A number of significant changes are being made to bus services that operate to and from Bath and throughout the Mendips, from 4th September. First Bus say the changes are designed to improve the punctuality and reliability of local buses.
The changes affect services 161, 172, 173, 174, 175, 178, 179 and 379, while a new Service 171 is also being created. There have also been changes announced to the 768 service between Farrington Gurney and Bath, which have been implemented from this week.
The operator for the 768 service has changed from Citistar to CT Coaches. Morning and evening commuter journeys on the service will continue to operate as normal, including retaining the 17:40 departure from Bath. The new operator is not able to run the service on Saturdays.
The 09:40 journey from Farrington Gurney to Midsomer Norton and the 16:05 journey from Bath, will no longer operate, with B&NES Council citing underuse as a cause.
The 07:57 service through Timsbury will also cease – but the 179 service provides an alternative for services to Bath. The 179 service is also due to be rerouted from 4th September 2016 to provide a daily service for Farrington Gurney to Midsomer Norton, Radstock and Bath.
There are also changes to a number of buses travelling between Bath and Bristol following a consultation from First Bus.
Talking about the changes Andrew Sherrington, General Manager, First Bath, Wells and Weston-super-Mare, says: “We are taking steps to improve the reliability and regularity of the already frequent service between Bath and Midsomer Norton, which runs every fifteen minutes. At present, some of these services make long onward journeys to Bristol from Radstock, which means that traffic delays there, around the Bristol end of the route, can have a significant impact on the operation between Radstock and Bath.
“As part of the alterations, there are some significant route changes and one service, the 379, which effectively duplicates what’s already available through a combination of other routes, is being withdrawn.
“We understand that some people will be concerned about some of the changes that are being made. We would stress though that the affected routes are being altered to resolve ongoing issues with punctuality and reliability and ensure that what we do operate is commercially sustainable and can survive in the long term. This way we ensure that we are able to continue to invest in public transport in the area. We would stress we are doing this on the back of the success of the changes made to the Mendip Explorer route between Street, Glastonbury, Wells and Bristol (Service 376) which has gone from strength to strength since it was re- launched last autumn.”
New timetables for the affected services will be available online from 12th August, and in hard copy format by the end of August.
Specific changes from 4th September are as follows:
A new service, the 171 (Bath – Peasedown St John) replaces Somerbus Service 175. This will run hourly Monday to Friday providing 13 journeys in each direction between Bath Bus Station and Peasedown St John.
Service 172 (Bath – Paulton / Wells): Working alongside Services 171, 173 and 174, this will help to provide up to five buses an hour between Bath and Peasedown St John and up to four buses an hour between Bath and Midsomer Norton via Radstock. Buses will run every half an hour Monday to Saturday daytime and every hour during the evenings and on Sundays and Public Holidays. Some early morning journeys and some evening journeys will also be extended to start or finish in Wells, operating via Chewton Mendip and Farrington Gurney.
Service 173 (Bath – Wells): Following the introduction of Service 172 and taking account of changes to Service 174, the timetable of Service 173 is being altered. From September, there will be no Sunday or Public Holiday journeys on this route, however they will be provided by Service 174, which also runs between Bath and Wells via Shepton Mallet and on Service 172 (between Bath, Paulton and Wells). As a result of these changes, Binegar and Chilcompton will lose access to bus services on Sundays and Public Holidays.
Service 174 (Bath – Wells): The route of this service within Midsomer Norton is changing from September, increasing the number of journey opportunities between there and Bath. A new Sunday and Public Holiday timetable is also being introduced on this route. Operating hourly during the main part of the day, buses will connect Wells, Shepton Mallet, Midsomer Norton, Radstock and Bath replacing a significant part of Service 173 and giving Shepton Mallet a Sunday service for the first time in many years.
Service 178 (Bath – Bristol): The Bath, Radstock, Midsomer Norton section of this route will be covered by the new Service 172, together with Services 173 and 174. In light of this, Service 178 will now operate over most of its existing route between Radstock and Bristol via Keynsham. In Midsomer Norton, buses won’t serve Old Mills Tesco and in Keynsham, they’ll no longer serve the Chandag Estate.
The timetables are also changing, with buses set to run every hour during the day (Monday to Saturday) between approximately 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. On Sundays and Public Holidays, there will be four journeys in each direction. These journeys, operated with support from the local authority, will run roughly every three hours. They have been timed, as far as possible to facilitate retail and working patterns.
Service 179 (Bath – Writhlington): The timetable and route will change so that in Wansdyke, buses will be diverted to serve Banwell Road and Cranmore Place in place of Service 14. While between High Littleton and Paulton, the route is being revised so that Farrington Gurney is also served. The latter will also allow connections between Services 179 and the Mendip Explorer Service 376 to be made. The Monday to Friday frequency will be reduced during the off peak (from every 90 minutes to every 120 minutes) although peak time departures are largely unaffected and will remain broadly the same. The timetable is also being adjusted on Sundays and Public Holidays. Regular users are strongly advised to check the new timetables before travelling.
Service 379 (Bath – Bristol): Following a review of bus services in the area, a decision has been made to withdraw Service 379 from 4th September.
More information about these changes and other service alterations from First West of England, can be found at: www.firstgroup.com/westofengland the website also includes route map and timetables for all services.
New timetables for the affected services will be available online from 8th August, and in hard copy format by 22nd August.
The Council continues to invest more than £1million in bus services as well as Dial-a-Ride services, which are available across the district for anyone who cannot use a routed bus service to reach their destination.Detailed changes: Service 42: Odd Down – Royal United Hospital (Park and Ride)· The 42 Park and Ride service will continue to run broadly the same timetable but will be run by a new operator, Wessex, on a commercial basis.· The new operator will not be running the flexible route/request stops service, which was used on average twice a week during 2015.Service 4, Bathampton · From 5th September 2016, an extended number 12 service will operate between Bathampton, Bath city centre and Haycombe. The service will replace the no 4 from Bathampton.The service 12 allows passengers from Bathampton to retain their links to Bath and Oldfield Park. The service will run every 40 minutes.· The section of the route 4 from Kingsway will now run as bus service 8, which will link through the city centre to Upper Weston every 30 minutes.Service 2: Ensleigh – Bath city centre· From 5th September 2016; the Lansdown Park and Ride service will serve all stops on Lansdown Road replacing service 2 from Ensleigh. The Park and Ride will provide more flexibility for these stops with a frequency every 12 or 15 minutes compared to the hourly number 2 service.· The Park and Ride service will continue to terminate at Milsom Street.· Any passenger who need to go to the Bus Station will be able to use the 620 (Old Sodbury – Bath) service, which will run an additional trip on Saturday mornings. Currently an average of eight people per day travel through to the bus station on service 2.· Through tickets will also be available from Lansdown Road for passengers needing to transfer to services 6/7 at Milsom Street for the Bus Station.Service 6/7: Fairfield Park and Larkhall – Bath city centre· The 6/7 will be operated by First on a commercial basis and continue to provide Larkhall and Fairfield Park with access to Fairfield Park Health Surgery with both services operating along Camden Crescent, with a bus every 15 minutes instead of every 30 minutes. · Services will, however, no longer stop on London Road; where it was found that just two out of 458 passengers interviewed travelled between Larkhall and London Road and just one from Fairfield Park to London Road.· While some areas of Fairfield Park will no longer have direct bus access to Larkhall Square, just five passengers out of the 458 surveyed made this journey and Dial-a-Ride can provide an alternative local bus service.Service 379: Bath – Bristol· This service has been subsidised by developers, but is unlikely to become commercial. The service will cease from 4th September as there are a number of alternative services:- A new, commercially operated 172 service will link Paulton, Midsomer Norton and Bath from 4th September 2016.- The 376 links Pensford and Clutton to Bristol and Wells- The 178 links Radstock, Midsomer Norton, Keynsham and Bristol- Changes to the 768 service route will provide a new link between Clutton and Midsomer Norton.Changes to Service 178 and new 172 service:· From 1st September, the 178 will operate hourly between Radstock and Bristol only, with services to Bath replaced by a new, commercially-operated 172 service. The 172 will operate every 30 minutes Monday – Saturday daytime, and hourly on Sundays. · The 178 between Radstock and Bristol will no longer run on Sundays, because of low usage and most passengers will be able to use alternatives such as the commercial service 39. · The weekday 23:15 journey from Bristol will cease because of very low usage, with most passengers having alternative services available. The last direct service from Bristol to Radstock and Midsomer Norton will be at 19:35, although later connections will be available via Bath (connecting with service 172 departures to Paulton as late as 23:50). · The 178 will no longer operate through the Chandag estate in Keynsham. This area will continue to be served by the 665 service. The 178 will no longer stop at Tesco in Midsomer Norton, but there are several alternatives including the new 172 service which will provide a service every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and every hour on Sunday. · The Council will continue to support hourly evening journeys between Bath and Paulton on the 172 service with a last departure from Bath at 23:50. Service 179: Bath – Writhlington· The Council will continue to subsidise the 179 service to increase frequency of well-used daytime journeys. · Evening services are not well used. From 5th September, the last journey from Bath will normally operate at 19:40 during the week, but the Council has agreed to retain the 23:00 journey from Bath on Fridays and Saturdays only, when there is passenger demand. Journeys from Writhlington at 19:28, and from Bath at 20:55, will no longer operate.· The 179 service will be rerouted from 4th September to serve more passengers and it will now serve Farrington Gurney and Cranmore Place in Odd Down.Keynsham Park Estate evening services:· The Council has agreed to fund two new journeys from Keynsham Church to Keynsham Park Estate at 20:05 and 21:05. These will be run by Bath Bus Company.Service 82: Paulton to Radstock Tyning· Following the retirement of the operator (Somerbus), the Council has found an operator, Frome Minibuses, to run a service Monday-Friday from 5th September 2016. This will continue to serve residential areas in Paulton, Westfield and the Tyning, as well as provide a link between Paulton and Somervale School. · It has not been possible to secure an operator for the service on Saturday. Many passengers may be able to use other nearby commercial and supported services for their journey. There will, however, be no service to the Tyning on Saturdays.Speaking about the announcement this week, Councillor Anthony Clarke (Conservative, Lansdown), Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “These changes are being made following a review of supported bus services across the district. During this review, our priority has been to protect and improve services where possible, whilst at the same time, ensuring that the investment we are putting into local bus services is being used to the best possible effect for the maximum number of users. “Unlike many councils, who have removed most bus subsidies, we are continuing to spend more than a £1million a year to support local bus services in both rural and urban areas. However, we also have a duty to ensure that we use taxpayers’ money to the best possible effect, and where a service is running almost empty, we clearly cannot justify asking taxpayers to subsidise a service that may, in many cases, cost more than the equivalent taxi journey. In such cases, other supported services such as Dial-a-Ride and Ring-and-Ride may be more appropriate.” Commenting on recently-announced changes to some commercially-run bus services between Bristol, Keynsham and Bath, Councillor Clarke added: “Whilst the Council has no control over commercially-run bus services, we have expressed concerns to First Bus over some of their recently announced changes, such as to the number 38 through Keynsham. Whilst there is a limited amount we can do in these circumstances, in order to try and maintain a bus link between the Park Estate and the High Street in the evenings, the Council has agreed to fund two new journeys from Keynsham Church to Keynsham Park Estate at 20:05 and 21:05, to be run will be run by Bath Bus Company.”