X5 Countdown

Saturday 13th June 2020 will see Stagecoach West depart from North Somerset for the final time of the current era as their stint operating the X5 service between Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon, Portishead and Cribbs Causeway will come to an end. The previously hourly service has been on a two-hourly schedule since the beginning of the Covid-19…

The Balancing Act

Apologies for this eventually being published after the event. A problem with some bus services is the act of balancing out the bits that work commercially with the less renumerative social and political demands. Sometimes a balance can be struck, sometimes it doesn't work. As an example, i'll point to our Friday shopper's bus diagram.…

Corona Chronicle

We live in peculiar times. Many people have been documenting the social aspects of this period, so i'll attempt to look at this from predominantly a business point of view. Closing Times The school which is the focus of our activities at the start and end of each day closed as part of the national…

Short Journeys

The following are all stubs of posting ideas that i've had over recent weeks. Rather than put three separate posts with short articles, here they are collected together - two on planning and a short story on filth. Where in the Worle? Although this might be stepping somewhat on the toes of former Brighton &…

Less Expression

First's North Somerset Excel network, previously the Express Yourself network will be undergoing changes from the end of April 2019, which (whilst being referred to in their press release as improvements) will see the loss of: - one direct bus per hour between Weston-super-Mare and Bristol (Currently 4, becomes 3) - one bus per hour…

This isn’t good enough

I know i've moaned about Weston Community Transport before, but they're not getting any better. I thought it might be a reasonable time to illustrate the ways in which this community transport operator is failing where a professional operator would not be able to do so: Step entrance vehicle. In an age where low-floor, accessible…

False Economy

Lets disspell a couple of myths: Community Transport is not saving bus services. Community Transport is not saving the public purse any money. On the first point: Community Transport is being used as a plaster to patch up a crack in a dam. Community Transport does nothing to promote new public transport usage to new…

Small solutions

One aspect of transport planning which i find unintelligible is the reluctance to attempt small solutions to a problem instead of the proverbial sledgehammer to crack a nut which seems most favoured by the British public sector. An example recently began construction nearby on the A39 at Marksbury (Google StreetView link / B&NES rationale). Due…

Fat Sparrows

One of my pet hates is the gravitas with which clueless commentators upon our industry are given. Sometimes self proclaimed campaigners, sometimes community groups, sometimes structured organisations; give them the opportunity to get a nonsensical press release to the local newsrag and the local media finds it irresistible. Compare this to the disinterest they will…

Winners and Losers in North Somerset

A bit of numbercrunching can find some interesting results. First were gifted £240,000 by North Somerset Council in early 2017 for interurban network improvements which are to start at the end of April. Surely a significant uplift in funding such as this would only produce winners...? X1, X1A, X2: Bristol - Backwell - Congresbury -…