‘How can we reach net zero when our public transport system is in shambles?’

It was a Saturday evening after work, and I had it all perfectly planned.

I checked the First Bus app and worked out my trip: I knew I had to take two buses and my journey would last about an hour and cover a distance of 4.6 miles.

Dress up and ready, I was heading to a housewarming party at a friend’s new apartment. I decided to check the app again, just to be extra-sure that I headed out on time to wait at the bus stop.

Then the unimaginable (I’m joking, it was imaginable and even predictable) happened: my bus was cancelled. And the next one was too.

Valentina is Bristol24/7’s Climate & Sustainability Editor – photo: Valentina Hernandez Gomez

My last hope was to take a bus and walk 30 minutes to my destination but it was getting darker and I couldn’t risk walking by myself in the woods.

As frustrating as it was, I resorted to getting an Uber. I’m not a confident cyclist and am very nervous about riding a scooter alongside cars and buses. I do, however, enjoy walking and that’s definitely my main mean of moving around the city.

The Uber was expensive and I knew I had to get one back home. In the end, my kind friend – also the host – drove all the way from his house to mine, just to pick me up – not the most carbon-friendly alternative.

Residents in one part of Bristol are complaining that their bus service is leaving them isolated https://t.co/J8ySGaycCV

— Bristol24/7 (@bristol247) September 28, 2022

This is just my little story from a single evening, but it is one that is multiplied countless times by Bristolians and has become a pattern.

Sustainable forms of transportation are not always accessible to everyone, due to physical limitations, mental issues or because they’re simply not fit for what they need.

That’s when public transport comes into play: moving masses, taking up less space on the roads while producing fewer emissions.

But how does the city expect to reach its net zero goals when the public transport system is in shambles?

People stranded at bus stops have become our daily landscape, without reliable routes, buses being scrapped and entire neighbourhoods becoming islands due to the lack of transport.

As much as it would be ideal for the entire city to cycle everywhere, it’s not feasible.

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Read more: Cutting bus services is a ‘vicious circle’, warns Conservative group leader 

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If we’re asking for people to stop using cars (including public policies like the Clean Air Zone), reducing bus fares is not enough.

What if you need to get somewhere on time? What if you don’t have the time, energy or physical capacity to wait over an hour for a bus?

If we are asking citizens to make more environmentally conscious choices but we’re not equipping them to actively pursue that, we are all failing.

If we are leaving entire neighbourhoods isolated because their bus routes are cut-off, we are pushing people to seek financially unviable and climate-unfriendly solutions.

As much as the most recent Sustainable Development Goals report on Bristol shows progress in some areas, including the increase in renewable energy capacity, climate change inclusion movements and so on, the city is still falling short on realistic and accessible transport solutions.

Not to even mention that the cycling infrastructure has been left to decay, with three-quarters of people not feeling safe to cycle in Bristol.

I’m an optimist, a believer, so at the end of the day I advocate for a joint effort to tackle the climate emergency.

But if we want to collectively move towards a sustainable future, my hope is that our bus routes don’t get cancelled.

This piece of independent journalism is supported by NatWest and the Bristol24/7 public and business membership

Main photo: Ellie Pipe

Read next:

• Sustainability read of the month: ‘Hope in Hell’ makes justice to its title
• Bristol children write book on climate change 
• Bristol24/7: Our sustainability statement
• Tackling the big questions climate change poses 

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