TramForward supports campaigning efforts of Bath and Bristol Area Trams

TramForward extends its support to the campaigning group Bath and Bristol Area Trams Association (BBATA). Begun in 2014 as the Bath Area Trams Association under the chairmanship of Dave Andrews to promote trams in Bath, the Association has now expanded its remit to include Bath’s larger neighbour Bristol and is working with the Bristol transport campaigning group the Transport for Greater Bristol Alliance (TfGB). 

The Association has had considerable success in lobbying local politicians in Bath to get trams accepted as a viable transport solution for the city; leading to a positive report from transport consultants Atkins in 2017.

With transport in both cities now under the auspices of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), campaigning efforts have been directed there. WECA now has a Mass Transit Strategy based on its most recent Joint Local Transport Plan (https://travelwest.info/app/uploads/2020/05/JLTP4-Adopted-Joint-Local-Transport-Plan-4.pdf) published last year in which trams/light rail are expected to play a major part. This must in no small part be due to the campaigning work of both BBATA and TfGB in promoting trams/light rail as an environmentally-friendly transport mode which will improve health and quality of life in the two cities as well as stimulating the local economy.

Chair of the Light Rail Transit Association Campaigns Group, Jim Harkins, said “We congratulate BBATA on their highly successful campaign to bring trams to the forefront of transport thinking in Bristol and Bath and look forward to even greater success in the future”.

Bath and Bristol Area Trams Association (BBATA).   https://bathtrams.uk/

Transport for Greater Bristol Alliance (TfGB).  https://tfgb.org/

Contact Jim Harkins