CPRE Berkshire calls for improvements to local transport

Efficient public transport is vital to ensuring that we have a clean, green, safe environment in Berkshire’s towns, villages and countryside. It is also essential to allow people who don’t have a car to get around.

This is the message from the Berkshire Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), on the eve of ‘Better Transport Week’ (12-18 June 2023).

Better Transport Week will bring together rail and bus companies, local councils, community groups, passengers, cyclists and the wider general public in a week-long celebration of sustainable transport.

The event has been organised by CPRE’s partner organisation, the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT), to mark 50 years of campaigning by CBT.

The week, which will be widely publicised in the press and on social media, will have a series of campaign themes: #betterbyrail, #betterbybus, #betterlocaltransport, #betterhealth and #betterbusiness.

CPRE Berkshire wants all villages and rural areas in the county to have regular, efficient public transport, for the sake of people’s health and wellbeing, to protect the natural environment and to ensure that we have a thriving, sustainable local economy.

CPRE’S newly appointed Local Transport Champion focusing on bus services in Berkshire, Eira Jones, wants to engage with local communities in the Royal County, especially in rural areas where transport connectivity is in need of significant improvement and investment.

Eira explains : “CPRE believes that we need more frequent, more reliable, better coordinated and cheaper bus services. Our national campaign is calling for a bus in ‘every village, every hour’ to meet everyone’s needs, as well as encouraging a modal shift away from car dependence. In particular, our towns and villages across Berkshire need Sunday and evening bus services.”

Eira hopes that Better Transport Week 2023 will help focus people’s attention on the need for a better transport network here in Berkshire and across the South East.

As well as CPRE, among the many other national and regional organisations supporting Better Transport Week 2023 are: Thames Valley Buses, Cycling UK, Bus Users UK, Community Rail Network, Asthma and Lung UK, and Sustrans.

For more information on Better Transport Week, please go to www.bettertransport.org.uk and to find out more about how you can get involved with CPRE Berkshire’s work please visit www.cpreberkshire.org.uk or follow CPRE Berkshire on Twitter and Facebook.

-ENDS