Bristol Walking Alliance has written to the candidates in the Bristol Mayor election in May, encouraging them to include walking-friendly policies in their manifestos.
One of our two main concerns is with the implementation of the ten action points on walking set out on page 51 of the Bristol Transport Strategy, which the City Council adopted in July 2019. This needs to be made a priority.
Linked to this, our second main concern is with the resources devoted to walking. The Government has suggested 15% of transport budgets should be spent on cycling and walking. WECA and Bristol spend much less. We would like to see walking and cycling treated as separate modes of transport, each with their own allocated budget. We suggest 5% of transport budgets should be allocated to walking.
There are other actions that we also think important. We have asked the candidates to pledge to undertake as many actions as possible from a BWA ‘shopping list’:
- Implement the ten walking actions in the Bristol Transport Strategy
- Produce a Walking Strategy for Bristol by the end of 2020
- Ensure the protection and enhancement of the walking environment is covered in all Bristol and WECA planning documents
- Allocate 5% of Bristol’s transport budget to walking and encourage WECA to do the same
- Publish design standards for walking infrastructure
- Require walking measures in all road schemes
- Ban pavement parking
- Work towards pedestrianisation of the city centre
- Create ‘Liveable Neighbourhoods’ through area-based traffic-calming and place-making
- Allocate funds to neighbourhoods in the city for improvements for walking, e.g. 20 more pedestrian crossings each year
The full letter to the candidates is here.