Swindon bus services - merged posts

[whole diary]

[bobm]

From the Swindon Advertiser

BUS passengers in Swindon are paying the price for heavily-congested roads and increased journey times, Stagecoach West has warned.

The company’s own research has shown the impact congestion is having on its routes in the past 10 years.
It found that the Swindon-to-Highworth route has seen a 26 per cent rise in journey time, while Swindon-to-Oxford saw an 35 per cent increase and passengers travelling from Chippenham to Swindon found their journeys were 50 per cent longer than before.

The company says that due to the congestion, bus speeds have dropped by 10 per cent in the past two years.
It added that the decrease in speed meant an eight per cent rise in operating costs, which despite attempts to shield customers, was pushing prices up for passengers in the long run.
Stagecoach West managing director Rupert Cox said: “This is not specifically about Stagecoach, or any other bus company, it’s about the impact of congestion on bus passengers and other road users in the area and the situation simply cannot continue if we are to continue improving the local bus network and improving the local environment.

“Our passengers are paying the price for short-sighted policies that have led us to this point. We urgently need politicians to take practical action to get our towns and cities moving again.
“Buses are key to delivering this. Effective bus networks can boost the local economy, improve traffic flow, reduce air pollution and help improve air quality.
“We are playing our part by investing in improvements for customers including in digital technology, new routes and new vehicles, but we need politicians to play their part to help buses flourish. All of the tools exist for them to take action now.”

The Swindon Labour Group’s spokesperson for transport, councillor Steve Allsopp, said: “I fully support Stagecoach’s calls for more public transport infrastructure. The money necessary to do this has been cut further and further back as a result of government austerity and we need a significant rethink in Swindon and the region about how more motorists can be persuaded that public transport is a more efficient alternative of travel. We can only do this by making public transport routes more timely and punctual.”

Maureen Penny, parish councillor for Highworth, said: “I would like to see more investment in the servicing of buses so that we don’t have them coming out to Highworth to relieve one that’s broken down.
“At one time we had three buses break down in Highworth, and the buses are usually overcrowded, and they’ll put a single decker on instead of a double decker knowing it’s going to be busy at peak hours.”

Campaigners argue declining numbers of passengers is a sign that unreliable services and rising fares are having an impact.

Figures from the Department for Transport show that passengers in Swindon took 11.7 million bus journeys in 2016-17 – 430,000 fewer than in 2009-10, when figures were first recorded.

[bobm]

https://www.swindonbus.co.uk/increased-services-sunday-31st-may

The government recently announced that those who cannot work from home should return to work. As a result, we expect to see an increase in people wanting to use the bus, and to maintain social distancing, we are please to be increasing our timetables for you.

We encourage you to follow the official guidelines when making a journey, including wearing a face covering, travelling during off-peak hours, only paying by contactless or mobile app, and making sure you adhere to social distancing on-board where possible.

[rogerw]

Piggybacked on this to avoid a new thread. First are increasing services from 31 May, many Monday to Friday services almost back to pre-virus levels. Interesting on the D1 is that the current M-F base timetable is little changed but a new D1X service is introduced at peak times between Bath and North Bradley running fast between Bath and Bradford on Avon, First Wessex also increasing services with X51 & X53 running every two hours (hourly Bridport to Axminster) M - F but a limited service on Saturdays. Other service frequencies increased.

[bobm]

https://www.swindonbus.co.uk/sitting-together-again

Sitting together again from Monday 17 May 2021

After a difficult and challenging year or so for us all, we are delighted to share some good news with you!

As the government continues to ease lockdown restrictions, and the world gradually returns to normal, we are thrilled to announce that our customers will once again be able to sit next to each other on-board our buses.

In line with government guidelines, all forward-facing seats will be in use from Monday 17 May - so those travelling with us can sit next to each other once again.

We continue to ask that you wear face coverings, unless you are exempt, and windows should remain open to aid ventilation. All our buses are cleaned to a high standard with regular touch point cleaning throughout the day and have hand sanitiser on-board for customer use. If you prefer to travel when it is less busy on-board, we recommend you avoid peak times and use our busy bus checker on our website and app.

Thank you for your patience throughout lockdown, our team is looking forward to welcoming you on-board as we head towards what promises to be an enjoyable and memorable summer!

[LiskeardRich]

It’s not just Swindon, DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) instruction covers all of England from Monday

[froome]

I used our local service here in Bath today, and all the seats that have been taped off to prevent use are now available to be sat on.

I suspect this will take some getting used to, and some people will be nervous of having anyone sat next to them, whether masked or not.

I do wonder what might happen if someone puts their bag onto an adjacent seat to prevent others from using it, as it wouldn't surprise me if that starts to happen as buses get busier.

[Surrey 455]

In London double deckers can now carry 60 passengers (was 30).

From the Telegraph (Unusually not behind a paywall!)

Strangers will sit next to one another on buses once more with capacity doubling to 60 passengers in London as coronavirus restrictions ease

I've heard elsewhere that London's single decker capacity will also double though I can't find either on TfL^» (Transport for London - about) website.

[TaplowGreen]

Feels a bit too soon given the circumstances............are there really that many more people clamouring to travel by bus at the moment?

[Ralph Ayres]

At least it removes the ridiculous situation of 2 people from the same household travelling together who had to sit apart and so were closer to other people than necessary.

[infoman]

featured on BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) points west news on Thursday night.

available to view again till approx 18:30pm ish on Friday evening on the i-player thingy.

[bobm]

As part of the development of the bus boulevard in the centre of Swindon, the dozen or so bus stops in Fleming Way will be closed from next month.

It mainly affects town services operated by Swindon Bus

https://www.swindonbus.co.uk/town-centre-bus-stops-are-moving

From 4 September, following the announcement that Fleming Way will be shut for two years whilst major restructuring of the area is undertaken, all buses will use different bus stops. There will not be as much space available as in Fleming Way, therefore customers are advised to clearly signal by putting your hand out for the bus that you want to stop.

Details in the link.

[Mark A]

Thanks for this, useful to know.

Also, off-topic: the 'Major restructuring of Fleming Way'.

Fleming Way being the road that sits on top of the long abandoned Wilts and Berks canal and its junction with the North Wiltshire Canal. Old OS^▸ (Ordnance Survey) mapping shows this well - though, not at the time of the date of this map, the (alleged) fragrance beneath the August sun.

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.406666666666666&lat=51.56262&lon=-1.78342&layers=168&b=1

In an alternate reality in which the canal was reinstated on its original route, I for one would like to be the first to greet our strange new Swindon-dwelling waterbus-providing overlords.

Mark

[bobm]

..and now as a result of the work in Fleming Way the Travelshop is closing - it wasn't that long ago that it was refurbished.

https://www.swindonbus.co.uk/our-swindon-travel-shop-closing

[Mark A]

Not sure what others think, the replacement for the current bus station looks to be something more in the nature of the transport hub at Bristol Centre, bus stops distributed along the roads, though with hopefully less non-public-transport traffic. Would it have been good to make the area buses only... I'm imagining their visual but with stationary queues of cars added to the mix...

The new bus station does make for longer hikes for people changing buses, and also many of the stops are going to be around twice as far from the railway station as before. The entire thing's going to depend on good signage and information, and it would be good to see a robust provision of loos, given that many of the buses see journeys of an hour or more.

Historically, the new facility will be very much on the route of the North Wiltshire Canal, and interpretation boards will probably be very much in order.

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.2&lat=51.56334&lon=-1.78582&layers=117746211&b=1

On the good side, the previous bus station will vanish and we'll finally be able to say goodbye to the mystery-opening-hours toilet, and that venerable pigeon corpse. If you know, you know...

Mark

https://www.swindon.gov.uk/info/20136/transport_strategy/1089/fleming_way_improvements

[bobm]

Before the work started there were effectively two bus interchanges in Swindon.  Services operated by Swindon’s Buses largely operated from Fleming Way while Stagecoach, National Express and other local operators used the bus station a short walk away.

When work started some Fleming Way services were transferred to the bus station while others began using street side stops around the town.   That has been further refined in the last week with the closure of Corporation Street until at least Christmas. 

When the so called Bus Boulevard is completed it should actually be less distance to walk between services as all will pick up and set down in the same area.  Unfortunately it will still be a five minute walk from the Railway Station which will need some decent signposting. 

One bonus - as part of the alterations I have a temporary bus stop 50 yards from my house.  Just a shame I’m not there to use it!