Birmingham Connected

A white paper setting out Birmingham’s 20 year vision for improving transport across the city has been unveiled. Birmingham Connected, previously known as the Birmingham Mobility Action Plan (BMAP), aims to make the city safer and easier to travel around by reducing congestion and promoting more sustainable forms of transport. Its initiatives include the completion of a £1.2bn public transport network within 20 years, allowing people to travel across the city in high quality vehicles in safety and, at busy times, faster than they could by car. The plans include the construction of nine bus rapid transit routes, complete with priority lanes, a frequency of every 10 minutes and a cashless payment system. In support of the initiative, National Express West Midlands announced that higher standard Platinum services would be introduced during 2015 with further details due to be provided shortly.

The Council is to promote a Low Emissions Zone in the city centre to improve air quality and help Birmingham City Council meet carbon reduction targets and the introduction of Green Travel Districts (GTDs) where ‘people are put before cars’.