Everyone knows travelling in Bristol is difficult. We spoke to people, both experts and everyday Bristolians, about how we can improve Bristol’s transport for the future.
In 2022, The Bristol Cable started ‘The Future of Cities’ project to explore the solutions to our city’s biggest problems, including housing, nature, and food systems. They decided to write four articles on public transport, keen to hear a variety of people’s experiences and knowledge of transport in Bristol.
With her sustainable transport expertise and facilitation skills in other projects, they approached Emilia to co-design the project. Together, they organised two events: a conversation between experts and a public workshop.
Conversation between experts
Using our extensive networks within Bristol, we invited experts on sustainable transport to an online discussion. These experts included academics, technical experts, and those with particular lived experience. In the 2-hour session, co-facilitated by Praxis and The Bristol Cable, we asked the experts:
What are the 4 biggest problems with travel that cities are facing?
What do you think transport will look like in 30 years time?
What 4 things will get us there?
After answering these questions, we had a free-flowing discussion which provided a rich record of hot topics in sustainable transport, and determined the topics of the four Cable articles.
Workshop
To hear everyday Bristolians’ experiences of transport, we organised a public workshop. As everyone walked in, they were greeted with a map of Bristol. We invited everyone to stick a dot onto the map to show where they had travelled from to get there. From there, we moved into the main chunk of the workshop, with roundtable chats so everyone’s voices were heard on the transport which affects them. The questions we discussed echoed those asked to the experts, with optimism and real solutions at the centre.
With many people in Bristol struggling to get to work, doctors appointments, school, and green spaces, it’s clear we need a drastic change to our public transport systems. With the Future of Cities project, not only did we hear these problems with transport but we heard the potential for travelling around Bristol to be better. Most importantly, we heard people’s hope, and The Bristol Cable shared that hope to the rest of the city.
Photos: Josh Adam Jones