Islanders asked to take sustainable travel options to Jubilee events

Thursday 02 June 2022

The Better Journey Project is asking islanders to think about how they travel this Jubilee holiday.

The community project aims to encourage people to travel more sustainably on the island's roads - whether on foot or by bike, bus or car-pooling.

Their ‘Better Journey Days’ take place on the first Friday of each month. The next one falls tomorrow, 3 June, in the middle of the four-day Jubilee celebrations. 

Their first event was held on 6 May. Organisers said they were delighted to see many people making alternative travel arrangements that day. 

Barrie Duerden, who led a team monitoring traffic on the day, said: "We saw an increase in cycling and pedestrians and a decrease in single occupancy cars coming in St Peter Port in the morning rush hour. 

"We’re aiming to get the best baseline data we can. We want to include other routes when we next undertake monitoring at the end of June but need a few more volunteers. That should provide a great starting point and we can then see how numbers change over time."

Pictured: CT Plus is running a Sunday timetable tomorrow, Friday 3 June. 

Richard Agnelli, co-founder of the Better Journey Project, said that while most islanders will not be commuting to work on Friday, many will be out celebrating at events across the island. 

"We’d still encourage islanders to plan and make their journeys by the most sustainable means, whether working on Friday or just out enjoying the day," he said.

Mark Smith, another co-founder of the Project, said: "A great day to walk, bike, car-share or use the bus. [It] cuts down on the traffic, makes parking easier, and [is] a fun way to travel together. CT Plus will be running buses on Friday using their Sunday service timetable."

The Better Journey Project website has several useful resources, including a toolkit for health and wellbeing committees and a calendar of local, national and international initiatives, fun days and fundraising events.