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Agenda item

Bus and Coach Operators to answer Members’ questions.

Minutes:

Mr Williams, Commercial Director, and Mr P Clerk, Operations Director, Stagecoach South West, attended and spoke at the invitation of the Committee on developments affecting bus services and the network in and around Exeter since the last meeting, as follows:

 

    In May Stagecoach had been advised of the railway bridge closure at Hele that would effectively leave Bradninch isolated from a bus service and worked with DCC to convince Network Rail to fund a shuttle bus to link back in. It was originally expected to last until December 2018, but it was due to be suspended whilst some issues were resolved and further disruption was therefore likely;

    on 6 July 2018 Stagecoach had introduced the Friday & Saturday evening and all-day Sunday extension of route H from St David’s to Exeter Quay in partnership with Exeter City Council, the Environment Agency and the Exeter Quay and Canal Trust. However, manoeuvring a bus in that area was proving very difficult at busy times, and poor parking meant the suspension of services on a couple of evenings and the arrangement would be reviewed shortly;

    on 21 July 2018 a new 1+2, 1 adult and up to 2 children day ticket in Exeter had been introduced following discussions at the last meeting, and a survey was to be carried out later in the year once the schools had returned in September 2018;

    consultation had been carried out on proposed changes and enhancements to services in the East of Exeter and Exmouth from 3 September 2018. The consultation period had now closed and in summary the resultant changes were:

 

o    Route 56 – East Devon District Council and the East Devon & Exeter Growth point had come together in a ground-breaking arrangement to fund enhancements to the part of the route that ran between Exeter St David’s, the City Centre, Met Office and Exeter Airport to support the on-going development of this region over the next 3 years by providing improved transport links. The off-peak frequency would be doubled to run every 30 minutes Mondays – Saturdays, replicating the 30 minute frequency that already ran on Monday – Friday peak periods. There would also be new journeys very early in the morning, and a new evening service introduced to ensure connections for all flights and associated key worker hours. The route between the Met Office and Airport would be amended to serve Clyst Honiton instead of the A30 to provide twice the number of buses to the Science Park in combination with route 4, and provide links to Skypark. The timetable was coordinated with route 4 to provide a regular 15-minute frequency from Exeter Mondays-Saturdays. There would also be some minor changes to the timetable between the Airport, Woodbury and Exmouth, with one additional journey than was currently the case. The buses were also to receive free WiFi and a new look to provide the Airport, Skypark, Science Park and Met Office with the type of stand-out service associated with similar places in other towns and cities across the UK.

 

o    Route 58 - The route in and out of Exeter would be standardised so that all journeys serve Sowton Industrial Estate and Honiton Road Park & Ride instead of Middlemoor to provide a wider range of options for people working in those areas. A new evening journey from Exeter would be introduced at 1900hrs.

 

o    Route 5 - In response to customer feedback, the first journey from Crediton and Cowley Bridge would operate 5 minutes earlier than present to maintain the ability to change from this service to the 56 in the City Centre following the change to the 56 timetable.

 

o    Route J - Funding from the emerging Rougemont Park development on Hill Barton Road to provide local bus services whilst the development was under construction would allow the J service to be extended from Whipton Barton along Hill Barton Road through to Digby to create a new East Exeter Orbital Route I & J. Buses running in the clockwise direction (outbound along Pinhoe Road & inbound along Topsham Road) would be the J, and buses running anti-clockwise (outbound along Topsham Road & inbound along Pinhoe Road) would be the I. Buses would run every 20 minutes in both directions, the I/J providing a combined 10 minute frequency from IKEA to the City Centre via the alternate directions, and every 10 minutes when supplemented by existing route K between Countess Wear, the City Centre and Whipton Barton.

 

o    Route K - Funding from the emerging Tithebarn development to allow this route to be extended from Whipton Barton to Cumberland Way, Tithebarn Lane and Exeter Science Park. It was anticipated that the route would evolve in future years to serve other developments in the area. Buses would continue to run every 20 minutes along the extended route.

 

o    Route R/S - With the increase in the number of services along Heavitree Road, the frequency on this Inner Exeter Orbital Route wold be reduced from every 12 to every 20 minutes each way round the loop, but still combining to a 10-minute frequency from Rifford Road to the City Centre. Routes D and H also provided alternatives from some parts of these routes.

 

o    There was also changes to services within Exmouth from the same date that did not impact on Exeter but were linked operationally.

 

o    Further Information about these changes were available online at: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/news/south-west/2017/july/stagecoach-announce-changes-to-exeter-bus-network-from-3-september-2017

 

    Stagecoach had not been consulted about the new cycleway on Cumberland Way, or the one proposed at this meeting and whilst this latest section was not on the line of a bus route, the completed section on Cumberland was a concern as it has created a dead zone where it was longer possible to site bus stops. This would become a problem when new housing came on stream in the area and requested they be consulted on any future extensions to ensure suitable facilities for bus services were included; and

 

    new ticket machines had been deployed across the entire fleet in the South West during July 2018, finishing with Exeter this weekend. These included the facility for contactless payment that would be advertised in August but was available now.

 

In response to Members’ questions and discussion points Mr Williams:

 

     indicated that Bus drivers should inform passengers (families or groups) of the best ticket options available for any route and noted the suggestion about advertising the new deal for families and children as soon as possible prior to the new School term and indicated that information was available on the Stagecoach website; and

     referred to the need for early consultation by the Local Planning Authority and Devon County Council (as highway authority) on bus service provision associated with larger scale developments.   

 

Members noted that this was Mr Williams’ last meeting as he was leaving Stagecoach at the end of September. The Chair and Members thanked him for his services to public transport in Exeter and for his attendance at these meetings.

 

In relation to the current zonal parking restrictions and enforcement issues on the Quay which limited bus manoeuvres on occasions, Officers were aware of the problems and the Civil Enforcement Officers had been advised accordingly. The situation would continue to be reviewed with the local Member as necessary and a report would be submitted to the next meeting. 


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