Transport planners have released a revised version of ambitious proposals to transform how people move around the West of England.

Walking, cycling and public transport will become the "natural" way to travel around Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset under the Joint Local Transport Plan published today (January 28).

The plan for a connected transport system across the region sets out an £8.9billion wish-list of projects for completion by 2036 including a £2.5billion "mass transit system" with sections of underground rail.

Due to be considered by the four local authorities affected over the coming months, the revised plan follows a public consultation in February and March of last year that drew around 4,200 responses.

Not a lot has changed since the last iteration of the plan, although it now includes a goal to ensure transport is carbon neutral by 2030, in line with the climate emergency recently declared by all four councils.

"To achieve carbon neutral transport by 2030 requires a substantial modal shift away from cars to public transport, cycling and walking," the plan states.

Achieving that goal means the introduction of road-user charges is now seen as "likely", as are fuel tax increases, to discourage the use of privately owned vehicles.

The plan acknowledges private cars will remain "essential" for some, but envisages most of the vehicles remaining on the road by 2036 will not be fuelled by fossil fuels.

Some of the more interesting aspects of the plan – which includes changes to existing road, rail and bus networks – are set out below.

The Joint Local Transport Plan 4 (JLTP4) was led by the West of England Combined Authority (Weca), working with Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils.

Mass transit system

The plan still envisages four major routes for a mass transit system branching out from central Bristol to the north, south and east of the city and Bath.

On-street tram and light rail are seen as preferable to going underground, which may be necessary in some sections but would push the estimated £2.5 billion cost up further.

If approved, the system would make it possible to travel between Bristol city centre and popular destinations such as Bristol Airport and Cribbs Causeway in 15 to 20 minutes.

The routes to the airport and Bath would initially be served by metroBus extensions.

New stations and train lines

Bristol Temple Meads is still set to become a regional transport hub providing smooth connections to other forms of transport and new cycling and walking links.

New, high frequency "turn up and go" services will be complemented by new lines and new stations.

New stations at Ashley Down and Portway are planned, and the Portishead and Henbury lines are expected to reopen.

More metroBus routes

The revised plan includes two more new metroBus routes, taking the total planned to nine.

The proposed new routes are:

Bristol city centre to Avonmouth and Severnside

Bromley Heath to Yate

Almondsbury to Thornbury

Bower Ashton to Nailsea and Clevedon

Bristol to Bath along the A4 corridor, with potentially a light rail system extending from Hicks Gate to Bristol in the longer term

Bristol Parkway via The Mall at Cribbs Causeway to Cribbs Patchway, serving Whitchurch and new Park and Ride sites at Whitchurch, Hicks Gate and the East Fringe

an orbital route connecting south Bristol to Emerson's Green via the ring road

and a network for Weston-super-Mare to link the new Weston Villages developments, the accompanying M5 Junction 21 Enterprise Area, and the proposed Park and Ride site east of the town

Bristol city centre to Bristol Airport.

New motorway junctions, Smart Motorway schemes and link roads

Despite the emphasis on getting people out of their cars, roads are not ignored by the plan.

New motorway junctions, Smart Motorway schemes and link roads are proposed, including:

a new junction 21A on the M5 south of junction 21 for Weston-super-Mare

a new "multimodal transport corridor" linking the new junction and the A38, with a bypass for Banwell

a new junction 18A on the M4 connected to Yate via a new link road

Smart Motorway schemes on the M4 between junctions 18 and 19, and the M5 between Junctions 17 and new 21A

Winterbourne and Frampton Cotterell bypass

Coalpit Heath and Westerleigh bypass

Nailsea to Backwell A370 link.

More park and ride sites

New and expanded Park and Ride sites will be focused on the main arterial routes into Bath, Bristol and Weston-super-Mare.

Sites under consideration include:

the M32

to the east of Bath

to the east of Weston-super-Mare, possibly near the A370/A371 junction

A38/A4174 south Bristol link

A4018 near Cribbs Causeway

A38 north between Junction 16 and Thornbury

A432 near Yate

A420 /Ring Road to connect to the East Fringe mass transit system

Whitchurch.

The A4 Brislington park & ride may be relocated to Hicks Gate.

Road-user charges and a workplace parking levy

Discouraging people from driving privately owned cars takes on even more weight in the revised plan due to its goal to make transport carbon neutral by 2030.

Possible strategies to achieve this include road user charges, reducing the number of car parking spaces available, and a workplace parking levy on employers who provide parking for their staff.

Congestion charging and emissions charging are also mentioned, as are the clean air zone (CAZ) planned for Bath and the CAZ proposed for Bristol.

Delivery hubs for online retailers

Providing local points for businesses such as Amazon and Ocado to drop off parcels and shopping purchased online would reduce the number of light goods vehicles on the roads.

Shoppers would collect their purchase from a local delivery hub, such a railway station or Park and Ride site, instead of having it delivered to their door.

The plan also mentions the possibility of businesses "pooling" deliveries into a centre for a small area, the advertising of "spare capacity in vans", and "loan cargo bikes" for businesses to hire to make short deliveries across congested areas.

How will the plan be funded?

The ambitious transport scheme will require an "unprecedented" level of funding, according to the plan.

Delivering all the proposed schemes would cost an estimated £8.9million and there is a funding gap of at least £6billion.

The plan identifies ways to close the gap, which include a new charge for developers, raising council taxes and business rates, a new workplace parking levy on employers, road-user charges, such as congestion and emission charges, and public health funding.

Revenue raised from mass transit services as well as government assistance via the Clean Air Fund and CAZ Implementation Fund are also cited.

What happens next?

The JTLP4 will be discussed at Bath and North East Somerset Council who will make a single member decision.

The West of England Joint Committee, a joint decision-making body for Weca, the four local authorities and the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership, will decide whether to adopt the plan on March 20.

Two more public consultations will be held later this year to look in more detail at bus services, walking and cycling.

Tim Bowles, West of England Mayor, said: "To keep our region's economy moving, reduce our carbon emissions and improve air quality we need a better, reliable and sustainable transport network.

"While we're making progress, partcularly on improving our railways, we still face challenges ahead.

"Thanks to the thousands of people who took the time to give us their views, our regional plan to meet our challenges will now be stronger. "