Airport needs better public transport and devolution not more spaces, says TfGB

Responding to reports that Bristol Airport will soon seek to expand one of its car parks to create space for more than 3000 extra cars, Martin Garrett, chair of Transport for Greater Bristol (TfGB), said:

“Poor links to and from the airport massively constrain its reputation as a transport hub and damage the name of Bristol itself as a place to visit and do business.

“While building more spaces may reclaim income for the airport from the enterprising local farmers that have been converting their land, if we are serious about its development we must start planning now to implement more substantial public transport options than an expensive and circuitous bus.

“Genuine integration with Bristol’s transport network would be made 100 times more likely by North Somerset’s inclusion in a unified transport authority with devolved funding and decision making powers, and we can only hope that all the authorities set aside their differences and come together for the benefit of the area as a whole.”