MetroBus (Bristol)

MetroBus is a bus rapid transit system currently under construction in Bristol, England. It is a joint project between Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Councils.^[1][2][3]

Overview

Development on the £200 million project started in 2006.^[4] It will involve the construction of a dedicated new road for buses.^[5][6]

MetroBus is part of a wider package of transport infrastructure improvements in the West of England which have been designed to help unlock economic growth, tackle poor public transport links in South Bristol, long bus journey times and high car use in the North Fringe of the city and M32 motorway corridor.

MetroBus vehicles will have priority over other traffic at junctions and use a combination of segregated busways and bus lanes.^[7] The buses will be hybrid buses with twin doors, one for boarding and one for exiting, in order to shorten stop times.^[8] The scheme's promoters claim that it will reduce journey times by up to 75 per cent between Long Ashton Park & Ride and Hengrove.^[4]

Three routes are proposed:^[9]

• Ashton Vale to Temple Meads (AVTM)
• North Fringe to Hengrove (NFHP)
• South Bristol Link

In Bristol city centre, MetroBus will remodel significant areas by the Cenotaph to create more space for pedestrians.

Objections

MetroBus has faced opposition from environmental groups who claim a new bus-only junction over the M32 (North Fringe to Hengrove section) would mean the loss of 12 smallholdings, loss of long-held allotments, expansion into green belt land, loss of Grade 1 soil and land at Feed Bristol, a community food growing project.^[10]

The scheme proposes mitigation for loss of allotments, soils etc but the Report to the Development Control Committee for the meeting of 27 August 2014 states, "Despite the proposed off-site mitigation, the NFHP scheme would result in the loss of 1.79 hectares of best and most versatile quality agricultural land (Grade 1, 2 and 3a)."

The 'Alliance to Rethink Metrobus' have produced a 'Metrobust Green Capital 2015' calendar and a map showing planned destruction of green spaces across Bristol for the Metrobus scheme.^[11][12]

MetroBus previously faced some opposition to the route in the centre of Bristol which led to the decision of the mayor to reroute it away from the Bristol Harbourside.^[13]

Approval process

All planning permissions for the MetroBus network have now been granted. The Ashton Vale to Temple Meads route was approved by the Department for Transport in November 2013.^[14] The South Bristol Link part of the MetroBus scheme was approved in January 2015.^[15]

Construction

Construction started in early 2015 on the Ashton Vale to Temple Meads route. Works for the Ashton Vale to Temple Meads MetroBus route include:^{[16][17][18][19]}

• construction of a total of 1.2 miles of guided busway (not continuous) from Long Ashton to the Ashton Avenue Bridge, together with a segregated path for cyclists and pedestrians,
• the refurbishment of Ashton Avenue Bridge,
• the construction of a new parallel bridge at Bathurst Basin, and
• city centre works including new bus stops, upgrading of existing stops and installation of real time information displays.

References

External links

• Official website