Following on from yesterday’s Council announcement over the Dorchester Street bus gate, a survey has been launched to find out your mixed views on the much talked about restrictions.
A petition calling for all existing fines issued for the Dorchester Street Bus Gate to be cancelled has been successful in getting Council chiefs to look at how to write off thousands of fines imposed on people driving unwittingly through the controversial Bath bus gate.
Senior politicians at Bath and North East Somerset Council have acknowledged that they need to act in the face of a barrage of criticism over the new bus lane.
Now local residents have taken matters into their own hands and launched a survey to give people in Bath the opportunity to express their thoughts about the Bus Gate, with the results to be shared with the Council before the end of the Bus Gate trial.
A council spokesman said that “although at an early stage, the traffic restriction experiment appears to be having a positive effect on Dorchester Street with far fewer vehicles on the road between 10am and 6pm, creating a safer, more welcoming environment for people on foot and who use bicycles”.
However, with backlash campaigns springing up all over town, residents decided to collect some data to help provide a clearer view of what local people thought about the scheme.
Bath resident Don Keir, suggested the survey be launched because “since the introduction of the fines in March, the Bus Gate seems to have become a major topic of conversation throughout the city. Everywhere you go, someone seems to have an opinion on it, so I wanted to make sure the Council heard those views, good or bad”.
Emma Smith, CEO of myEnvolve, which has published the survey on myenvolve.com said: “The aim of the survey is to gather views from local people either in support of the gates, or to reason why they oppose them”.
“We hope that the Council will use the data we collect from residents to help inform their decision whether the Bus Gate should become a permanent feature or not ”.
From the comments already collected it is clear that the bus gate is having a significant impact on people’s commute and their local journey times.
Residents from Bath itself as well as those from further afield have expressed their views, with one stating that “signage is still atrocious but there are so many traffic lights in that zone that visitors to Bath could continue to make mistakes”.
Another respondent revealed that as “someone who knows and is now a frequent visitor, I am now rethinking my future visits and will probably transfer my spending to Cheltenham”.
Not all the views being received are negative though as respondents are also providing reasons as to why they support the Bus Gate, including “improved the traffic flow throughout the city”.
Survey sponsor Don said he “is delighted that the survey is now open to all residents to complete and hopes that local people will get behind the survey and share their thoughts as it only takes a minute to complete but could have a big impact on the decision the Council will be making”.
Those interested in the survey can find it here.
