Skip to main content

Major funding announced to improve Bristol’s public transport

A new rapid bus network for Bristol will be built after the UK Department for Transport announced US$55 million funding towards the US$73 million total cost of the project. The aim is to provide better bus connections between key areas of employment, housing, retail and leisure. The network will tackle traffic congestion, help create regeneration and support new jobs and homes. The Metrobus is intended to encourage car drivers coming into Bristol to shift onto public transport. Existing bus services i
September 16, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
A new rapid bus network for Bristol will be built after the UK 1837 Department for Transport announced US$55 million funding towards the US$73 million total cost of the project.

The aim is to provide better bus connections between key areas of employment, housing, retail and leisure. The network will tackle traffic congestion, help create regeneration and support new jobs and homes.

The Metrobus is intended to encourage car drivers coming into Bristol to shift onto public transport. Existing bus services in the west of the city will also be able to use the new infrastructure with faster travel times.

The rapid transit scheme will provide a new bus service from the south west of the city to the centre along a new 2.5 mile segregated busway from the Long Ashton Park and Ride site. The dedicated busway follows former rail routes and will feature a new bridge over the Bristol to Portishead rail line. The city centre section will run on existing roads with added bus priority measures including bus lanes and upgraded junctions.

Transport Minister Baroness Kramer said: “The Bristol Metrobus will provide a step change improvement for public transport serving not just in the city itself but also surrounding communities. Buses will be able to get around quickly, travelling along dedicated busways and priority lanes around Bristol and into the city centre. The new link will stimulate economic development and link communities with jobs.”

The work will be completed in April 2016.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Road and rail projects to boost local and regional transport
    December 13, 2013
    Dozens of UK towns and cities are set to benefit from government funding to tackle congested local roads and improve key points in the strategic road network, as well as new initiatives to drive forward rail electrification. Measures announced by Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin include US$80 million from the Local Pinch Point Fund for 25 congestion-busting local roads schemes, building on 87 already announced this year; confirmation of nearly US$181 million for the M6-Heysham link road, along with
  • London invests in bus priority schemes to help keep bus passengers moving
    January 26, 2016
    With London’s roads seeing an increase in congestion due to a construction boom and a significant growth in population, Transport for London is investing heavily in helping keep the roads moving through a range of means. Part of this programme is designed to help buses get through congested areas quicker and more reliably. A US$284 million investment in new bus priority schemes in the capital includes changes to road layouts and junctions and enabling small changes to routes so that buses can avoid traff
  • £10.6m boost for Glasgow sustainable travel
    July 8, 2025
    Initiatives to encourage more walking and cycling will receive funding
  • High hopes for Detroit streetcar system
    June 12, 2013
    Detroit, the historic home of the US automotive industry, is to get a new streetcar rail system to help drive the economic revival of Motor City. M-1 Rail, the organisation overseeing the US$140 million project, has been pursuing an aggressive timetable toward a late 2015 service launch. “We are now jumping out of the gate,” says Heather Carmona, M-1 Rail’s chief administrative officer. Final design could be completed by mid-August and, depending on when the necessary permits are secured, construction coul