I never quite
understood why Radstock and Midsomer Norton are so badly connected by
public transport to Bristol. Just one 'direct' (but in practice
circuitous) bus route, taking well over an hour for the journey.
The good
news
is that the gap is about to be filled with the completion of Corridor
6 of the Greater Bristol Bus Network.
The 379 route, we're
promised, will be an hourly service by way of the A37 through
Pensford. It means, of course, that those of us living in Hengrove
and Stockwood will be able to make the trip to Radstock (including
its excellent Co-op, which – on our last visit, at least – was
far better stocked that any of its CRS big brothers in the Bristol
area) and without a change of buses, in around 45 minutes from
Whitchurch village.
There's no evening
service promised for the 379, though. According to the BaNES press release, if homegoing commuters miss the 5.35pm from Bristol, they're
stuck with little choice but to head for Bath and try from there. I
wonder if tickets will be valid on both routes. That's the kind of detail that sometimes gets forgotten in the rush to present spanking new road layouts, buses, and shelters
The new service starts
on April 2nd
There'll be a knock-on
effect on our own Bristol buses sharing the same route along the
Wells Road. We should expect real-time information at (marginally)
more comfortable stops, and a little bit more bus priority. Which
can't be bad. I hope it doesn't get a 'Fishponds' reaction from the
motorists.
And why is there still no sign of upgrading or re-equipping the miserable apology for a bus stop at Temple Meads? Aah.... it must be the imminent decision to turn Plot 6 into that city-wide transport interchange we've been promised.
No comments:
Post a Comment