Friday, 28 October 2016

Fare changes in Bath

From 30 October 2016 the following tickets will be changing:

Single Tickets in Bath Outer Zone

The on-bus price of single tickets in the Bath Outer Zone will be increasing. If your journey is over three miles you may find it more convenient and it will also save you money if your journey is further than six miles, to purchase your ticket as a set of 10 Single Journeys on the mTicket app.  
AdultStudent/16-21 Years OldChild
Up to three milesfrom £1.70from £1.20from 90p
Three to six milesfrom £2.70from £1.90from £1.40
Six to nine milesfrom £4from £2.80from £2
Nine to Twelve miles from £5from £3.50from £2.50
Over twelve miles from £6from 4.20from £3

Bath Outer Zone 10 Journey Ticket 

The price of 10 single journey tickets will be increasing both on-bus and on our mTickets app.
AdultStudent/16-21 Years OldChild
10 Single Journey on-bus£30£21£15
10 single journey mTicket£27£18.90£13.50

Night ticket

Allows unlimited travel after 7pm until 4.29am the following morning in your chosen area.
AdultStudent/16-21 Years OldChild
Bath Inner Zone£3£2 £1.50
New Bath Outer Zone£5£3.20£2.50

Group Day Ticket

This ticket will replace the Family Day Ticket and allows unlimited travel in your chosen area for up to 5 people after 9.30am Monday to Friday, all day Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays. There are no age restrictions so up to 5 adults can travel together in a group.
Group (5 people)
Bath Inner Zone£8
Bath Outer Zone£13

Week Ticket

This ticket allows unlimited travel within the chosen area for 7 consecutive days. The on-bus price of all Inner Zone week tickets will increase and the on-bus price of the Child Outer Zone ticket has been rounded up.
AdultStudent/16-21 Years OldChild
Bath Inner Zone on-bus£18.50£13£9.20
Bath Inner Zone mTicket or Touch Card£17£12£8.50
Bath Outer Zone on-bus£23.80£16.70£12
Bath Outer Zone mTicket or Touch Card£22£15.40£11
All other fares in Bath Inner and Outer Zone remain unchanged

Changes to Buses of Somerset services from 30th October 2016


The following changes are taking place on the Buses of Somerset network of services from 30th October 2016. Please make sure you check the new timetables which will be available soon on our website before travelling.
Bridgwater Area Services
Bridgwater Town Service 1 (Kings Drive – Wills Road)
There are no changes to the Service 1 timetable.
Bridgwater Town Service C (Bus Station – Mendip Road)
There are no changes to the Service C timetable.
Bridgwater Town Service F (Bus Station – Wembdon)
There are no changes to the Service F timetable.
Service 14 (Bridgwater – Cannington)
To better match customer demand, Service 14 is revised to run hourly between Bridgwater and Cannington only with the section of route between Cannington and Minehead being withdrawn. The early morning and evening extension to Nether Stowey and the Bridgwater College day extension to Stogursey and Shurton will continue to run.
Service 15 (Bridgwater College – Minehead)
There are no changes to the Service 15 timetable.
Service 19 (Bridgwater College – Greinton)
There are no changes to the Service 19 timetable
Service 21/21A/ (Taunton – Burnham-on-Sea)
Service 21/21A timetable is revised with the frequency between Burnham-on-Sea, Sea View Road and Bridgwater Bus Station being reduced to every 30 minutes to better match customer demand. Buses between Bridgwater Bus Station and Taunton Bus Station will continue to run every 15 minutes for most of the day. The last bus between Taunton and Bridgwater on Mondays to Saturdays will now run slightly later at 20:20 to allow for better connections from Musgrove Park Hospital.
Service 75 (Bridgwater – Puriton – Woolavington - Street)
Services 37 and 73 are renumbered as service 75 and revised to better match customer demand. This service will run approximately every two hours between Street and Bridgwater with additional buses between Bridgwater and Woolavington. Off peak journeys will continue to serve Eastern Avenue in Bridgwater.
Service X75 (Wells to Bridgwater College)
There are no changes to the Service X75 timetable.
Service 623 (Bridgwater College – Rockwell Green)
There are no changes to the Service 623 timetable
Taunton Area Services
Taunton Town Service 1 (Parade - Wellsprings)
To better match customer demand and to improve reliability, service 1 is reduced in frequency for most of the day on Mondays to Saturdays to every 15 minutes instead of every 10 minutes. The early morning and late afternoon Saturday service will now be every 20 minutes.
Taunton Town Service 2 (Parade - Priorswood)
Departure times on service 2 are slightly revised.
Taunton Town Service 3 (Parade – Bishops Hull)
There are no changes to the Service 3 timetable.
Taunton Town Service 4 (Parade – Lane Estate)
There are no changes to the Service 4 timetable.
Taunton Town Service 5 (Parade – Calder Crescent) and Service 6 (Parade – Juniper Road)
To better match customer demand in the Holway area, Service 5 will no longer operate but Service 6 is revised to become a circular service combining most of existing routes 5 and 6 while still providing a bus every 30 minutes to and from Taunton Parade. This service will run in an anti-clockwise direction serving the following roads: From Taunton Parade via East Street, Silver Street, South Road, Shoreditch Road, Chestnut Drive, Lime Crescent, Juniper Road, Chestnut Drive, Ashbourne Crescent, Normandy Drive, Lisieux Way, Wordsworth Drive, South Street and East Street to Taunton Parade.
Rowan Drive and Hawthorn Road on the current service 6 will no longer be served and customers will need to walk to Chestnut Drive instead.
Redlake Drive, Thames Drive and Calder Crescent on the current service 5 will no longer be served. Customers from Redlake Drive will need to walk through to new stops in Ashbourne Crescent on the revised service 6 and customers from Thames Drive and Calder Crescent will need to walk through to Hamilton Road where service 21 runs at least every 15 minutes into Taunton.
Taunton Town Service 7 (Parade - Galmington)
Departure times on service 7 are revised.
Taunton Park & Ride Service PR1 (Taunton Park & Ride via Musgrove Park Hospital)
There are no changes to the Service PR1 timetable.
Taunton Town Service 9 (Parade – Musgrove Park Hospital)
Departure times on the Sunday and Public Holiday service 9 are revised.
Service 21/21A/ (Taunton – Burnham-on-Sea)
Service 21/21A timetable is revised with the frequency between Burnham-on-Sea, Sea View Road and Bridgwater Bus Station being reduced to every 30 minutes to better match customer demand. Buses between Bridgwater Bus Station and Taunton Bus Station will continue to run every 15 minutes for most of the day. The last bus between Taunton and Bridgwater on Mondays to Saturdays will now run slightly later at 20:20 to allow for better connections from Musgrove Park Hospital.
Service 22/22A (Taunton – Tonedale / Rockwell Green)
There are no changes to the Service 22/22A timetable but Somerset College will be served by the stop on Wellington Road rather than the Somerset College lay-by on journeys towards Taunton.
Service 25 (Taunton – Cotford St. Luke - Dulverton)
There are minor changes to the Service 25 timetable with the 05:20 Taunton to Dulverton on Mondays to Fridays and the 19:10 Dulverton to Taunton on Mondays to Saturdays services no longer serving Bindon Road or Cotford St Luke.
Service 28 (Taunton – Minehead)
There are changes to the Service 28 timetable with off peak journeys on Mondays to Saturdays running 10 minutes later in both directions to offer better rail connections at Taunton. There are also minor changes to peak time journeys plus additional journeys from Minehead to Taunton at 18:00 and from Taunton to Minehead at 19:15. The last bus between Taunton and Minehead on Mondays to Saturdays will now run slightly later at 20:15 to allow for better connections from Musgrove Park Hospital and at Taunton Railway Station.
Service 29 (Taunton – Wells)
Service 29 is increased in frequency to run every hour, replacing the withdrawn hourly service provided by service 55 for customers travelling between Taunton and Street, Glastonbury or Wells. Most journeys will operate via Ruishton and Creech St Michael giving a much improved service to these villages although a few very early morning and late evening journeys will run directly via the A38 between Taunton and Walford Cross.
Service 30 (Taunton – Axminster)
There are no changes to the Service 30 timetable.
Service 54 (Taunton – Langport – Somerton – Yeovil)
The timetable on service 54 is revised but continues to run hourly from Taunton to Yeovil via Curry Rivel, Langport and Somerton. Customers that previously used service 55 to travel from points between Henlade and Langport to Street, Glastonbury or Wells will be able to use service 54 to Somerton (Behind Berry stop towards Yeovil and The Square towards Taunton) where there is a connection with service 77 to or from Street, Glastonbury and Wells, although this is not guaranteed. The waiting time in Somerton is approximately 12 minutes in each direction.
Service 55 (Taunton – Langport – Somerton – Street – Wells)
To better match customer demand, service 55 is withdrawn. Customers travelling between Taunton, Curry Rivel, Langport and Somerton will still be served by the hourly service 54 and customers travelling between Somerton and Street, Glastonbury or Wells will still be served by the hourly service 77 which will now run via Overleigh and Ivythorn Road in Street to replace service 55. Customers that previously used service 55 to travel from points between Henlade and Langport to Street, Glastonbury or Wells will be able to use service 54 to Somerton (Behind Berry stop towards Yeovil and The Square towards Taunton) where there is a connection with service 77 to or from Street, Glastonbury and Wells, although this is not guaranteed. The waiting time in Somerton is approximately 12 minutes in each direction. Customers travelling from all points in Taunton to Street, Glastonbury and Wells will still be served by service 29 which is now increased in frequency to run every hour.
Service 77 (Wells – Street – Somerton – Yeovil)
The timetable on service 77 is revised but continues to run hourly from Yeovil to Wells via Somerton, Street and Glastonbury. Service 77 will no longer serve Middle Brooks, Brooks Road, Smithfield Road, Oakfield Road, Ringolds Way or Stonehill but will instead serve Overleigh and Ivythorn Road to replace the withdrawn service 55.
NEW Service 99 (Taunton – Chard via Buckland St Mary)
A new service 99 is introduced between Chard and Taunton serving Combe St Nicholas, Buckland St Mary and Staple Fitzpaine. This will run at two-hourly intervals and will replace most of the route previously served by Stagecoach South West service 99. The section between Taunton Bus Station and Musgrove Park Hospital is no longer served but customers can change at Taunton Bus Station onto service PR1 which runs to Musgrove Park Hospital every 15 minutes. Through tickets are available.
Service 623 (Bridgwater College – Rockwell Green)
There are no changes to the Service 623 timetable
Minehead Area Services
Service 10 (Minehead – Porlock Weir) and Service 101 (Minehead Town Service)
Services 10 and 101 are withdrawn due to low customer demand for these services.
Service 14 (Bridgwater – Cannington)
To better match customer demand, Service 14 is revised to run hourly between Bridgwater and Cannington only with the section of route between Cannington and Minehead being withdrawn. The early morning and evening extension to Nether Stowey and the Bridgwater College day extension to Stogursey and Shurton will continue to run.
Service 15 (Bridgwater College – Minehead)
There are no changes to the Service 15 timetable.
Service 28 (Taunton – Minehead)
There are changes to the Service 28 timetable with off peak journeys on Mondays to Saturdays running 10 minutes later in both directions to offer better rail connections at Taunton. There are also minor changes to peak time journeys plus additional journeys from Minehead to Taunton at 18:00 and from Taunton to Minehead at 19:15. The last bus between Taunton and Minehead on Mondays to Saturdays will now run slightly later at 20:15 to allow for better connections from Musgrove Park Hospital and at Taunton Railway Station.

Thursday, 27 October 2016

Buses in Bath are paying a high price for congested roads

Here is an extract of a letter we sent to Councillor Turner of BaNES council a month ago for those that may be interested.
.......As the one of largest independent operators of buses in Bath we despair at the attitude of Bath and North East Somerset Council towards buses and coaches.
Traffic in Bath is notoriously unpredictable and therefore we build contingencies into our timetables to try and allow delayed buses to get back on time and comply with our obligations to the lic...encing authorities. The problem arises when a bus does arrive on time is that the driver then has nowhere to go. We are allowed to stand on bus stops for up to ten minutes as long as the driver remains on the bus. When drivers either leave the bus for a ‘call of nature’ or drive around the corner to move out of the way, we are hounded by traffic wardens who regularly ‘ticket’ our buses.
What are we supposed to do ?
Bath is a World Heritage City. Regardless of the council’s political tendencies, there should be a realisation that buses and coaches are better than cars when it comes to reducing traffic, congestion and pollution. We often hear that a bus can replace 50 cars and this is a good thing. We have never heard a complaint that a coach is using up three car parking spaces and this is a bad thing.
Yesterday, the 19th September Bath once again suffered gridlock in the afternoon. Some buses were up to 35 minutes late. Perhaps the bus companies should close for a day to prove to Bath how much it needs public transport ?
We; The bus companies, the politicians, the local council, the residents should all work together to make Bath open to efficient public transport. Otherwise we may as well just have to accept that the battle is lost and Bath is just another victim of the motor car......
Here we are a month later and nothing has changed

Tuesday, 25 October 2016

The new way forward for bus travel

So why are First bus  encouraging you to buy your bus tickets on the free First Bus mTickets app?
See for yourself the difference between boarding a bus with customers paying by cash v mTickets. The results are unbelievable... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtUGq15dsnU&feature=youtu.be

                                                          VS




Sunday, 23 October 2016

NEW West of England group ticket available from 30th October 2016

5 people can travel anywhere across the west of England zone for £15 a total of £3 each ( your group must travel together through out your journey) Great for a day out Christmas shopping or to get to the office party. This ticket offers unlimited travel across the West of England zone in one given day. You could use the ticket in the morning to buy presents and that new party wear and catch the bus to your party
( Some examples across the West of England zone Frome, Bath, Bristol, Wells, Glastonbury, Street, Shepton Mallet, Melksham, Salisbury, Radstock, Midsomer Norton, Devizes and (Chippenham  evenings only using First buses x31)




Friday, 21 October 2016

Room on the 267 bus after a Bath rugby match

It was standing room only on the 2310 from Bath on the 20/10/16 after a Bath rugby match. I hope that the 267 isn't cut next year or these fans will no longer be able to follow their team


Spotted beside the 267 bay

Spotted beside Bay 10  for the 267 a  notice about the new fares in Bath. Their was mention of the new Bath outer evening ticket which will save you £1.50 for an evening out from the 30th Oct ( new price is £5 adult or £3.20 student) Their is also mention about the new group ticket that allows 5 passengers to travel for £15 ( so long as you all remain travelling together )





Friday, 14 October 2016

First bus announce unexpexted CUTS and CHANGES acrosss the county

First bus announce major cuts and changes across the region from the 30th October 2016. Bus cuts were already announced In Minehead earlier this week. We have now heard that the axe has also been swung in  Street and Wells as well. Their will also be major changes taking place in Taunton, Bridgwater, Chard, Yeovil and Burnham on see. To read the full story on how these bus cuts and changes will affect you use this link provided http://www.somersetlive.co.uk/first-bus-services-cut-to-match-customer-demand/story-29801445-detail/story.html



Sunday, 9 October 2016

Delighted to see that Simon Cowell has decided to catch the bus to the first of The X Factor live shows on Saturday evening!
#XFactor #CatchTheBus #ITV



Tracey Harding, Norman Browne (bus campaigner in Yeovil who has the Somerset Catch The Bus Campaign t shirt) and I attended the Travel Watch Southwest meeting today. Norman gave a passionate speech about the importance of buses and how Yeovil is a "ghost town without evening buses".