The government has committed £27 million in additional funding for an extensive improvement programme for Bristol buses. This represents an enormous increase on the original £600,000 provided. The project is expected to cost a total of £43.3 million.

Transport Minister Baroness Kramer said: “This £27 million will help transform travel around Bristol. The South Bristol Link will help get traffic off the roads, spark economic growth and link people to jobs.”

The South Bristol Link will join up with the route between Ashton Vale and Temple Meads that is already being built. All of the new busways will have safe pedestrian routes running alongside them, to encourage people to walk as both a form of transport and exercise.

The new round of funding will pay for the second phase of the project, as well as an extra 3.1 miles of dedicated busways.