Bristol 'better than Copenhagen' for kids' travel

Bristol has been ranked the eighth best city in Europe for children to walk, cycle and get around on their own – coming ahead of Copenhagen.

The city was marked higher than anywhere else in the UK by the Clean Cities Campaign (CCC), which looks at cycle lanes, speed limits, and low traffic zones near schools.

Ian Pond, chairman of the Bristol Cycling Campaign, which promotes better infrastructure across the city, said he was "a little surprised" by the result.

The CCC calculated that 80% of Bristol's streets were designated a "safe speed" of 20mph, compared with only 3% in Copenhagen.

However, the Danish capital does have significantly more cycle lanes that are protected from traffic.

Paris had made "dramatic progress" to get to the top of the list, the CCC said.

Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, Lyon, Helsinki and Barcelona came next in the ranking, with Oslo and Ghent in ninth and tenth, and Copenhagen in eleventh place.

Boosting cycling infrastructure would have pushed Bristol's ranking even higher.

The chairman of Bristol City Council's transport and connectivity committee, Ed Plowden, said he was "pleased" with the result but that more progress could be made.

"One of the things I've always said that makes a great city and a good transport system is that a sensible 12-year-old can walk around the city and be safe, and that parents aren't very scared about their safety," he said.

"So it's really nice to see at least a little bit of an endorsement that we're moving in the right direction, but let's not forget there's a lot more to do."

The council plans to trial a new red high-friction surface on some sections of segregated cycleways in the city centre, to see whether this improves safety for cyclists and pedestrians.

But one busy bike lane through the centre is to be resurfaced with black tarmac, because the process for hiring contractors to refurbish the surface is already under way.

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