Sustainable travel plan for city

11 March 2009 Cardiff has been selected to become Wales' first "sustainable travel town" by the assembly government. The £28.5m scheme aims to provide free cycle hire, bus travel around the city centre, and improved bike and walking routes. The city will receive the funding from the assembly government and the county council over the next two years. The money will pay for improvements to public transport, including a new park and ride facility. If the scheme is successful, it could be repeated in other areas of Wales. The plans will see free circular bus shuttles introduced in the city centre, a free bike hire scheme, new park and ride facilities in Pentwyn to serve the east side of the city and measures to tackle congestion. The money also gives the go-ahead for the Pont-y-Werin pedestrian and cycle bridge across the Ely river between Cardiff's sports village and Penarth. 'Car clubs': The council hopes to include further phases once the initial two-year plan is complete. The initiative will see £14.5m from the assembly government and £14m from Cardiff council, initially for two years but the council hope to include further phases after that. Announcing the money, Transport Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said: "Commuter levels in and around Cardiff have increased significantly over the past few years. "This is an exciting opportunity to develop and implement a range of innovative transport solutions which will benefit the 210,000 people who travel into the city on a daily basis. "This scheme will also support our physical activity action plan, which is currently being developed." Improvements to the infrastructure will include better bus lanes and the future pedestrianisation of High Street and St Mary Street. There will also be incentives to travel sustainably, car clubs, journey sharing schemes and free bike hire. Danish experience: Jane Davidson, minister for the environment and sustainability, called the scheme a "win-win situation" for health and congestion, with increased bus and cycle use and fewer cars on the road. "We have become far too reliant on using the car and we need to consider alternative, greener ways to travel," she said. The scheme is backed by sustainable travel charity Sustrans Cymru. Director Lee Waters said: "Thirty years ago Copenhagen had the same levels of cycling that Cardiff has today. "Now, over a third of all commuting journeys in the Danish capital are by bike. Cardiff has the potential to achieve the same. Click to play: "With a joined-up approach, we can encourage people to use their cars less and chose to travel in ways which benefit their health and the environment." But Chris Yewlett, of Cardiff University's school of city and regional planning, warned that many people would continue to use their cars because of the "perceived benefit" unless public transport was more convenient. "You have got to make public transport more attractive," he said. "You have got to try and get public transport into where people want to go. "If you have a system which has, as suggested, new bus stations all round the periphery of the city centre, then you have to get off and change buses or walk in past all the car parks to get to the shops, that's not going to discourage people from using their car on a park and ride basis. "It might get the commuters to come on the bus network but it's not going to get the shoppers to come." Angharad Griffiths of Consumer Focus Wales, welcomed the initiative and said: "It's important that the new plans... consider journeys from the point of view of the consumer - viewing it as one continuous journey instead of a series of separate steps," she said. The consumer organisation also wants steps to ensure that travelling on public transport at night was as safe as possible. Source: BBC News (bbc.co.uk/news)