Handy for a couple of months

First Devon & Cornwall produced this handy little guide just a few weeks ago which gives full details of their Derriford Hospital services. Another area which sees stiff competition from Plymouth Citybus…
We've created a great new guide to bus routes serving Derriford Hospital in Plymouth. Between them services 15, 84 and 86 provide up to 5 buses an hour between Plymouth City Centre, Mutley Plain, Crownhill and Derriford Hospital.
Included in the guide are timetables for all these services shown as one timetable: this means passengers don't need to look through separate timetables for each of the services to see what time bus you need to catch.
For ease of use timetables for journeys between Plymouth City Centre, Mutley Plain, Crownhill and Derriford Hospital are shown with the pink background. Journeys on services past Derriford Hospital are shown in yellow - we've included the main points on these routes for our passengers convenience in case they need to travel further after their time at the Hospital.
As a reminder these services run to:

• Service 15: Mainstone - Asda - Estover - Thornbury - University College Marjon - Derriford Hospital - Crownhill - Mutley Plain - North Road East* (for Plymouth train station) - City Centre.
• Service 84: Tavistock - Whitchurch - Yelverton - Woolwell (for Tesco) - University College Marjon - Derriford Hospital - Crownhill - Mutley Plain - City Centre.
• Service 86: Tavistock - Bishopsmead - Yelverton - Woolwell (for Tesco) - University College Marjon - Derriford Hospital - Crownhill - Mutley Plain - City Centre.
  *Serves North Road East on in bound journeys only. Outbound serves North Hill for University of Plymouth.

The guide also includes a pull out map of the routes and details of where to catch the bus within the Hospital grounds.
Please click here to view/download the new guide as a pdf. Copies are also available from the Derriford Hospital main entrance on level 6.
Derriford hospital bus service guide (PDF - 1.47 MB)
It will only be useful for a very short while though as its all change with Derriford services soon as we expect to see the 15 serve Roborough instead of Mainstone and see a reduction in direct buses to Tavistock,
(Still waiting for full details of these changes!)
Meanwhile Plymouth City Council have been switching bus lane enforecment cameras around…
Camera enforcement will also be introduced at two new locations on Sunday 1 September – the short two-way bus lane joining Leypark Drive and Leypark Walk in Estover and the inbound bus lane running from Western Approach into Union Street (near Reflex).
Plymouth City Council
This first camera is on the small bus only road tucked up behind Asda. Its a very handy shortcut for motorists which is why the council were requested to start enforcing the bus only restriction. There is currently only one bus that serves that road - The 15. Yep – you are one step ahead of me. I do hope that the bus lane camera is turned off when the 15 stops serving Asda/ Mainstone. It will only make people angry!

[This post was scheduled to run at 4am this morning - but it didnt work!]

Snippets

 

Three news releases from the City Council…

Holes

A two-week blitz to permanently repair some of Plymouth's worst potholes has just got under way, ahead of a major road patching and resurfacing programme for the city. Eight pothole gangs have been deployed for the blitz, which will focus on repairing 'category one' potholes (those more than 40mm deep) that have been reported by the public.

Amey has been making around 120 permanent repairs and 90 temporary repairs a week on average but with better weather conditions and extra teams on the ground, it is making a dedicated push to complete as many permanent repairs as possible – ahead of a citywide programme of patching and resurfacing on roads that have been the most severely damaged over the winter.

Victoria Hutchins, Watchman-in-Chief for Amey said: "The extra resources allocated by the Council have enabled us to install a 'hotbox' at our depot, which is making a big difference to the way we carry out repairs. The hotbox is a large heated storage unit that keeps asphalt hot after it is delivered so it can be used on demand by our pothole and patching gangs. In most cases we can now make a permanent repair first time, instead of temporarily filling the pothole and having to schedule in a permanent repair later. This means higher quality and longer lasting repairs – and better value for money."

The two-week pothole blitz will finish on Friday 7 June. Details of the road patching and resurfacing programme, which is due to start in July, will be announced in a few weeks.

Plymouth City Council

Bus Lane

We’d like to set the record straight regarding the bus lane on Tavistock Road and the reasons why we’ve temporarily suspended camera enforcement there. The road markings and signage that are in place on this bus lane are completely in line with Department for Transport regulations and were externally audited before we started enforcement. The changes we are making are not to correct markings, but to reduce the gap in the bus lane where traffic turns into the car wash (which used to be a petrol station).

We’re doing this because one of the adjudicators for the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) feels the gap doesn’t need to be as long for traffic turning into the car wash as it did for traffic queuing for the petrol station.

His view doesn’t appear to be shared by any of the other TPT adjudicators considering appeals against fines issued on Tavistock Road, who have all been satisfied with the arrangements in place. As a wider measure to help motorists (not linked to this case and not a legal requirement), we are also planning to apply red surfacing on the bus lanes where bus operators report the most abuse.

Camera enforcement was not introduced to generate cash but to deter motorists from straying into bus lanes and gates, improve journey times and – most importantly – make Plymouth’s roads safer for everyone. Before starting bus lane enforcement we ran a long advertising campaign and promoted the camera locations extensively. The number of fines has fallen steadily since the cameras were introduced and fewer than 0.1 per cent of all drivers – that’s 1 in every 1,000 – now fall foul of the regulations.

 

Bus Station

One of the city’s key visitor gateways has been given a bright new look with the installation of high quality, wall-sized images of the waterfront and city centre. Photographs of Smeaton’s Tower on the Hoe, the Royal William Yard, the British Firework Championships viewed from Plymouth’s historic Barbican and Sutton Harbour, the West End and Drake Circus have been scaled up to give visitors a warm welcome to the city.

Funded by a partnership of Plymouth City Council, Plymouth Waterfront Partnership and Plymouth City Centre Company and designed by waterfront businesses, the large pictures showcase key visitor locations to encourage increased footfall and include information on how long it takes to walk to each destination. The wall visuals are the latest in a series of improvements to cleanliness and signage at Bretonside. Many areas of the bus station have been redecorated, new information and direction signs have been put up and pigeon roosting deterrents have been installed.

Plymouth City Council

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PT Recommends

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• One particular hard luck story of recent years has been the humble bee, suffering colony collapse disorder, with factors propounded varying from insecticides, parasites and bad weather. However, in Berkshire, the Bee is on its way back; Omnibuses
• Being "of a certain age", fbb and Mrs fbb are wont to need an occasional "pit-stop". With council cut-backs, the provision of suitable "facilities" is become more and more limited. Public Transport Experience

Bus Priority

A MOTORIST who became the first person in Plymouth to beat a bus lane fine has had his victory quashed.

The 63-year-olds appeal was initially upheld by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) on the basis that the signs leading up to the roundabout were misleading. But the council challenged the tribunal's findings, and a review hearing found that the signage was, in fact, "good enough to have informed Mr Ayre that he should not have gone through this bus gate".  In her original ruling, adjudicator Deborah Gibson said the advanced warning sign on the Cattedown roundabout "does not give motorists adequate time to respond" to avoid the bus lane.
But her colleague Jonathan Middleton found that the signs comply with government regulations in terms of size, colour and location.
The council says it will not pursue Mr Ayre for the £60 fine, despite the fresh ruling.
A council spokeswoman said: "We are very pleased that the TPT has found in our favour regarding the signage on Embankment Road.
"The new road layout and signage were fully approved by the Department for Transport and before we started bus lane enforcement we carried out a comprehensive safety and compliance audit on all signs, which was independently verified.
"We have promoted and advertised the new enforcement cameras and their locations extensively and the overwhelming majority of motorists (more than 99.9 per cent) have both understood and complied with the measures.
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Driver-beat-Plymouth-bus-lane-fine-victory/story-18605607-detail/story.html#ixzz2PX6FEVym
Follow us: @thisisplymouth on Twitter | thisisplymouth on Facebook

It always amazes me how angry some people get when it comes to bus priority measures like this new scheme in Cattedown. If you click on the link above and have a read of the comments you will see just how heated this issue has become despite very clear sign posts that its a bus only section.

The other story in the news which kind of hits the same issues concerns the forthcoming major roadworks on Outland Road:

MOTORISTS may face even greater delays than first feared after changes to major roadworks were announced at the 11th hour
South West Water revealed it had decided the sewer repairs would now shut the road between Peverell Park Road and the Esso filling station "both inbound and outbound to all traffic – except buses". The changes were to enable workers to renew old sewers "in the most effective and safest way possible", the company said.

The six-week scheme sees workers from South West Water (SWW) and its H5O partners dig down 15ft through hard rock to reach the aging sewer pipes. Two work gangs will operate from 8am to 8pm, starting on Monday. The firm said bus services through Outland Road would be maintained through one lane controlled by traffic lights.

 http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Busy-stretch-Outland-Road-Plymouth-completely/story-18594887-detail/story.html#ixzz2PX8e0BJT
which gets this response:

“Why do buses get priority, over other road users, would it not be to everyone's benefit that the road was closed completely to all traffic, work carried out 24/7 and then completed in a much shorter time scale”

“That bus has potentially taken 60 or more cars from the traffic jam you are stuck in as you try to get into the City via Mutley Plain”

“don't spout nonsense. There isn't a bus in Plymouth that replaces 60 cars. The best they do is replace a handful of cars spread out over a say 15 minute interval. Compare that to the normal number of cars on outland road and you'll notice that buses do not make the slightest bit of impact on the traffic.”

There are plenty more comments like that!

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Sorry for the lack of posts recently - just not had the time to get more done! I will also try and catch up with the links to other blogs as I know how many people find these useful. My Reader list currently has almost 2000 items to go through... Graham

Enforcement

Expect to see lots of stories from disgruntled car drivers as the City Council finally get round to sending out fines to drivers who abuse bus lanes in Plymouth

DRIVERS caught veering into bus lanes to cheat their way out of traffic jams can expect to be hit with stiff fines from this weekend. New enforcement cameras were brought in to target bus lanes at the end of March. Until now, however, a 'grace period' has meant motorist captured on camera breaking the rules have escaped without a fine. But that is now set to change, after the city's transport chief moved to tweak the local authority's powers.

From Monday, motorists caught on camera beating heavy traffic by using bus lanes can expect a £60 fine to land on their doorsteps.

The move, though initiated by the city's former Tory administration, is among a raft of transport measures being drawn up by the new ruling Labour group on the council. The Herald revealed last month how Plymouth could get a whole fleet of controversial camera cars, some patrolling outside school gates.

Full story: This is Plymouth

Buses from all the bus operators in Plymouth can be seen carrying these adverts on the back end, where car drivers are likely to see them. Despite all of this you can be sure many car drivers will be protesting they knew nothing of this…

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Bloggers

• Maybe its because they are Londoners Fylde Bus Blog
• In the meantime, if you go to Birmingham, perhaps it would be wise to leave the paper city centre map in the racks. The on-line version of the central area is a little better, only because it doesn't have the false "tramlines" Public Transport Experience
• The eagle eyed among you will note that N276 has now been fitted with a Western National blind! over the last couple of weeks. PTOTPA
• I’d certainly prefer to pay 20p for a proper network book with everything bound together than risk picking up a handful of leaflets only to find: Omnibuses
• Another instalment from the south coast, documenting the strange buses temporarily operating Stagecoach routes around Portsmouth, Chichester and Worthing. Southern England Bus Scene

Bus Lanes

Some very welcome news from Plymouth City Council:

Motorists are being warned to stay out of Plymouth’s bus lanes as the Council prepares to introduce new measures to keep the city’s roads safe and traffic moving.  From Saturday 31 March enforcement cameras will be in operation on bus lanes and bus gates and, after a period of monitoring, fixed penalties will be introduced for drivers caught breaking the law.

Councillor Kevin Wigens, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: "Blocking bus lanes and squeezing through bus gates is not only against the law, it is potentially dangerous. It also holds up buses, delaying services for passengers, and is extremely frustrating for other motorists who stay in the right lanes.

"We are working with local bus companies to improve the city’s public transport network and ensure that services are reliable and on time. Keeping bus lanes free and traffic flowing is crucial to this. We hope that these cameras will deter selfish motorists from blocking bus lanes, holding up traffic and putting other road users at risk.”

The cameras, which will be clearly signed, will initially be placed at five problem ‘hotspots’ in the city where bus lanes and gates are most frequently misused. However, they can be moved to any bus lane or gate in the city at any time if needed. All of the city’s bus companies are supporting the new measures and the Council has been working with local taxi firms to ensure their drivers are reminded about the restrictions in place.

Plymouth’s bus lane restrictions apply 24 hours a day. Most can be used by buses, taxis, cycles and motorcycles but there are some exceptions and some lanes are reserved solely for the use of buses. The sign at the beginning of each bus lane shows clearly which vehicles can use it.

Peter Oliver, Acting General Manager of Plymouth Citybus, said: "Plymouth Citybus wholeheartedly supports the use of these cameras. Double parking and the misuse of bus gates cause considerable problems to the operation of our services. There is also the serious issue of the high number of near miss accidents where cars race up bus lanes in an attempt to jump queues. We are happy to support Plymouth City Council in ensuring bus lanes are kept clear as much as possible.

"The introduction of the camera car a couple of years ago has made a huge difference to our ability to access bus stops across the city and we have high hopes that these new additional cameras will have a similar effect on our ability to keep to time, through improved access to the bus lanes.”

The Council will be running an awareness raising campaign to warn motorists about the new penalty charges, using adverts on the backs of buses and posters in key city centre car parks.

As a bus passenger this is long overdue. I  just await the backlash when the council actually start sending out fines to motorists. In some parts of the country I am sure they use the cameras on buses to record cars obstructing bus lanes and bus stops. This maybe an idea for Plymouth as I feel it would then mainly penalise drivers who do cause hold ups rather than those who use the bus lanes but dont get in the way! Either way its good to see bus lane abuse getting monitored properly.

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Elsewhere on the net

• Increasingly and frustratingly the web can be the only source of information. But, and here's the rub, what percentage of existing passengers and, more to the point, potential passengers actually use this "most important source"? Public Transport Experience
• It should come as no surprise to industry watchers that Go North East has mounted a robust campaign (i Say Yes Now) to counter the proposal from Nexus PTE and the Tyne & Wear ITA to seek to introduce a quality contract scheme for the county. Omnibuses

Helping the buses get through Derriford

Derriford’s new bus lane now in full operation

The new bus lane at Derriford Hospital has now been open a whole week and certainly seems to have made a big difference so far. It is early days though, and of course the schools are off so traffic is lighter but the new lane should help the buses get through Derriford a lot quicker than before. I had a look around last Friday afternoon but have only just got round to sorting through the photos... The new bus lane meets up with the existing bus lane on the main road. Buses dont have to stop at the roundabout at all (apart from those turning right) Looking back up the hill And now we see it with a bus turning left towards Derriford Roundabout. Another bus demonstrates how much easier it is for buses leaving the hospital site now. All in all its impressive and a welcome improvement to public transport in the area. Will it solve all the traffic issues around Derriford? I doubt it, but it will help.

Further Reading Transport of Delight: Reading Fares Uncle Terry: Fence Keeper Omnibuses: Meet the MD First on Twitter / Facebook 08 April Citybus on Twitter / Facebook 08 April 06:00 We can confirm that Mutley Plain is open to all traffic and we can once again serve every bus stop Thank you for your patience and support

Related articles by Zemanta

• Cattedown gets a little less interesting (plymothiantransit.com)
• Experimental Traffic Jams (plymothiantransit.com)
• Derriford Hospital - one giant car park? (plymothiantransit.com)
• Derriford Traffic Scheme Trial Run next week (plymothiantransit.com)
• Lipson Vale no go (plymothiantransit.com)
• Final phase of work to begin on Tavistock Road bus and cycle lane scheme (plymouth.gov.uk)

Pain now - gain later?

"will spell the end of buses queuing to get in and out of the hospital grounds” Recommended Reading Leon Daniels Food Glorious Food PTOPA Another Departure WGL 576 Highton-Ridley Digital Darkroom Omnibuses2.0 Jenni Wilkinson

Staff at Tamar Science Park have recently received an email advising them of forthcoming works at Derriford Hospital: Anticipated date of commencement: 16th November 2009 Anticipated completion of the works: February 2009 Traffic Management summary: Prohibition of the right and left hand turn into Derriford Hospital at the mini roundabout. All traffic diverted to the second entrance into the Hospital. Closure of the entrance to Car Park A- current exit to Car Park A for access and way out with appropriate signage to advise motorists of the change in the car park One way system in operation for all traffic heading to Derriford Road Alternative diversionary route for general traffic accessing the A386 via Morlaix Drive and Brest Road Prohibition of right hand turn for vehicles from Sheepstor, Kingstor, Haytor, Foxtor and Rowans Plymouth City Council will shortly be issuing a press release advising the public about the works at Derriford and further schemes which will be delivered on Tavistock Road over the same period. In the notice Plymouth City Council will be advising the public to use public transport to access both the Hospital and the City Centre during the construction period or, where this is not possible, to consider alternative routes or times of travel. For information on public transport serving the Hospital is available from traveline and PlymGo, please see details below. PlymGo: www.plymgo.com Traveline: www.traveline.info Tel: 0871 200 22 33 I should add that staff at Derriford Hospital itself have yet to receive anything but i am sure this will come out very shortly. Plymouth City Council themselves give out more information: Work gets underway on Monday 16 November to create a new section of bus lane at one of the two entrances into the hospital grounds. The £300,000 project, which is expected to be completed by February, will connect with the existing bus lane on Derriford Road. The project is one of key improvements planned for the city’s Northern Corridor (the main route from Woolwell into the city centre) to be delivered by the Council this year. Once complete, it will improve journey time and reliability for people using buses to the hospital as well as provide better pedestrian access. The new lane, which is around 125 metres long, is being built by widening the entrance to the hospital and will spell the end of buses queuing to get in and out of the hospital grounds. The scheme alongside other work on the Northern Corridor, demonstrates the Council’s commitment to keeping traffic moving on one of the main routes into the city. He added: “We are working closely with Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust to develop a traffic management plan that will reduce the impact of the construction works. However, because of the large numbers of people travelling to and from Derriford each day some disruption to journeys is expected” I do like the line "will spell the end of buses queuing to get in and out of the hospital grounds". I can see how it will help buses getting out but not so sure how it will help them get in? We all know that traffic around Derriford is going to get a lot worse while these works continue. A lot of the traffic from Derriford Hospital will be directed out via Morlaix Drive which is very narrow. At the moment it is two way traffic but I guess this will have to be made one way for the duration of the works. This will then impact on the hospital staff park and ride service. Trying to get out onto Derriford Roundabout from this end is bad enough as it stands at the moment without all the extra traffic from the hospital trying to get out this way too. On a further page the Council indicate how this fits in with other improvements: Between June 2009 and March 2010 Plymouth Transport and Highways are undertaking transport improvement works in seven sections on the corridor. Section 1: Woolwell Roundabout - Derriford Roundabout * Opening a second entrance into the George Junction park and ride site to allow access from Plymbridge Road * Working with public transport operators to improve the bus journey experience including installation of off bus ticketing machines at the park and ride * Supporting the 'Northern Connect' service which links northern business parks with the main bus network and the 'Tamar Link' which connects the Rame Peninsula with Derriford Hospital * A new bus lane at the access road to Derriford Hospital to improve journey time reliability for buses serving the hospital The George Park and Ride entrance has already been opened and certainly makes it easier for us to use it. The Tamar Link service was only recently actually cut back to every two hours! The other sections are noted on their web site. I do hope that the extra bus lane does make a difference - it certainly should save a lot of time as buses can queue for ages to get out of Derriford Hospital. Making it a one way system should also make a difference and improve the flow of traffic. I am just dreading the journey home over the next few months!

Plymothian Transit: Dissapointing

Plymothian Transit: Pay Point

Plymothian Transit: Torpoint Travails
Plymothian Transit: Making life a little bit easier

Marshall Dart

Another picture taken last weekend is FDC Marshall bodied Dennis Dart R164TLM which arrived here in March 2003 from First London. In my opinion a much better looking bus than the Plaxton Darts.
You can also see the new bus lane road surface which has been put down at the top end of Royal Parade. How much use it is I dont know.