Transport Forum, JNZ, Moving Traffic, P&R

Transport Forum: The first meeting on 4^th May was well attended but entirely devoted to ‘process’ so there’s not much to report yet, except the absence of a representative from the West of England Combined Authority.  However, it’s good that it happened.

Journey to Net Zero Cabinet Approval:  B&NES’ Cabinet voted on 5^th May to adopt the Council’s ‘Journey to Net Zero’ (JNZ) transport policy.  This was consulted upon earlier in the year; and our Press Statement and comments (dated 7^th and 5^th Feb respectively) can be found at News, Articles and Papers – Bath Alliance for Transport and Public Realm.  For the adopted text, including a number of welcome adjustments (some of them proposed by The Alliance), visit:

Appendix C – Second Consultaton Report.pdf (bathnes.gov.uk), or use the ‘Useful Link’. 

Moving Traffic Offences:  At the same meeting the Cabinet adopted a resolution to seek powers to prosecute some Moving Traffic Offences (only in London, up to now, have Local Authorities been empowered to do this, while in all other parts of the country solely the police can do so, resulting in no action over large areas of the law because the police decide that they have more important things to do).  It was explained that the Council will initially concentrate on contravention of ‘box junction’ rules, as these can cause congestion and pollution, but may seek an expansion into, for example, observation of weight limits by lorries later.

Park and Ride Contract Renewal:  On 1^st Mar 22 The Alliance posted a Somerset Live story about the renewal of Bath’s Park and Ride contract, which expires at the end of August – see News, Articles and Papers – Bath Alliance for Transport and Public Realm.  We emphasised the importance of this facility, because its pricing structure can be used to affect traffic flow in the city.  Accordingly, we made several suggestions for inclusion in the new contract, including a recommendation that it be flexible and of shorter duration than the current one, because of all the uncertainties at the moment (eg fuel prices, the Covid pandemic, unstable financial markets, the war in Ukraine, climate change, the switch to electric vehicles, the uncertain future of Cleveland Bridge, etc).  Many of our ideas have been observed in the renegotiation.  See the Council press release at: https://newsroom.bathnes.gov.uk/news/decision-bnes-park-ride-contract-cabinet.