Changes to the bus network, which will come into effect across the region in April, have been announced, which will see three new bus routes created and various existing routes slightly altered. However, two bus services will be axed when the changes come into force.
FirstBus announced the changes to the bus network, which will be implemented from Sunday, April 6. It will mean buses in Bristol, North Somerset, Bath and North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire will run at different times, different routes, or not at all.
At the start of February, three new services were announced by Bristol City Council which are being funded by income received from the Clean Air Zone. The services, which will begin in April, will offer cross-city routes serving east Bristol and south Bristol.
The new services are:
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16 – Bristol City Centre to Fishponds (via Broadmead, Temple Meads Station, Barton Hill, Kingswood, Fishponds and Oldbury Court). This will be a half hourly service for most of the day.
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36 – Highridge to St Anne’s (via Withywood, Hartcliffe, Hengrove Park, Imperial Park, Knowle and Brislington). This will run every 35 minutes.
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37 – Knowle West to Avonmouth and Severnside (via Hartcliffe, Bishopsworth and Ashton Gate). It will run three times a day.
A number of services will benefit from an increased frequency of buses and slight modifications to timetabling. This includes the m2, which will run on Sundays. Other services will be reduced in frequency and run less often.
The 77 route, which currently runs between Horfield and Henleaze via the city centre, will no longer serve Henleaze, instead connecting Gloucester Road directly to Cliton. The 42 route (city centre to Cherry Gardens) will serve the area of Cadbury Heath instead of using Cadbury Heath Road and the 43 route (city centre to Cadbury Heath) will be extended to serve Imperial Park.
In Bath, the 8 route (Bath city centre to Kingsway) will also operate on Sundays and bank holidays, whilst the D2x service (Bath to Frome) will travel through Midford and down the Wellsway rather than Radstock.
Across the region, two bus services will be axed. The X8 service (Bristol to Nailsea) will be withdrawn and the X7 and X7a services (Bristol to Clevedon) will run a different route to replace the X8. In Weston-super-Mare, the 5 service (Weston-super-Mare to South Road) will be withdrawn and replaced by the 9 service (Weston-super-Mare to Worle).
George Burton, Head of Network for First Bus in the West of England, said: “We review our bus network twice a year in partnership with local transport authorities, including the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority. These reviews give us a chance to respond to changes in demand and address any issues we have with reliability and punctuality.
“We use data, our own expertise, insight from local authorities and feedback from the public and stakeholders to decide where improvements can be made. Our latest changes will come into effect on April 6 and I’m pleased to announce that we are making lots of improvements across the network, including a new Sunday service in Bath and more cross city services in Bristol, and where we are amending some timetables we have made changes elsewhere to minimise disruption to customers and ensure, where possible, they are able to continue travelling by bus.”
The changes come as bus fares across the region rose at the beginning of this year, due to the single journey price cap rising from £2 to £3 nationally. First had said that single journeys will cost £2.40 for most people, with journeys above six miles costing the full £3.
A day ticket for adult passengers in Bristol rose to £6.50, a week ticket to £26.50 and a month ticket to £92. Child tickets remained at £1.
However, discounted two-journey tickets were scrapped as part of the changes. Whereas before a return journey would have cost £3.80, it now costs £4.80 (assuming one-way is under six miles in length).