Why we care

Business strength

A range of high-quality transport options is vital to attract and retain world-class talent. Less cars on the roads means more reliable, efficient operations.

Employee health & wellbeing

Active commutes and healthier staff make for happier, more productive teams. We don't want our staff stressed and fatigued from traffic congestion.

Sustainable growth

We want our businesses to thrive, both now and in the future, but that will require greater collaborative planning and investment in sustainable transport.

Air, environment & quality of life

Air and noise pollution impact businesses, employees and local residents. We want the whole Bristol region to benefit from safe, clean, livable streets.

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What we do

Working collaboratively as North Bristol SusCom enables our businesses to have a greater impact and stronger voice than if acting alone as individual companies. We work together to set our priorities, share learnings, develop joint projects and combine forces towards our goals.

Our Group Travel Plan outlines our collective priorities. We work to deliver strategic goals - actions we would like to see advanced by key partners - and mode shift activities - what we will do as a group of businesses to support more of our employees to travel sustainably. 

Strategic Influence
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We work closely with key regional and national partners to drive forward necessary improvements to the West of England’s transport infrastructure, services and policies.​ We help to attract and secure additional investment in the area and ensure transport development plans align with the needs of North Bristol businesses. We feed into strategic planning groups and major consultations to help decision makers understand the needs of business and commuters and to ultimately reduce congestion.

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Our strategic priorities 2017-2020

1. Long-term transport plans and investment
Working closely with regional partners to ensure sustainable transport investment is prioritised in emerging plans.

2. Orbital and regional connectivity
We want to see increased investment in orbital and regional transport links, linking underserved residential areas with North Bristol. 

3. Mitigation of Severn Bridge toll removal impact
Ensuring sufficient investigation is made into the impacts of the toll removals in December 2018 and investment is brought forwards to mitigate negative impacts on traffic levels in North Bristol.

4. Multi modal interchanges
Promoting the inclusion of Multi Modal Interchanges - flexible park & interchange facilities for onward bus, cycle, walk and car share journeys - in emerging regional plans. 

5. High-quality segregated cycle corridors
We want to see more tangible commitment and progress towards a continuous network of high-quality segregated cycle lanes spanning administrative borders.

6. Cycling and walking permeability
Pushing for active travel permeability to be prioritised in site planning and for existing routes to be made more attractive through investment in place-making. 

7. Strategic relationships with developers
Building productive relationships with developers working in North Bristol to maximise opportunities to improve sustainable transport infrastructure and routes within upcoming schemes.  

8. Travel to Work schemes
Putting forward the case for a new National Bus and Train to Work Schemes, using the successful Cycle to Work Scheme model, to help reduce the cost of commuting by public transport. 

Mode shift
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We also lead by example, taking a co-ordinated approach to managing our traffic impact and supporting our 40,000+ staff and 30,000 students to reduce the number of short car journeys they make. North Bristol SusCom encourages car sharing, walking, cycling, bus and rail as preferred ways to travel to work and around the area on business. We also support home working and if journeys need to be undertaken by car we promote electric vehicles and car sharing. We align our resources to run collective campaigns and pilot schemes. We regularly share our experiences, expertise and best-practice within our network and beyond. 

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Our mode shift priorities 2017 - 2020

Core annual activities
Each year we help South Gloucestershire Council deliver the Travel to Work Survey and Travelwest Challenge programmes successfully with our members.

Parking Management
Parking is the key 'push factor' in achieving real change in travel choices. We will develop our parking management focus group and support our members to put in place appropriate policies.

Service launches and major disruptions
We will work with local partners to ensure members have timely information on upcoming disruptions and new services to limit disturbance and encourage modal shift.

Bespoke support and individual Travel Action Plans
We aim to provide all of our members with one-to-one consultative support to address their particular issues and opportunities in a company Travel Action Plan.

Active Travel Champions network
We will work closely with South Gloucestershire Council to grow the new Active Travel Champions services and encourage engagement with the regional cycle forum. 

Placemaking
We want to explore how our members can help create enjoyable walking routes and increase permeability around their sites and grounds. 

Best-practice
We will continue to develop our best-practice and knowledge sharing activities such as focus groups, group resources and opportunities to share experience.

Events
We will develop a calendar of events and opportunities to help businesses access a toolbox of existing promotional opportunities, including developing our own Commuter Fair model.  
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Find out more about what we do in our Group Travel Plan 2017 - 2020