The Bradley Stoke Journal

Bus services have been partially restored to Bradley Stoke’s town centre this week, after a break of over twelve months during building works.

Services were suspended from April 2008, when construction of a new car park got underway, despite earlier plans to provide a temporary bus stop within the centre as building work progressed.

Bus passengers using the centre have since been obliged to walk to temporary stops in Savages Wood Road, which involved following a lengthy diversion along Bradley Stoke Way until the new Willow Brook Centre opened in October 2008.

With the recent completion of building works at the site, a new bus route through the centre has been opened up. Buses are now able to enter the complex via a slip road off Bradley Stoke way before progressing along the side of the mall building towards a new bus stop on the edge of the Town Square, opposite the soon-to-open Ladbrokes betting shop.

Remotely controlled barriers have been installed at both ends of the route through the centre.

The 73B service, operated by First Group, has now started using the new route on weekday and Saturday evenings and throughout the day on Sundays and Public Holidays. All of these journeys are said to be operated with financial support from South Gloucestershire Council (SGC).

Wessex Connect, which operates the 71 & 72 services, says its buses will soon also begin using the new bus lane. These services run throughout the day on weekdays and Saturdays (but there is no service on Sundays and Bank Holidays).

Geoff Clarkson, Assistant Operations Manager at Wessex Connect, told The Journal:

We are awaiting final confirmation from SGC, at which point we will be operating through the new bus lane at the store.

The planning agreement for the new town centre development includes an obligation on the developer (Tesco Stores Limited) to pay a Public Transport Contribution of £250,000, to be used for the provision of a new bus service into the site. Payments are to be phased over five years and any monies not spent after 12 years will be repaid to the developer.

Related Link: Bus Services in Bradley Stoke (The Journal)

First Group has announced changes to the 73 bus service which will see journey times between Bradley Stoke and the centre of Bristol reduced but leave the Aztec West Business Park isolated from the public transport network.

The changes, which come into effect on Sunday 1st February, will see, for example, the existing 08:04 service (now retimed to 08:01) from Kemperleye Way (North) taking three minutes less to reach Bristol city centre.

Time savings between Bradley Stoke and Bristol will be achieved by cutting out sections of the route that visit Filton High School and MOD Abbey Wood. Passengers travelling to the school will have an extra five minute walk from Fox Den Road, while those wishing to reach the MOD will need to alight at the nearby retail park.

Journey times on the section of the 73 route between Bradley Stoke and The Mall, Cribbs Causeway, will be reduced by axing the peak hours only loop through the Aztec West Business Park.

The Aztec West cut, which leaves the business park without public transport of any form, is likely to anger workers from businesses at the far end of the park, who will now have a long walk to access services from stops on the main A38 or Bradley Stoke Way.

The move throws doubt on the rationality of parts of a recently announced Greater Bristol Bus Network scheme to introduce bus lanes at the Aztec West roundabout. Those plans include a new bus lane on the eastbound exit road out of the Aztec West Business Park.

South Gloucestershire Council recently announced plans to create an alternative bus access route into Aztec West from Patchway, via Waterside Drive (which is currently restricted to emergency vehicles).

Related Links:

• Service Changes in Bristol from 1st February – First Group
• Map of changes to services 73, 73A and 73B – First Group
• Guide to Bus Services in Bradley Stoke – The Journal

Transport operator First Group plans to axe the 74 and 74X bus services that run between Stoke Gifford, Bradley Stoke and Bristol city centre, according to a report in the Bristol Evening Post.

The 74 service currently runs once a day in each direction, picking up at Ellan Hay Road, Bradley Stoke at 7:04am and returning from Bristol at 5:43pm. The limited stop X74 service makes one journey a day, picking up at Ellan Hay Road at 7:42am. Both services operate Monday-Friday only.

The company claims that low customer demand is behind the proposed changes, which will come into effect on 1st February next year.

Bradley Stoke Mayor Robert Jones is quoted as describing First Group’s actions as “death by a thousand cuts”, while town and district Councillor John Ashe complains that “First hasn’t even had the decency to consult local residents about the impact that these ill-thought through changes will have”.

Related Links:

• Announcement of service change on First Group website
• The Journal’s guide to bus services in Bradley Stoke

Local bus operator First Group has announced price rises that come into effect on Sunday 31st August. The company is blaming the price hike (said to average six per cent) on increased fuel costs.

Most standard adult and child single and return fares will rise by 10p, while the prices of FirstDay tickets for Bristol zones 1 & 2 go up by 20p (the new adult price is £4.20 on-peak, £3.90 off-peak).

The latest rises follow a 4.1 per cent increase in January.

Elsewhere, South Gloucestershire Council has announced that the 487 school service to The Ridings, Winterbourne, has been withdrawn with the 963 service being re-routed via Bradley Stoke to provide an alternative service. The revised 963 service runs from Wednesday 3rd September.

Related Links: The Journal’s guide to bus services in Bradley Stoke

First Group has announced changes to the 73 service, which links Cribbs Causeway to the City Centre via Bradley Stoke. The timings along certain journeys have been altered by 1-2 minutes to provide a more reliable service. The changes are said to be based on a new satellite tracking system introduced earlier this year which tracks actual journey times.

A number of journeys on the 74 service, which links Stoke Gifford to the City Centre via Bradley Stoke, have been axed. An announcement on the company’s website states that:

Due to low customer demand we will no longer run the following journeys: 0714 and 0757 to the Centre and 1725 to Bakers Ground. We will continue to run the 0737 journey to the Centre and the 1743 journey to Bakers Ground.

The changes came into effect yesterday (3rd August).

Related Links: The Journal’s guide to bus services in Bradley Stoke