Are the Green Party really anti car?

Tony Dyer (17 Oct 2025) - Bristol Live

Over the last few decades we’ve seen an ever increasing number of cars, out of proportion to the increase in population. What we want to do is rebalance our transport network, and make it more accessible to different forms of transport. So it’s not about being anti-car, it’s about being pro-transport and recognising that there is more than one form of transport.

I have analysed the 2021 Census Data for Bristol Households and whether they have access to a car or van.

• 26% of Households had no access to a car/van
• 74% of households had access to a car/van
• 6% of households had access to 3 or more cars/vans

Car Ownership and Party Allegiance

If we look at the ward data and party control we can see that in wards controlled by Greens 31% of households have no access to a car/van. This suggests that people without a car/van are more likely to vote Green.

And people with access to a car/van are more likely to vote Liberal Democrat or Conservative.

Ward Car/Van Ownership

This table shows the wards with the lowest levels of car/van ownership.

And this table shows the wards with the highest levels or car/van ownership.

And this table shows the wards with the highest car ownership rates (3 or more cars/vans) in a household. 12% of households in Stoke Bishop had access to 3 or more cars/vans.

What is the council policy?

It is clear that Bristol City Council wants to reduce the number of cars in Bristol.

This is one of the aims of the South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood Scheme which will make it more difficult for people to own a car/van by reducing the number of parking spaces, increasing the cost of parking, and making the area less accessible to cars/vans.

But if you look at the car/van ownership data for this area, it shows that 68% of households in Southville had access to a car/van. There were 5,180 cars/vans in Southville. When you look at the percentage of households with vehicles Southville comes 29th out of the 34 wards.

Why are wards with low levels of vehicle ownership being targeted for Low Traffic Neighbourhoods?

These are the three wards with the highest level of vehicle ownership.

I will leave it up to readers to decide whether or not you think the Greens are anti car.