Councillors back campaign to improve safe transport for Bristol’s nighttime economy workers

Councillors have backed a campaign to improve safe transport for Bristol’s nighttime economy workers that was launched after a woman was sexually assaulted on her way home when the last bus failed to show up.

A total of 116,000 working-age adults in the city – 41 per cent – are on shift at some point between 10pm and 6am, nearly half of them females of which 57 per cent say they feel unsafe using public transport and 84 per cent feel at risk waiting for a bus after dark.

A motion to a full council meeting of Bristol City Council tabled by Cllr Kaz Self (Labour, Southmead) was approved with cross-party backing by 51-6 votes, with only the Conservative group voting against amid concerns that the proposal included calls to bring buses back into public ownership.

The motion commits the local authority to instruct its licensing committee to allow additional rules when considering late-opening applications from licensed premises, encouraging venues to provide free transport home for night-shift staff.

The council will also campaign for improvements to nighttime transport, oppose cuts to subsidised bus routes and lobby the government to increase minimum standards for cabs.

The motion was based on a campaign by Unite the Union after a woman was sexually assaulted in Bristol in 2021 while trying to get home after a late shift.

Nighttime economy workers include employees in hospitals, bars, restaurants, clubs, hotels and the giant retail distribution centres in Avonmouth.

Moving the motion, Cllr Self said: “For those that work in the daytime there are options to get to work that are safe and convenient.

“But for those starting or finishing after 10pm, it is often the case that limited or no bus service exists to get them home.

“Fewer than 10 night bus services operate between 1am and 4am, and they tend to be hourly.”

Cllr Sue Kollar (Labour, Bishopsworth) said: “Travelling safely home should be a guaranteed option, not a game of chance.”

Transport policy committee chairman Cllr Ed Plowden (Green, Windmill Hill) said: “We accept there are limited transport options for them to get home.

“While too many employers don’t think of the wider picture, and health and safety is too often left at the doorstep, we have to be really careful about this.

“There are no simple solutions and we need to look at the options to encourage employers to take a wider view, but we will be supporting this motion.”

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Cllr Richard Eddy (Conservative, Bishopsworth) said: “Cllr Self is to be congratulated for tabling this motion emphasising the importance of Bristol’s nighttime economy and the relevance of safe transport home to those who work in it.

“My group supports 98 per cent of the words in this motion and the action points but we disagree with two per cent, and that is key for us.”

He said the wording should be tweaked because it could fall foul of strict rules over changing licensing policies and guidance without consultation.

Cllr Eddy said the Tory group also opposed the idea to bring buses under public control.

He said that if the council took over the running of buses, this “failed model would be as destined for disaster as the council setting up its own electricity company”.

He added: “We will be reluctantly voting against this motion.”