There was a grant from London but that was a result of our bid with regard to the Rapid Transit Bus proposal. Whether this could be transferred to a more feasible project I have yet to find out. 40 million would buy quite a few busses though and would provide much needed competition to First Group.
Rich fisher - Independent”

“'Spend the money on railways instead'
That would be based on the naive assumption that there is some pot of money sloshing around that the Council can spend on whatever it wishes.

'PUBLIC transport and the need to improve it is a constant issue in Bristol.'
Or perhaps it's just a constant obsession by the Post.

'failed deliver any meaningful improvement in public transport'
By this I guess that the annual rise in passengers on public transport in Bristol over the past six years isn't meaningful?

Quality commentary.”

“With commentaries like this, no wonder Bristol is still stuck in the stone ages transport-wise. Reasoned debate this is not. Infrastructure spending in the middle of a recession - how dumb is that, right? (Err, hello?) A lot of money is going to be spent on railways in the Bristol area in the next ten years, and that's a great thing. But it still has to be recognised that rail alone isn't going to solve Bristol's transport malaise. Neither will the proposed pod scheme of course, but it's actually quite a neat system, and it would work well on a small scale such as the enterprise zone (so roughly Paintworks to Temple Meads and perhaps on to Cabot Circus). I think the economics would actually work out as well, much more so than with a tram or bus system. And it would put Bristol and the Enterprise Zone on the map, which is invaluable.”

“So come on BEP, where is this in depth grilling of the potential candidates for mayor? The best way to combat such stupid ideas is to get the right person in power but its proving impossible to find any meaningful information. Voters either won't bother or will revert to party politics and a great opportunity will have been missed. Time to show your journalistic chops!”

“Does Tim Kent and the Liberal Democrat Council not realise that you can do April Fools pranks on April 1st, not every day of the year.”