Reducing that bus stop wait – update.

[The Metro Mayor, Dan Norris]

Metro Mayor Dan Norris has unveiled a £7 million package of bus improvements and l have been scanning through it to see if it includes any benefits for B&NES travellers.

A press release says that it will see buses running at “turn up and go frequencies” during rush hour on five key West of England routes; buses every 15 minutes on more main line routes that serve passengers changing from a WESTlink minibus and over 3,000 additional journey hours each week added to timetables region-wide from April.

Read on to hear about some improvements for those living in the Midsomer Norton, Keynsham, Southdown and Whiteway areas.

The plan is a partnership of investment by the Metro Mayor and commercial operator First Bus thanks to funding secured via the West of England Combined Authority’s Bus Service Improvement Plan.

The Metro Mayor hailed the “turn up and go” plans for five Bristol bus routes at peak times, which will see eight buses run each hour along Gloucester Road and Filton Avenue, nine buses an hour through Church Road, ten an hour to Fishponds and 13 from the University of the West of England (UWE) to Bristol city centre.

Metro Mayor Dan Norris said: “Turn up and go means passengers will no longer need to worry about checking a timetable as they will know a bus will normally arrive quickly. I’ll be monitoring this closely to see if London-style frequency is something that really encourages people to get out of their cars and onto buses as it does in the capital. If so, then this is just the kind of top-class bus service I would like to roll out right across our West of England region”.

More buses will also be added to routes that travel through the heart of areas where Mayor Norris’s WESTlink minibuses are set to arrive this Spring and Summer.

This will mean passengers can more efficiently link to a bus on a main route from Midsomer Norton to Bath, and between Brislington and Keynsham to Bristol. These will increase in frequency to run at least every 15 minutes as will the 1 (Bath to Southdown), 5 (Bath to Whiteway) and 42/43 (Bristol to Kingswood). On top of this, the T1 service in Thornbury will gain an extra bus every hour.

In total, over 3,000 additional journey hours each week will be added to timetables from April, with the total distance covered by West of England buses each year increasing by 1.5 million miles. Mayor Norris said the aim is to ensure West of England buses are not just more reliable in future, but more frequent too – to attract back former passengers and win new passengers as people ditch their cars for the bus.

Metro Mayor Dan Norris added: “Many more people will now have the chance to catch more frequent buses thanks to this significant investment from my West of England Mayoral Combined Authority. I want to go even further, as we train up even more drivers. Right now, I would encourage people to use the bus. More passengers means more fare income which I’ll reinvest in even better buses so we can build a virtuous circle”.

Here’s the details:

“Turn up and go frequency” will be achieved in five areas at peak times with buses on:

1. Gloucester Road (75/76)
2. Filton Avenue (70/73/74)
3. Fishponds Road (48/48a/49)
4. Church Road (42/43/44/45)
5. UWE-Bristol (m1,m3,m4)

There will be at least 8 buses an hour in peak times.
Areas moving to at least15-minute frequency will include:

1. Bath to Southdown (1)
2. Bath to Whiteway (5)
3. Bristol to Kingswood (42/43)
4. Keynsham, Brislington to Bristol (x39, 349 and 522) 
5. Midsomer Norton to Bath (379 (to be renumbered the 172), 173, 174 and 522)
6. Bath to Bristol (39, x39)
7. Long Ashton P&R to Bristol (m2)
8. Temple Cloud to Bristol (376 / 379 (to be renumbered the 172))

(Those marked in bold will see additional journeys from April. Italics are new services) 

The Bus Service Improvement Plan funds were awarded to the West of England Combined Authority and North Somerset Council. 

All awards are ‘subject to contract’.

Corridor	Monday to Friday	Saturday	Sunday & Public Holiday
75/76 – Gloucester Road – Centre	8 BPH	6 BPH	4 BPH
70/73/74 – Filton Avenue – Centre	8 BPH	7 BPH	4 BPH
Filton Avenue/Gloucester Road – Centre	13 BPH	10 BPH	6 BPH
48/48A/49 Fishponds – Centre	10 BPH	10 BPH	4 BPH
48/49 Emersons Green – Centre	4 BPH	4 BPH	4 BPH
48 Downend – Centre	4 BPH	4 BPH	2 BPH
48A UWE – Centre	2 BPH	2 BPH	0 BPH
49 Staple Hill – Centre	4 BPH	4 BPH	2 BPH
42/43 Kingswood – Centre	5 BPH	6 BPH	4 BPH
44/45 Hanham – Centre	4 BPH	4 BPH	2 BPH
42/43/44/45 Church Road – Centre	9 BPH	10 BPH	6 BPH
X39/349/522	8 BPH	8 BPH	5 BPH
m1/m3/m4	10 BPH	9 BPH	7 BPH
39 / X39	4 BPH	3 BPH	2 BPH
m2	4 BPH	4 BPH	0 BPH
Bath 1	5 BPH	5 BPH	3 BPH
Bath 5	5 BPH	5 BPH	4 BPH
379 / 522 / 173 / 174	5 BPH	4 BPH	3 BPH
379 / 376 Temple Cloud – Bristol	4 BPH	3 BPH	1 BPH
349 /522 Keynsham/Bristol	4 BPH	4 BPH	2 BPH
379 / 522 Midsomer Norton – Bristol	3 BPH	3 BPH	1 BPH
Thornbury – Bristol	3 BPH	2 BPH	1 BPH

Meanwhile …..

Bath & North East Somerset Council have welcomed news about additional investment for some buses in its area – but called for further clarity on rural routes.

West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris announced a £7m package of improvements that will see First buses running at “turn up and go frequencies” during rush hour on five key West of England routes. In addition, First buses will run every 15 minutes on more main line routes that serve passengers changing from a ‘WEST link’ minibus from April. 

The Metro Mayor announced his ‘WEST link’ DRT plans in January and a report to the West of England Combined Authority Committee says that DRT will be deployed across the region from April 2023. The Mayor’s scheme would see people in the DRT zones booking minibuses in advance through telephone, website, or app.

Councillor Sarah Warren, deputy leader and cabinet member for climate and sustainable travel, said: “We welcome the increase in the number of buses serving the West of England due to operate from April and which the Mayor and First have announced today.  I’ve called previously for the Mayor to invest in ‘spine’ services that complement his proposed demand-responsive minibus services, such as to serve Keynsham, so it is good to see proposals from him that reflect this. However, we are still yet to hear from the Mayor about his plans to support spine routes in other areas within Bath and North East Somerset, particularly to serve the Chew Valley. The clock is ticking on the launch of his demand-responsive services. We urgently need clarification on how all these services fit together, and more engagement with local communities who rely on local buses.”

The B&NES areas that will see buses run to at least every 15 minutes from April are:

• 1 serving Bath to Southdown
• 5 serving Bath to Whiteway
• 42/43 serving Bristol to Kingswood
• x39/349/522 serving Keynsham, Brislington to Bristol
• 173/174/522/379 (to be renumbered to 172) serving Midsomer Norton to Bath
• 39/x39 serving Bath to Bristol
• m2 serving Long Ashton P&R to Bristol
• 376/379 (to be renumbered to 172) serving Temple Cloud to Bristol

All the details about the changes to services from April 2 can be found here on the First Bus website

Although the Combined Authority is the local transport authority for the area, Bath & North East Somerset Council has earmarked £280,000 from its own budget over and above what it already contributes to the WECA buses ‘pot’ – an approximate uplift of 36% in the supported bus services budget.

In Bath, where DRT will not be introduced, the council’s additional funding will safeguard current supported bus services:

Where DRT is being introduced in April, the council will continue to fund some supported services outside of Bath until June, to ease the transition to the new arrangements.