POWER FROM THE PEOPLE - the first Yate poo bus

Here they are - photos of our first Yate poo bus!!

Bristol to Chipping Sodbury Night Bus to stop running

First Bus have decided to stop running the weekend 47A Night Bus service from Bristol through Downend, Frampton Cotterell, Coalpit Heath, Yate and Chipping Sodbury after the end of April. This means that the services at 1.31 am and 3.31 am Saturday and Sunday will stop, and the last bus will be 11.35 pm from Bristol Bus Station.

These late night buses have in the past been supported by town and parish councils along the route, but now First have have doubled the amount of money they want as a council subsidy, and the passenger numbers have fallen - on average only 13 passengers are using each bus.

Other bus companies have been contacted, but they wanted even more money to run the service. It's just not economic any more - councils would have been paying First a subsidy of £6 for every passenger journey. Many young people now use the internet to arrange their own lift-sharing and prefer that to the bus.

This service has been running for more than ten years. We're sorry to see the end of it, but if you add up the subsidy and the £4 bus fares for 4 people, it comes to more than the cost of a taxi. At £6 subsidy per person First have simply priced the bus off the road.

In recent years this service has been supported by Yate Town Council, Dodington Parish Council, Downend and Bromley Heath Parish Council, Frampton Cotterell Parish Council, Mangotsfield Parish Council, Sodbury Town Council and Westerleigh Parish Council.

More bus service changes likely from 2 November

SERVICE 82 (Southmead Hospital to Chipping Sodbury)

First are proposing to extend the 82 service from Chipping Sodbury to Wotton-under-Edge via Wickwar and Charfield, as there is currently excessive layover time at Chipping Sodbury.

This will provide Wickwar and Charfield residents with a direct service to Southmead Hospital and Cribbs Causeway, but there would still be no direct service for South or North Yate.

NEW SERVICE 87 (Cribbs Causeway to Dursley) - impacts 62 Chipping Sodbury to Thornbury

First will introduce a new 87 service; this service incorporates the existing supported 311 service between Thornbury and Dursley, and will replace a section of the  622 service between Cribbs Causeway and Thornbury, currently supported by South Glos.

South Glos is considering amending the contract for the 622 to serve Chipping Sodbury to Thornbury, removing the duplicated part of the route. It sounds like this might involve some people having to change buses, but this isn't really clear in the document we've seen.

Victory on Yate train overcrowding

We're happy to announce the end of the long fight to get extra train carriages from Yate. From December the 7.40 and 8.09, and the return journeys from Temple Meads at 14.41, 15.41, 16.41 and 17.10 will each have an extra carriage. First Great Western told us this good news at the rail users meeting this evening.

Also for those affected by the complete failure of the commuter train service to Bristol on the morning of Monday 26th, Nigel at the station has forms for users to obtain refunds, or you can claim via the passenger charter.

Buses - First may be prepared to listen?

Steve Webb met the Managing Director of First Bus this morning, and it sounds like First may possibly be going to listen to all the comments they've had about their proposals to restructure the bus service and withdraw the "X" express buses from the Yate/Sodbury routes. You can read Steve's account of the bus meeting here.

Meanwhile local councils have been protesting - Dodington Parish Council, for example, has said that we need more X buses, not fewer. What's more they have asked South Gloucestershire Council to start discussions with alternative bus companies about providing more services in this area. Let's hope that South Glos actually do something about this.

X factor bus bombshell petition

Lib Dem Councillor Sheila Mead and fellow councillors handed in a petition from residents affected by the proposed cuts to the bus services in Chipping Sodbury and Yate to the Executive member of S Glos Council. Sheila believes it’s vital to make sure the Conservative Council listens to their concerns.

Sheila Mead said, “Those people who’ve signed the petition really want their concerns taken seriously. We want the Council to make sure First Bus understands that these cuts are unacceptable without offering better alternatives. If streamlining one part of a service to make it better then leaves other people without any buses it will not improve or increase the public use of bus transport. I also hope that everyone who signed the petition will respond to the consultation by First which ends on 25th May.”

The petition reads: Due to proposed changes in the bus routes provided by First, there will be no bus servicing Cotswold Road from the end of July 2008. We feel that the removal of this service will seriously affect people’s ability to access local amenities, including Doctors Surgeries and shops. The extra distance people would have to travel to reach a bus stop would be beyond many local members of the local community and could effectively isolate people in their own homes. In a day and age when we are being encouraged to use public transport, it is extremely important that this service is maintained.

Cllr Ian Blair said, “It is disappointing that the Council failed to give prompt information to Councillors over the proposed bus timetable changes and consultation. There’s only 5 days to go before the deadline but the Council only saw fit to give members a briefing yesterday.”

He added, “As well as the petition presented from residents at today’s Council I asked the Executive member what is he going to do for Yate and Sodbury residents now that the Council has withdrawn funding for the Nibley park and ride? The answer I have received states the funding was reprioritised to fund a Park and Ride at Parkway Station. That’s all very well for the Executive members residents near that station but it still doesn’t reassure the public living in the Yate and Sodbury area about what this Conservative Council will be doing for them! And at the moment it looks as if they are doing nothing."

"To make matters worse the Council bus briefing given to us yesterday stated, 'There appear to be some positive proposals in the consultation package', this does nothing to reassure me that this Council is taking the bus timetable changes seriously.”

Can you spot YOUR local councillors in the photo?
- Front centre: Kay Crowe.
- Middle, right to left: Linda Boon, Howard Gawler, Sheila Mead, Dave Hockey.
- Back, right to left: Claire Young, Jon Williams, Sue Hope, Ruth Davis, Mike Drew, Mike Robbins, Alan Lawrance, Ian Blair.

Money released for M32 bus lane - but First doesn't want to run our buses up it

The Evening Post reports that the West of England Partnership bus route improvement money is now on the table.

"Work can now start on a network of new priority bus lanes around the city, starting with one along the M32, to form the Greater Bristol Bus Network (GBBN).

The West of England Partnership, made up of the four councils in the former Avon area, hopes to have the M32 bus lane complete by the time Cabot Circus opens in September."

Just in time for the Yate and Sodbury buses not to run up it.

All change on the buses - the slow way home?

First Bus are proposing major changes to bus routes and timetables between Bristol and Yate and Chipping Sodbury, affecting services to Frampton Cotterell, Coalpit Heath, Winterbourne and other communities on the route.

Some places will get more frequent buses, but some will get fewer or none at all. The express “X” services will be withdrawn, and none of these buses will go down the M32, making journeys longer.

Local Liberal Democrat councillors say that First’s consultation is totally inadequate. There’s not enough information – people need to know how much longer the new journey times will be. Current timetables show that in the evening rush hour the X42 and X30 services take 39 minutes to get from Bristol Bus Station to Yate. The comparable 342 and 328 routes take 46 and 52 minutes respectively, so we could see daily journeys taking up to a third longer.

Cllr Sue Hope (Cotswold Edge) said “"What is proposed is a cut in services - including the express service to Bristol - with nothing to replace it. These proposals make a huge hole in any decent public transport system between Yate and Bristol"

Cllr Claire Young (Westerleigh) commented “There is simply not enough information in the consultation leaflet for people to work out what impact these changes would have. I urge First Bus to provide more details and extend the consultation period to allow local people to have a real say about these changes”.

First Bus have not contacted town and parish councils as yet. They have spoken to South Gloucestershire Council, who told them to that the X-services were vital for commuters and that abandoning them would only encourage people to drive to work or use the already crowded (but cheaper) rail service. However First is still proposing to withdraw the X-services.

Maybe First need more competition at peak times - for example, the new efficient UWE buses have hit First’s passenger numbers hard on services between Frenchay and central Bristol.

We notice that Downend will be keeping its X service. That’s because local people organised a protest recently. It's important that everyone tells First what they think via the bus company's website or by writing to Have Your Say, Freepost 3782, Bristol BS5 0ZX. The closing date of their consultation is 25 May - only just over a fortnight away - but we're trying to get them to extend their deadline so that more people can have their say.

Please contact your local councillor as well - see the "Local Focus Team" link in the right hand column. We know that some people will think the proposals are an improvement, and some will think it's a bad idea. Please let us know what you think.
More details for our area are available from First Bus here.

First boss tries out train from Yate - and it's late

First Great Western's Regional Manager, Andrew Griffiths, accepted Steve Webb's invitation to try out the Yate train for himself today. And yes, it was late. And no, he didn't know why. We imagine he asked when he got to Bristol.

But seriously - well done, Mr Griffiths, for being prepared to find out what it's like for local commuters. It would be good if more senior people in other services did the same. Let's hope that some service improvements come out of this.

You can see Mr Griffiths and Steve Webb in a short BBC news film here.

The Gazette story gives more detail here.