Old timetables still displayed on axed section of 73 bus route

Photo of a green bus. — A First Bus service 73 vehicle, pictured on Bradley Stoke Way.

Timetables for the First Bus service 73 are still on display at bus stops in south Bradley Stoke that were axed from the route over a week ago (on Sunday 30th January 2022). This is despite the bus company being informed early last week that passengers unaware of the change had been seen waiting at the stops for buses that will never arrive.

The continued presence of redundant timetables at the stops is the latest in a catalogue of communication failures that have accompanied the controversial decision to re-route the service 73 along the full length of Brook Way, thereby short-cutting the previous loop along Bradley Stoke Way, Webbs Wood Road and Baileys Court Road.

Photo of a bus timetable noticeboard. — Timetable board at the Baileys Court Inn westbound bus stop still showing the service 73 on Sunday 6th February 2022, one week after the service ceased to serve the stop.

According to the Travelwest website, the maintenance of timetable information at bus stops is the responsibility of the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) who, as the local transport authority, should be given at least 70 days notice of a proposed change to a service. This allows for a 28-day period of ‘consultation’ before the change is registered with the Office of the Traffic Commissioner (OTC) at least 42 days ahead of implementation. The OTC is then required to publish notice of the the change in its weekly ‘Notices & Proceedings’ (N&Ps).

Weca has confirmed that it was given the necessary 70-day notice and the OTC website shows that the change was ‘registered’ on 19th December 2021. However, it seems that the ‘consultation’ process was somewhat limited as Bradley Stoke district and town councillors only became aware of the change on 4th January 2022, by which time it was a done deal.

Kitchen & Laundry Appliance Care, Bradley Stoke, Bristol.

Meanwhile the OTC sat on the change for a whole month before it was finally published in its N&Ps on 20th January 2022, just 10 days ahead of the service change. This came almost a fortnight after First Bus had released details of all the Bristol services that would be changing on 30th January.

In a final twist to the tale, the initial issue of First’s website notice published on 7th January made no mention of the 73 service, only for it to be retrospectively added by 10th January.

In light of developments, Chris Hanson, operations manager at First Bus, was invited to speak at a meeting of Bradley Stoke Town Council on 19th January, where councillors and residents expressed their displeasure at the cut in service and lack of consultation.

In his response, Mr Hanson apologised for the lack of forward consultation and knowledge regarding the removal of a section of the 73 service from the town. He explained that although discussions were held with Weca back in November, it hadn’t been possible to make the proposed change public then as there was still “a lack of clarity over funding” – a reference to short-term government support given to the bus industry to compensate for reduced passenger numbers during the coronavirus crisis.

A full report on Mr Hanson’s presentation to the town council will appear in the next issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal magazine.