Cllr Rob Bryher: Westminster grant is behind the EBLN, too many people for Earth's carrying capacity
The Bristol Politics Show, presented by Tony Gosling https://politicsthisweek.gn.apc.org/2026/07/the-bristol-politics-show-presented-by-tony-gosling-32/ Rob Bryher - Green Party Councillor for St George West, Bristol My personal assessment of East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood trial scheme data (January 2026) January 2, 2026 robertjessetelford Leave a comment https://robbryher.com/2026/01/02/my-personal-assessment-of-east-bristol-liveable-neighbourhood-trial-scheme-data-january-2025/ This is my attempt to summarise and assess the monitoring report (see https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/ask-bristol/10460-ebln-monitoring-report-2025/file) for the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood trial scheme. Before I summarise the data, let’s restate the aims of the scheme as defined in the monitoring strategy: to reduce traffic cutting through the Liveable Neighbourhood to boost active travel and public transport use to not significantly impact nearby roads So let’s dig into the data and what it says. The volume of traffic has reduced and has not significantly impacted nearby (external/boundary) roads: On internal and external (boundary) roads, the volume of all motorised vehicles has gone down by 26 per cent on weekdays and by 21 per cent on weekends. On internal roads the decrease is 77 per cent on weekdays and 72 per cent on weekends. On external roads the decrease is 6 per cent on weekdays and 5 per cent on weekends. Walking has been boosted: Walking increased by 7 per cent on weekdays and 5 per cent on weekends. Cycling has been boosted: Cycling volumes increased overall by 22 per cent on weekdays but did not go up overall at weekends. The volume of cycling on internal roads increased by 39 per cent on weekdays and 13 per cent on weekends, and it went up on external roads by 4 per cent on weekdays and went down by 12 per cent on external roads on weekends. Use of the Wesley Way cycle route increased by 60 per cent on weekdays and 24 per cent on weekends. Public transport has been boosted: The 5 and 16 buses (which run mainly through the EBLN area) have increased their patronage by 116% and all buses (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 5, 16) which run through EBLN and boundary roads (e.g. Church Road) have seen a 5% increase in ridership. In summary, the data shows that the trial scheme has achieved its aims in each of the three categories. This clearly suggests that simply removing the scheme in its entirety would not be a wise course of action (if you believe the scheme aims are desirable). However, it is important to be clear that this does not mean that other data points do not give a more mixed picture or that the data shows there is less traffic on every single street. On the question of journey times and average speeds, there are some negative consequences for people driving cars. A mixed picture on average speeds and journey times: Average speeds and journey times at weekday peak times saw mixed results while weekends tended to see rising journey times. A mixed picture on bus journey times: Bus journey times, including the 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45, showed a slight improvement along Church Road, but journey times for the number 5 bus increased by around one minute. A mixed picture on air quality: Early indications (there are only five months of provisional data for the trial) show that air quality has improved within the Liveable Neighbourhood but has worsened slightly on external roads where traffic has been diverted. (This needs longer term monitoring to judge the scheme’s impact as air quality is generally measured over longer periods because other factors can impact findings, such as the weather.) A small negative impact on emergency service average response times: There was a small impact on average response times for the emergency services, with the fire service showing an average increase of 30 seconds on a sample of journeys, the ambulance response times changing marginally, and police response times increasing on average by 18 seconds (but still within their target times). A major increase in vehicles on one specific road: Traffic on Great Western Lane increased by 288% on weekdays and 112% on weekends. In raw terms, this is over 1,000 extra vehicles on weekdays. This is where the interpretation of the data comes in. I will give my perspective and my solutions for these and you are free to get in touch if you think there’s an alternative way of interpreting the five bullet points above. Blackswarth Road is wholly in St George West, where I’m the councillor. I suspect it’s counterintuitive for many people, but it’s true to say that traffic volumes have decreased on this road (from 19,105 to 16,054 at the weekday peak), but journey times have increased...
The Bristol Politics Show, presented by Tony Gosling https://politicsthisweek.gn.apc.org/2026/07/the-bristol-politics-show-presented-by-tony-gosling-32/ Rob Bryher - Green Party Councillor for St George West, Bristol My personal assessment of East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood trial scheme data (January 2026) January 2, 2026 robertjessetelford Leave a comment https://robbryher.com/2026/01/02/my-personal-assessment-of-east-bristol-liveable-neighbourhood-trial-scheme-data-january-2025/ This is my attempt to summarise and assess the monitoring report (see https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/ask-bristol/10460-ebln-monitoring-report-2025/file) for the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood trial scheme. Before I summarise the data, let’s restate the aims of the scheme as defined in the monitoring strategy: to reduce traffic cutting through the Liveable Neighbourhood to boost active travel and public transport use to not significantly impact nearby roads So let’s dig into the data and what it says. The volume of traffic has reduced and has not significantly impacted nearby (external/boundary) roads: On internal and external (boundary) roads, the volume of all motorised vehicles has gone down by 26 per cent on weekdays and by 21 per cent on weekends. On internal roads the decrease is 77 per cent on weekdays and 72 per cent on weekends. On external roads the decrease is 6 per cent on weekdays and 5 per cent on weekends. Walking has been boosted: Walking increased by 7 per cent on weekdays and 5 per cent on weekends. Cycling has been boosted: Cycling volumes increased overall by 22 per cent on weekdays but did not go up overall at weekends. The volume of cycling on internal roads increased by 39 per cent on weekdays and 13 per cent on weekends, and it went up on external roads by 4 per cent on weekdays and went down by 12 per cent on external roads on weekends. Use of the Wesley Way cycle route increased by 60 per cent on weekdays and 24 per cent on weekends. Public transport has been boosted: The 5 and 16 buses (which run mainly through the EBLN area) have increased their patronage by 116% and all buses (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 5, 16) which run through EBLN and boundary roads (e.g. Church Road) have seen a 5% increase in ridership. In summary, the data shows that the trial scheme has achieved its aims in each of the three categories. This clearly suggests that simply removing the scheme in its entirety would not be a wise course of action (if you believe the scheme aims are desirable). However, it is important to be clear that this does not mean that other data points do not give a more mixed picture or that the data shows there is less traffic on every single street. On the question of journey times and average speeds, there are some negative consequences for people driving cars. A mixed picture on average speeds and journey times: Average speeds and journey times at weekday peak times saw mixed results while weekends tended to see rising journey times. A mixed picture on bus journey times: Bus journey times, including the 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45, showed a slight improvement along Church Road, but journey times for the number 5 bus increased by around one minute. A mixed picture on air quality: Early indications (there are only five months of provisional data for the trial) show that air quality has improved within the Liveable Neighbourhood but has worsened slightly on external roads where traffic has been diverted. (This needs longer term monitoring to judge the scheme’s impact as air quality is generally measured over longer periods because other factors can impact findings, such as the weather.) A small negative impact on emergency service average response times: There was a small impact on average response times for the emergency services, with the fire service showing an average increase of 30 seconds on a sample of journeys, the ambulance response times changing marginally, and police response times increasing on average by 18 seconds (but still within their target times). A major increase in vehicles on one specific road: Traffic on Great Western Lane increased by 288% on weekdays and 112% on weekends. In raw terms, this is over 1,000 extra vehicles on weekdays. This is where the interpretation of the data comes in. I will give my perspective and my solutions for these and you are free to get in touch if you think there’s an alternative way of interpreting the five bullet points above. Blackswarth Road is wholly in St George West, where I’m the councillor. I suspect it’s counterintuitive for many people, but it’s true to say that traffic volumes have decreased on this road (from 19,105 to 16,054 at the weekday peak), but journey times have increased...