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www.bradleystokejournal.co.uk
t: 01454 300 400
September 2018
News
First boss reveals options for the 73 bus service in the MetroBus era
B
us operator First Bristol says it intends to maintain Bradley Stoke’s 73 bus service at a “good level” following the planned launch of the M1 MetroBus service through the town in January 2019 and has asked local residents to share opinions on what they think would be the optimum route of the service between Aztec West and Parkway Station. Speaking at a meeting of Bradley Stoke Town Council’s Planning and Environment Committee on 22nd August, James Freeman, managing director of First Bristol, acknowledged that the introduction of the M1, which will run every 10 minutes down Bradley Stoke Way, will have an impact on the number of passengers using the existing 73
and X73 services. He confirmed a statement previously reported in the Journal that the peak-hours-only X73 service, which runs down Brook Way, will be withdrawn. In the short term, the main 73 service will be continued at a “good level”, with all buses continuing to serve Gloucester Road to the Centre and Temple Meads, but its frequency is likely to “come down a bit”, possibly to ‘every 20 minutes’ (rather than the present ‘every 15 minutes’). Responding to concerns that passengers living close to the “western” route through Bradley Stoke (i.e. down Brook Way) might not find it easy to access the new MetroBus service running along Bradley Stoke Way, he hinted that the route of the 73 might be “slightly
modified … possibly making it a bit straighter and running more to the west”. Speaking of the timescale for introducing these changes, Mr Freeman insisted that it is now a “dead cert” that the M1 MetroBus service will start in January 2019 and he named 13th January as the currently projected launch date. Responding to concerns that the vast majority of passengers on MetroBus will have transferred from existing services, Mr Freeman pointed to the alreadyrunning M3 Emersons Green service, which he said had “driven demand” and attracted 20 percent more passengers than predicted. He noted that the recently introduced T1 Thornbury to Bristol service, which passes along Bradley Stoke Way and operates with a half-hour frequency using MetroBus-style vehicles, has been “quite well received”. However, he stressed that the new M1 service will offer similarly fast journey times to the city centre, operate at three times the frequency and run until at least 11pm. Mr Freeman said that First would like to hear people’s views on the optimum route of the 73 between Aztec West and Parkway Station from January 2019. With legislation requiring operators to give 70 days’ formal notice of bus service introductions or alterations, they would like to
Archive image of James Freeman, managing director of First Bristol
have this feedback by the end of September. Details of how to respond will be made available on the town council and Journal websites as soon as it is available. Looking further ahead, he raised some interesting options for the route of the 73 service beyond Parkway Station (heading towards the city centre), namely: 1. All 73s continue unchanged past Parkway Station via the existing (slow) route to Bristol 2. All 73s go to Parkway then travel around the multi-story car park, past the Hunts Ground Road P&R site and onto the new Stoke Gifford By-Pass, then via the A4174, UWE and Stoke Lane onto the M32 and straight into Bristol. 3. Every other 73 heading south goes via the slow route (as in option 1) and the next one goes via the fast route (as in option 2), i.e. a combination of options 1 and 2. Although there is, as yet, no date for this improvement, feedback on the options would also be welcomed within the same September timeframe.
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