Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 13:55 28 Mar 2024
* Man held over stabbing in front of train passengers
- How do I renew my UK passport and what is the 10-year rule?
* Jet2 launches first flight from Liverpool airport
- Easter travel warning as millions set to hit roads
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 02/06/24 - Summer Timetable starts
17/08/24 - Bus to Imber
27/09/25 - 200 years of passenger trains

On this day
28th Mar (1988)
Formal end to carrying coffins by BR (link)

Train RunningCancelled
12:15 London Paddington to Cardiff Central
13:00 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington
13:15 Swindon to Westbury
13:26 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington
13:28 Weymouth to Gloucester
13:30 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads
14:13 Par to Newquay
14:19 Westbury to Swindon
15:10 Newquay to Par
15:14 Swindon to Westbury
Short Run
08:03 London Paddington to Penzance
10:55 Paignton to London Paddington
11:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
11:29 Weymouth to Gloucester
11:48 London Paddington to Carmarthen
12:03 London Paddington to Penzance
12:30 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare
12:42 Bristol Temple Meads to Salisbury
12:46 Avonmouth to Weston-Super-Mare
13:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
13:07 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads
13:10 Gloucester to Weymouth
13:26 Okehampton to Exeter Central
14:05 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads
16:19 Carmarthen to London Paddington
Delayed
10:04 London Paddington to Penzance
10:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
11:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
12:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
14:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
PollsOpen and recent polls
Closed 2024-03-25 Easter Escape - to where?
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
March 28, 2024, 13:58:46 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[142] West Wiltshire Bus Changes April 2024
[80] would you like your own LIVE train station departure board?
[56] Return of the BRUTE?
[46] If not HS2 to Manchester, how will traffic be carried?
[43] Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption el...
[34] Reversing Beeching - bring heritage and freight lines into the...
 
News: the Great Western Coffee Shop ... keeping you up to date with travel around the South West
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: [1]
  Print  
Author Topic: The bus station being designed for Utopia - 21 principles  (Read 2223 times)
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« on: June 18, 2019, 08:05:28 »

Taking my lead from another thread in which there was universal criticism of most bus stations ... I came up with a list of what (as a passenger) I would like to see included in the new bus station at Exeter Utopia.   In alphabetic order to avoid arguments ...

A bus station that is a pleasure for staff to work
A nearby railway station and a nearby taxi rank
Accouncements that are clear and not overdone ("mind the gap between the bus and the stand")
Cafe and / or direction to a 24 hour one just outside (can it have a bus station departure feed in there?)
Clean - litter, pigeon and rat free and an air of being well cared for
Departure boards to include local buses that call just outside but do not come in to the station
Direction signs as you get OFF a bus pointing to key locations and connection information
Electronic "next departure" boards visisble from the whole waiting area
Enough seating
Enough vehicle capacity for all logical services to use it, and with layover space if things go wrong
Large clear and working clock (also wanted on the transfer deck at Reading railway station)
Located where there is efficient access off the road network - no going round and round in congestion
Map and times of the routes served
Map of the immediate area
"Next bus to ..." or other electronic gizmo for places not (yet) shown on main boards
Personal attention / call / emergency button and / or member of staff at a usually fixed point
Place to buy tickets or clear information that you do so on the bus
Shelter that works in the wind and rain
Smoker / Vaper's area away from the entrance doors
Well lit to be and to feel safe
Well maintained

Anything you would add?   Any of these not required as design principles to be implemented?
« Last Edit: June 18, 2019, 08:10:38 by grahame » Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
Bob_Blakey
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 782


View Profile
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2019, 09:00:20 »

None of the nonsense - unfortunately in force at the Utopia that is Exeter Bus Station - where the designated lead operator is permitted by the Local Authority to deny access to other service providers. (Doesn't apply so much at present as the existing Bus Station has been partly demolished and many services are using temporary stands on adjacent roads, e.g. Sidwell Street, anyway.)
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #2 on: June 18, 2019, 09:21:14 »

None of the nonsense - unfortunately in force at the Utopia that is Exeter Bus Station - where the designated lead operator is permitted by the Local Authority to deny access to other service providers. (Doesn't apply so much at present as the existing Bus Station has been partly demolished and many services are using temporary stands on adjacent roads, e.g. Sidwell Street, anyway.)

OK - let's add "Bus station space available to all operators who wish to use it" as our 22nd principle - it'll come in the middle of the list because I have arranged them alphabetically, so it's not subservient to anything else
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
Reading General
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 410


View Profile
« Reply #3 on: June 18, 2019, 10:15:50 »

Ideally, if space is available, a bus station could be like a rail station with through platforms and terminal (reverse out) platforms. This would save the delay of reversal on the more frequent routes possibly passing through. 
Logged
johnneyw
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 2257


From station to station, back to Bristol city....


View Profile
« Reply #4 on: June 18, 2019, 12:18:18 »

Personally, the most off putting aspect of bus stations is the sense of a lack of security in some of them. With larger, busier railway stations there tends to be ticket access to the platforms from where you await your train. No such thing at busy coach stations which can attract and allow access to individuals with an agenda that does not involve getting on a coach.
« Last Edit: June 18, 2019, 12:25:00 by johnneyw » Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #5 on: June 20, 2019, 05:54:28 »

Here's an excellent example ... took me rather by pleasant surprise yesterday



From the Noodle Bar in the end of Bath Bus Station - a chance for a quick lunch for Lisa and me as we changed buses.  I have wondered about the place - round beyond the information / sales desk.  Wow - the food was fantastic,  most of the tables were taken. I suspect it's very authentic. A high proportion of customers, I suspect, find it bringing them memories of their homes, ancestral origins, or earlier life.
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
martyjon
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1941


View Profile
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2019, 06:08:45 »

Here's an excellent example ... took me rather by pleasant surprise yesterday



From the Noodle Bar in the end of Bath Bus Station - a chance for a quick lunch for Lisa and me as we changed buses.  I have wondered about the place - round beyond the information / sales desk.  Wow - the food was fantastic,  most of the tables were taken. I suspect it's very authentic. A high proportion of customers, I suspect, find it bringing them memories of their homes, ancestral origins, or earlier life.


I confirm Grahame's post and recommend this tucked away eatery, the last time I was in Bath I walked through the place to use the 'bathroom' there was hardly a free table to be had and by the looks of it most of the clientele looked of 'an oriental' ethnic origin.
Logged
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: [1]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules (email link to report). Forum hosted by Well House Consultants

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page