Transport
The Council adopted the Coventry Transport Strategy in December 2022, setting the Council’s objectives and vision for transport within the city. Core objectives are:
- support the city’s economic recovery and enable long-term growth
- deliver a sustainable, low-carbon transport system
- ensure equality of opportunity x Maximise health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities
The metrics contained within this report reflect progress being made towards achieving these objectives, including the increase in both electric charging points (1,277 in 2023 to 2024 to 2,133 charging points in 2024 to 2025) and the usage of these charging points as well as the increase in Council vehicles with zero carbon emission while acknowledging there is more to be done.
Implementation of the strategy is advancing with funding secured from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) and sources such as the Active Travel Fund to bring forward a range of schemes aimed at delivering a safe and sustainable transport network within the city.
All electric bus city
Implementation of the £130 million project (£50 million Government grant, the remainder from the bus companies) to fully electrify the bus fleet operating in Coventry is close to completion, with 140 electric buses being operated by National Express and 64 being operated by Stagecoach, making 204 electric buses operational by Summer 2025, and orders being prepared by National Express, Transport for West Midlands and Warwickshire County Council for the final buses required to operate contracted services in the city.
Electric vehicle charge point network
Coventry City Council is continuing to grow the city’s electric vehicle (EV) charging network using a mix of Government grants and private sector investment. As a result, there are now 2,133 publicly available EV charge points across the city.
To put this into perspective, Coventry has 586 charge points per 100,000 people— the highest number in the region and the highest in the UK outside of London.
This major investment is helping to support the shift to cleaner transport. As of July 2024, around 4,300 battery electric vehicles and 3,000 plug-in hybrids were registered in Coventry—numbers that continue to grow as more residents make the switch to electric.
Cycling infrastructure
The delivery of a safe core cycle network that enables cyclists to complete the bulk of their journey without sharing road space with cars is essential to support the Transport Strategy and One Coventry objectives of achieving a healthier population.
Sharing road space with traffic is identified as one of the key barriers to cycling when our residents have been surveyed, with many people wanting to cycle more, for environmental and fitness reasons, but being put off by the prospect of having to cycle in traffic.
Progress has been made with the delivery of the cycle network, with the Coundon Cycleway now planned for extension to Keresley SUE (Sustainable Urban Extension) during 2025, the completion of the Binley Cycleway programmed for 2025 to 2026, and sections of the London Road cycleway opening in Spring 2025.
Routes have also been completed in and around the University of Warwick, with further extensions planned improving connectivity between the campus and the city centre. The West Midlands Cycle Hire (WMCH) scheme continues to be successful in Coventry with, on average, around 2,600 journeys per week being completed (for May 2025, a 10% increase against May 2024) in Coventry, this representing just over half of all WMCH trips made across the WMCA area.
Road safety
Reducing the number of people killed or injured whilst using the transport network remains a core priority and progress continues to be seen in reducing the number of casualties, with 467 casualties in 2024 compared to 498 in 2023. There was also a reduction in serious injuries and fatalities from 96 to 78.
| Year | Powered 2-wheelers | Cyclists | Pedestrians | Car occupants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 31 | 42 | 86 | 318 |
| 2021 | 26 | 64 | 97 | 311 |
| 2022 | 28 | 54 | 113 | 288 |
| 2023 | 23 | 62 | 89 | 295 |
| 2024 | 18 | 44 | 98 | 273 |
The Average Speed Enforcement programme continues to be implemented on the routes across the city with next phase of the programme, covering three corridors of Engleton Road, Moseley Avenue and Four Pounds Avenue, Wheelwright Lane and Holbrook Lane and Alderman’s Green Road including Parrotts Grove, were planned for the Spring of 2025.
Research shows a clear connection between speed and serious collisions, which is why the Council has made Average Speed Enforcement a key focus of its road safety efforts in recent years.
The first School Streets schemes are now in place. These involve roads being closed outside 5 schools during the times of day when children are arriving at or leaving school to improve the safety of road users, and especially vulnerable road users.
The impact of these schemes is currently being monitored and will determine how and where further schemes could be introduced in the future. The Earlsdon Liveable Neighbourhood project has also now been implemented following an extensive community engagement that saw the scheme co-designed with residents.
The scheme aimed to re-purpose streets to make it easier and safer for people to walk around their local community, whilst retaining access for those who need to use a car and for service traffic. Work also continues to upgrade traffic signals to make them operate more efficiently and to provide improved crossing points for pedestrians, further funding was secured to deliver improved crossings during 2024 to 2025.
Maintenance
Road and footway condition data indicates that Coventry’s network is in good condition, with the road network being in a better condition than the national average for most types of Roads.
In 2024 to 2025, 97% of our principal roads (A roads) are in good or acceptable condition – higher than the England average of 96%. A similar trend for Non-principal roads (B and C roads) with 98% of these roads in good or acceptable condition.
With pavements without defects, we have seen a reduction in performance from 48% last year to 46% this year (2024 to 2025). It is important to note that we continue to have high volumes of defective footways compared to other authorities. This is because we have a much greater percentage of paved footways, prone to cracking and lifting. Most other authorities have mainly asphalt footways.
Public transport
Whilst the Council does not operate bus or rail services, it is an active participant in both the West Midlands Rail Executive and the Bus Enhanced Partnership covering the WMCA area.
The Council is also actively engaging with the Bus Reform Panel, which is overseeing the review of how bus services are managed within the WMCA area, which has resulted in the WMCA Mayor taking the decision to progress with the franchising of bus services within the WMCA area. For Coventry, this means that bus services will be operated under direct contract to the WMCA from 2027, and the City Council will work closely with regional colleagues to secure the best outcome for city residents and businesses.
Whilst bus patronage remains below pre-COVID levels, the Council has worked closely with Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) to ensure that the bus service network has been retained at broadly the previous level of service. Rail patronage across the four stations in Coventry saw just under 7.5 million passenger journeys made during 2023 to 2024, but this is only 83% of the figure for 2019 to 2020.
Coventry Station remains the second-busiest station within the West Midlands, whilst patronage at Canley Station has returned to a higher level than the pre-COVID figure, but financial challenges within the rail industry remain a significant issue.
Coventry Very Light Rail (CVLR)
The City Council has been leading a major research and development programme to bring forward an innovative new public transport system for the city, using a light-weight, battery powered, vehicle operating on a track form that is cheaper, easier and quicker to install than a conventional tram system.
In recent years, the vehicle and track form have been undergoing rigorous testing at various locations, with a key milestone being achieved in May 2025 with the construction of the first section of track on public highway in Coventry city centre.
This demonstrator, in Greyfriars Road and Queen Victoria Road, saw the installation of a 220 metre long section of track in just 8 weeks, without the need for costly utility diversions.
The CVLR vehicle operated on this section of track in June 2025 as a demonstration of the technology, and funding has been secured to commence the design of the next section of demonstration route in the city.
