No money has been put aside for new night buses in Bristol despite cross-party calls for safer ways home for staff working in the evening. Late last year councillors pledged to find how they can ensure safe travel home for people working in the night-time economy.
Three months later and the results are that Bristol City Council will write a letter. £4.7 million of income from the Clean Air Zone will fund three new bus services, but the first two stop at 7pm and the third will only run three return journeys per day.
An update on progress since the motion was passed last November was given to councillors on the transport policy committee on Thursday, February 6. A recent bus task force, which explored how to spend the millions from the Clean Air Zone on buses, chose not to fund new night buses.
Adam Crowther, head of city transport, said: “There was some consideration of funding additional night-time services as part of the task and finish group. But other services were felt to be a priority.”
Instead the council will write a letter to the West of England Combined Authority, asking for a review to explore measures which would help night buses. Despite the lack of cash for new night buses, the council is also considering hiking car parking fees for drivers in the evening.
Car parks owned by the council charge a flat rate of £4 to park between 6pm and midnight, but next year this could switch to an hourly fee. The changes haven’t been formally approved yet, but somebody parking for four hours in the evening could see their fee jump from £4 to £10.
Another issue is people working past midnight in the city centre, who drive particularly polluting cars, must pay the Clean Air Zone fee twice. This is because the fee is charged per day, even if that means a short period late at night and then early the next morning.
Labour Councillor Kaz Self said: “We need to not price people out of work by high overnight parking [fees] and having to pay the Clean Air Zone twice. The midnight changeover for the CAZ is a real issue.”
Green Cllr Emma Edwards added: “One of the things that we talk about a lot, especially as Greens, is modal shift — everybody needs to get on their bikes and use public transport. That’s not easy in the night-time economy, we’re not there yet.
“45 per cent of women feel unsafe using public transport at night, 38 per cent of women feel unsafe in a taxi alone, and 32 per cent experience harassment on public transport. So night buses are not a panacea. They’re part of it; they’re not a silver bullet. Some people aren’t ever going to feel safe using a bus at night.”
Alternative options include getting businesses to fund minibuses or taxis home for people working late at night. E-scooter operator Tier-Dott could also be asked to extend its hours, as currently the service stops at midnight.