Melksham to Devizes buses - and the wider Wiltshire bus picture

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Melksham to Devizes buses - changes as from today.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/option247/permalink/456607134689858/

On Monday to Saturday during the daytime, buses between Melksham and Devizes are provided by Faresaver

On Monday to Saturday during the evening, buses between Melksham and Devizes are provide by First West of England

On Sunday and public holiday during the daytime, buses between Melksham and Devizes are provide by Salisbury Reds

Every evening at 20:50 (21:00 on Friday) there is a bus run by National Express from Devizes to Melksham

Every morning (07:35 Monday to Friday, 07:55 Saturday and Sunday) there is a National Express bus from Melksham to Devizes

Four operators, four different timetables, four different fare structures. For goodness sake, can't you operators and council work together to provide something that's easy for the public to find out about, easy for the public to understand, encouraging for more of the public to use?   That way, you'll encourage more passengers onto your buses for the good of all.

This arrangement may be only temporary.  It started in this form earlier today (30th April 2017) and is being re-tendered this summer with potential change in 8 months time to "supported" services.  And the other services (the "commercial" ones) can be changes at 6 weeks notice at the sole discression of the bus operator - no consulting required, and no requirement to consider social effect.  I suspect we're safe for a few months, but I do have a meeting with one of the bus companies in late May where we may learn otherwise in the post-local-election environment.

Monday to Saturday buses by First and Faresaver run beyond Melksham to Bath
Sunday buses terminate in Melksham and offer connections (up to 21 minutes wait) to and from Bath
National Express evening services run beyond Melksham to Trowbridge and From. No connection from Bath into the morning bus.

This isn't the only example of services being provided on a piecemeal basis, where joined up planning might help.

The Bus Services Act 2017 allows bus operators and councils to work together towards that joined up planning that's so much needed on this route and some other Wiltshire routes, but hasn't been practical due to the fear of referrals to the Competition and Mergers Authority. Ask your Wilthsire Councillor or candidate to require your council and its officers to promote Enhanced Bus Partnerships and / or Advanced Quality Partnership Schemes so that everyone can work for the good of the passenger, the operator, the council, the taxpayer and the environment.

The Bus Service Act had crossparty support and was passed into law just as parliament broke for the general election. Wiltshire now needs to choose to make use of those powers, rather than sticking exclusively with the old system which is expensive and broken in many areas.

The Sunday bus from Devizes which terminates at Melksham uses the New Broughton Road / Old Broughton Road triangle to turn - two or three minutes from the Market Place, and an easy walk to the station.  But to doesn't take passengers on that section - meaning it's not providing a Devizes to longer distance travel option.    

I asked the council officer who was overseeing the first run of the new service (I went down to get pictures of the arrival of GoAhead in Melksham) why it terminated at the Market Place, and he suggested that having it take passengers to the stop for the station would be too complicated for them to understand - however, he did see it as an option for the future.  

He also told me that I'm now free to raise issues on the new timetable as The Council have published them, which wasn't the case earlier under Purdah as we have a local election coming up.  OK - they smack of short-termism and panic to provide something ... there's good joined up opportunities missed, but perhaps we CAN get something done about that for the major changes next January, which won't have the safely net of councillors wanting to stay popular in marginal seats that the current set of changes has influenced.

Also got an early alert that many Saturday services have custom that's plummeted ...

[ChrisB]

The Act was only passed into law last week, thus the comment about using it is considered impractical is a tad early, no? Theycan't have had time to even try & use it yet, surely?

And Purdah for local elections exists until the 4 May....so its sounds as ythough you were sold a pup re the new timetables & discussion thereof?

[ellendune]

The bulk of the Act does not come into force until 2 months after it was passed.

[grahame]

The Act was only passed into law last week, thus the comment about using it is considered impractical is a tad early, no? Theycan't have had time to even try & use it yet, surely?

I was saying that things that were impractical under the old system (because there was to much change of co-ordination being seen as creating a cartel) may be practical under the new - not suggesting for a moment that anything new's been tried and found wanting under a law that was only passed a few days ago.

And Purdah for local elections exists until the 4 May....so its sounds as ythough you were sold a pup re the new timetables & discussion thereof?

I suspect there was a pup in there somewhere and I may have been 'used' ... hey, we can all try but it's hard not to get caught out sometimes.

With the spirit of partnership, I suspect I have a network scheme parts of West Wilts which would give more effective bang for the buck.  I see little point in having two buses leaving Lowborne for the Wig and Pisshole, Foresters and Queensway at 12 minutes after the hour ... even if one does two extra loops. that leave it 3 minutes behind the other for the rest of the circuit.

[Chris from Nailsea]

I see little point in having two buses leaving Lowborne for the Wig and Pisshole ...

I'm rather struggling to find any 'tripadviser' reviews for that particular hostelry, grahame: can you possibly give me a pointer? 

[bobm]

Oh I don't know I've been in a few hostelries that could qualify for that moniker. 

I say this after returning from a meal out where after ordering roast chicken we were told it was unavailable because the unit they keep it warm in had failed and not been noticed, where my roast (sans chicken) arrived with gravy after I asked for no gravy and after asking for cheeseboard with no blue cheese, I got exclusively blue cheese!

[rogerw]

I checked the journey planners today and the new sunday service from Melksham to Devizes is not coming up.  It is shown on the Salisbury Reds web site but that is only any good if you know the operator.  Whoever is supposed to pass the information to Travelinesw clearly has not done so.

[grahame]

I checked the journey planners today and the new sunday service from Melksham to Devizes is not coming up.  It is shown on the Salisbury Reds web site but that is only any good if you know the operator.  Whoever is supposed to pass the information to Travelinesw clearly has not done so.

Thanks for the heads-up.

If you had designed a Bath to Devizes service to make it as hard as possible for people to find about, you would have been hard pressed to do better.  Perhaps that's intentional - after all, if it doesn't work it can be withdrawn.  Is it being "Beechinged"?  A service that's not publicised, so not much used, 20 minute wait along the way may be pulled at a time there isn't an election coming up with little or no fuss, I suspect.  Contact on the Salisbury Red service is a short one.   The First part is commercial, so can be pulled without reference to local authority at 6 weeks notice.