What happens if we don’t take further action?
If we stick with current plans, the number of daily car trips in Bath & North East Somerset could go up by 7% by 2029.
How did we work this out?
We used a regional transport model developed by local councils to look at travel patterns in 2019 and forecast what things might look like in 2029. This model takes into account things like population growth and existing transport projects.
Although the Movement Strategy is being published in 2025, we had to use 2019 as the starting point because it’s the most recent year with full travel data unaffected by COVID-19.
What changes did we test?
We looked at two main goals:
- Improving travel choices – making it easier to walk, cycle, and use public transport (especially faster, more frequent buses)
- Reducing car traffic – using tools like parking charges and limiting parking spaces to encourage people to travel differently
Some things, like car sharing and business travel plans, aren’t included in the transport model, but we can explore their impact using other methods.
What difference could this make?
If we put all the tested measures in place, we could see a 5% drop in daily car trips compared to 2019 – helping Bath stay a great place to live, work and visit.
