Customer story: Bristol City Council, UK

Tackling transport issues in Bristol

The city of Bristol faces many transport challenges: high levels of congestion in a city can lead to poor air quality, reduced safety for cyclists and pedestrians and an unreliable public transport system.

Bristol City Council wanted to gather the public’s views on transport; to learn about the issues citizens faced with getting around the city and hear their opinions on proposed solutions.

Options included the introduction of a tram system, an underground system and improvements to train routes in the city, amongst others.

Learning through the process of participation

They decided to use a Transport Priorities Simulator, giving people the chance to make trade offs between competing priorities to achieve a balanced set of options.

Priority Simulator allowed people to consider transport improvements for Bristol alongside one another and looking at funding options to enable improvements to be made.

Citizens aren’t always given the chance to be involved in complex policy decisions but using Simulator let them have a say and gain a real insight into what councils face when deciding on important issues such as transport strategies.

Promoting transparency

The consultation was well-promoted by the council and covered by local press in the city.

The ability to share responses via social media gave people the chance to see how other citizens would prioritise transport too, making the process more interactive and providing openness.

Guide: how to engage citizens with transport planning priorities.