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Author Topic: MetroBus  (Read 236598 times)
martyjon
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« Reply #435 on: June 04, 2018, 20:40:22 »

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.



 
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TonyK
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« Reply #436 on: June 05, 2018, 13:10:40 »

Well, I have been there and done that! I have ridden on MetroBust, from Cabot Circus to Emersons Green and back. I was distinctly underwhelmed by the experience.
The driver was very cheerful. The bus was nice, although the air conditioning upstairs was a bit urgent. But the roads are pretty awful in places, leading to an uncomfortable ride, bumpy and bouncy, especially on corners. With the exception of UWE, where the bus practically emptied, the stops seem sited to suit the needs of the bus, not the passengers.
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chuffed
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« Reply #437 on: June 05, 2018, 13:31:13 »

Soothing says from the soothsayer ?. Hardly !
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TonyK
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« Reply #438 on: June 05, 2018, 15:00:56 »

Soothing says from the soothsayer ?. Hardly !

Seething, maybe.
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Red Squirrel
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« Reply #439 on: June 05, 2018, 18:03:16 »

Well, I have been there and done that!

#MeToo

First impressions:

Waiting at The Centre, it felt like something new - the offboard ticket machine and capacious bus stop felt almost like, well, a tram stop. We managed to collar the front seats upstairs, where the cold blast referred to by FT, N soon had me wishing I had had Squirrel Jr's foresight and worn a hoodie. It didn't take long for the 'tram-like' illusion to dissolve; the bumping and swaying soon confirmed that this was no tram but just a bus.

I take the point about the positioning of stops - the one at Stapleton Allotments smacks of self-parody, though if this were a tram and not just a bus it would almost make sense. Further out on the Ring Road, it appeared that no attempt has been made to make the stops useful or accessible. Further out we found ourselves in a very odd place where none of the houses had chimneys; here was an alleged 'Park and Ride' with spaces for a dozen or so cars (which is roughly the number of commuters that park outside our house in the morning since we were omitted from the Resident's Parking Zones) and some unmade or partially-made roads where the bus has to literally bump over kerbs to negotiate the route.

I'm uncomfortable with being too negative about this - I can't compare it with the regular bus - but it feels like it was designed by someone with two Jags who has heard of buses (and trams) but whose only real experience of them is as an obstacle when they are being driven across town.

A couple of paracetamol seem to be finally getting a grip on the splitting headache that descended on me after 40 minutes under the arctic blast. Overall, I'm happy in the knowledge that I won't have any call to do that again.
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TonyK
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« Reply #440 on: June 05, 2018, 19:51:58 »

I'm glad it's not just me. Part of me was hoping to be made to look a pillock after all my years of shouting spite. I was half-hoping (well, 3/64ths) to come home like Saul of Tarsus, on the road to Damascus, scales fallen from my eyes, saying "Guys! Guys! I was wrong! MetroBust is truly the answer to all of our problems!" But no. I had a cup of coffee in Sainsburys, which is much better served by the local buses, then went home. I forgot the toilet cleaner I was going to buy there, so it wasn't even the road to Domestos.

Both ways, I passed through the chimney-free ghost town mentioned by Red Squirrel. When a park and ride is the nearest you get to a heart in a locality, you know the estate agent has problems, too. This bus will be heavily used by UWE students, especially as the previous service was withdrawn, and by a few of the former X48 passengers.

I wasn't expecting much, but it was worse.
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martyjon
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« Reply #441 on: June 05, 2018, 20:33:41 »

Yesterday I posted ;-

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.


Well, today my return home was courtesy of the same timed First buses X47 which left the Cabot Circus "Metrobus Station" at 14:01 and we passed the Willy Wicket "Metrobus Station" at 15:15, 1 minute quicker than yesterdays journey AND with the same driver.

I did take a particular note of the BUS LANE signage on the ring road today and they have a pictogram of a single decker bus and a motor cyclist accompanying the three words "Authorised Vehicles Taxis".

AND today as I alighted my friend, the bus driver, said one word to me "sorted" and winked, I knew what he was referring to, when we hit the traffic backing up from the Willy Wicket roundabout and as soon as the driver was able, he pulled into the "MetroBus ONLY Lane" which has seemingly lost the "Metro" bit, maybe something to do with potential "flak" being exploded at tomorrow meeting or maybe the power of this forum. I, however, have an "incendiary" to explode at the meeting tomorrow if I get a chance. Notices at the Park and Ride state in RED wording, "FREE PARKING", and later down the notice reads, "If a Blue Badge is displayed parking is free" and then another phrase on the same notice limits parking time to 12 hours. Yet another phrase promises the Park and Ride commuters a "Penalty fine of up to £70 for exceeding the time limit". This precludes those commuters who may work 12 hour shifts from using MetroBus even though they have contributed to the cost through their General and Council Taxes, nothing like driving business away.

Tomorrows meeting sure is going to be interesting if not explosive.

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.



 
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TonyK
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« Reply #442 on: June 05, 2018, 20:39:17 »

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!
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martyjon
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« Reply #443 on: June 05, 2018, 21:53:20 »

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!


Could do a pub crawl, after a pint at the Willy Wicket get Metrobus to the next station, Emerald Park, and drop into The Folly, another nice pub / restaurant for a second pint then cross the road and crawl to one's apartment abode in the apartment town of Lyde Green.
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johnneyw
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« Reply #444 on: June 05, 2018, 23:31:18 »

Talking off pub crawls, is it not about time for another forum pub meet soon? Missed the last one yonks ago but willing and able (just about) for another, as long as it isn't on a Justabus route. Mods, feel free to put this on a more relevant thread if appropriate.
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johnneyw
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« Reply #445 on: June 06, 2018, 00:36:12 »

Again, nobody takes responsibility.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/metrobus-tweeted-urging-people-use-1643608
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martyjon
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« Reply #446 on: June 06, 2018, 07:09:49 »



For those readers of this forum that find the quoted website a pain to use like I do, the story relates to a twitter tweet urging people to tryout MetroBus for free this weekend [2/3 June] when in fact there is NO SUNDAY SERVICE.

I wonder if forum reader Red Squirrel was one of those taken in by the very same twitter tweet.
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Oberon
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« Reply #447 on: June 06, 2018, 08:02:53 »

Contrary to the Portishead scheme being dead in the water this newspaper cutting seems to suggest otherwise. So perhaps there is hope..

http://www.northsomersettimes.co.uk/news/portishead-railway-letter-provides-boost-1-5549512
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TonyK
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« Reply #448 on: June 06, 2018, 09:14:56 »

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

Squirrels are brighter than that!
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chuffed
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« Reply #449 on: June 06, 2018, 09:26:05 »

Oh so , it's Read Squirrel and not Red Squirrel now is it ? Probably went on the metrobus to get out of all the
Dreyfuss at home !
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