Great Western Coffee Shop

...I feel conflicted. Professionally and as an internal tourist I would love faster journey times into London. Many organisations I have worked with and for have London based offices and the City is a cultural heaven with its wide range of museums, galleries, theatres and some stunning architecture.

Train prices are making them a luxury product, if you don^t book well in advance, or split your ticket or work one of a number of increasingly complicated manoeuvres a return to the smoke can cost anything up to ^200.  A twelve-month season ticket from Temple Meads to London Paddington is almost ^8,000.

The biggest concern I have is that faster train times will turn Bristol into a commuter town for the capital.

Bristol and the surrounding area is currently a long way from swallowing its own smoke in terms of housing demand. As a suburb of London there will be little chance of ever bridging that gap.

...beginning to go way off topic there.

As was I, of course.

Or were we? Although the thread title is 'MetroBust' (which has its own thread elsewhere on this forum (http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=551.0)), the content of the OP was about Bristol's new mayor, and his attitude to public transport. Since we don't have much evidence for this, I thought it useful to see if we can deduce anything from the published opinions of his new right-hand man. I'm not sure we have strayed very far off topic!

...and trams...

There are others who would want to de-trunk it, so that the hard shoulder can be used by MetroBust.

There are others who would want to de-trunk it, so that the hard shoulder can be used by MetroBust.

Don't think it would need to be detrunked to have a bus lane - the M4 Near London had one for a time. 

The old M4 bus lane was in L3, just like the current bus lane immediately after the end of the motorway section of the M32 IYSWIM. So no need for any use of the hard shoulder, and presumably therefore no detrunking required; though BCC would probably be more likely to install a bus lane than the DfT.

On large parts of the motorways the hard shoulder is being converted into a running lane for use in busy times, so the M32 would not have to be detrunked for the hard shoulder to be used. 

I am unable to resist bringing up the (sadly erstwhile) A6144(M). The (M) made it a proper motorway, with blue signs and everything, but it had no hard shoulders, was single-carriageway, and had - wait for it - a set of traffic lights at the end. Wanna see a video of it? http://www.pathetic.org.uk/former/a6144m/videos/jan06/a6144m-west.mpg

...everyone would just adapt and find alternatives. I rather suspect the latter.

;D

(He's a Baptist I think. Quite possibly the anti-partying thing was an election slur, though I only read it afterwards.)

...with music and dancing for those so inclined! ;D

Presumably they are inclined at less than 15^o from the vertical?

I don't think he is one of the Wee Frees - you know the ultra-Presbyterians who are said to forbid having sex standing up in case it leads to dancing. 

Marvin is rumoured to be opposed to street parties due to his Evangelical faith. I don't know whether that's true though.

Whilst I think the MetroBus idea is not exactly brilliant, the full cost so far has been road improvements, including two new roads that are desperately needed.

The lack of a A370-A38 link is ridiculous, and Stoke Gifford has a regular 1+hr queue every morning and night.

The improved roads can now be used to improved bus services.

The interesting failure of MetroBus and its proposed routes is the lack of interfacing with MetroWest.

I attended a meeting, two nights ago, and WEP/S Glous gleefully told every that MetroBus was here to stay, with ongoing infrastructure improvements for road widening, extra bus lanes, cycle lanes etc. The next phase will be Cribbs to BPW, with the rail bridge on Gypsey Patch lane due to be replaced in two years to allow the road underneath to widened (cycle lanes, bus land and wider car lanes and pavements), a job that should really have been done 70 years ago

The lack of a A370-A38 link is ridiculous ...

Good luck with the expansion, which may play a part in the next round of local elections, even in apathetic South Gloucestershire. The truth has always been that this is a road-building project, with public transport as the Trojan horse. It will, as all new roads do, provide space for more cars.

MetroBust may be here to stay, with or without buses running, but the West of England LEP may not be. It should be stripped of anything to do with public transport. That has improved in spite of the LEP, not because of it. South Glos are highly in favour of MetroBust, as it gives them the ability to build lots of homes for new council tax payers on Filton Airfield. In a propaganda magazine recently, the council's scribe referred to the "already successful" MetroBust project. How he got that with it being years late, millions over budget, and still no sign of an operator, I don't know, but you don't see Comical Ali on TV these days. Might be he has a job behind the scenes...

I was talking with someone yesterday about the Metro Mayor idea and how it interacts with projects such as MetroBus. We concluded that one of the prime things any likely Metro Mayor is going to want to do is make it easier for people to live in SGlos, N. Som and rural parts of BNES while working in Bristol and Bath; and the way they (the commuters, ie voters) are going to want to do that is by driving. So any excuse for road building (though self-defeating in the long, or even short, term) will be a mayoral vote winner.

...some new car parks will "have" to be built, eg for Teh Arenal...

Will they? Who says? I am aware that the local Flat Earthers have been shouting that at their teddies, but then they don't seem to have noticed that said Arenal is within a few metres of a large railway station - not to mention its proximity bus routes, cycles paths, ferry stops and - hey - car parks.

Zackly. It won't have to be built for people to use the Arena, it will "have to be built because we've got a hundred thousand people coming to watch Ronni Size and they're all going to park their cars in every residential street within two miles and all the residents will be up in arms and the Post's going to print a really nasty article about me."

I was talking with someone yesterday about the Metro Mayor idea and how it interacts with projects such as MetroBus. We concluded that one of the prime things any likely Metro Mayor is going to want to do is make it easier for people to live in SGlos, N. Som and rural parts of BNES while working in Bristol and Bath; and the way they (the commuters, ie voters) are going to want to do that is by driving. So any excuse for road building (though self-defeating in the long, or even short, term) will be a mayoral vote winner.

Will they? Who says? I am aware that the local Flat Earthers have been shouting that at their teddies, but then they don't seem to have noticed that said Arenal is within a few metres of a large railway station - not to mention its proximity bus routes, cycles paths, ferry stops and - hey - car parks.

I think we have reached the point in Greater Bristol that new road schemes are dead, except for a few schemes lie the Stoke Gifford Bypass, South Bristol Link road.

Anyone advocating a car based transport policy in Greater Bristol will not be elected. We need a funded transport policy with train, light rail, bus and safe cycle routes.

The other point is that there's a widespread feeling in Bristol (and Manchester and Liverpool... ) that this is an attempt to reduce the influence of cities by 'diluting' them with their rural surroundings

All Metrobus is offering is a faster 73 service. Unless they can get buses to start on time, it is pointless.

I can assure you that Metrobus IS NOT POPULAR in South Gloucestershire.

Edit: I realise I've posted this in the wrong thread - if anymody wishes to move it, that'd be fine by me!

If only Metrobust ran from anywhere useful to anywhere meaningful it might have a future. Double deckers on guided bus lanes where the interchanges on the Cambridge version have resulted in overturns slightly scares me.

Hadn't heard about the Cambridge overturns. Aren't they single decker there?

I asked trainer how Cambridge guided busway vehicles compared  to a scarlet painted 6 wheeled, diesel engined London transport omnibus. He suggested that they were not the 'transport of delight' he expected as he found them bumpy but faster. As he is staying in Bedford, I asked if he was going to swannee across the Great Ooze, to Flanders.....

Bath seems to be looking at an alternative to the bus.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-40366466

Remains to be seen if it's just a PR job to be later dismissed as "too expensive" by the road builders.

During the planning stages of the development of 700 homes on the ex-MOD site at Foxhill in Bath Curo have proposed a number of alternative solutions to the problem of how to encourage cycling at the top of a very steep hill. This is a problem common to much of Bath, which is built on a steep sided valley and has congested roads which are not designed to accommodate both cyclists and vehicular traffic. Cycling along a north-south axis is restricted to the super fit because of the steepness of the hills.

Curo’s suggested solutions to date have included:

A cable car
A vertical passenger and cycle lift from the twin tunnels cycle path
A Trondheim like cycle lift
Racks on the back of public buses

While it is early days and no commitment to any of these solutions has been made by Curo, we set out in this article to examine these options, plus three extra choices of our own suggestion:

Provision of electric bikes for all new homes in Foxhill
A ‘Boris Bikes’ like cycle hire scheme, but with electric bikes
A funicular railway

Shock news from the powers that beat MetroBust, as the first operator is announced. It is - drum roll please - First Bus Bristol! Didn't see that one coming, did I?

Here's the link for anyone who wants to read the propaganda. Life's too short to copy it, especially with the Post's new website.

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/first-bus-bristol-named-metrobus-123092

I think the double-decker bit might be a mistake, I don't believe that they will fit under the Ashton Ave bridge, unless they are a modern twist on the Lodekka

After my fleeting excursion into the Far East (:D) as far as I can see the Cambridge guided busway and the Metrobus scheme are not comparable. Taking over a dead-straight railway bed through the countryside is one thing but the meanderings around and through an urban area of the Greater Bristol scheme, even allowing for some reserved roads, is it's own Creature (as per Ms Shelley's usage in her novel).

I'm not sure what to expect from our Brave New World of buses, but I do know one thing - cheaper it may be, but it is not a satisfactory substitute for light rail.

... the Lodekka

I'm not sure what to expect from our Brave New World of buses, but I do know one thing - cheaper it may be, but it is not a satisfactory substitute for light rail.

Indeed, and to a large extent I believe that's down to the DfT only offering money for BRT

It could be argued that Metrobust is a punishment for earlier squabbling and the subsequent failure to secure the tram funding ten or so years ago.

Cost increase and resignation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-40512758

Chris Sane left South Gloucestershire Council days before it emerged the cost of building the North Fringe to Hengrove route had risen £4.6m since November.

Cost increase and resignation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-40512758

Hey ho. They're still nowhere near matching the Edinburgh Trams Debacle (http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/transport/who-will-pay-for-trams-debacle-calls-for-inquiry-1-3426443)

In its first year of operation 4.92 million passengers travelled on the system.This increased to 5.38 million in its second year of operation. This is 6.7% greater than the target set before the system's launch.

During 2014 Edinburgh Trams lost almost £450,000, though this was less than expected due to higher than predicted passenger numbers. In 2015 losses were down to £24,922. In June 2017 it was announced that Edinburgh Trams made a pre-tax profit of £252,000 for 2016. A loss of £170,000 had been predicted. This meant that Edinburgh Trams had achieved profitability two years ahead of schedule.

This meant that Edinburgh Trams had achieved profitability two years ahead of schedule.

So although we have seen multiple delays and overruns on the Metrobus, is there still not a chance when it's up and running people will love the smooth ride of the railed vehicles and flock to it in significant numbers ...

Yes, but note from Wikipedia


So although we have seen multiple delays and overruns on the Metrobus, is there still not a chance when it's up and running people will love the smooth ride of the railed vehicles and flock to it in significant numbers ...

Well yes. I suppose the key difference is that the Edinburgh Trams Debacle resulted in - well, trams.

The Metrobus overspend is almost totally within SGC, due in part to the two years of chaos in Bradley Stoke due to Gas and Water mains being at the wrong depth.

The Ashton Vale to Somewhere Not Far From Temple Meads route...

The MetroBus bus stop is too far away from the main station platforms. Not enough bus lanes on Temple Way or Temple Gate and there is inadequate interchange for city bus services to the city centre, bus station, Stockwood, Brislington, Bath and Wells, Glastonbury and Street.

In the new design we have created a new bus stop area for the MetroBus, which is significantly closer to the station and is in direct line of sight of the proposed new entrance to Temple Meads via the Friary. We have examined the options to bring the MetroBus stop closer still, utilising space on the Friary. However, crossing the southbound carriageway adds significant time to the bus’s schedule which compromises the schedule’s ability to make time savings for passengers. This would also be likely to adversely impact the network.

In the consultation phase of the Temple Circus Gyratory proposal, the South West Transport Network (who they?) observed:

Bristol City Council's response was:


Odd, isn't it? If MetroBus had been a tram, it would presumably have been given some sort of priority crossing to get it over Victoria Street and into the new transport interchange on Plot 6. Except it isn't, and Plot 6 looks like it'll be a shopping centre.

Oh, and I like the bit about the new bus stop being 'in direct line of sight of the proposed new entrance to Temple Meads'. Presumably it will also be in direct line of sight of the Moon, on a clear night, which is just as useful if you have heavy bags to carry.

However, crossing the southbound carriageway adds significant time to the bus’s schedule which compromises the schedule’s ability to make time savings for passengers. This would also be likely to adversely impact the network.

...the schedule’s ability to make time savings for passengers

There is little point in getting to Temple Way from Ashton Vale in 17 minutes if it takes a further 17 minutes to get to the station.

Hear hear! This is supposed to be integrated transport, something that will not be achieved by mere sophistry. My route to Temple Meads begins* with a "three stop hop" from Arnos Vale, surely the best value ride in Bristol, on the number 1 or X39 or whatever. I then have to cross the road and ascend the station approach - no great hardship when in plenty of time and unencumbered, but a real faff on a rainy day with suitcases and the clock moving forward at an unnatural pace. Never mind that you can see the (as yet unbuilt) new entrance to the station with a reasonable pair of binoculars as you get off the (as yet un-running) MetroBust, it will still be around 200 metres further away from my current stop from either the existing or the proposed entrance. Is it arrogance, incompetence or mission creep that leads to the jaw-dropper of a statement:


If the mountain won't come to Muhammad, then Muhammad had better catch MetroBust and walk the rest of the way. Sod the bus - crossing the southbound carriageway adds significant time to the pedestrian's journey. The plan should be to disgorge the happy passengers by a covered walkway to the platforms, closer than one can get by any other means. Any other option for getting people to a major public transport terminus is utterly ridiculous. Do they not recognise the irony of adding to peoples' walking distance, and therefore costing them time, so that they can safeguard:

??? Shades of Jim Hacker in "Yes Minister", and the saga of the hospital that was Britain's most efficient until it started admitting patients.

No-one with luggage or with restricted walking ability will find such a distance to the railway station encouraging the use of the new bus.  I hope they're not going to stop the other buses going up the ramp.

And a cynic might think that 'space for new buildings and public space', an easily-sold revenue-raising element, may actually have held more sway that its position on the list suggests.

Not sure what to conclude about this.

...additional care needs to be taken wherever construction work is taking place.

“I was on the ground before I knew what had happened. It was like the wheel had got caught in a tramline, it was so dangerous,” she said.

Bristol MetroBus costs rise £10m to hit £230m
(https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/5222/production/_96562012_6.-ashton-avenue-swing-bridge-and-a-bond.jpg)
The Ashton Avenue swing bridge makes up part of the MetroBus route through south Bristol

The cost of building Bristol's MetroBus network has gone up by almost 5% in a year to £230m, the city council has revealed.
Initially estimated to cost £190m in 2015, the bill has risen a further £10m from £220m since November, a report to cabinet says.

Contractor costs, design changes and contaminated land disposal are cited as key reasons for the rise.
Extra borrowing and "additional parking income" will make up the shortfall.

The report says the overall cost for the controversial public transport scheme has gone up to £230.496m from £220m since November 2016.

The majority of the overspend relates to the Ashton Vale to Temple Meads section - one of three parts of the overall system.

(https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/23D9/production/_87277190_editmetrobus-artisticimpressionsouthbristolhospitalhengrove2.jpg)
Costs for the 'rapid transit' bus scheme are shared by councils in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset.

Bristol will have to find £6.8m to pay for its share of the overspend, but the report says it will need to "stop certain schemes" and redirect funding/borrowing from other projects.

South Gloucestershire and North Somerset councils will pay £3.47m and £0.46m respectively for their share.

The report adds council officials will ensure "cost pressures for the programme are scrutinised and challenged and the programme is delivered as economically beneficial as possible".

The latest cost hike comes after neighbouring South Gloucestershire Council said its highways maintenance budget will need to be raided for 10 years to pay for cost overruns on the Metrobus's North Fringe to Hengrove route.

Extra costs including the removal of protesters from trees in Stapleton Road allotments and additional security measures were blamed for the overall bill rising to £216m last year.

Not sure whether this is old news?
From the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-40865108)

Is this still there?

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/apr12where2.jpg)

Nope. Looked like this a few months ago:

That looks like rails are being replaced by a road.  Couldn't happen anywhere that's been a European Green Capital, surely?

The nice new cycle track that's in the same place as the nice old cycle track, the one that used to connect with the Pill Path along the river and the path out towards Long Ashton but now doesn't. At least, not directly. However, there is an amusing road sign at the start of the guided section the other end of the bridge, saying "Car trap".

The more I hear about this Metrobust thing......

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/strip-bristol-river-bank-cost-348042

Interesting to see how George Ferguson's efforts to save us from having buses run through a museum are portrayed as a cockup...

Run through which museum?

But if Bathurst Basin bridge is too narrow, how could anyone have though the buses could run over Prince St Bridge. In fact, how could anyone have thought that anyway?

The more I hear about this Metrobust thing......

No, you're referring to the nice old cycle track. The nice new one goes under the Cumberland Road bridge (hence my use of the phrase 'under the bridge' ) and emerges more or less opposite the entrance to Underfall Yard. Here's how it looked on Google Street View in April 2017:

https://goo.gl/maps/yUHQBUZd1fq

And as Metrobus build draws to an end ... rumours of more routes.

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-one-step-closer-four-448460 (http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-one-step-closer-four-448460)

So, as the plan stands as

• Ashton Vale - Temple Meads
• North Fringe - Hengrove
• South Bristol Link
• Cribbs Patchway Metrobus Extension
• Keynsham
• Yate
• Thornbury
• Bristol Orbital

The first three are nearly done, how much longer, and chaos for the next five?

Bristol MetroBus ‘likely’ to be delayed until 2018 because ticket machines are not ready

The new MetroBus service was originally set to launch in the autumn

The launch of Bristol's £230million MetroBus project is ‘likely’ to be delayed until 2018, transport bosses have admitted.

The bus service – which was due to launch this autumn – has been pushed back due to delays in the production of 'iPoint' ticket machines.

First approved in 2006, the MetroBus scheme has caused major disruption in Bristol and has been the cause of constant complaints. Even Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees has hinted that he wishes the rapid transport system hadn’t been given the go-ahead.

Unlike traditional bus services, all passengers will be required to buy tickets from an iPoint before boarding a MetroBus. The production of the machines is therefore vital for the launch of the service.

At least 79 iPoints will need to be installed before the first MetroBus can run. Alongside tickets, the iPoints will display real-time information about upcoming services, an emergency help button and map of MetroBus stops on the route.

But the machines are still being made and have to undergo more than 120 tests before they can be rolled out.

A MetroBus spokesman said: "Once the iPoints are installed and working, MetroBus services will start. This is likely to be in the new year."

Bristol City Council cabinet member for transport, Mhairi Threlfall, said: “These innovative information points are a vital part of the way MetroBus works. Passengers must have a valid ticket before boarding the MetroBus and these iPoints can sell single journey tickets, top up and sell smartcards. All this reduces waiting time at stops, making MetroBus faster and more reliable.”

Executive member for planning transport and strategic environment at South Gloucestershire Council, Colin Hunt, added: “It is important that all the different parts of these MetroBus information points – the ticketing, the real time bus information and the journey planners – are dependable, robust and work in all weathers and temperatures. We have to get it right before we can start installing them on the streets. I have seen a mock up, and they are very impressive.”

MetroBus is a joint project between Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset councils. Originally costed at £200million, the scheme is currently running £30million over budget.

(http://i1.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article223255.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/MetroBus-map.png)
A map of the current MetroBus routes

The first phase of the scheme will see three new rapid-transit bus routes to link Cribbs Causeway, Emersons Green and Hengrove, via Bristol city centre.

The MetroBus team always planned a staggered launch of the three routes, with the Cribbs Causeway and Emersons Green services scheduled to start next year.

Although the first phase of the project is not yet complete, the West of England Combined Authority – which is made up of Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset councils and Metro Mayor, Tim Bowles – have approved investigative reports for four new MetroBus routes,

The new routes up for consideration include services to Keynsham, Yate, Thornbury and an orbital route around the outskirts of Bristol.

Managing director of First West of England, James Freeman, – the company which will operate the first MetroBus route between Hengrove and Bristol city centre – said the launch should be delayed until after Christmas if the bus routes are not be ready by December. He said: "We are ready to launch. Obviously we're not the ones deciding when to start running MetroBus, but it does not make sense to launch MetroBus in December. If, for whatever reason, we can't start MetroBus in November, our advice is to wait until after Christmas and start in January.”

From the Bristol Post (http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-metrobus-likely-delayed-until-539623):

How are the tickets to be priced? Especially, will you have to know exactly where you're going before buying a ticket or will it be a simple system, like fixed price or large zones?

The partnership agreement sets out the maximum fare levels for a single journey that the operators can charge. These are:

Up 3 miles: Adults £1.50 Children £0.75
3 to 6 miles: Adults £2.50 Children £1.25
Over 6 miles: Adults £3.50 Children £1.75
Concessionary travelcards will be accepted on all MetroBus services.
The actual ticket prices will set by the operators and this will be announced when final negotiation have ended.

Source: https://travelwest.info/metrobus/all-you-need-to-know

That doesn't tend to happen in other places (that I've been) using ticket machines. You buy whenever is convenient for you and validate your ticket on boarding.

Supposed to be like a tram on tyres innit?

So, looking at some of the rather convoluted routes illustrated in that map, is that mileage determined 'as the crow flies', or by distance actually travelled along the route?

We are getting a couple of new roads, some bus lanes...

...and Bristol's answer to Reading Flyover (https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4400339,-2.6240334,3a,75y,179.05h,90.18t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sXnYEXpC26rm2aBO15kAKbQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656)

And how, when buying a ticket, are you supposed to know whether your journey will be 2.9 miles or 3.1? Even supposing the route v crow flies question is made clear to the public.

...and Bristol's answer to Reading Flyover (https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4400339,-2.6240334,3a,75y,179.05h,90.18t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sXnYEXpC26rm2aBO15kAKbQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656)

 

So does Bristol! But ours went somewhere and made a clickety-clack noise.

It was meant to be replaced by a permanent two way flyover when more money became available.

I know I saw it but I am having a senior moment where that is concerned.  ???

I was thinking of the Hogarth roundabout one, but that's still there and I don't think it matches the directions bnm gave - though naming roads out of junctions by direction is inherently a bit ambiguous.

There was a strikingly similar flyover in another British city. Same design, same junction layout that it flew over, same south to west one way direction.

Would anyone like to guess where?

Metro without the bus?
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-underground-one-step-closer-648615

The caption on one of the pictures mentions a route from Bristol to Bath yet this is a route covered by rail already with a good 4 to 5 services an hour for much of the day. Duplicating rail routes 19th century railwaymania style and burying it in a field seems as insane as Metrobust (if that is possible).

The proposed Bristol to airport route is rather less barking but underground???

It's just padding in his "State of the City" speech. The redevelopment of the Cumberland Basin, though, fits in with his (Reese's) ideas.

The caption on one of the pictures mentions a route from Bristol to Bath yet this is a route covered by rail already with a good 4 to 5 services an hour for much of the day. Duplicating rail routes 19th century railwaymania style and burying it in a field seems as insane as Metrobust (if that is possible).

The proposed Bristol to airport route is rather less barking but underground???

..there really are not many other worthwhile stop options that LRT could serve...

I think there are!

How about a new route that followed the B&NS as far as Stockwood, then swung down through to the south-east of Keynsham (2km from the main line station), followed the main line for a bit (giving the possibility of an interchange) and thence tunnelled under Twerton and Englishcombe to approach Bath station from the south? That would cover large residential areas, many of which are currently very poorly served by public transport.

A very interesting idea. The Cumberland Basin flyover complex was designed to fit on the end of an urban motorway that was to run along Spike Island; we can all be grateful that this didn't happen. It now has redundant elements as well as some badly-engineered quasi-free-flow junctions. It is hard to justify the land-take. Marvin's plan may have legs... maybe he can get George to design the new scheme?

Not so long ago, a firm of apparently 'professional consultants' proposed that the Severn Beach Branch railway line should be concreted over and turned into a bus lane.  ::)

Announcement from Bristol Metrobus whose system opens shortly. Cycles and taxis will be permitted in all the busways [excluding only the short guided section between Ashton Gate Park & Ride and Cumberland Road & the bus-only access ramp to the M32].

Nothing showing on https://travelwest.info/metrobus

Very disappointed that I won't be allowed to ride my bicycle on the M32...  :D

Errm, surprise surprise?

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/metrobus-wont-ready-until-least-847650

Because people will not be able to pay for the tickets from the driver, and if they haven’t got them in advance they will buy them from those information points, those information points have to be absolutely 100 per cent reliable” said a MetroBus spokesperson.

Shouldn't that be Partway to Parkway?

Which aren't even guided for much of the route

Also the latest excuse for the delay in commencing operation on one of the routes is the failure to install the three-quarter-ton ticket machines and yet previous excuses were, "we need to ensure that the smart technology is reliable", well it has been for Londons Oyster system for years now and also on Glasgows subway.

Heard from two bus drivers, "the guided bit isn;t wide enough for a breakdown truck to recover a broken down vehicle" and from one of them, a female bus driver from Nailsea, "they tested the guided bit and it isn't wide enough, when two buses passed each other there was side scrapping on each bus !!!!".

Also the latest excuse for the delay in commencing operation on one of the routes is the failure to install the three-quarter-ton ticket machines and yet previous excuses were, "we need to ensure that the smart technology is reliable", well it has been for Londons Oyster system for years now and also on Glasgows subway. Previous to that it was the need for urgent repairs to the Bromley Heath Road viaduct which has necessitated a further month of contraflow due to unforeseen circumstances. Wonder if the next delay reason will be the failure of Network Rail to replace the Gypsy Patch Lane bridge under which double deckers cant pass unless First Bus wishes to increase their fleet of open toppers.

Planning for SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket began in 2011. Yesterday, it launched the most interesting payload ever sent to space, into an elliptical orbit around the sun that will cross the orbit of Mars. If you didn't know about this, see the BBC report. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42969020)

Planning for MetroBust began in 2006. Yesterday, the Bristol Post (https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/metrobus-deny-north-bristol-m1-1168177) reported that the launch of one route had been postponed (again) until summer. It didn't say which summer. The MetroBust spin doctor (I think it may be Comical Ali, from the Iraqi information ministry) explained that this isn't a delay as such.

So it is easier to get a Tesla car from Earth to Mars than it is to get a bus from Cribbs Causeway to Hengrove.

Bristol MetroBust: Not Rocket Science!

My Facebook status yesterday:

"If Elon Musk doesn't turn out to be a James Bond style super villain, with a secret underground lair, then I'm going to be disappointed.

The car to Mars (even though it missed) is just a smokescreen folks. 🤔"

For fear of 'topic drift' he could pass for Ernst Stavro Blofeld Jnr. Back on topic, could he be behind the dastardly Metrobust?

One of the problems with buses in Bristol (and lots of other places) is that you have to go through (and often change at) the city centre. Very few "tangential" or "circumferential" services. MetroBus does nothing to address this.

And whoever is responsible for missing out Bristol Parkway ....!

One of the problems with buses in Bristol (and lots of other places) is that you have to go through (and often change at) the city centre. Very few "tangential" or "circumferential" services. MetroBus does nothing to address this.

Not only has the SBL vanished like an old oak table, but nothing seems to be heading for Parkway any more. Those poor boffins from the science park won't be able to get to their closest mainline railway station by MetroBust after all, which I seem to remember being a major point in conning the money out of DafT.

Thousands of new homes along with schools, a new railway station and community facilities are set to be built at the Cribbs Patchway New Neighbourhood (CPNN) in the next 10 years.

Land identified in the Cribbs-Patchway area will be developed into a new neighbourhood creating around 5,700 homes, around 50 hectors of employment land, open spaces and infrastructure including a dedicated MetroBus route.

[snip]

The Westgate application specifically covers the Charlton Road aspect of the proposed ‘North – South Public Transport Link’ on the former Filton Airfield.

Signing this S106 agreement between developers and local authorities creates the first planning permission for the site.

It also consents to having a new shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, a new bus only access and installation of a CCTV bus gate, allowing for direct north-south bus connections across the airfield to the San Andreas Roundabout to the north of the site.

The council says the agreement marks another "key milestone for the CPNN development which will deliver much needed housing across the area".

[snip]

Councillor Colin Hunt, Cabinet Member responsible for planning, said: “The new communities planned here will be well-connected with key transport and employment hubs.

"A key feature of infrastructure identified on the former Filton Airfield plans is the proposed ‘North – South Public Transport Link’, which will provide a new bus link across the site connecting Merlin Road/Hayes Way to the north and Charlton Road in Brentry to the south.

"This link will bring significant accessibility and connectivity benefits to large areas of Bristol’s North Fringe, providing a direct public transport link from the parts of northern Bristol south of the airfield to Cribbs-Patchway and the Mall area," he added.

"hectors"

Within a decade then.  A north-south transport link across the former airfield - wouldn't you expect road through an estate like that? I happen to know that east to wet is a little over 2500 metres, but north to south isn't such a big deal. It should be a nice stroll to the new railway station.

I noticed them, too. I think they are Great Big Silly Old Hectors.

Having a bit of trouble working out what you mean here, but the new route does seem rather indirect. Presumably most people living in this part of Greater Thornbury will be listening to the soundtrack of La La Land as they sit in their cars driving to work in Swindon or Cardiff.  I can't imagine many catching the bus into Bristol via all points of the compass...

... those 50 "hectors" of employment land. (Someone didn't proof read that press release).

Perhaps they left it in deliberately, to remind us to beware of Greeks bearing gifts.

I think she may me right.  If you take something that takes an hour is reduced to 40 minutes, you'll get lots of positives - especially by people who don't realise there were other options that could have brought it down to 25 to 30 minutes.    Numbers used are purely illustrational!

With all the crystal ball gazers forecasting the heavens will be dropping a load of white stuff on us in the next few days I heard last night that snow ploughs cant be used on the guided bit of the metrobus routes. As most snow ploughs available in the area where I reside also double as gritters I said to my informant, 'what with all the millions spent on this project they didn't include the luxury of a sub-surface heating elements to switch on automatically when air temperatures drop to 4 degrees C on the ramps leading up to the Ashton Metrobus flyover ?'  ???

Incidentally, on mentioned the side swiping of two buses on a test run over the route my informant informed me that parts of the route are having to be re-worked.

The only bit of this project in use, the extended bus lane on the M32, is proving itself but is no good for buses using the bus only access point on the M32 and then getting caught in the daily gridlocked traffic from the Hambrook Junction to the Muller Road exit / flyover.

A neighbour of mine with a daughter at UWE travels with his daughter to UWE and then bus to the Cabot Circus tells me that he cant see how buses will be able to achieve a 20 minute journey time from UWE to the central area when currently on his experience it regularly can take 45 minutes to do the journey, a 5 minute journey time reduction might be possible when most commuters want to travel by using the bus only M32 access point.

Is that one of your famous typos grahame, did you not mean illusional in the Metrobust context?  ;D

...snip...
Traffic often backs up to the bus-only slip road. When that happens, MetroBust services will back up with it, quickly turning from one every 10 minutes to 3 every 30 minutes.

That's a problem to a greater or lesser extent with all bus lanes everywhere, though. Unfortunately.

Exactly! So why are we spending a quarter of a billion quid on doing the same old same old, and telling everybody it will work?

Bus traffic will always backup when a route traverses the Temple Meads Gyratory as its half way point in its route.

The Cribbs Causeway route to Hengrove route will FAIL. It will not deliver a reliable, frequent service because there are two many strangle points in the route from Newfoundland Rd to Temple Meads.

The people in charge of this route should have split it into three!

• Cribbs CauseWay to Bristol Parkway
• Bristol Parkway to Bristol Temple Meads
• Bristol Temple Meads to Hengrove

Integrating Bus and Rail tickets would make this service a success. Not integrating them is a FAIL.

When I was a boy I used to catch the No.3 bus, which ran from Whitchurch to Filton Church/Patchway - a broadly similar route. In the early 70's, they chopped it in two, with the 32 doing Whitchurch - Centre and the 73/74 covering Centre - Filton Church/Patchway. Later, cross-city routes were re-instated with the 54 and 55.

My point here is that when there are cross-city routes, it tends to look like a good idea to split them to mitigate delays caused by congestion, but no sooner is that done than the convenience of through journeys starts to look attractive. Sadly, Brexit negotiators aside, you can't have your cake and eat it.

Errm, surprise surprise?

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/metrobus-wont-ready-until-least-847650

Well the "at least" delayed (again) Easter start date is looming large and it's all quiet on the Metrobust front.  I always look forward to the next wheeling out of the PR dept spokesperson to give us another tale. Tough gig but it was a career choice.

t.

My local S supermarket...

ITV local news last night. Interview with Metrobust spokesperson. Still no date for opening. 4 separate attempts at an answer 4 variations on "soon". To be fair, the chap they wheeled out did it with good humour. To be even fairer, it could be seen a a flippant dismissal of local taxpayers concerns.

"Don't know" is a legitimate and honest answer ... though if given for too long and in contradiction to original and more specific plans, it can cause credibility to be lost.

Is there a link for this interview?

I have searched without success!

Is there a link for this interview?

I have searched without success!

Bristol Metrobus delayed again and the people in charge still can't say when it will begin
It could be May, at the earliest...

ByTristan Cork
08:08, 26 MAR 2018

The first Metrobus route in Bristol will not be open for at least another month – and those in charge of the project still cannot say exactly when the first passenger will get on board.

Metrobus has confirmed the first route to open will be the M3 route – which runs from Emersons Green Park and Ride, via the University of the West of England (UWE), to the city centre.

But the route itself will not begin operating for at least another month or more.

The M3 route will not begin running until the roadworks that are restricting part of its route on the Bromley Heath viaduct are finished – and that won’t be until the end of April at least.

(https://i2-prod.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article223255.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/MetroBus-map.png)
A map of the current MetroBus routes

The Metrobus project has been dogged by delays and problems, and has gone £30million over its £200million budget.

The last time a delay was confirmed was at the end of November last year. The route between Ashton Vale and Temple Meads in the south of the city was due to initially begin in autumn 2017, and then in the New Year of 2018.

(https://i2-prod.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article1301835.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/Metrobus-iPoint-at-Long-Ashton.jpg)
A new Metrobus iPoint at Long Ashton

But in late November, Metrobus confirmed it would be delayed until the spring too, with both the Bristol Post and the BBC reporting that it would be open at Easter.

That will now not happen because of issues with the Ashton Swing Bridge and with installing the huge iPoints where passengers can buy tickets for the service at each Metrobus stop.

Now, there is no date given for the Ashton Vale service – with Metrobus merely saying it will be ‘after’ the M3 opens.

Thank you!

Wearing another hat I attend my LA's transport forum. At a past meeting the forum was informed that the current double decker bus profile had changed and the roof of these vehicles was now curved which meant the overall height of the bus was increased. This coupled with the fact that a low bridge had been re-signed ...

Why is it, that the GMPTE can, by and large, get everything so right.. think Metrolink, remodelling of Victoria, Piccadiily stations, free Metro shuttle buses serving the central area for everyone.......and yet Bristol almost exclusively gets everything so wrong,,,,think Metrobus, expansion plans for Temple Meads, unreliable  and expensive 8/9 buses serving the central area.
Answers on a postcard please ( no stamp required) to Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol, City hall. ( or has it been defergusonised ?)
At the risk of opening a further can of worms, why don't we rename the Counts Louse as we Bristolians called it for yonks, The Colston Hall, at the same time as the original changes its name to something bland and uninspiring...Marvin Rees Hall anyone?

There were some influential councillors after the abolition of Greater Manchester Council, who managed to persuade the 10 District councils that they should work together on transport issues for their mutual benefit.  Once they got their first success (Metrolink) the argument did not need to be made again.

Fundamentally, Manchester area benefited from GMT, Greater Manchester Transport.

This organisation, like MPTE, West Midlands Transport, TfL controls buses, rails and road and is non political. They work with local councils for government grants, and use this along with ticket revenue and loans to build better, integrated transport systems.

So, why can't we in Greater Bristol, have Avon Transport Executive?

So, why can't we in Greater Bristol, have Avon Transport Executive?

North Somerset, having scuppered the Avon PTE, voted to exclude the parish from the combined authority but now has the audacity to hold their mits out for handouts from WECA AND ARE GETTING allocations from the Metro Mayors £1 billion 3 year budget handed him by Central Government.

Of course they are "having your cake and eating it" is now official government policy. 

All true, and Avon had Richard Cotterell MEP, proposing and establishing the Avon Metro, only to have it opposed by local politicians.

So, why can't we in Greater Bristol, have Avon Transport Executive?

More concerns about Megabust, this time from the WECA scrutineers.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/metrobus-bosses-have-misled-people-1396437

It appears from the image printed with the article that the buses 'could look like' left-hand drive vehicles.  I wonder if arranging for the buses to drive on the opposite side of the road to the rest of the traffic could be the main issue causing the delay?

More concerns about Megabust, this time from the WECA scrutineers.

...new Metro Mayor Tim Bowles...

Just to be clear, Peter Bowles is not the new Metro Mayor. It just seems like that because he doesn't appear to have done much in the good God is it really nearly a year that he has been in office.

Who is Peter Bowles then ?

An actor. Best known for the sitcoms "Only When I Laugh" ....

And First West to run the service, what a surprise.

With a 20 minute interval service, what will happen to the X48? The route is virtually identical.

Service UWE from Frenchay campas also follows same route and frequency reduced to every 20 minutes from end of April.

Is that the ploy by the promoters, withdraw th X48 and UWE services and replace those services with MetroBus route M3 with free travel for the first 13 days and hey presto they will proclaim instant success with Joe Public of MetroBus.

I bet we won't hear a peep out of the MetroBus promoters after the free trial period when patronage drops off due to the higher fares and users revert back to using the 5, 47, 48, 48A, 49, 70, 71, 72 and new route 49A as I have heard that the cost of a dayrider will be the same as the Bristol Outer Zone Dayrider at £6.40 compared with the Bristol Inner Zone Dayrider at £4.00 currently available on both the X48 and the UWE services.

The operator for the M1 route has been announced. Surprisingly, to me at least, it's Bristol Community Transport who run just a few bus routes (505 and 511). It's a little more complicated than that as they are 'contracted to First'. 

It's refreshing to see a company that reinvests it's profits get the gig and I hope their entanglement with First doesn't end up with unwelcome consequences.

I sense you’re starting to warm to the Metrobus project, FT,N!   ;D

Points West BBC1 in a few minutes, a 'first look at the new Metrobust'.

Edit: Just seen it. It does look remarkably like a bus service. Any other observations?

I notice that metro bus and four tracks for Filton are both level pegging on 20 pages each on this forum. Which one will reach the finishing line first? 8)

Say the words ‘Metro’ and ‘Bus’ to any Bristolian and your best-case scenario is that they’ll breathe a heavy sigh.

The first route on the long-awaited Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is due to launch on 29 May. But the project has become so unpopular that Tim Bowles, the mayor of the West of England, has commented only half-jokingly that he prefers not to be referred to as a “Metro Mayor”, lest constituents associate him with the project.

MetroBus began life in 2006 as a low-cost mass transit solution: a poor man’s tram which would serve the booming Bristol population and loosen the chokehold the car has on the road network frequently cited as one of the most congested in the UK.

Bus Rapid Transit is, basically, a sexed-up bus. By running largely independently of the normal road network via segregated bus lanes and purpose-built guideways, it offers better speed and reliability. Heres’ the concept being demonstrated in Cambridge:

 

A video of the Cambridge Guded Busway.

The MetroBus scheme was a milestone, as Bristol has never in modern history had planned integrated mass public transport. Other city regions like Manchester may have trams to complement their bus and rail services. But Greater Bristol has remained stubbornly suburban in its thinking, limited by a lack of political will from central government and cowed by pressure from voters who commute by car – even though it’s quicker to cycle than drive in Bristol at rush hour.

MetroBus was an acknowledgement that the city can’t solve congestion by just building more roads. While it may sound counterintuitive that giving up space to bus lanes will help ease congestion, it works: any measure which improves the speed and reliability of buses means people are able to switch from their cars to public transport. This phenomenon is known as ‘modal shift’, and it removes those vehicles from the traffic traffic, easing space on the road network for people who need to drive – disabled people, traders, delivery vans, carers.

Bristol houses just under half a million people, but over 835,000 people are employed in the Bristol Travel to Work Area (Somerset, Bath, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and further afield). All three local authorities which share a border with the city are commuter hubs, with a sprinkling of fast growing satellite towns as a result of house price inflation in the inner city. The region is served by a lacklustre and overcrowded local rail system – though this is set to change with the onset of the MetroWest rail expansion project – and only three park and rides.



The region. Image: West of England LEP.

Bristol’s bus network is patchy and journey times are unreliable, a direct result of the deregulation under the Transport Act 1985 (thanks, Thatcher). It’s hard for a city to plan its transport network strategically, when commercial bus operators can chop and change their routes at will.

So MetroBus was intended to plug this gap. The proposed network would link several areas of the Greater Bristol conurbation: one route runs from the suburb of Ashton Vale to Temple Meads station via a guided busway; a second links Hengrove Park in the south to the Northern Fringe via the M32; while a link road would connect the Hartcliffe and Bishopsworth areas of south Bristol.

All this will facilitate housebuilding and regeneration. Land around the guideway has already been earmarked for residential development, assisting the council to meet its target of building 2,000 homes – 800 of which are affordable – per year by 2020.



The route map. Image: Travelwest.

Two historic bridges have been restored and a new junction and bridge built over the M32 to put the ‘rapid’ into bus rapid transit. So: faster journey times, neatly segregated from the choked arteries of a road network suffering a dire dearth of orbital roads. What’s not to love?

As it turns out, quite a bit. The project will also see the city centre redeveloped to stop motor traffic using it as a cut through into the shopping district. But it has missed an opportunity to create decent cycling infrastructure, with proposals for poorly distinguished shared space paving termed “daft and dangerous” by the Bristol Post.

Meanwhile, the monolithic black ticket machines, iPoints, have also been delayed at the manufacturing stage, and MetroBus can’t launch without them. Pre-board ticketing is vital for speeding up journeys: no waiting for Doris to start digging out her bus pass, or for passengers to be burnt to a crisp by the murderous stare of a driver handed a £20 note. Indecision over ticket zoning has also meant little information has been released publicly about ticket prices, and whether these will differ if bought on the First app.

On top of all that, the project has proven to be both later and pricier than expected. The original route to Temple Meads has changed; local authorities have had to pitch in more than £13m extra than planned after construction industry inflation surpassed expectations; timelines have slipped, and environmental protestors had to be removed from trees marked for felling.

We are now, I believe, on the home stretch: the M3 route is launching in May from Emersons Green via the University of the West of England into The Centre, and will be free for 13 days from Tuesday 29 May. A date for the beginning of services on other routes, however, has yet to be announced. 

Despite the naysayers, once people understand the concept of MetroBus, they’re usually fairly optimistic. I’m personally looking forward to the launch, and hope to be pleasantly surprised by setting low expectations: if I can get from Ashton Gate to the train station in 20 minutes, I’ll count that as a success.

If not…well, maybe we should just hold out for an underground.

Just a couple of thoughts:

1. What on earth does 'sexed-up' mean, in this context? It's just a bus.
2. Metrobus may be further acknowledgement  that "the city can’t solve congestion by just building more roads", but that decision had been made by the time of the 1992 Bristol Draft Local Plan.
3. 'Modal shift' is not a phenomenon, it's a myth. Some people might well stop using their cars and use MetroBus instead, but their road space will soon be filled by others.
4. Bristol absolutely does not 'suffer' 'a dire dearth of orbital roads' - Bristol is, or should be, eternally thankful that the planned Outer Circuit road was not completed. Well, having said that, it might have solved a few problems: no-one would want to live here if they'd built it, so maybe there'd be fewer traffic problems...

Just a couple of thoughts:

1. What on earth does 'sexed-up' mean, in this context? It's just a bus.
2. Metrobus may be further acknowledgement  that "the city can’t solve congestion by just building more roads", but that decision had been made by the time of the 1992 Bristol Draft Local Plan.
3. 'Modal shift' is not a phenomenon, it's a myth. Some people might well stop using their cars and use MetroBus instead, but their road space will soon be filled by others.
4. Bristol absolutely does not 'suffer' 'a dire dearth of orbital roads' - Bristol is, or should be, eternally thankful that the planned Outer Circuit road was not completed. Well, having said that, it might have solved a few problems: no-one would want to live here if they'd built it, so maybe there'd be fewer traffic problems...

And by the looks of things the south Bristol link is to be shelved for the moment just caught a snippet about this on this evenings BBC Points West.

Concerns for pregnant woman as travellers occupying MetroBus route undergo welfare checks

Council officers are concerned about moving a heavily pregnant woman from the encampment in Ashton

Concerns have been raised for a heavily pregnant traveller woman who is a member of the encampment occupying a MetroBus route.

Council officers are currently carrying out all the necessary welfare checks before deciding to evict the group.

Officers visited the site nearby the South Bristol Link Road today after people started moving on to the land yesterday evening.

Caravans were seen parking up on the road from around 6pm, April 11. North Somerset Council have confirmed there are now 13 caravans present.

During their visit, they met a heavily pregnant woman who is a member of the encampment and want to make sure she is fit to travel before they hand the group a ‘notice to quit’.

NHS partners have been contacted and a midwife will be going to the encampment tomorrow to carry out checks on the expectant mother.

Should the notice be served after that, the group will be given a period of time to move from the site.

If they do not exit the land, the council will have to go to court and apply for the group to be forcibly removed.

A spokesperson for North Somerset Council said: “We are currently carrying out all of the normal welfare checks.

“Officers have been to visit the site today and there is one woman who is heavily pregnant and we have contacted our NHS partners and a midwife is going to visit tomorrow to see if she is healthy to travel.

“If all members of the community are okay to travel then they will be served a notice to quit by council officers,” he added.

"This will give them a period of time to quit the land, if they do not move on we will apply to the court to get them forcibly removed."

The MetroBus road on which they are parked is the spur off road called South Liberty Lane built especially for the Metrobuses to quickly nip between the park and ride and Hengrove.

There are no plans for it to be opened for use yet, with Bristol Live reporting yesterday it could now be years before that route is developed, much to the fury of MP Karyn Smyth.

The road has now been removed from the latest version of the MetroBus map and some residents of South Bristol have suggested that while it goes unused it would be better off being put to alternative use.

Reece White, 22, from Hartcliffe said: "I think it’s not being used and as long as they don’t cause any trouble – what is the harm?”

Metrobus route across South Bristol mysteriously disappears from the map
The route was on the maps for years - until this week - but it is not planned any time soon

ByTristan Cork

A furious MP has demanded to know why a Metrobus route across South Bristol has mysteriously disappeared from the latest map of the new transport system.

Karin Smyth said she was ‘extremely concerned’ to see the Metrobus link connecting Hengrove with Ashton Vale and the Long Ashton park and ride had vanished from the latest map showing the three Metrobus routes.

The connection, which joins up the southern termini of two of the three Metrobus routes, has been on every map issued by Metrobus until this week, when a new one was published with the announcement – finally – of a start date of one of the routes.

But the South Bristol MP spoke out after spotting that the link between Long Ashton Park and Ride and Hengrove wasn’t on the map showing all three Metrobus routes.

(https://i2-prod.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article1445175.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/Untitled-design-22.jpg)
Spot the difference - the Metrobus map last week (left) and this week (right)
The road itself exists – the South Bristol Link Road has been open for almost a year and a spur off that road was constructed especially for Metrobus buses to quickly go from Hengrove to Long Ashton park and ride.

No date has yet been set for either Metrobus routes that use Long Ashton park and ride or Hengrove – although the announcement on Monday included the news that Bristol Community Transport would operate the Hengrove to North Bristol route.

The Ashton Vale – Temple Meads route has been beset by delays, and First Bus is understood to have asked Metrobus to abandon its attempts to get it up and running this spring and instead focus on the Emerson’s Green to City Centre route – which will now open at the end of May.

But while the two routes that end at Long Ashton park and ride and Hengrove will happen eventually – and are expected this year – the connecting route between the two is not planned any time soon.

Karin Smyth said: “While I welcome the launch this week of some Metrobus routes, I’m extremely concerned that the Ashton to Hengrove link seems to have fallen by the wayside.

“This crucial route, designed to properly connect communities currently poorly served by public transport, was a central part of the Metrobus offer – indeed, it still features prominently on their promotional website.
 
“The Metrobus link is also essential to the success of South Bristol Community Hospital - bringing patients and staff to and from the hospital, while also servicing customers using other facilities nearby.

“Local residents have lived with significant disruption and inconvenience while the road that the Metrobus is to use was built. But it would seem that once again, people in this part of South Bristol have been pushed down the pecking order when it comes to community investment.

“I immediately contacted Metrobus following their announcement, but as yet have received no meaningful response. It is my sincere hope that this route is continuing as planned, and will soon launch as promised. Anything less than would be entirely unacceptable, and a betrayal of promises made to local communities,” she added.

The Bristol Post contacted Metrobus earlier this week, and a spokesperson said that the Metrobus maps that have consistently showed a link between Hengrove and Ashton Vale was always a ‘future aspiration’.

“It was on the maps all the time because those maps were for the Metrobus project as a whole,” she said.

“The South Bristol link was part of the original bids for the proposed services, but are not part of the first three routes on the network.

“The South Bristol Link itself is already doing what it is designed to do as a road, but it does have a dual purpose, and it will carry a Metrobus.

“The link itself is future-proofing – we’ve put the infrastructure now, before the route happens in the future. There is likely to be development in this area. The link was part of the Metrobus Project but we knew that it was future proofing this,” she added.

Since the announcement that route M3 would be launched first there seems to have been a flurry of activity in the Emersons Green area.

A high hedge has been grubbed up and the area around the terminus at Emersons Green has had some footways laid to the slabbed waiting area but no bus shelter yet although I have seen two shelters have been erected at stops on the ring road itself in the last week.

And so it came to pass, that the utterances of the great prophet FT,N were seen to be coming true. The people of South Bristol, led by their High Priestess Karin Smyth wailed beseechingly to their Metrobust masters 'Where is our bus route'.

"By the rivers of Bedminster
Where we sat down
Yea, we wept
When we remembered iron"

And the people cried, wailing beseechingly, renting their garments as they tried to cast off the plague of metrobus excuses that hath engulfed them.

So you're saying you knew they'd make a bysshe of the whole thing?

But you are too kind - it is true that I am without honour in my own land, but a prophet?

Wait, though, for a moment. I called the Ashton Vale to somewhere near Temple Meads MetroBust line a dead duck at least a year before Mark Bradshaw called it a lame duck.
...snip...

Before that, I had recorded the lamentations of the people of south Bristol when they heard that there would not be trams running along shiny new metallic rails along the New Cut after all:

But you are too kind - it is true that I am without honour in my own land, but a prophet?

Wait, though, for a moment. I called the Ashton Vale to somewhere near Temple Meads MetroBust line a dead duck at least a year before Mark Bradshaw called it a lame duck. I predicted a final cost of £250 million when all others were saying £180 million. I said the whole thing was flawed at least a year before George Ferguson. My initial prediction of November 2019 for complete opening (now looking optimistic) was made almost 5 years ago, when the official date was early 2016 AD (Atkins Dominated), and I sagely predicted that a time would come everybody involved would try to blame everybody else. And there was more, much more. Maybe I do have a gift after all!


I largely buy what I can't steal from clothes lines.

So it was dead and then it was lame and now it shall walk? Not only a prophet but also Lazarus!

O Thou art mighty Four Track Now tell us please What is the answer to Life the Universe and Everything to do with Metrobus is it really Fourty Two.?

Not to worry folks.....the wheels aren't coming off the M2 route just yet. It's just that they don't fit, and in the words of a metrobus spokes (ha!) person... it has to follow a set process.......... design, construct, test, make adjustments, redesign, process, test etc. If this had been trams running in rails you'd have been pretty sure they fitted !

 4 pages about Metrobus in the latest Buses magazine and a further 4 pages interview with James Freeman to see how far his 4 year vision for Bristol buses has advanced after 3 and a half years. Reckon Bristol buses will be running to the moon before a wheel is turned on the Long Ashton route. Hence my tongue in cheek cynical comments last week.

Three years after Metrobus M2 work started it's delayed again because bus wheels do not fit guide rails
The real reason why Bristol's first scheduled Metrobus route is delayed

ByTristan Cork
14:31, 16 APR 2018
One of the three Metrobus routes is facing months of further delays after tests revealed the bus wheels do not fit the ‘guided busway’, BristolLive can reveal.

The schedule for the start of the Ashton Vale to Temple Meads route has gone off the rails, both metaphorically and in reality, after tests revealed the 2.5km-long guided busway section of the route needs ‘adjustments’.

BristolLive has learned the rail section of the route – which will be known as ‘M2’ when it is eventually up and running – needs a considerable amount of work at a large number of sections.

BristolLive understands the measurements for the width of the guided elements of the bus had a certain arc of tolerance, but the two element involvements – the guided rail on the track and the guiding wheels on the bus – have come in at the ‘opposite extremes of the tolerances allowed’.

Metrobus has now admitted the wheels don’t fit properly – after months of maintaining there was no major physical reason the M2 route from the Long Ashton park and ride to Temple Meads would not open.

A Metrobus spokesperson confirmed following testing of the height of the guideway, it now needs to be ‘adjusted in a number of places’.

“There is a process, design, build, test, make adjustments as required,” she said.

“Testing has taken place, adjustments at various points along the 2.5km busway need to be made.

“When those adjustments are made a second round of testing with the full range of vehicles - Metrobus vehicles and other buses that might use the guideway in future (including the Airport Flyer and biogas vehicles), road sweepers and gritters, emergency vehicles - takes place,” she added.

The guided busway element of the route is on the newly-built section of the route from Long Ashton park and ride to the point where the M2 route effectively becomes a bus lane along the regular road on Cumberland Road.

That section, made up of more than a mile-and-a-half of bespoke road, is one of the most expensive sections of the entire Metrobus project. After crossing a field and running alongside the industrial estates of Ashton Vale, it is lifted over the main Bristol-South West railway and brought parallel with Winterstoke Road by an S-shaped flyover.

The route then drops down under the complicated Ashton Gate road junction, where the A369 Portishead road meets the A3029 Winterstoke Road and interchanges with the A370 Brunel Way. Finally, the M2 Metrobus route turns right along the back of Paxton Drive, goes under Brunel Way again and crosses the newly-restored Ashton Swing Bridge over the River Avon.

This section is just over a mile-and-a-half and contains the ‘guided busway’ part of Metrobus that makes the project different from a standard bus lane.

After the adjustments, the guided busway will have to be tested again – with all the different vehicles that might use it being driven along it. That will take months, and Metrobus has not put a timescale on when it will happen.

“The M2 route will open once testing has been completed and any necessary adjustment are made to the infrastructure,” a spokesperson confirmed.

The M2 route was supposed to be the first to open, and had been due to open in the autumn of 2017 – two years after initially planned. But then, Metrobus announced it was being delayed until Easter 2018 and then ‘spring’, but last month admitted it was not going to open then.

BristolLive understands at this point, with the information about the faulty busway guided rails known to Metrobus and First Bus – which is going to run the services on the route – First asked Metrobus to put its resources into getting the M3 route, from Emerson’s Green to the city centre open as soon as possible.

All the ticket machines and other infrastructure has now been put into that route, and it is due to open at the end of May.

But the latest delays to the Ashton Vale – Temple Meads route have been criticised by local politicians. Last month, Cllr Stephen Clarke (Green, Southville), who is the chair of the scrutiny committee at the West of England Combined Authority that is overseeing the Metrobus project, accused those in charge of the project of misleading him and the people of south Bristol about the M2 route.

Now, Tony Dyer, former mayoral candidate and the South Bristol’s Green parliamentary candidate at the last election, said Metrobus needed to ‘be honest and realistic’.

“Many of us have expressed our concerns over the years as original proposals for a rapid transit system became, mainly on cost grounds, a guided bus system and then, increasingly, merely a series of over-engineered bus lanes with a bare minimum of guided sections,” he said.

“The fact that the ‘northern route’, which has no guided sections, has now been given priority lends credence to the claims of serious problems with the guided sections of the Ashton Vale route.

“Those responsible for delivering Metrobus need to be honest and realistic with the Bristol public and our elected councillors and MPs about the problems affecting the delivery of Metrobus including a realistic timeframe for full and regular operations to begin.

“Until then, we should take a cautious approach to any further expansion of the Metrobus network until confidence has been restored in the ability of such schemes to be delivered on time and on budget and as specified,” he added.

South Bristol MP Karin Smyth, who last week criticised Metrobus for dropping the Long Ashton – Hengrove route after its absence from the route maps was revealed by BristolLive, said there was ‘a culture of secrecy’ with the project.

“The secrecy and lack of thinking about how this is going to look needs to be dealt with,” said Ms Smyth. “The defensiveness creeps in and people aren’t thinking sensibly about how to be open and honest about what’s going on.”

All the ticket machines and other infrastructure has now been put into that route, and it is due to open at the end of May.

After crossing a field and running alongside the industrial estates of Ashton Vale, it is lifted over the main Bristol-South West railway and brought parallel with Winterstoke Road by an S-shaped flyover.

I see that Portishead is now on the main railway to the South West.

Don't worry, everything is fine. Metrobust said so!

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/metrobus-winterstoke-road-flyover-no-1468106

Has anyone else noticed that the Bristol Post seems to have turned into BristolLive?

As have all the local papers run by the same company. The Bath Chronicle is now part of SomersetLive.

Has anyone else noticed that the Bristol Post seems to have turned into BristolLive?

Don't worry, everything is fine. Metrobust said so!

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/metrobus-winterstoke-road-flyover-no-1468106

Cynical, but probably true  :P

Bristol's Metrobus has come in for more criticism after two stops - one at Bristol's second busiest train station - disappeared from the route map.

Campaigners have told BBC Radio Bristol that it "beggars belief" that a stop at the busy commuter station - that sees 2.5m passengers a year - has been temporarily abandoned due to continued access problems.

In a statement Metrobus say Parkway "is a constrained site, and that work to redesign access to it is due to start at the end of the year."

Metrobus will finally launch its M3 route, from Emersons Green to the City Centre, next month.

It's been a rough few days for the network, with further delays to the M2 route in South Bristol due to ongoing testing concerns and stinging criticism from MP Karin Smyth after a planned route from Hengrove to the City Centre appeared to be dropped altogether and was instead described as "aspirational."

YES YOU COULDN'T MAKE IT UP, COULD YOU.

BristolLive understands the measurements for the width of the guided elements of the bus had a certain arc of tolerance, but the two element involvements – the guided rail on the track and the guiding wheels on the bus – have come in at the ‘opposite extremes of the tolerances allowed’.

A Metrobus spokesperson confirmed following testing of the height of the guideway, it now needs to be ‘adjusted in a number of places’.

.... the roads around BPW are visible to ANYONE! .... try driving a bus along those roads to see if they would fit beforehand???!!!

... but it's the original Emersons Green to Parkway I don't understand...

That's because the number 10 takes just under an hour to get from Emersons to Parkway, hence the idea of having a Metrobus to replace it in the first place...  the last 10 service from Parkway back this way is before 8pm and there's no service on Sundays, leaving just the 19 which on a Sunday doesn't run far past 6pm.  My son who works over there ends up having to get taxis home if i'm not about to pick him up!  Just more false promises, and after years of us enduring roadworks on the ring road to get this thing up and running

Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyCGjVGruRk

Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyCGjVGruRk

Just imagine how efficient it would be if MetroBug just ran from the depot to the first stop and back again. No delays or problems with ticket machines! None of those pesky passengers!

I'm intrigued, what will happen on MetroBus when a stops ticket machine is OOO, will the bus drivers convey passengers to the next stop where the ticket machine is fit and well and make passengers get off, get their tickets and wait while the multitude obtain their tickets and reboard the vehicle, that'll slow down the service.

.... whereas ticket machines - employing modern electronic reliable robust technology - will very rarely by Out of Order, so the delays in this circumstance will be very rare indeed, right?

I'm intrigued, what will happen on MetroBus when a stops ticket machine is OOO, will the bus drivers convey passengers to the next stop where the ticket machine is fit and well and make passengers get off, get their tickets and wait while the multitude obtain their tickets and reboard the vehicle, that'll slow down the service.

We could always look for a precedent - presumably at least one of the hundreds of other operators worldwide who use this sort of system will have come up with a good answer.

They would probably look at MetroBust and say "But it's just a bus!"

The BristleLivePost, or is it Bristol Post-Life, has a story about "Bristol's silliest bus lane," referring to lane on Cumberland Rd installed for MetroBus. The alleged silliness comes from its short length and the parking spaces in it. Ok, that's silly but Bristol's silliest? The bus lane on Gloucester Rd has exactly the same features, as I'm sure do many others.
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/metrobus-bristol-silliest-bus-lane-1517434

As an aside I rode my bicycle in this lane yesterday and over the nearby bridge (the one near Create Centre, not the new snaky one!) so I'm going to claim I've already used MetroBus.  :P

The bus lane on Gloucester Rd has exactly the same features, as I'm sure do many others.

The first MetroBus route, Service M3 will commence operating from 27 May 2018 and will link the City Centre with Emersons Green via UWE every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday between approximately 0600 and 1900 and every 30 minutes between 1900 and 2100. There will be no service on Sundays and Public Holidays.

Service M3 will operate a limited stop service and will take advantage of a number of bus priority measures along the route, including the M32 bus only junction.

Service M3 will be free of charge to use until 9 June 2018.

After 9 June 2018 tickets will need to be purchased off-bus as MetroBus does not allow for tickets to be purchased from the driver. This can be done by Metrobus iPoints, First mTicket app, Travelwest smartcards, payZone stores or Avon/Bristol rider tickets.

Service UWE will be withdrawn from 27 May 2018. Passengers normally using service UWE during the summer holidays will be able to use MetroBus Service M3 for travel between the City Centre and UWE. Service M3 operates up to every 20 minutes between 0600 and 2100.

Up to every 20 minutes means that they may also be less frequent than that at times. They are quoting the maximum frequency

What are they going to do with the bus lane for the other 19 minutes in 20??

New service T1 will operate every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime and every 60 minutes Sunday / Public Holiday daytime.

The route from Bristol will be via the M32, A4174, Stoke Gifford Transport Link and Bradley Stoke Way to Aztec West, then following the current Service 78/79 route to Thornbury Town Centre.

Within Thornbury, Service T1 will operate a one way loop, which will serve more of Moreton Way and will return directly to Thornbury Town Centre via Gloucester Road

Service T1 will start and terminate at Colston Street in Bristol City Centre and will not stop in Bristol Bus Station.

... and hope they've tested the feasibility of the buses to adequately perform a three point turn at the bottom of Colston Street outside the Colston Hall.

You'ld be surprised where they can turn a bus  ;D

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/turnabus.jpg)

They're gonna use two of the remaining 57 in the hour for the re-routed Thornbury service 79 which will become the T1 and start from Colston Street which is effectively a cul-de-sac after all the upheaval and revamping in the centre and hope they've tested the feasibility of the buses to adequately perform a three point turn at the bottom of Colston Street outside the Colston Hall.

.... let's not get away from the fact that the roadworks at The Centre constitute an improvement ....

As for turning buses: I dare say they'll use the, er,  bus turning circle at the junction of Prince St and King St....

How do you make out Colston Street to be "effectively a cul-de-sac"?

Buses, taxis and cycles can go along the full length of Colston St and turn left on to Colston Av. Unless they've changed it again in the last month or so. There's a sign there calling this a "bus gate", which might make a good description for the whole MetroBus project.  ;D

You'ld be surprised where they can turn a bus  ;D

Evidently you are too young to remember how the Centre looked in the early 1950's

I'm all for criticising JustaBus, but let's not get away from the fact that the roadworks at The Centre constitute an improvement - it has been a hellish mess since they put the Inner Circuit Road through, so the upheaval of finally burying that was well worthwhile.

I have said it many times, Metrobus will fail because it does not integrate with a frequent rail service!

A bus every 5 minutes, with connecting trains every 10 minutes ... and so on, all on one ticket!

When Metrobus starts in Bradley Stoke, I'll have a twenty minute stroll to Willow Brook shopping centre, and then a 35 minute bus journey to Bristol Centre, or a two minute stroll and get 73 bus for 50 minutes bus journey, or a 12 minute cycle ride to Bristol Parkway for a 15 minute train journey.

Will I get Metrobus?, yes once to try it out, and then back to my bike and train.

So, I think the 73 will survive, they may change the frequency a bit, but so long as it better than every 30 minutes it should be ok

I wonder what would happen to those bridges and bus lanes if the whole project were cancelled?

An instant motorway junction for UWE Frenchay Campus.

Cycle paths!  :) ;) :D ;D 8) ??? ::) :P :-[ :-X :-\ :-* :'(

An instant motorway junction for UWE Frenchay Campus.

Cycle paths!  :) ;) :D ;D 8) ??? ::) :P :-[ :-X :-\ :-* :'(

Just announced this morning further Metrobus delays.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/metrobus-confirm-further-delays-south-1572004 (https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/metrobus-confirm-further-delays-south-1572004)

Should just cancel the whole project and tell First Bus to run an extra two or three 'X' services

Bosses have now confirmed the M2 service, from Ashton Vale to Temple Meads, is not expected to be up and running until Autumn this year. They added: "When we have a more definite date we will let you know."

The Metrobus route from Hengrove to Cribbs Causeway, or M1 service, has now been delayed again until January 2019.

A statement from organisations involved in Metrobus, including Bristol councillors, the managing director of First and the chief executive of HCT which runs Bristol Community Transport called this announcement "good news".

Councillors Mhairi Threlfall, Colin Hunt and Elfan Ap Rees, First managing director James Freeman and Dai Powell from HCT said in the joint statement: "With the preparations for the start of the first Metrobus service the M3 from Emersons Green into the city centre on May 29, are well underway, we are all pleased to give you more good news about the M1 and M2 services.
 
"We can now let you know that the M2 service, from Long Ashton Park and Ride via Temple Meads to the city centre, will start in Autumn, and the M1 service, from Hengrove to Cribbs Causeway, will start in January next year."

....    Seems Metrobust's PR people are as confused and disorganised as the rest of the outfit.

So come on forum members, what do you think ?  With all the other bus stops within the 'B' series having them described as Broadmead followed by the actual street name or landmark of the stops location am I right in my assumption that yet again the outfit overseeing this project have got it wrong once again on this issue.

We have a perfectly good national system - Naptan - which gives a unique code to all bus stops.   I live a few yards from wilamdad, for example. Also known as 4600WIA10813 (AtcoCode) . See https://geopunk.co.uk/bus-stop/4600WIA10813.

The first three letters of the Naptan code are the local transport area, which means that locally you could refer to bus stops with a unique 5 letter name.   So get on the D3 and ask for a ticket to "Amdad" ...

Edit to add - see also https://bus.traveluk.info/stop-finder/postcode/sn12+7ny - to translate postcodes to bus stops and bus routes.

Very useful if you have a database of https's in your head but not if you are armed with a city centre map and a bus timetable quoting Broadmead, Broadmead (B1).  ;D

Then rename it bstgdwa in the timetable  ;D ;D https://bus.traveluk.info/stop-finder/stopcode/bstgdwa

... ask a bus driver where stop bstgdwa is and he'll tell you how the f*** do I know.

Answer: "It's on your f***ing official timetable sheet"  ;D ;D

Answer: "It's on your f***ing official timetable sheet"  ;D ;D

... currently referred to as Callowhill Court (Will that name stick? Hannah Callowhill, although feted in the USA, was married to William Penn, who was a bit a slave trader).

William Penn, the noted Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania, a bit of a slave trader? Seems highly unlikely. His father, the admiral, might have been. As for Callowhill, I don't think the name will be widely associated with a person at all (which doesn't mean it will stick though).

Good News!

https://www.firstgroup.com/bristol-bath-and-west/news-and-service-updates/news/first-improves-bus-services-linking-thornbury  (https://www.firstgroup.com/bristol-bath-and-west/news-and-service-updates/news/first-improves-bus-services-linking-thornbury)

First Bristol will start running a new express service, every 30 minutes, from Thornbury to Bristol using the new Stoke Gifford Link Road (Metrobus).

Hmm, not for me. The new timetable appears to represent a 50% reduction in the number of busses to and from my Gloucester Road bus stop to get to and from work at Aztec West.

I feared this would happen. Ho hum, guess it'll have to be the 75 from now and the extra mile walk each way. Well done Metrobust!

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

As I write, I'm not on the 78 service to work that I used to take as there is not one anymore. 75 now with the extra mile walk. Well, at least it is summer.

I assume that under the current law, there is nothing to stop any bus company replacing the discontinued routes with their own if the MetroBus concept is so unpopular ....

I find the idea that winners and losers must co-exist within are transport system sad.

Sure that many people on Thornbury - Bradley Stoke corridor have an improved service because of the new route of the T1 saving 15 minutes of their journey.

I thought the T2 route was the same as the old 78, with an hourly service.

Is the 73 of any use?

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.

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

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.

.... "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.

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

Last Tuesday I travelled on the A1 Airport bus (from the airport to BTM) and I didn't notice anything to do with METROBUS.  Did I miss anything?

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!'

Last Tuesday I travelled on the A1 Airport bus (from the airport to BTM) and I didn't notice anything to do with METROBUS.  Did I miss anything?

Soothing says from the soothsayer ?. Hardly !

Well, I have been there and done that!

Question - When is a bus lane not a bus lane ?

Answer - When its a MetroBus lane.


Came home this evening courtesy of First Buses X47 from Cabot Circus specially to time the journey. boarded bus and departed Cabot Circus at 15:57. Past Willy Wicket Metrobus stop at 16:11 and stopped at first X47 stop after Cabot Circus, Kendleshire - Cuckoo Lane at 16:12. A journey time of 15 minutes whereas Metrobus journey time to the Willy Wicket stop is 20 minutes admittedly through using the M32 bus only exit and via UWE Frenchay Campus.

However one thing was noticeable, when the bus exited the M32 the driver made no attempt to use the bus only lanes on the ring road particularly between the Bromley Heath and Willy Wicket roundabouts which are both traffic light controlled despite the fact that two empty coaches passed the bus on them.

When I alighted, knowing the driver, I jokingly said to him, "I see you don't believe in these 'er bus lanes then". He replied, "Its not that, we're not allowed too, if the bus lane camera pick up any vehicle other than a registered Metrobus vehicle then the company gets fined and as the driver the fine is deducted from our money. The unions onto it though".

Will raise this matter if I get a chance at the hastily convened public meeting on Wednesday, 6th June.

To conclude this post, for many of you readers not familiar with the area, the Willy Wicket is a very nice Pub / Restaurant adjacent to the Ring Road at the, yes, Willy Wicket roundabout and yes it has its own "MetroBus Station", the Willy Wicket stop.

So if you've been working hard on your allotment and find yourself almost overcome by thirst and in need of one of those pints at the Willy Wicket...

And I thought MetroBust was pointless!

Again, nobody takes responsibility.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/metrobus-tweeted-urging-people-use-1643608

I wonder if forum reader Red Squirrel was one of those taken in by the very same twitter tweet.

Don't mind me; I'm just trying to remember where I buried me nuts...

They're in the topic; one in every bite.

Squirrel s**t

According to last nights TV news, another £200,000 of public money is to be spent on metrobust correcting some sections of the guided bus way that have been built to the wrong dimensions.
Further delay is expected before the whole system opens.

BBC local news website reports that the corrections to the bus ways will cost the local taxpayers an additional £200,000. The authorities described these as fairly straightforward adjustments without mentioning the cost. They also claimed 5000 users a day while omitting to include that the service is free to users right now, presumably also being paid for by local taxpayers as First won't be doing it for free.

have a spare vehicle standing by...

Sunday 10 June 2018.

Metrobus don't run SUNDAYS.

As an aside, I downloaded the Bristol City Centre A1 Bus map from the Airport Flyer website to check where to pick up the bus at BTM station.  Its shown as Stop Tb https://flyer.bristolairport.co.uk/stops-and-maps.  No such stop onsite.  In fact it picks up way down the station approach road and I had to run to catch it.  Well, the map is dated 2013...... :P  Very helpfull indeed (not).

Quick question, there there a park and ride anywhere on the current route?

Lyde Green.

.... Metrobust. I not really sure what it is and where it goes. Is it like the Cambridge busway.?

Is it like the Cambridge busway.?

... can anyone tell me the difference between the Theatre Royal and the Old Vic? I could go on, but I think I can hear snoring at the back...

Spare vehicle? Yer avin a giraffe..!  :)

Yes.  Delivered late, over budget and disappointing many.

But now that it's here (or some of it is), we should really look to make the best use of it as a bus with 35 people on is better that 25 cars carrying 1.46 people each!

Similar to the difference between Ashton Gate stadium and Bristol City FC. The Theatre Royal is the historic building, within which the Bristol Old Vic theatre company has been based since 1946...

Now that free riding is over ... how are passenger numbers holding up and is the ticketing system working?

Over half an hour from the Park and Ride to the City, with over half that time spent on the road in North Bristol before the bus joins the Motorway.  Is that going to be attractive enough?

This is not really MetroBus and I sincerely apologise for this and I hope all readers will see the "funny side" of this post.

After alighting from MetroBus this morning I alighted and walking to my clients office and I noticed a "HASHTAG" on the edges of the coping slabs topping a low wall and I thought I'll get a shot of that going home but unfortunately the speed of the Bristol Council today saw just the last few characters to be pressure washed off.

The HASHTAG

#joinusinamasspissintothecityhallmoatasaprotestagainstmarvinsmassclosureofthecityspisshouses

Now that free riding is over ... how are passenger numbers holding up and is the ticketing system working?

Over half an hour from the Park and Ride to the City, with over half that time spent on the road in North Bristol before the bus joins the Motorway.  Is that going to be attractive enough?

The ipoint counted the minutes down until it showed 'due'. It continued to show due and due and due and, well you get it. 20 mins 'due' later it finally arrived with it's following sevice due at the same time, already showing a few minutes late.

The motorway exit road was taken at a crawl, probably for the best looking at the slope and the bends on what looked like a go cart track.
We passed various stops along the route.

We both agreed that the best bits where underwhelming but the overriding thought was "Bristol, what have you done"?

It's not much of aa park and ride - maybe 40 spaces? Given that there is only one stop in Lyde Green, I can see those being used by local residents rather than out of town visitors.

But I'm sure you're right, they're meant to be local spaces for local people; presumably the intent is that they drive 2-300m from their house to the bus stop...

Its termed a P&R but I bet the promoters of this project did not envisage commuters driving their cars to this P&R, extracting a cycle from their cars boot or removing it from the cars cycle carrier and RIDING their bike the last few miles to places like Aztech West, Abbey Wood or UWE daily to "keep in trim". I've seen at least half a dozen folk do this.

I wondered about that. If you did want to go from UWE to Temple Meads for some strange reason, like catching a train, you would need to change buses or walk. There seems to be only one common bus stop, and I haven't seen anything to say you can do it on one ticket. Which you would expect from a groundbreaking integrated transport system, like what the Welsh are getting.

I note that the M3 bus route is not yet complete - it's due to carry on to the south and will server the stations at Bedminster and Parson Street.

Welcome to the forum, Pavement.   

If you suggest that Bedminster and Parson Street are less useful that Temple Meads, I would have to agree.

I wondered about that. If you did want to go from UWE to Temple Meads for some strange reason, like catching a train, you would need to change buses or walk. There seems to be only one common bus stop, and I haven't seen anything to say you can do it on one ticket. Which you would expect from a groundbreaking integrated transport system, like what the Welsh are getting.

Hello, is there a good reason the M3 doesn't do a loop of the city centre, following the route of the M2, before heading back north? Surely a fast bus between Temple Meads and UWE would be very beneficial and well used.

Why not use the UWE to Temple Meads bus from UWE to Temple Meads, the 71, I think, without changing buses and on one single ticket. The First Bus Bristol Inner Zone day ticket will give a days travel within the Inner Zone or at a slightly higher price, the Bristol Rider day ticket which permits travel on any bus operators services in the Inner Zone. At a higher price, the Bristol Outer Zone ticket covers the area from Bath to Weston-Super-Mare. down south to Wells and north to Thornbury and Chipping Sodbury with the Avon Rider ticket covering all operators services in the outer Zone. If it is still marketed, the First day ticket which permitted travel on First Group buses in the Bristol Outer Zone and First Group rail services between Bath and Weston-Super-Mare and to Bristol Parkway and Yate.

Went out cycling with one of the offspring this afternoon, and stumbled upon the South Glos Link Road. For the benefit of anyone who is still under the misapprehension that JustaBus is some sort of guided busway, I attach a photo of this. It is astonishingly wide; perhaps the best thing you could say about it is that you could squeeze a couple of tram tracks up the middle of if and hardly notice.

Stoke Gifford bypass is probably a more sensible name for it. Unless it's actually a Bradley Stoke bypass, or maybe a Little Stoke bypass.

Its official name is Stoke Gifford Transport Link...

I'm old enough to remember when the official name for the QE2 was 'Q4'... I seem to remember they followed the build on 'Blue Peter'.

I don't remember Spike Milligan on Blue Peter 😉

I'm old enough to remember when the official name for the QE2 was 'Q4'... I seem to remember they followed the build on 'Blue Peter'.

Was it in the Sunken Garden?

I don't think you would want to do a clearance test/check at normal speed.  The railway certainly doesn't.