In response to passenger feedback and in consultation with the West of England Combined Authority, South Gloucestershire Council and Gloucestershire County Council, the timetable for the 84/85 service between Yate, Chipping Sodbury and Wotton-Under-Edge is being amended from Monday 26 June to enable more convenient return journeys.
What was the problem with the original timetable?
The original timetable that has been running since 5 June had five anticlockwise journeys (85) and only one clockwise (84). This means that passengers doing a short journey from one village to the next, or to the nearest town, had to either find a different way home, or wait until the one journey in the afternoon that could take them home directly, or travel the whole way around the “wrong way”, taking over an hour and a half to do what should be a five or ten minute journey.
What will the new timetable do?
The new timetable has three journeys in each direction, allowing more frequent services between many destinations and much more convenient return journeys:
When will it start?
Monday 26th June 2023
How long will it run for?
The current service is planned to operate until Saturday 27th August, during which time South Gloucestershire Council will be consulting on its future. There is a proposal to extend it at least until the end of March 2024, and then if funds allow to continue it beyond that as well. As soon as we know more about the consultation and how people can engage with that, we will provide information here on our website.
Why wasn’t there consultation with passengers on the changes from Monday 26 June?
The current contract is only for 12 weeks and this does not provide sufficient time to consult and then make changes. A decision had to made about what timetable to register with the Traffic Commissioner and in view of the passenger feedback so far and the obvious benefits of enabling convenient return journeys, all parties agreed that registering the timetable above would be more beneficial to passengers.
Why wasn’t there consultation with passengers on the changes from Monday 26 June?
The current contract is only for 12 weeks and this does not provide sufficient time to consult and then make changes. A decision had to be made as to which timetable would be most useful to people to run until the end of August, and all parties agreed that the proposed timetable would be the most useful one.