Getting Bristol’s bus network ready for electric buses

Among a number of changes to its ‘70-series’ of bus services (70 UWE to Temple Meads Station, 73 UWE to Whitchurch, 74 Hengrove to Bristol Parkway/Bradley Stoke, 75 Hengrove to Cribbs Causeway and 76 Hengrove to Crow Lane), the city’s largest bus operator has said it is extending some of its routes south into its Hengrove depot – which will become one of the company’s electrification hubs - ahead of the arrival of 74 electric buses in the city in 2025.

The 70-series routes will also change in the north of the city to offer more frequent buses and improve punctuality. In response to demand from commuters, a 15-minute service on the number 74 will be restored between Gloucester Road, Filton Avenue and Bristol Parkway station – double the current level of service. There will also be changes to some other parts of these routes, and customers are advised to check timetables and maps on the First West of England website before travelling.

Another major boost for bus services in Bristol will see the introduction of a new service 50 (city centre to Stapleton/Frenchay). The new service will run half-hourly Monday to Saturday and provide a direct city centre link to Frenchay and Stapleton village.

There will also be a new east to south cross-city route introduced by extending some journeys on service 43 (Cadbury Heath to City Centre, Kingswood to Vicarage Road) to the south of the city to provide extra capacity on this busy section of service 75 (Hengrove to Cribbs Causeway).

The changes are part of a bi-annual review of routes by First West of England, and will come into force on Sunday 1st September. Others include:

• Major changes are being made to the Fishponds Road area to include more express journeys, in response to the popularity of the 48x and 49x, introduced in April. The 48x (city centre to Emersons Green via Eastville, Fishponds, Downend) and 49x (city centre to Emersons Green via Staple Hill) will also provide journeys out of the city alongside their existing inbound routes. And service 47 (city centre to Oldbury Court via Eastville and Fishponds) will become 47x providing more express journeys in and out of the city centre from Fishponds Road, making it 6 express journeys an hour in both directions – an increase of two per hour.
• The number of journeys on service 41 (Kingswood to Avonmouth via the city centre) will double during off-peak periods Monday to Friday, providing a half hourly service.
• The number of Saturday journeys on service 1 (Cribbs Causeway to Broomhill, Brislington) will double to every 15 minutes.
• The frequency and routes of services Y1 (South Yate to Bristol city centre), Y2 (North Yate to Bristol city centre) and Y6 (Chipping Sodbury to Bristol city centre) will be changed so all three complement each other and provide more direct and faster routes with changes to some routes and more frequent buses. Customers are advised to check new timetables on the First West of England website in the coming weeks before travelling.
• Service 15 (Cribbs Causeway to Avonmouth) will be withdrawn to make way for a new West of England Combined Authority (WECA) WESTLocal service.
• Changes to the timetables on several services in the Park Street and Whiteladies Road areas (1, 2, 3, 4 and 77) will be improved to reduce the waiting times for customers to less than three minutes during the day. The spacing of buses will also be improved in the evenings, with buses heading up Park Street and Whiteladies Road every 10 minutes or better until midnight.
• The timetables for services 3 and 4 (city centre to Cribbs Causeway) will be changed to improve reliability. The Henbury sections of each service will also swap so the 4 serves Tomarton Crescent and the 3 serves Crow Lane to improve the coordination between the two services along the route.

Further details about all the changes are available on the First West of England website. Detailed timetables will be available in the coming weeks, and customer are advised to check their routes before travelling.

Rob Pymm, Commercial Director for First West of England, said: “It’s a really exciting time for the West of England. Not only are we eagerly awaiting the arrival of our first electric buses in the region next year as we move to a fully zero emission fleet over the coming years, but we’re also seeing passenger numbers in Bristol continue to steadily climb, with a 14 per cent increase over the past year.

“This is great news for the city as it means more people are choosing to travel by bus, which means we can invest more in our network to improve routes, provide more buses and new services, and ensure our buses are more punctual whilst reducing pollution and congestion.

“With all of these improvements and adult and child single fares still at £2 and £1 respectively we’re making bus travel accessible and encouraging many more people to travel by bus.”

First Bus has consulted on the new routes with local authorities, including the West of England Combined Authority, ahead of them coming into effect in September.