Citistar

08/11/2024

I've put together some thoughts and analysis regarding the now fully blossoming WestLocal project to allow community groups to procure their own bus services. Feedback and discussion welcome.

Following on from my previous post regarding the WestLocal scheme (bus services funded by WECA to be specified and procured by community groups), it seems a relevant time to review the eight new sc…

02/08/2024

Losing SME bus operators from regulated bus networks appears to have started hitting the headlines. Civil servants whine that there is nothing they can do to support small businesses, but would rather work with the lumbering, unresponsive PLCs that have the same attitudes and culture as they do. Meanwhile really good bus services on the peripheries suffer being dragged down to the low standards of major urban operation.

10/04/2024

Apologies for the long term radio silence. Here are some thoughts on the WestLocal scheme and why it isn't as "local" as it likes to pretend.

Firstly, i should begin by offering my apologies for neglecting this blog over the past year. Whilst there are many topics on which i could have offered my opinion, the overwhelming feeling regardi…

03/05/2023

With local elections happening in many parts of the region tomorrow, i can't help but think that those who want to vote for better public transport have been politically abandoned. Democracy fails when four parties collude to engineer failure.

Local elections are looming in the West of England in May 2023. Previously i’ve been able to judge how to vote based upon which parties have performed best in regard to having some involvemen…

31/03/2023

One final fling. Thank you to everyone who has been involved. 💚

28/03/2023

Good news - we've been advised that Timsbury Road in Farmborough has reopened, so we hope to be able to provide a normal service to Timsbury tomorrow.

25/03/2023

Service 178 will be replaced by a new service 522 provided by First Bus from Sunday 2nd April. This is part of a wider set of changes to services which affect most services around the Norton Radstock area.

The full timetable for service 522 can be found here:https://www.firstbus.co.uk/sites/default/files/public/maps/522_Bath_Web%20%281%29.pdf

Full details for all of First's local services can be found here:
https://www.firstbus.co.uk/bristol-bath-and-west/

24/03/2023

Leaflets for the new 522 service are now available on board the 178.

08/03/2023

Weds 8th March: We are currently route assessing and will report operational status on this post. At present, none of the services we connect with at the Paulton end (172/379) appear to be running.

01/03/2023

Wednesday's (and potentially Thursday's) disruption involves Timsbury. If the closure remains in place, no journeys will serve Timsbury on Thursday.

23/02/2023

For everyone who has been asking what happens when we finish service 178 at the end of March, we're pleased to be able to finally give you an answer.

18/01/2023

This afternoon, WECA under the leadership of Dan Norris and the leaders of B&NES (Kevin Guy), South Glos (Toby Savage) and Bristol (Marvin Rees) have voted to pass a package of cuts to support for local bus services.

This package of services continuing includes most current funded bus services in the urban areas of Bath and Bristol, but barely anything outside of the two cities. Every supported bus service in Norton Radstock and the Chew Valley should be expected to be withdrawn at the end of March.

This affects the following services in B&NES:
82 (Libra) Paulton - Radstock Tyning
172 (First, evenings only) Bath - Norton Radstock
178 (Citistar/Abus) Paulton - Keynsham - Brislington
179 (CT) Midsomer Norton - Timsbury - Bath
185 (CT) Paulton - Radstock - Trowbridge
640 (CT) Bishop Sutton - Keynsham
668 (CT) Peasedown - Bristol
672 (Eurotaxis) Blagdon - Bristol
683 (CT) Keynsham - Blagdon - Wells
752 (B&NES) Chew Valley - Bath
754 (B&NES) Chew Valley - Clutton - Radstock
768 (CT) MSN - Timsbury - Priston - Bath

These services represent the only remaining bus services to: Bishop Sutton, Blagdon, Camerton, Chew Stoke, Chew Magna, Compton Dando, Compton Martin, Dundry, East Harptree, Englishcombe, Nailwell, Priddy, Priston, Publow, Tunley, Ubley, West Harptree, Woollard

These services also represent the vast majority of journeys to High Littleton, Timsbury, Farmborough, Marksbury and Burnett.

Dan Norris and Kevin Guy have APPROVED these withdrawals whilst RETAINING funding for bus services in Bath where no stop is more than 200 metres from another bus route. Norton Radstock and the Chew Valley are being completely abadoned by politicians of all colours. Not a single Bath city area service running via the city centre will be affected, or even reduced for efficiency.

The only proposed replacement for any of these services is some nonsense scheme of minibuses operated by a company who run those Ambulance liveried minibuses which take people to hospital appointments. WECA's staff seem to think they can magic up this new demand responsive system in two months and that it will cope with the demand of bus services which carry thousands of passenger journeys every day.

After introducing a fare capping system which makes it economically impossible for any company other than First Bus to provide bus services without financial support, Dan Norris now turns around and withdraws that financial support. This isn't forced cuts, it is wanton vandalism. With WECA's staff having told bus companies over the past two years that they had "no intention" of replacing bus services with demand responsive transport and that it was intended to "complement" the bus network, the opposite has been done at the first opportunity.

Bus service providers have been deliberately and repeatedly lied to by WECA's staff to force through their deluded vision of a single transport provider (First) and a demand responsive transport system which has never proven to be financially sustainable anywhere else in the UK. The new DRT system has two years to become financially viable before cash for that runs out too.

Dan Norris, Kevin Guy et al have deliberately put locally based, tax paying employers out of the bus market with these actions.