Liberal Democrats Pledge Bus Improvements

12.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 23rd Apr 2007

Liberal Democrats are pledging action to make public transport in the area a clean, safe and convenient option in order to tackle congestion and fight climate change, if they gain control of the Council on May 3rd.

"We want to get more people taking the bus" said Councillor Andy Furse, Lib Dem candidate for Kingsmead, "so we feel the area needs to see significant improvements to the facilities at bus stops. We want to see more bus shelters and better timetable information - our long-term plan is to introduce electronic real-time arrivals boards so passengers will know exactly how long they have to wait for the next bus. The idea is to make bus travel as simple as possible."

"We would also ensure that vandalised bus stops are repaired much more promptly" he continued "and beyond that we need to work to make sure buses are an affordable option for all".

Councillor Mike Kelleher (Lib Dem candidate in Lambridge), who is a regular bus passenger, added: "Recent years have seen very strong growth in bus passenger numbers - thanks in part to the Lib Dem initiative of the bus-gate which encouraged investment by local bus companies and made it easier for buses to get in and out of the North of the city."

"We want to see more bus priority measures across the district to boost passenger numbers further and cut down on congestion in the city. This in turn should make it easier and more pleasant to travel by bus and encourage people to leave their cars at home. Liberal Democrats want to set a carbon neutral goal for Bath and North East Somerset, and buses are an essential part of that strategy."

Notes: Bus passenger journeys in 2005-6 were 10.3 million compared to 9.2 million in 2001-2. This represents a 12% growth over 4 years. A further 12% growth is expected in the period from 2005-6 to 2006-7, mainly due to the introduction of free bus travel for over 60's.

Lib Dem pledges on Better public transport across the district::

• We believe in making public transport a clean, safe and convenient option to tackle

congestion and fight climate change.

• We will keep the Bath city centre bus gate which helped cut congestion and

encouraged First Bus to invest £14 million in new buses.

• We will introduce environmentally-friendly buses.

• We will improve rural accessibility.

• We will maintain our commitment to cheaper fares.