Bristol
Greater Bristol made history when it was chosen to be England’s first Cycling City, and will receive nearly a quarter of the overall funds for the Cycling Towns and City programme to transform the city’s transport habits. With a substantial number of short car journeys in Greater Bristol - 45,000 daily car trips to work are less than 3 miles in length, representing 50% of total trips - there is considerable potential to get many more people on their bikes. The city’s goal is to double the number of regular cyclists in Greater Bristol, which would mean 100-150,000 more people cycling regularly across the urban area by 2011.
The strategy consists of a series of exciting infrastructure initiatives and a programme of ‘Smarter Choices’ measures, designed to offer people the information, motivation and training they need to take up cycling.
Infrastructure changes include creating new long distance routes to the north and south of the city centre, and providing a continuous, safe route on the A38 - one of the busiest traffic routes in the area - to facilitate cycling between the main places of employment, education, shopping and housing.
The ‘Smarter Choices’ programme will include Workplace Cycle Champion volunteers, grants for cycle facilities, promotions and events, a journey planner, maps and a booklet for new cyclists, personalised travel planning, bike maintenance sessions and training, and a cycle loan and recycling scheme.
