Bus service provision in North Yate

[Martin1988]

I had to go to my parents house in North Yate last week which involved a trip on the First Y3 service.

As somebody who lived in the area for many years and who was a regular user of the X46/46 (and previously the X27 and 327/329) I am rather shocked at the current level of service provision from that area. For over 3 years now a good chunk of stops in North Yate have not been served at all since the X46 and 46 were replaced with the Y3 and Y4. There is currently only a 2 hourly service on the Y3 from Bristol to North Yate and this only runs on Monday to Friday and not even on Saturday.

The service reductions seemed to have been in response to the pandemic and despite the ending of restrictions the Y3 has never been restored to its pre March 2020 level. Same with the Y2 (and the T2 in Thornbury).

Does anyone have any theories as to why bus provision in this area has declined so much? On the one hand its felt as though the service changes a few years ago resulted in people transitioning to the Y1 and I'm guessing the pandemic has meant a number of the regular passengers (there seemed to be a number of concessionary passholders who made regular use of it) who no longer do.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Does anyone have any theories as to why bus provision in this area has declined so much? On the one hand its felt as though the service changes a few years ago resulted in people transitioning to the Y1 and I'm guessing the pandemic has meant a number of the regular passengers (there seemed to be a number of concessionary passholders who made regular use of it) who no longer do.

Here you go. No doubt the impact as seen in other places. Services that were underpinned by peak traffic just haven't got the same number of workers heading into town and that off peak, it was mainly concessionary passes anyway

 

[Dai Corner]

Out of interest, are the OP's parents regular bus users? If so are they concessionary passholders?

 

[Martin1988]

This may just be a bit of bias but I have for several years felt that when bus services have been altered/reduced in the Yate area there has not been the same level of fanfare as might have been the case if a route was withdrawn or cut back in another part of Bristol. Back in mid 2016 I remember going to a South Gloucestershire Public Transport Forum where there was absolute uproar about the fact the evening and Sunday services on the 18 (Henbury to Emersons Green) had been dropped. I seem to recall contributing and saying something along the line of "well at the same time North Yate doesn't have a Sunday service and the night bus has recently been removed from the area" and was met with a silent response (a transport officer did speak to me on a one to one basis after the forum and advised me it was the case there was no funding).

When the Sunday service in North Yate was withdrawn back in April 2014 (following the replacement of the tendered Service 329 with the commercial 46) it felt as though very little was made about the fact that a large chunk of North Yate lost its Sunday service. Same situation a few years ago when the X46 and 46 were replaced with the Y3/Y4 and a large chunk of stops were removed. I always felt that First and SGC should have carried out a proper consultation exercise prior to implementing those changes and got the views of passengers but it felt that this didn't happen.

Something else that was interesting was back in 2009 when First decided to withdraw the commercial X27 there were comments and feedback from different ages and demographics about how it would affect them (eg not being able to get to work, school, college, shopping or for medical appointments) but the only comment I remember a few years ago was from a resident of North Yate advising that they would not be able to get to Yate shopping centre to volunteer in a charity shop. Sadly I didn't feel this sort of thing would have convinced a commercial company to maintain a service but more public campaigning from different ages and demographics might have helped ( I may be wrong here).

Obviously, it was the case for a long while that local authorities struggled with cuts to funding and many supported services got the chop. I seem to remember that back when First decided to withdraw the commercial X27 South Gloucestershire Council were able to step in and fund it. Pretty sure it then remained funded for several years until the X46 and 46 were introduced in April 2014. Had there not been the cuts to funding that there were from 2010 onwards, is it possible that SGC would have maybe been in a position to step in with a supported service in North Yate and bump up the level provision that way?

 

[carlberry]

This may just be a bit of bias but I have for several years felt that when bus services have been altered/reduced in the Yate area there has not been the same level of fanfare as might have been the case if a route was withdrawn or cut back in another part of Bristol. Back in mid 2016 I remember going to a South Gloucestershire Public Transport Forum where there was absolute uproar about the fact the evening and Sunday services on the 18 (Henbury to Emersons Green) had been dropped. I seem to recall contributing and saying something along the line of "well at the same time North Yate doesn't have a Sunday service and the night bus has recently been removed from the area" and was met with a silent response (a transport officer did speak to me on a one to one basis after the forum and advised me it was the case there was no funding).

When the Sunday service in North Yate was withdrawn back in April 2014 (following the replacement of the tendered Service 329 with the commercial 46) it felt as though very little was made about the fact that a large chunk of North Yate lost its Sunday service. Same situation a few years ago when the X46 and 46 were replaced with the Y3/Y4 and a large chunk of stops were removed. I always felt that First and SGC should have carried out a proper consultation exercise prior to implementing those changes and got the views of passengers but it felt that this didn't happen.

Something else that was interesting was back in 2009 when First decided to withdraw the commercial X27 there were comments and feedback from different ages and demographics about how it would affect them (eg not being able to get to work, school, college, shopping or for medical appointments) but the only comment I remember a few years ago was from a resident of North Yate advising that they would not be able to get to Yate shopping centre to volunteer in a charity shop. Sadly I didn't feel this sort of thing would have convinced a commercial company to maintain a service but more public campaigning from different ages and demographics might have helped ( I may be wrong here).

Obviously, it was the case for a long while that local authorities struggled with cuts to funding and many supported services got the chop. I seem to remember that back when First decided to withdraw the commercial X27 South Gloucestershire Council were able to step in and fund it. Pretty sure it then remained funded for several years until the X46 and 46 were introduced in April 2014. Had there not been the cuts to funding that there were from 2010 onwards, is it possible that SGC would have maybe been in a position to step in with a supported service in North Yate and bump up the level provision that way?

All of this suggests that there is no basis for a commercial service and little feedback to the council to push for a contracted service for the area. Local authorities are being allocated a bit of money at present however it's unlikely to last for long so, even if a service suddenly reappeared, it's not going to be long term.

 

[Citistar]

Part of the problem with areas like this is that nobody is interested in serving them at a more economic cost by balancing a daytime service with perhaps more lucrative contracted work at certain times of the day. The insistance of local authorities that services must run 18 hours a day, 7 days a week makes a mockery of actual, tangible demand and pushes costs massively beyond where they need to be. Perhaps such extensive coverage is required in dense urban areas, but not in Brimsham Park. Meanwhile, life is being made so infuriatingly difficult for operators who might be interested in taking advantage of such opportunities.

 

[Martin1988]

Out of interest, are the OP's parents regular bus users? If so are they concessionary passholders?

My dad regularly uses the bus to commute to and from work in Bristol. He previously used the X27 then the X46 but him and most of his colleagues now use the Y1 instesd of the Y3.