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George Ferguson, an independent candidate and founding member of Sustrans, has been elected Mayor of Bristol.
Coming in with 31,321 votes to his closest rival’s 25,896, Ferguson will go about championing the city of Bristol as one that will revolve around sustainable tranpsort wherever possible going forwards – even stating that he will urge parents to take children to school by means other than the car.
Over £20 million is now flagged for highway and tranpsort in the 2012-13 budget. Previously, Bristol City Council’s Jon Rogers caused controversy by seemingly being unable to explain why £22.8 million earmarked for cycling’s development had yet to be spent.
Prior to the election, a cycling hustings had been held in the city with over 100 people in attendance, along with representatives from Life Cycle UK, Bristol’s Cycling Campaign and Sustrans.
Ferguson is an fan of the dutch cycling infrastructure network and would look into closing certain central areas of the city to cars, if not just on Sundays, then permanently.
