82 bus - campaign for real time info

Thank you to everyone who has got in touch about 82 bus reliability problems since we alerted you in June to the fact that it is sometimes missing out the Chipping Sodbury section.

At a face-to-face meeting last week your Focus Team councillors challenged First Bus bosses about this failure. They said that because the route goes through a number of traffic hot spots it is vulnerable to getting badly delayed and if that happens they cut out Chipping Sodbury and turn round at Yate.

When we asked what happens to people waiting at the Clock Tower, their reply was that the sign will switch to cancelled. So we explained there is no real time information sign there, to which their answer was that people could check their app or website! We suggested they get real - not everyone has a smart phone or knows how to use their app.

Focus Team Cllr Phil O'Rourke, pictured below, is campaigning to get real time information at the Clock Tower. That way if a bus is running so late it is going to be turned round at Yate, people can decide if it is better to walk down to Yate or catch another bus instead. First Bus are refusing to install a new real time sign at a cost of about £7k - we have suggested moving one from a stop where there are no longer any buses.

Phil O'Rourke, Claire Young and Ben Nutland
campaigning for the return of the 82 bus to
Chipping Sodbury in 2016