Transport team – Explore our areas of work

Tackling air pollution from transport

Improving and developing better connected walking and cycling

Making public transport more attractive

Improving and maintain the road network for sustainable growth

Keeping our city safe

Tackling air pollution from transport

Portsmouth City Council has an ambitious and wide-ranging programme led by the Transport Service, designed to bring cleaner air to the city. The quality of the air that we breathe plays a big part in the health of our local communities. The council is working hard to ensure that people who live, work or visit Portsmouth are able to enjoy a clean, safe environment with air quality which is not harmful to health.

The council’s commitment to improving the city’s air quality is founded on working closely with all relevant internal and external partners and to use collaboration, innovation, monitoring, evaluation and strategic oversight to make our Air Quality Action plan a reality. We have installed bike hangars on street in various roads across the city so residents can easily store a bicycle, there are over 100 electric vehicle charge points, and we have just secured funding to expand the programme. All these activities and more help encourage people to change their behaviour so we can all lower emissions from vehicles, especially in the locations we have exceedances within the Clean Air Zone.

Improving and developing better connected walking and cycling

a cyclist in a cycle lane, passing a bus

With over £2.5m in funding to improve networks and encourage behaviour change, the scene is set for Portsmouth to continue to improve walking and cycling routes while also offering everyone lots of fun opportunities to walk, ride or scoot.

There are ambitious plans to upgrade the existing active travel network with routes published in the Portsmouth Local Walking and Cycling Infrastructure Plan which was adopted by Traffic and Transportation Committee in October 2021. This will build an integrated active travel network that has connectivity through the city to points of education and employment. The development of new and emerging priority routes are managed through the feasibility process with resources and expertise invested in concept design and public engagement.

Last year, hundreds of people took part in our fun Get Active events and kids Stomp for Stamps challenge. Residents are also benefiting from new micro-mobility options including rental e-scooters and shared bikes. We’re working with other local authorities in the Solent on the Breeze App – an innovative Mobility as a Service (MaaS) solution, so people can plan routes, buy public transport tickets and rent bikes or scooters all in one place, helping to transform the way people travel.

Making public transport more attractive

Portsmouth City Council has an ambitious and wide-ranging programme of bus service improvements, urban regeneration, and transport improvement schemes to deliver following an award totalling £88m from the Department for Transport. This is an exciting opportunity to lead on developing a range of fast-paced and pioneering transport projects.

The Portsmouth Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), £48m, is designed to prioritise buses and introduce a transformational range of projects that will enable bus services across the city to be quicker, more punctual and more reliable. This builds on the Transforming Cities Fund award of £27m for Portsmouth. These projects will encourage a return to the bus by current bus users, and along with other projects such as the introduction of 62 electric buses (ZEBRA) following an award of £13m for Portsmouth and south east Hampshire, drive new bus users to hop on the bus. An Enhanced Partnership between the Council and local bus operators was established in 2022 and commits all parties to delivering an effective bus network for residents and visitors. As technology develops we are also working to stay front and central in working on innovative smart city projects that could transform how buses travel around the city.

Coastal and drainage

Keeping our roads running smoothly is vital for the prosperity of our city. As the UK ‘s only island city, we have a significant in-house parking service operating across the city. We have an internal enforcement function using cameras and Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) patrols to support the purpose of our parking operations.

We also investigate potential permit fraud, have a vehicle removal operation, and deal with abandoned vehicle enquiries. We are developing new ways to harness technology and are successfully exploring how we can creatively use our parking assets to help achieve net zero, improve air quality, encourage behaviour change and shift to public transport.

The Network Management team monitor the operation of the road network and identify causes of congestion and delay, so that these can be dealt with appropriately. Correct configuration of traffic signals, provision of mandatory and directional signage, and communicating to drivers via variable message signs (VMS) and social media helps to keep traffic moving as smoothly as possible.

Working with Colas we ensure that roadworks are carefully planned, along with the numerous events that take place in the city, to minimise the impact on network operation. Opportunities for network improvements are sought from innovations, working with other local authorities, suppliers and national bodies to share knowledge and learn lessons from others.

Keeping our city safe

The safety of residents and visitors living, working and visiting Portsmouth is paramount. Road safety is a thread that runs through all projects and behavioural change initiatives. The council has a statutory duty to examine the cause of road traffic incidents and put in place appropriate measures to ensure that civil engineering improvements are made to the road network to improve overall safety. This is funded locally but also through central government bids. The council was successful in securing funding through the Safer Road Fund and the trial use of the iRAP system to identify key casualty corridors and the optimum solution for them.

Work to change driver behaviour is equally as important as engineered improvements and the Road Safety Team will work closely with colleagues in the council and Hampshire Constabulary to deliver initiatives such as Be Bright and Close Pass to raise awareness of safe driving for all.

By putting residents, visitors and businesses at the heart of everything we do, we’re making travel safer, more affordable, greener and easier for Portsmouth.

Our ambitious transport strategy brings together our exciting plans informed by our supporting strategies, plans and policies. Each year, our strategies are revised to keep our plans relevant in a changing world.

Find out more about our areas of work on these pages.

Travel Portsmouth website

Portsmouth Transport Strategy 2021-2038