21 July 2012

Citybus 21

Over the coming week we will be taking a closer look at the proposed changes to Plymouth Citybus routes as advertised recently.

The new 21

  • Service 21: Linked to service 26 (see map). Allowing links to Devonport via the City Centre and will replace service 22 sections. Service
    will operate from Plympton to Barne Barton via City Centre. In Plympton it take the same format as the old 21/51 service to Mudge Way, then clockwise circuit of St Maurice, Steer Park, Chaddlewood and back to Mudgeway every 20 miniutes, with a 20 minute service also doing the loop anticlockwise, making a 10 minute service into the city . Service 20 withdrawn and replaced with 21 in St Maurice (see above)
  • Service 26: Linked with service 21 (see above).
The Plympton section reverts back to the old 21/51 loop which is interesting after all this time. It does indicate that buses would go round the  loop in both directions every twenty minutes giving an overall 10 min frequency. This is great but I really hope that when the routs start there is some way of knowing which way round the loop the buses will be going. They need to have different route numbers or it will cause all sorts of confusion!
Some other comments:
  • I reckon the 21/51 loop is a great idea - this was so much easier to use than the current 21 and 22. I still think that some should go through Lipson Vale/Laira, maybe every other 21? Also, the 21 that goes to St Maurice should be called the 51; this will considerably ease confusion with elderly passengers.
  • 21 this is one of the more interesting changes. In Plympton it appears that the old 21/51 routes are to be re-instated. Not clear whether they will all be called the 21 whether via Chaddlewood or St Maurice. If so it needs to be clear on the destination display which way around the bus is going. Southern Vectis do this on the Isle of Wight with for example the 1 having 2 routes to Cowes from Newport but only one number. People always need to pay attention to the "via" on the display.


citybus-herald-map-2

Bloggers

  • Golf Services Fylde Bus Blog
  • Ipswich Buses is to deploy vehicles in its new Battenberg livery on its 13th August 2012 service revisions to the eastern suburbs Omnibuses
  • Until the end of the month, Ipswich Buses and First Bus will operate in comparative harmony. To understand what happens now, and what will happen after the so-called bus war erupts into all its ultimately destructive extravagance, we need some fbb maps Public Transport Experience

7 comments:

  1. Yep, you are reading that right. No surprise really! Even a 49 style service with 3/4 trips a day on a Sunday I'd be grateful for!

    You're quite right about the Steer Park bit though, it just seems to be going up and down for them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Obviously to free up buses to use elsewhere...

    I like these changes. They'll work, although all 34's going to the industrial estate? And the 21 linked to the 26, that will surely make it the worlds most delayed service.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ^Nothing can be worse than the 62. Had the pleasure of catching it twice today, was 12-15 minutes late both times. I can see why Citybus are keeping the 50 as a 50 rather than continuing through to 61/62s and vice versa, they must build up huge delays.

    I think all 34s going to the Industrial Estate will be a very valuable and extremely useful service for many, though I'm intrigued to know who this is being funded by.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lets all remember that these are proposals only. The closing date for comments was yesterday. I suspect that these suggested routes will not all come to fruition. Although the 21/26 idea would be a definite if I was making the changes. Nobody is funding the changes PCB is a private company. I guess the whole idea is looking for revenue growth by offering alternate journey solutions. After all some of these routes have hardly altered since the 70's yet the main centers of employment have certainly changed since then. I would also not be surprised to see some other route alterations as a result of customer feedback. Exciting times.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Presumably with loop services going in different directions, all Plymouth Citybus need to do is add an A after the route number. They already do this with their 5 and 5A service to Elburton, depending on which route direction around the loop the bus is travelling?

    ReplyDelete
  6. For the proposed 21 because the route is a cross city service with a 2 way loop in Plympton and a 1 way loop in Barne Barton numbering is difficult. They can all use the same number west of the city because it's only 1 route, east of the city it's 2 routes. I think if this comes about they will all be 21s but heading east will either say Chaddlewood via Glen Road or Chaddlewood via St Maurice depending on which way around the loop they go

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's the proposed reductions in frequency for Chaddlewood that I find surprising. If you look at St Maurice this area will marginally gain from the changes - still having 3 departures an hour, a quicker route through the Embankment to the city and through services to the western suburbs. The Chaddlewood Glen Road section service would be effectively halved from 6 to 3 buses an hour. Yes, there is the option of going the long way round via St Maurice but that will be unpopular. Also it is likely when they timetable this that the buses will cross each other somewhere between Westfield and the District Centre. So it will be roughly a 20 minute frequency with one bus going quick to town another taking 10 minutes longer.

    ReplyDelete

Have something interesting to say? Please share it here!

(Moderation is currently switched on so please allow a short while before your comment appears on the site. This is only to cut down on spam - not to cut out people who disagree with me!)