00:00 unless we get into the habit of making public transport something to think about doing as
00:05 a first option rather than as a last resort.
00:09 After much anticipation, the first new train station in Bristol in almost half a century
00:14 has opened in Bristol, with eight more anticipated stations.
00:19 The train station was built in the existing Portway Park and Ride, just off of Junction
00:23 18 near the M5 near Avonmouth, costing £5.8 million.
00:29 Trains will run every half an hour between Temple Meads and Avonmouth, and an hourly
00:33 service to Severn Beach.
00:35 But what do locals think?
00:36 Let's find out.
00:38 Sensuous.
00:39 Bristol is really poor for public transport.
00:41 I've done a lot of travelling, city breaks in Europe and so on, and getting around is
00:47 so much easier.
00:48 As Bristol is just a real struggle.
00:51 I'm going to go into town.
00:53 My car's not eligible for the zone.
00:56 So I'll just park up, get the bus in, get the bus pass so I don't have to pay.
01:02 But for the parking light system, they do it very well.
01:05 Other than that, I mean, buses in Bristol are, yeah, enough said on that.
01:09 It's good because at least then it gets quicker down to your destination here.
01:14 Sometimes what you've had before, some of the buses were a bit late coming because of
01:18 the roadworks, and it'd be nice if they have extra services that can get you there on time
01:23 really.
01:24 As you can see, I am just standing here on the platform and beside me, they have a new
01:30 ticket machine, which means that you can, on your own, without any help or without a
01:35 ticket office, you can actually buy yourself a ticket if you haven't bought one prior to
01:41 arriving at the station.
01:43 It has improved actually with the stagecoach compared to the first bus.
01:49 It's more regular and it goes on for later.
01:51 So it's a lot more user-friendly for me because otherwise, after 7 o'clock, I couldn't use
01:57 the park and ride.
01:58 Well, I think particularly if we're serious about net zero, and I really think you've
02:03 got to convert people first.
02:05 So whenever you build, you need to build with public transport built into it so that it
02:10 gets to be a habit and it gets to be something that you can do easily.
02:14 And at the moment, it's almost impossible, unless you're lucky, to do sort of sideways
02:19 moves around Bristol.
02:20 The six other planned stations in the West of England combined authorities Metro West
02:26 Project are Ashley Down, North Filton, Henbury, Portishead, Pill and Charfield.
02:32 No funding has yet been found for the new stations at Ashton Gate nor St Anne's.
02:37 I think we need a lot more public transport that we've got.
02:39 I think the trains and the buses really need to have inversion put into them because cars
02:45 are okay and they're very useful, but they're not the best.
02:48 They're expensive, they're going to become more expensive and not everybody has a car
02:53 and when you live in town, it's a lot easier to have good public transport than to have
02:59 a car.
03:00 Only time will tell if the new stations in Bristol are a success.
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