A £60M proposal to create a bus rapid transit and to double park-and-ride capacity in Bath has taken a major step forward, after the council submitted four separate planning applications last week.
Bath and North East Somerset Council said the package would provide a 21st century transportation network, and underpin plans to improve the pedestrian environment and enhance access for cyclists to the city.
The four planning applications submitted to the planning authority include a new park-and-ride site, park-and-ride expansion and a new bus rapid transit route.
Once the planning applications have been formally registered by planning services, they will be available for public consideration.
Councillor Charles Gerrish, cabinet member for customer services, said: ‘Residents and businesses recognise the scale of congestion the whole community faces and, on the whole, view the Bath Transportation Package as a step in the right direction to meeting this challenge.’
But campaign group Response2route claims the BRT will not be financially sustainable given the number of empty park-and-ride buses currently passing through the route, and that social, visual and environmental impacts have been underestimated. Some 27,000 people travel in and out of Bath by car for work every day.
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