MetroBus

[whole diary]

[SandTEngineer]

Last Tuesday I travelled on the A1 Airport bus (from the airport to BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI))) and I didn't notice anything to do with METROBUS.  Did I miss anything?

[chuffed]

Went on the M3 from Centre to Emersons Green today . Is that it ? The sense of disappointment and underwhelming expectations was palpable. So disillusioned, that I came back on the 48 which which was marginally more exciting. An object lesson in how to damn with faint praise.

[martyjon]

Went on the M3 from Centre to Emersons Green today . Is that it ? The sense of disappointment and underwhelming expectations was palpable. So disillusioned, that  came back on the 48 which which was marginally more exciting. An object lesson in how to damn with faint praise.

Wot. you didn't encounter the excitement of will the bus make it up the incline to the bus only bridge, Oh, the new road is suffering subsidence at Begbrooke, those RIGHT angle bends at Lyde Green and the overflowing 54 car space park and ride car park at same location.

Two mates of mine attended a function at the Hotel Du Vin in Lewins Mead on Metrobus opening day and tossed a coin to see who would travel to Emersons Green quickest, the one who won the M3 route said "I'll wait for you at Emersons". When he got there the one who was consigned to the 48 was "waiting for him".

Plenty of riders from the buses I've seen, wait till they gotta pay.

[martyjon]

.... Oh, the new road is suffering subsidence at Begbrooke, ....

Yes, definitely the road at Begbrooke is sick, seems to be suffering from a collapse of the drainage system from a kerbside rainwater drain cover on the inbound side stop with about 4 yellow barriers protecting the dip in the road and 2 roadside cones placed in the subsided dip itself making it a contraflow past the offending stretch of highway.

Grahame, did you make it as per your post earlier in the week. Grahame, no there is no linking up Metrobus to a railhead, Parkway would be the one for this phase of Metrobus, but you should know Bristol, nothings ever joined up here cos we have 4 UA's covering the Greater Bristol Area and ne'er shall any one of the other 3 UA's agree with Bristol or is it the other way ne'er shall Bristol agree collectively with the other 3 LA's ?

[chuffed]

Oh woe, woe and thrice woe ! As uttered by Senna the soothsayer in Up Pompeii. As I adjust my toga before sitting on a cold marble ledge, I cannot help wondering where our great sage FT,N who foretold so much of this debacle is?. He is unusually quiet in coming forward and saying 'I told you so!'

[Western Pathfinder]

Titter ye not mrs !.

[trainer]

My first impression of the new bus service is that it is...a bus service.  It's like some other services: faster bits and slower bits.  The stops are well spaced out and not obviously near residences, much like many tram stops in some cities, but in those cases you walk to get a rail vehicle which will feel very different to a bus.

The fast link off the M32 has a speed limit of 15mph (or is it 10?) and the bus.  There is at least one right hand turn (on to Stoke Lane) which I thought had no obvious way of prioritising the bus over other traffic in peak times.

Nice buses.  Friendly driver and staff.  No 'wow' factor but not especially awful either.  Perhaps the other routes will make me think that the disruption has been worth it.

[grahame]

My first impression of the new bus service is that it is...a bus service.  It's like some other services: faster bits and slower bits.  The stops are well spaced out and not obviously near residences, much like many tram stops in some cities, but in those cases you walk to get a rail vehicle which will feel very different to a bus.

The fast link off the M32 has a speed limit of 15mph (or is it 10?) and the bus.  There is at least one right hand turn (on to Stoke Lane) which I thought had no obvious way of prioritising the bus over other traffic in peak times.

Nice buses.  Friendly driver and staff.  No 'wow' factor but not especially awful either.  Perhaps the other routes will make me think that the disruption has been worth it.

Agreed

If it walks like a duck bus and quacks like a duck bus, it probably is a duck bus.  This one is even called a duck bus.

In Bristol on other topics ... I took a ride yesterday and saw it in action amongst the other buses.   Some pictures























As the first route to be opened, perhaps it was to be expected that this one would have the least innovative engineering so be the easiest to complete.  Nice bus.  Didn't actually go where I wanted, but then I don't live near its route, so there's no criticism in that.   Noting the comments about "not obviously near residences" and I certainly noted that for one stop - "excellent for getting to the allotments" said a fellow passenger. But then the as a social and development enabler, it brings that area into scope for commuter / dormitory or business development.

[martyjon]

.... "excellent for getting to the allotments" said a fellow passenger. ....

That's a real cracker of a comment there, Grahame. Did you notice the subsided road surface at the allotments stop inbound.


I noticed that at Lyde Green they had opened up the gate to the grassed field that doubles as an overflow car park, hope the Councils got a notice ready to erect, "In case of being stuck in this car park when it becomes a muddy quagmire telephone nnnnnnnnnnn, a friendly farmer who will bring his tractor and tow you out for a tenner".

Nice to see the prospect of a bit of diversification in our local countryside.

[grahame]

.... "excellent for getting to the allotments" said a fellow passenger. ....

That's a real cracker of a comment there, Grahame. Did you notice the subsided road surface at the allotments stop inbound.

I did notice the barriers around something there ... wasn't sure whether it was around works not yet completed, or a teething problem.   But I was also enjoying a 60 degree left turn off the M32 followed by a 360 degree right turn crossing the M32 twice, with upsies and downsies at that point in the journey.    Reminded me of a cycle lane of the month site I used to read - often with huge loops for cyclists that must have put them off.

I also noted how good one of those early Metrobus stops just off the motorway is as an unofficial part and ride ... you can park for free all day outside someone's house and take the Metrobus (also free for a short period) into the City Centre.  I suspect this isn't the planner's intent and that the natives residents will get restless and that the council someone will feel the need to apply their power to implement parking restrictions, perhaps combined with a money-raising parking facility for those displaced from what a free and legal opportunity at the moment.

But any system has teething troubles.  A lot of the long term success or otherwise depends on how those little teething issues are sorted out.




 

[Red Squirrel]

Thought I'd take advantage of the free introductory offer on the m3 this weekend. The travelwest.info website was down on Saturday, and again today (Sunday) - was it overloaded by people desperate to replan their entire existences  around JustaBus, or has it been DoS'd again by Islamic fundamentalists? Either way, I couldn't see a timetable - so, in for a penny, in for one adult one child return from Montpelier to Temple Meads with a railcard what railcard what d'you think how about Family and Feinds, we headed off to The Centre.

Hmm. Unless you're one of those clever types who carries bus stop maps around with you, it's less easy than you might think to find yer stop. Once you've found it - which we did eventually - you can confirm it's the right one from the timetable poster, but a bigger flag would have helped.

Sadly, that's the end of 'Red Squirrel's Review of JustaBus': Justabus don't stop Centre Sundays. Hey ho. Had a look round 'We the Curious' instead, which was also a bit of a disappointment to anyone hoping anything other than the name had changed.

_{And now I spot grahame's useful shot of the timetable..!}

[chuffed]

Getting the distinct impression in this first week of operation, that everyone finds it all a bit predictably boring, ordinarily underwhelming ! I think the number of posts I have made up till now, on this forum, is a most apt numerical metaphor for this 'small beer bus service'.

[TonyK]

Well, today's the day when it finally launches. I hope that FT,N creator of the tag 'Metrobust' was on the inaugural run !

I was not! I had a better offer, and now live about 3 miles from TVP in lovely Devon. I'll be in Bristol soon, and might go for a ride if it's still running. And free. I'm reading mixed opinions from friends.

Last Tuesday I travelled on the A1 Airport bus (from the airport to BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI))) and I didn't notice anything to do with METROBUS.  Did I miss anything?

No. The airport bus should have changed to a new route a year ago, along the MetroBust "special" busway through Ashton Vale. But it was built wrongly, so those travellers who were finding it difficult to park for free in Bedminster before going on holiday will have to wait a bit longer before moving to Ashton Vale.

Oh woe, woe and thrice woe ! As uttered by Senna the soothsayer in Up Pompeii. As I adjust my toga before sitting on a cold marble ledge, I cannot help wondering where our great sage FT,N who foretold so much of this debacle is?. He is unusually quiet in coming forward and saying 'I told you so!'

I told you so!

Sorry I'm late, but MetroBust is not the only major engineering project running a bit late at the moment. Nice chap from Openreach arrived 9 May to connect my (brand new) house to the 21st century. Shortly afterwards, he left, shaking his head, since when people keep ringing me to say that nothing has happened, but at least it was quick. A solution has been found, and a farmer bribed to accept a pole in his field (not the crop-picking type), and soon I may be able to use the web again without sitting in the garden to use my kind neighbour's wifi, or, as I have done today, returning to Bristol for a few days.

Mrs FT, N!, as formidable as she is beautiful, always said I spent too much time on the internet complaining about MetroBust, to the point where I used to pretend to be downloading child pornography, to shut her up. She has changed her tune these last few weeks, and now complains that she, unlike me, has rights to electronic communication, and what am I going to do about it, then? Saying that "I'll send them an email, dearest" got me a handbagging when the penny dropped, but it was worth it.

Getting back on thread, my informants have mixed views. A couple had a lovely quick ride to Emersons Green, somewhere they hadn't been before (and won't be going again). Others complain of late-running services going past them without stopping because they're full of passengers once full of curiosity about whether Emersons Green is a real place, but who stayed on the bus when it got there to make sure of getting a seat on the way home. Others bemoan the passing of the services that were scrapped to make way for MetroBust, leaving them with long walks to bus stops, lower frequency of services, or a car drive instead. Some say £250 million seems a lot to have reduced bus capacity across Bristol and district. None seems surprised. It will be interesting to see how things go when the schools are back in, tickets have to be checked, and reality sinks in, but I reckon my hat is safe.

[Red Squirrel]

Ah, a new website. This one actually works: https://metrobusbristol.co.uk/

[Phantom]

Last Tuesday I travelled on the A1 Airport bus (from the airport to BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI))) and I didn't notice anything to do with METROBUS.  Did I miss anything?

Nothing sadly - different part of Bristol