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Walking, wheeling, cycling or using public transport instead of taking the car reduces traffic jams, cleans up the air, tackles climate change, can improve our health and boost our economy.
Rethinking how we travel can have a big impact on our carbon footprint and help make North Somerset a greener, healthier and happier place for everyone.
We’re supporting the Campaign for Better Transport’s first Better Transport Week, a week-long celebration of better, greener, fairer transport.
Buses are the UK’s most used form of public transport. As well as cutting traffic and air pollution, they also play a vital role in connecting communities and tackling loneliness.
Here in North Somerset they play a key part in our response to the climate emergency, as our emissions from road transport continue to increase.
Reducing individual car journeys is key to our commitment to reach net zero by 2030.
We want to make bus travel faster, convenient, coordinated and better for both the environment and your pocket.
The Bus Service Improvement Plan aims to offer an improved service, a quicker and greener alternative to using the car, with accessible and affordable bus travel, offering accessible options with simple and consistent fares.
Recent improvements through BSIP include:
Bus lanes:
- Long Ashton bypass - the first of 18 major bus improvement schemes has been completed, offering quicker bus routes and a more reliable service
- Barrow Gurney – identified as a pinch point on the bus network, the works (which finish in July) will offer a speedier service.
Bus services:
- X10 introduced linking Clevedon, Portishead and Cribbs Causeway
- X1 Bristol to Weston now runs every 15 minutes, Monday to Friday
- X4 Bristol to Portishead now runs every 20-25 minutes, Monday to Friday
- X5 Portishead to Weston now has additional journeys to Locking Castle, plus the introduction of a Saturday service
- X7 Bristol to Clevedon now has additional early and late journeys
- X8 Bristol to Nailsea/Backwell has been reintroduced hourly
- W3 around Weston, the daily service is extended by an hour.
It was recently announced that the £2 bus fare cap (£1 for children up to 16) has been extended until the end of October 2023, so now’s the time to try something new and get on the bus.
On-demand buses
On-demand buses are now operating across North Somerset without fixed timetables or routes.
WESTlink buses are ‘demand responsive transport’, meaning they go where they’re needed.
You can use it as a stand-alone service to get to college, work, shops or the cinema, or to connect to the wider public transport network for onward travel.
Buses are smaller so they can go to areas which were previously inaccessible to larger buses, meaning communities that had been without a local bus service now have new opportunities to travel.
Book through the free WESTlink app, online or by phone on 0117 457 8561 (charged at local rates).
Smart technology matches your journey with other customers. You get notified of the pick-up and drop off locations by app, text or by the call centre. depending on how you booked your trip, and the buses run Monday to Saturday, from 7am to 7pm (except public holidays).
Journeys cost £2 per adult and £1 per child, and concessionary bus passes are accepted.
Help reduce air pollution
Air pollution is the biggest environmental threat to our health – so help cut car use and use sustainable travel where you can.
Yesterday (Thursday) was Clean Air Day, highlighting the harmful effects of air pollution.
Vehicles release dangerous greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to climate change as well as creating air pollution which causes up to 36,000 deaths in the UK every year.
If it’s been a while since you’ve ridden a bike and you need more confidence on two wheels, free adult cycle training is available to everyone in North Somerset.
Many primary schools deliver cycle training to children in years five and six. Contact your child’s school for information.
Any reductions in air pollution that we make will lead to health improvements for us as individuals as well as our local community.