First Bus service changes in and around Bath, Wiltshire & Somerset

[whole diary]

[GBM]

The only ticketing information I can find is that of "Rover" tickets.

I was shocked a return from Redruth to Falmouth is ^7.50, a journey of 8-9 miles each way.

A Cornwall Day ticket is ^10 which is valid the whole of Cornwall all day.

No wonder they hide their ticket prices.

The best value ticket I found was the Cymru Clipper Day ticket at ^5, which was incredible value to get me from Porthcawl to Cardiff and back recently.

[/i]

In Cornwall day tickets are valid until the last service run, i.e. the last St Ives leaves at 00h20, but day tickets are still valid; the last Helston leaves 00h18, likewise day tickets still valid for return travel.
After 6pm there is a little known (to drivers & passengers) "Nightrider" ticket.  ^5 for for all evening travel.
Useful if your return travel is after 6pm & will cost more than ^5!  Sorry, it doesn't help those travelling out in the daytime.

[Lee]

Labour activists call Radstock public meeting over fare changes for Friday 11 July 2014 (1930 at Methodist Church) - http://www.somersetguardian.co.uk/Debate-bus-fare-rises/story-21321849-detail/story.html

grahame went to the Radstock meeting last night - see http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=14243.msg157228#msg157228

There is also a petition someone has set up calling for return tickets to be reinstated - http://busreturns.epetitions.net/

Any chance of a merge of the public (as opposed to the Frequent Poster) topic threads?

The usual suspects will be gathering at Melksham Town Hall on 30 July 2014 for a meeting on the bus fare issue and advising on which form of transport is now the better option for individual journeys - http://melkshamnews.com/2014/07/16/public-transport-meeting-following-bus-service-change-for-melksham/

They will doubtless be taking the following First Bus Fare comparisons into consideration:

SERVICE 234

Melksham Market Place-Lacock George Inn ^2.50 single, ^5 return (two singles)

Melksham Market Place-Chippenham Railway Station ^3.50 single, ^7 return (two singles or West of England Day Ticket)

Melksham Market Place-Chippenham Bus Station ^3.50 single, ^7 return (two singles or West of England Day Ticket)

Melksham Market Place - Hilperton Marsh Horse Road ^2.50 single, ^5 return (two singles)

Melksham Market Place- Trowbridge Town Hall ^3.50 single, ^7 return (two singles or West of England Day Ticket)

Melksham Leekes-Lacock George Inn ^1.50 single, ^3 return (two singles)

Melksham Leekes-Chippenham Railway Station ^2.50 single, ^5 return (two singles)

Melksham Leekes-Chippenham Bus Station ^3.50 single, ^7 return (two singles or West of England Day Ticket)

Melksham Leekes-Hilperton Marsh Horse Road ^3.50 single, ^7 return (two singles or West of England Day Ticket)

Melksham Leekes-Trowbridge Town Hall ^3.50 single, ^7 return (two singles or West of England Day Ticket)

SERVICE 236

Melksham Market Place-Hilperton Marsh Horse Road ^2.50 single, ^5 return (two singles)

Melksham Market Place-Trowbridge Town Hall ^2.50 single, ^5 return (two singles)

Bowerhill Kingfisher Drive-Hilperton Marsh Horse Road ^3.50 single, ^7 return (two singles or West of England Day Ticket)

Bowerhill Kingfisher Drive-Trowbridge Town Hall ^3.50 single, ^7 return (two singles or West of England Day Ticket)

SERVICE 271/272

Melksham Market Place, Melksham Forest St Andrews Church or Bowerhill Kingfisher Drive to Bath Bus Station ^4.50 single, ^7 return (West of England Day Ticket)

Melksham Market Place-Devizes Market Place ^3.50 single, ^7 return (two singles or West of England Day Ticket)

Melksham Forest St Andrews Church or Bowerhill Kingfisher Drive-Devizes Market Place ^2.50 single, ^5 return (two singles)

As far as local journeys within the Melksham area as far out as places such as Shaw and Bowerhill, you are generally talking ^1.50 single, ^3 return (two singles), compared with ^1 single, ^1.50 return on the Melksham Metro 14/15 town bus services operated by Frome Minibuses.

Also note that edge-to-edge journeys such as Shaw-Bowerhill on the First Bus 271/272 service cost ^2.50 single, ^5 return (two singles)

All fares quoted above are Adult.  As has been well-publicised, various discounted rates are available for younger travellers, as well as the usual ENCTS^▸ (English National Concessionary Travel Scheme) etc.

Any obvious First Melksham area fares I've missed out, let me know and I will post them.

[grahame]

SERVICE 234

Melksham Market Place- Trowbridge Town Hall ^3.50 single, ^7 return (two singles or West of England Day Ticket)


SERVICE 236

Melksham Market Place-Trowbridge Town Hall ^2.50 single, ^5 return (two singles)

Bowerhill Kingfisher Drive-Trowbridge Town Hall ^3.50 single, ^7 return (two singles or West of England Day Ticket)

Huh? The 236 in the morning runs from the Market Place via Bowerhill to Trowbridge so the longer journey is cheaper!  However, the comparison's of limited interest as the 236 is a very limited product indeed.

Any obvious First Melksham area fares I've missed out, let me know and I will post them.

Will do ... it's a very interesting matrix out there now!

[Alan Pettitt]

Just as a little aside, the Faresaver timetable for X34 route states that Faresaver return tickets are valid on the evening First Bus services back from Chippenham to Trowbridge (the evening services being subsidised). Does this still apply? If so, quite an anomaly because it means that you can use a Faresaver return on a First bus, but you can't buy a First bus return.

[mfpa]

Happened to me on the 38 home last night.  Driver and machine tried to charge me ^2.50, not ^2.20.  Driver appeared poorly briefed on the new fares and wouldn't accept ^2.20.   

The driver of the 38 could have shown better customer service skills. but I have some sympathy for him.  What is really inexcusable of First is that the bus appears to have been allowed to leave the bus station moments earlier without a correctly programmed tricket machine and without the driver having been told that he had an incorrect machine. 

According to BANES Council's website <http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/services/parking-and-travel/public-transport/buses/fares-season-tickets-bathrider>, "The bus operators have a duty to provide all their drivers with a copy of the latest fare table available for inspection by any member of the public. Please note the fare table is for inspection only and cannot be taken off the bus."

[GBM]

Happened to me on the 38 home last night.  Driver and machine tried to charge me ^2.50, not ^2.20.  Driver appeared poorly briefed on the new fares and wouldn't accept ^2.20

We have a few anomalies on our ticket machines. Outbound one stage from station is ^2 single/^3 return.
Inbound fare is ^3 single/^4.50 return.
IF driver aware (many new drivers) AND has time (running late inbound & a long line of hot passengers waiting) then he can issue a driver input ticket.  Unfortunately that involves a multi stage process, which takes longer than pressing two buttons for the higher fare shown.
Management aware, nothing done.

[JayMac]

There are timetable changes from tomorrow for a handful of 'Buses of Somerset' services:

Changes to routes from 27 July

route 21
Weston-super-Mare | Burnham-on-Sea | Bridgwater | Taunton

We're changing the Monday - Saturday times, with buses between Taunton and Bridgwater leaving up to every 15 minutes. Sunday and public holiday times are unchanged.

view new timetable

route 26
Creech Heathfield | Creech St Michael | Ruishton | Taunton

This is a new route which runs every hour connecting these communities with Taunton. There is also one morning and evening journey in each direction for commuters and students. This route will also go to Hankridge Farm retail park.

view new timetable

route 28
Minehead | Watchet | Williton | Bishops Lydeard | Taunton

We're changing the Monday - Saturday times to help improve reliability. Most journeys from Taunton after 0900 will depart 5 minutes earlier and most journeys from Minehead after 0750 will depart 5 minutes later. Sunday and public holiday times are unchanged.

view new timetable

route 29
Wells | Glastonbury | Wells | Taunton

We're changing the Monday - Saturday times. Along with other minor changes, buses will run hourly between Taunton and Wells.

view new timetable

route 54
Yeovil | Ilchester | Somerton | Langport | Curry Rivel | Taunton

A revised Monday - Saturday timetable is being introduced, increasing the frequency between Somerton and Taunton to up to every 30 minutes. There will also be a new hourly Sunday/Public Holiday timetable introduced between Somerton and Taunton.

view new timetable

route 102
Weston-super-Mare | Burnham-on-Sea | Bridgwater

Due to a withdrawal of funding from Somerset County Council, this route will no longer run on Saturdays from 24 July. Monday to Friday times are unchanged.

view new timetable


On a personal note, there are welcome changes to service 54, a service I use semi-regularly to travel to my Mother's in Curry Rivel. Good to see Sunday services back on this route. However, this change, and some of the others, appear to be part of the ongoing skirmish between First and Webberbus. A skirmish that has seen Webberbus lose the Taunton P+R contract to First and the poaching by First of many Webberbus drivers. Such is the Webberbus driver shortage that they have had to delay starting a new route by a month, have seen regular cancellations, and have been out to Romania to find new recruits. On the 54 route (Webberbus 38 as far as Somerton), if First prevail and/or Webberbus concede defeat then I confidentially predict that service 54 will return to one bus an hour. The route as far as Somerton at the moment doesn't really support two buses an hour (1x First BoS, 1x Webberbus), let alone the three buses an hour it will have (2x First BoS, 1x Webberbus) from Monday.