Passengers have had their say in our recent consultation regarding routes S1 and S2. During November and December 2009 we sought your views on our proposed timetable changes for 7 March 2010 and have received a tremendous response. Our thanks go to those who took the trouble to let us know what they think.
The following gives an overview of our response to your suggestions. Some have been incorporated into our plans, and others we were unable to meet.
Dates
We had planned to start the new timetable on 7 March. However, because we wanted to get it right and build in as many of your comments as possible, we have decided to delay the date by three weeks to 28 March. The new Stagecoach Gold buses for route S1 will come into service on the same day.
Timetable
Click here to download the final timetable
Shilton Park Evenings – route S1
We have decided to go-ahead with our proposal to alter the S1 route on Monday-Saturday evenings in order to serve Monahan Way (for Shilton Park) after the last S2 has gone, but with one amendment.
Buses leaving Oxford after 1900 will turn right out of Brize Norton, missing the stop at the Post Office, but adding Monahan Way and the Health Centre. However, buses leaving Carterton will continue to use the normal route in order to serve Brize Norton Post Office.
Passengers from Shilton Park will need to cross to the opposite side of the road for buses to Oxford after 1900, and passengers wanting the Bovingdon Road stop after 1900 will need to get off at the Health Centre. Passengers for Brize Norton Post Office will need to remain onboard the bus around Carterton.
S2 between Carterton and Witney
We had suggested that the S2 could run direct between Carterton and Witney via the A40 instead of running through Minster Lovell if passengers were in favour of it. The vast majority of opinion was that the service should continue to serve Minster Lovell as present, so that is what it will do. There is also the benefit of continuing to serve Tower Hill and Windrush Industrial Park.
The 0740 S2 from Carterton Crossroads to Witney was mistakenly omitted from the draft timetable, and is restored in the final version.
There was one request for the 1505 S2 from Witney to Carterton to be delayed until 1510 to help cater for students leaving Henry Box school which closes at 1505. However the 1522 S1 should provide a suitable alternative for most people without having to rush to the bus stop. The next S2 to Carterton will be 1535 instead of 1545.
There were also a couple of requests to bring back the old minibus services between Witney and Carterton due to delays on the A40 / Toll Bridge affecting reliability. Whilst we understand the thinking behind this, we merged the Witney-Carterton minibuses with the service to Oxford in order to provide more people with a wider range of convenient travel opportunities. We believe that as a whole the current arrangement is attractive to a greater number of people than the two separate services were. The double deck vehicles allow us to cope with bigger loads at busy times, and the timetables do generally have the capacity to cope with day to day traffic delays. When there are major problems on the A40 we do our best to keep services running as close to timetable as possible.
Witney – Oxford
There were a number of requests for additional journeys, particularly in the mornings from Witney towards Oxford. In response to this we will increase the proposed frequency between 0735 and 0805 from Thorney Leys from every 15 minutes to every 10 minutes. Alternative requests were to provide an S2 journey from Witney to Oxford at around 0800, but we felt that the higher frequency on the S1 would provide more flexibility for passengers.
There were also requests for an additional early morning journey between the current 0502 and 0612 from Witney Market Place. We are pleased to be able to add a new journey at 0542, with a return journey from Oxford to Witney at 0622.
Departures from Witney between 0830 and 0900 are being rescheduled to help improve their reliability.
There were also requests for later departures from Witney to Oxford after the last bus at 2359 on Friday and Saturday nights. Unfortunately the greatest demand at this time of night is for departures leaving Oxford, and our service is focused with that in mind.
A couple of people noted how the S2 towards Oxford is scheduled to depart at that same time as the S1. Unfortunately this is unavoidable because of the way the services are scheduled to depart Carterton. The S1 runs every 15 minutes to Thorney Leys but only every 30 minutes to Carterton. By fitting the S2 in between the S1 from Carterton to provide an even 15 minute service from Carterton, the S2 ends up overlapping with the S1 starting from Thorney Leys. Additionally, spreading the journeys out from Witney would leave an uneven frequency through Eynsham.
Oxford – Witney
A few people have noted that the 1735 from Oxford to Witney is often late, with the 1745 in place early taking a lot of the passengers. The new timetable is going to alter what these buses do on their previous trips, which should make the 1735 more reliable.
There were requests for additional S2 journeys from Oxford to Witney at around 1720 to fill the gap left by the express journeys to Carterton. Congestion on Woodstock Road means that journeys via the Toll Bridge are normally just as fast at this time of day, which is why most of the service to Witney is focused on the S1 route. The S1 also has the additional benefit of running past the Rail Station.
The frequency of the S1 from Oxford will be increased to every 10 minutes from 1625 instead of 1655, providing an additional departure at this busy time.
The 1558 & 1613 S1 from Oxford and the 1635 S2 from Oxford will be made more reliable by altering the timing of the journeys before them.
Corn Street
There are roadworks planned from 22 February until 2 April 2010 which will close Corn Street to all traffic. Work is also taking place in Market Place from 18 February. During this time buses will be temporarily diverted along Welch Way, with new stops located in the vicinity of the petrol station for Corn Street. Please see separate notices for more information. After this time services should return to normal.
Eynsham
There were three requests to alter the S1 route through Eynsham to serve other parts of the village, but we feel that this would make the service less attractive as a whole. The 11 and 18 provide good hourly links to these areas already and are not normally heavily loaded.
It is noted that the buses towards Oxford 1700-1730 have been unreliable. This appears to be due to congestion leaving Witney, so we are adding extra time into the timetable to help cope with this.
Oxford Rail Station
We have had a few requests to provide better co-ordination between trains arriving from London in the evening and departures on the S1. However, trains come from London, Reading, Banbury, Manchester etc at so many different times it is impossible to meet them all. Therefore a regular and even frequency as currently provided is considered to be the best solution to avoid inconveniencing other passengers.
Drivers
We received a lot of praise for our drivers and the efforts that they make, and will pass this on to them. There were a few concerns which we will follow up where we have sufficient information to do so.
Buses
There has been a wide range of comments regarding the new Stagecoach Gold buses, particularly regarding cold heating, noisy ventilation and condensation. These issues are being pursued as a matter of urgency with the manufacturers.
Some people have noticed the “TV screens”. They were actually intended to display CCTV images, but whilst we have extensive CCTV fitted to the vehicles, we do not believe that passengers particularly want to watch themselves on their way home. We have therefore deactivated the screens and the next batch of vehicles will not have them. We have no plans to display television images.
The Gold buses are being provided at no additional cost to the passenger – a “free upgrade to first class”. There will not be a fares increase associated with their introduction.
All passengers are expected to be courteous towards others onboard our buses, but unfortunately notices rarely make any difference to those who are not. Being courteous includes not playing loud music whilst on board, not putting feet on the seats and putting rubbish in a bin.
Daytime Spruce Up
There were several comments about the standard of exterior cleanliness of our buses. We realise that the simple pleasure of being able to see out of a window is important, and that we currently fall well below even our own standards. Our plans to pay more attention to the vehicles during the daytime are rapidly being developed, and should be implemented along with the timetable changes. We hope that this will help us to keep our new buses looking new for longer!
Real Time Information
We have had several requests for the provision of real time departure information at additional stops.
We have fitted satellite tracking equipment to all of our vehicles in order to display the routes to Oxfordshire County Council’s real time information system. The new vehicles will also have this equipment fitted.
Oxfordshire County Council provides the at-stop displays where funding permits. Whilst they have a rolling plan to install additional displays across the County, we are not aware of any plans for additional displays on the S1 or S2 route in the short term.
We are aware that correct predictions are not always displayed on the signs and text messages, and are doing our best to work with Oxfordshire County Council and the system manufacturers to sort out these bugs with the system. The system does not allow us to display our own messages on the information signs.
There were a couple of requests for next stop information to displayed inside vehicles, and whilst we would be very keen to see this ourselves the cost of providing it is currently prohibitively expensive.
Other items which haven’t been possible:
• Provide an additional express journey from Carterton to Oxford between 0800 and 0850 – fewer people need to arrive in Oxford for 0930 as they do for 0900
• Run the S2 later in the evening and on Sundays / provide a Sunday service past Shilton Park – unfortunately there isn’t enough spare time in the Sunday S1 timetable to do the same diversion as we are planning Monday-Saturday evenings, and passenger numbers are unlikely to justify a separate service
• Provide an earlier bus from Cassington to Witney – this would mean running a bus against the main flow of passengers, so demand is limited
• Provide direct buses between Carterton and Oxford hourly all day – the combination of people wanting to travel to Witney is part of what makes the existing service sustainable
• Divert journeys through Madley Park – this would delay passengers already onboard
• Provide a through service from West Oxford to the JR Hospital – connections between the S1 and S2 are available in Oxford to/from route 14 (or by walking through from Woodstock Road to Banbury Road). Dayrider Gold and MegaRider Gold pass holders can travel for no additional cost. We are also investigating ways to extend the multi-operator Plus Pass as part of the “Transform Oxford” project.
• Provide a through service from Witney to London and the Airports – through tickets are available to London on the Oxford Tube with travel on the S1/S2 for free
• Offer a common departure point with the S1 and 11 – the 11 was moved away from George Street to help ensure that passengers travelling beyond Eynsham could get a seat on the minibus, but both routes do stop at Park End Street and Station Square.
• Offer a student discount (University level), but we would recommend one of our money saving season tickets available from www.stagecoachbus.com
• Reduce the price of an annual ticket – it already represents a substantial discount on daily fares. A MegaRider is the same price from Carterton to Oxford as it is from Witney to Oxford to keep our range of passes as simple as possible.
• Renumber the S1 back to 100
• Renumber the S2 express journeys to make them clearer (e.g. X1) – they are numbered S2 to highlight the inter-availability of services to Carterton
• Provide tea/coffee and a cinema screen on the Gold buses
The following are items that we do not have direct control over, but will be taking up with the relevant District, City and County Councils:
• Subsidy for an evening/night service from Oxford and Witney to Long Hanborough, Freeland and North Leigh, diverting the S1 is likely to reduce overall patronage
• Requests for alterations to route 11
• Increased frequency on routes 213/4 through Madley Park at commuter times
• Provide a new bus stop on High Street close to Mill Street for the new estates at the top of Mill Street near Burford Road (although we suspect that the road layout will not allow anything to be sited much closer than the existing stops on Bridge Street)
• Subsidy for a service from Eynsham to Woodstock
• Subsidy for a service on route 64 on Sundays