Between all the controversy surrounding the Bus Rapid Transit scheme in Bristol it has almost gone unnoticed that Bradley Stoke could benefit from part of the proposal.

The West of England Partnership has proposed four routes which would use guided buses on separate, dedicated lanes.

The route causing the highest level of concern would see the Bristol and Bath Railway Path used for a line to Emerson’s Green – something keen cyclists and walkers are not happy about.

But another of the routes could see a regular service running from the city centre, along the M32 to a proposed park and ride at the junction with Stoke Lane.

This route, says the partnership, would then terminate at Bristol Parkway Railway Station and then could link up with two spurs going to Filton and Cribbs Causeway and the other through Bradley Stoke.

The plan shows the line coming out of Parkway, going through the edge of Stoke Gifford and running up Bradley Stoke Way to the new town centre.

Although recent plans for a Park and Ride at Bristol Parkway seem foolish due to the lack of space, the rapid transport proposal seems like an idea that would benefit Bradley Stoke massively.

Public transport out of the town to the city centre is somewhat laughable – and where the planners have turned public opinion against them with the railway path route, this could be an idea which may gain considerable support.

One word of warning, though. The plan claims the ‘north fringe’ route “exhibits radical infrastructure requirements in order to provide segregation from general traffic” and is “the most expensive of the short-listed options”. But the planners admit it would “carry large passenger numbers”.