Hundreds of letters go in over BRT plan
A petition signed by 3,000 people and nearly 400 letters have been handed to council officials by campaigners fighting a controversial bus route.
Hundreds of people are also lodging online objections to the Bus Rapid Transit scheme proposed by Bath and North East Somerset Council.
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It is part of the authority's Bath Transportation Package, which aims to tackle the city's congestion and pollution problems.
But the Respone2Route pressure group says the scheme to link park and ride sites at Newbridge and Bathampton - which will include a dedicated bus lane along a disused railway line in Newbridge - will be a waste of money.
It also says the route will destroy a wildlife corridor and have an intrusive impact on homes.
Spokewoman Jo McCarron said: "Our view remains that the plan has been developed without any consideration of Newbridge and Lower Weston as a real place where real people live. The plan takes an aerial view and approaches the problem as a technical or engineering issue."
Mrs McCarron said the BRT would turn a "green corridor" into a "predominantly industrial area."
The scheme also relies on the expansion of the Newbridge Park and Ride site, which resdients say will be environmentally damaging.
They have paid for a Bath FM radio advert to publicise the need for people to comment on the applications, details of which can be found on the major developments and special projects section of the council's website - www.bathnes.gov.uk
The council says its proposals will tackle the congestion problems caused by the 27,000 people who travel in and out of Bath by car for work every day.
It says the volume of cars travelling through the city centre during rush hour periods will go up by 14 per cent in the next ten years if nothing is done.
And it has rejected the idea of routing BRT buses along either the Lower Bristol or Upper Bristol roads.
Either option, it says, would increase the expense and the number of homes and businesses affected.
It also says that the Government funding which will pay for most of the work will disappear if the BRT route is changed.
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by mr logic, Planet logic
Sunday, February 22 2009, 9:11PM
“If people from Bath drive to the Brislington P&R to get the bus into Bristol and people from Bristol drive to the Newbridge P&R to get the bus into Bath then methinks there's something wrong with the buses twixt Bath and Bristol .”
by JC, Bath
Friday, February 20 2009, 4:00PM
“JP - Probably better than the Councils dubious stats.
1 - Will traffic really increase by 14% in a recession?
2 - In recession, pricing is a key issue, and with high bus prices, driving remains the cheapest option.
3 - How many of the 27,000 cars are going direct to the centre, bearing in mind the RUH and MOD are two of Baths biggest employers?
4 - How many cars are doing a run to work via school that is harder to do by PT?
5 - Recently, Cllr Hanney was whinging about cutting services if parking revenues drop. Surely that contradicts the aims of this scheme?
6 - Will BRT pay for itself, or be a further drain on Council Tax?
7 - How does the BRT actually fit onto the London Road?
8 - If BRT along either of the Bristol Roads will affect homes/ businesses, why is the same not true of the London Road stretch?”
by PW, Bath
Friday, February 20 2009, 3:38PM
“As far as i can work out, the BRT is a big version of the bus lane and p&r that is between Keynsham and Brislington. As someone who sees the daily gridlock because of that, and the half empty buses that 'serve' the p&r here and at odd down I suggest anyone who still thinks the BRT is a good idea is crazy. The current system is CAUSING gridlock!!”
by JP, London Road
Friday, February 20 2009, 2:43PM
“OK, so the council says, "..its proposals will tackle the congestion problems caused by the 27,000 people who travel in and out of Bath by car for work every day."
"It says the volume of cars travelling through the city centre during rush hour periods will go up by 14 per cent in the next ten years if nothing is done."
Right, I'm sick of being told by the council about the 27,000 people that travel into Bath for work cause all the congestion so I've just done a little research of my own.
I have just surveyed the traffic along the London Road for 15 minutes between 12 and 14:00, both ways, from my flat on Grosvenor Place. I used a lamp post as my marker and stopped my watch every time traffic came to a complete standstill, starting again as the traffic moved.
Inbound to Bath:
Total time recording: 35 mins
Total traffic: 264
Buses: 8
Motorbikes: 6
Cars: 196
4x4: 18
Small van (under transit size): 7
Big Van: 17
Lorry: 9
HGV: 3
Outbound:
Total time recording: 27 mins
Total traffic: 312
Buses: 2
Ambulances: 2
Motorbikes: 1
Cars: 244
4x4: 16
Caravan: 1
Small van (under transit size): 19
Big Van: 9
Lorry: 13
HGV: 5
Vans inc: plasters, builders, Royal Mail, Polish bakeries, self hire, Mega Rod
Lorrys inc: Removals, Logistics, Driver training, Agriculatural machinery
HGVs inc: ASDA, Arla, Polish logistics, Currys, Packaging, insulation, Doncaster cables, Aggregates
Make of this what you will, but I¿d say that the almost grid lock I have witnessed is not predominantly to do with people coming to work in Bath (not at lunchtime on a Friday). Please BANES, admit that you¿re taking government money while it¿s available (fair enough!) but that most road users are going THROUGH Bath - extra park and ride spaces would do vertually nothing to affect this traffic right now. I agree that public transport does need to improve ¿ of course it does! It is going to be part of an evironmentally friendly social transport system, but this is NOT the answer to solving CONGESTION in Bath ¿ a bypass, no matter how controversial, IS!
BTW ¿ there were a lot of Porsches amongst the cars and 4x4s, and most of the buses were 3/4 empty ¿ one double decker with 1 person in it!! Everyone, please tell me your thoughts as to this post because I'm past angry with the council at this moment.”
by paul, Odd Down, Bath
Thursday, February 19 2009, 7:20PM
“So 27000 people a day drive around Bath and 3400 of them have just lodged complaints with the council about the BRT.
I make that about 12.6% of Baths road users. So just how statiscally significant does the council need the data to be before they can accept that they are wrong and the elecorate are right?
Come on BANES have you lost your eyes and ears? I implore you, listen to the public before it is too late!!”