Scrapped funding puts the future of 1000 bike hangars in doubt

Bristol’s Zero Emission Transport City project has been “curtailed” after the new UK Conservative leadership scrapped funding, meaning the council is now in the dark over the future of the planned 1,000 new safe bike hangars, along with 250 electric buses. Last summer, Bristol City Council was given GBP500,000 by the Department for Transport for planning a programme to decarbonise the city’s transport network, which accounts for a third of Bristol’s carbon emissions. This would have been a part of Bristol’s Zero Emission Transport City project aiming to get the city to net zero carbon emissions by 2030 to tackle climate change.

According to the plan, 1,000 new bike hangars were going to be installed, along with establishing greener last mile delivery services and rolling out 250 electric buses. This programme would then be used to apply for much more government funding, to actually put the plans into practice. However, Bristol Live [1] reports that after the resignation of two prime ministers last autumn, changes in the government now mean the Zero Emission Transport City project will no longer be funded.

Transport emissions in Bristol have reduced by less than 10% over the past decade, much slower than other sectors like industry, commercial and domestic energy use. In 2019, 494,100 tonnes of carbon dioxide were emitted from Bristol’s transport network. The plan would have seen the council setting up safe and secure places for people to store cycles, along with creating a ‘zero emission zone’ in the city centre, covering the Old City, Broadmead and Queen Square.

There were also plans for freight consolidation hubs, with the last mile of deliveries made on cargo bikes or small electric van > Cyclists take over Bristol for “mind-blowing” Drum & Bass on the Bike ride [2] The Bristol City Council has now announced that the UK Government has backtracked on its promise of funding.

The councillors on the Growth and Regeneration Scrutiny Commission were updated about this development on March 22, almost a year after the initial funding.

Delighted to secure GBP500,000 to help make #Bristol [3] a Zero Emission Transport City We’re one of just three cities to be awarded the funding: ?

1,000 cycle hangers? New M32 park and ride?

250 electric buses? New Lawrence Weston Cycling Centre?

More e-cargo bikes pic.twitter.com/p3pWGpbrtS [4] — Marvin Rees (@MarvinJRees) March 24, 2022 [5] > Residents “threatened with police” after “surrounding” contractors installing bike hangar [6]

Speaking to the commission, Pete Woodhouse, Transport Strategy Manager, said that the council staff were unsure how they could spend the leftover money. He said: “This was a government scheme that we engaged with and were awarded GBP500,000 to work up a feasibility programme for a bid to develop a number of things to promote zero emissions. This would have included things like enhancing the bus fleet to zero emissions, and creating a zero emissions zone around the Old City.

“Unfortunately, the programme will now not be funded due to changes in government. We’re awaiting a bit of clarity on what the funding remaining from that GBP500,000 can be used for. This is unfortunately on pause until further funding from the government can be brought forward.

So there was a big promise with this, and unfortunately that’s been curtailed.”

This comes as a huge blow for the city’s ambition of becoming more bike-friendly by providing secure storage locations for cyclists, when a week ago, almost a thousand cyclists took over Bristol in a “mind-blowing” and “crazy” Drum and Bass on the Bike [7] ride hosted by DJ Dom Whiting.

References

^ Bristol Live (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
^ > Cyclists take over Bristol for “mind-blowing” Drum & Bass on the Bike ride (road.cc)
^ #Bristol (twitter.com)
^ pic.twitter.com/p3pWGpbrtS (t.co)
^ March 24, 2022 (twitter.com)
^ > Residents “threatened with police” after “surrounding” contractors installing bike hangar (road.cc)
^ Drum and Bass on the Bike (road.cc)