Great Western Coffee Shop

First are revising, and renumbering, their services in West Wilts from 29 April.   Details are now available on Travelinesw but the main changes appear to be as follows:-

265 to become D1 - No changes to weekday services but through services restored to Warminster on Sundays

271/2 to be come D3 - All journeys routed via Batheaston. Improved M-F morning peak services with an earlier return journey Melksham to Bath. Weekday daytime frequency improved to every 30 mins. Through Sunday services to Urchfont restored with all services running via West Lavington in each direction and last Melksham journey extended to Devizes. Sunday timings revised.

Service 267 is to become D2 with a similar increase in daytime frequency to every 30 mins. I have not checked the detail changes to this service

Indeed ... there are a couple of little route changes on the D2 (was 267) and significant frequency step ups on the D3 (now via Batheaston, was 271 and 272) and the D2.     Careful consideration underway / discussions under way between a number of interested local parties to be making sure that all of this works well for the routes and for the wider public transport use in the areas / towns served.   Just one of the things that's been keeping me entertained for the last 48 hours!

And with the clocks going forward tomorrow Graham, you’ll have one hour less to fit things into your busy schedule!  ;D

Taking a serious look at a couple of things on the periphery of what I'm doing to allow more time for key issues.  Please, Coffee Shop members, do not take The Coffee Shop as being on the periphery!

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From the Transport Focus survey we're discussing at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=19540


Yes ... but I'm not sure that's universal.  Looking at the 271/272/D3 I suspect that the average passenger age - at present - is well in excess of "young" and the Town Bus in Melksham even higher.  Perhaps that indicates untapped markets?  The careful scheduling of certain buses in our area as to their location at 09:30, and observation, suggests that a key building block in the schedule is the ENCTS (senior pass holder) market, with the pattern of service for the rest of the day appearing to be based on that group.  Wiltshire Council 2016 figures indicate for some routes (NOT the 271/272/D3) that over 90% of journeys are made on senior passes ...

On the age profile of users, there will be huge diversity depending on the area served and time of service. Where I live in Oldfield Park the local services can be predominantly used by students (and not just the university buses), but at some times of day, most users will be the elderly.

Just out of interest, why are the number changes being proposed? (and such a radical change). What does the D represent - Devizes?

Agreed on the diversity ... seniors on U1 and U2 in Bath are probably advised that they're on the wrong bus as it goes to the University  ;D.    The "D" is not Devizes - note the D1, D2, D3 for three routes.  With a change in numbers, some routes, and frequencies, it's unlikely that the changes will slip in quietly and there will be publicity in the lead up to, and for a period after, the changes.

Could stand for Diamond Travelcard Holders only.

In my cynicism does that make those routes prime candidates by WCC to have their subsidies withdrawn as a result of austerity cuts.

OK - making this clear - you are NOT talking about subsidies on First's services  in that question but about other Wiltshire Council supported services with a high proportion of senior use.

The Wiltshire Council philosophy has been (above the legal minimums) to subsidise services which are used by the vulnerable and that translates quite accurately into "the elderly who have no practical alternative".  So the correlation that you're suggesting between willingness to subsidies and proportion of ENCTS passengers isn't there - in fact (if anything) the opposite would be true.   People in work are not regarded as vulnerable like the seniors are, and indeed past form is that subsidy is withdrawn from needed-for-work services before needed-for-senior services.  The paradox here is that taking off needed-for-work services has in some instances meant a loss of employment for people, thus adding them to the "vulnerable" category.

Follow up on the D1 / D2 / D3 ... having seen timetables and route details online.  2 weeks to go.

Sources tell me that Faresaver are "pissed" about the changes.  Not a surprise; I expect that First were "pissed" when Faresaver got involved in those routes, where First previously ran the only services, and started running buses at times designed to complete.   This being "pissed" at your competitor's moved on a commercial route is, I'm afraid, a standard part of the game.

I hope that the tuning of buses to compute even more closely with each other on the D2 (Frome) and D3 (Melksham) does not mean that both operators concentrate on the core profitable elements of the route(s). There may be a temptation to take out socially important elements that work when there's no competition (with through passengers using the bus even though it's a bit slow as it's the only option) but loose your through passengers to the faster competitor if (s)he exists.

Nothing on the First Group site as yet but available on travelinesw.com (http://travelinesw.com)

https://www.facebook.com/events/243890699492014/


From that link:


Link also includs links to timetables

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The D represents Discover.  This Bus Queen had a part in choosing the new brand name. First bus were looking for a new brand name at a customer panel meeting that I attended & I suggested Discover. My main reasons behind the name was that Frome has a Discover Frome website. The discover name will also tie in nicely with their existing Xplorer fleet after all what do you do when you explore you Discover. Hope you all love the new brand name as much as me & First bus.

I am also pleased to see that they have upped the frequency of buses for Frome. They have also given us a bus back from Sainsburys to one of our large housing estates. I cant wait to see this posh new yellow bus coming through Frome soon.

I am sorry but the name of the service is immaterial to me.  When I use a transport service I want to go from A to B at a reasonable time, in reasonable comfort at an affordable fare.

Once on it, that's fair enough.  A branding helps significantly with the marketing ... helping you (and others like you) become aware of and be reminded about the service from A to B and encouraging more people to try it.   We have issues in these parts that public transport use is not as great as perhaps it should be, and promotion is welcome!

Launch event, Monday, Trowbridge

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Representatives of Trowbridge Town, Wiltshire Council, and First Bus pose for publicity pictures.   Buses look quite nice too !

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Written for elsewhere and shared ... "Bus Wars" rear their head again.

What does the public want for their public transport?  May I suggest an an answer. A reasonably frequent, reasonably fast, safe, reliable, sensibly priced, comfortable and stable network of bus services on which they can travel where they want, when they want.  And a system about which informaion is easily to hand - routes, timetables, operational changes on the day, and under which travel can be planned and amended at the last minute.

All those elements should be "no-brainers" - not only for the people who use public transport, but also for the people who drive it, the people who maintain it, the people who's communties and businesses it serves, and the environment and quality of life too - even for the people for whom a bus or train journey is never appropriate, as more people on public transport means less congestion on the roads.   Problem is, though, that the long term goals on who's principles we can probably all agree get overshadowed by the shorter term josting for position and passnegers on the more lucrative routes as operators compete with each other rather than the private car, and look to maximise their income rather than their passenger numbers, while on the borderline parts of the network and at marginal times of day, services are trimmed back to - and sometimes beyond - what people will actually use.

First bus - and before them Badgerline, and Bristol Omnibus - have been running Bath - Melksham  (and beyond) services for over 50 years. The 271 route number which ceases this Saturday night dates back to 1967, though there has been much change - see http://bristol-re.co.uk/bvbg/routes.asp?opt=S&IL1=3100 .  According to that page, Faresaver (an independent operator) ran some services in 1995-97, in 2006/7, and then from 2010 onwards.  Whether the earlier dates were in the nature of competition with the incumbent operator, or timed to knit in with the First services to make a better complete service, I do not know - but certainly the services as they have grown back from 2010, and the two different fare regimes, have lead us to a situation where better use could be made of the resources to provide an overall service of the sort I decsibed at the top of this article.

How you aportion "blame" for the bus service not being ideal is up to you, dear reader. Six of one, half a dozen of the other, with a further couple of handfuls of blame on "the system" - the system is the main culprit for sure, as these issues of what I describe as "bus wars" not being unique to Wiltshire, or to these two companies.

So - what is the prognosis for the bus route from Melksham to Bath?  With 4 vehicles per hour, we have an excellent service that for most of the day actually leaves at 15 minute intervals.  Returning it's not quite so good, with Faresaver leaving 10 minutes in advance of First. Faversaver's final bus back is 17:40 ... First offer later journeys at 18:05, 18:45, 20:00, 21:30 and 23:20.  If people use it and make the modal shift, I believe the  corridor can support 4 vehicles per hour. Without the modal shift, I fear that we might see yet another line in that history line in the listed 47 services/operators that have run over the years!  As a user of the evening bus to get back to Melksham when I'm working away, please forgive my preference - should we have a shakeout - for the operator with whom I can leave Bristol with up to 22:40, arther than the one I would have to be away by 17:06 for the last bus.   

My real preference ... I can point you to further details elsewhere ... would be 3 rather than 4 services an hour, on somewhat varied routes to replace some spasmodic other services with a regular bus and (pie in the sky time!) people who buy a ticket to go into Bath with one operator able to return with the other.

My worst fear ... that the company running a daytime only, never-on-a-Sunday service will come out as victor, and the bus service from Melksham to Bath will be reduced to a service for pensioners, school traffic, and a few who work very near the centre of Bath only, just like happened when the same two companies competed on Melksham to Chippenham.

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The beginning of the end for Faresaver on this route then?

Not necessarily - see my comments upthread at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=19537.msg236563#msg236563

I have now seen a copy of the timetable leaflet covering the D2 service Bath to Frome. The previous 267 service has been reworked to a half hourly frequency during the day (now in direct competition with Faresaver), and alternately covering slightly varying routes within Frome. This provides for access over a wider area with the evening services still retained. I trust most people will welcome this as a great improvement. The leaflet is also very well produced with good maps and historical/tourist information which is all designed to increase ridership.

I assume the D1 and D2 have similar leaflets but for Frome, FAVBUG and the Bus Queen together with First Bus should be congratulated on a great effort. This shows what can be done with some adventurous thinking and marketing to develop bus services where the pattern can tend to become fossilised. 

The D3 (Bath to Melksham) leaflet is similar (and of good quality) to the D2 (Bath to Frome) and likewise is stepped up to half hourly.  It too has a slight route variation - this time in that it now serves Batheaston rather than (!) queueing to get off the Batheaston Bypass.  Congratulations indeed to the Frome "end" who have been the lead at the launch stage.

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From https://www.facebook.com/melkshambus


and from TWSW also on Facebook