Local bus operator First Group has announced further cuts to services between Bradley Stoke and Bristol city centre.
The 73 service, which currently runs every 12 minutes during off-peak day time hours from Monday to Saturday, will operate at a reduced frequency of every 15 minutes from Monday 8th February.
The company says it is making the changes to “improve punctuality”.
Other changes on the route will see a few extra early morning journeys serving Cribbs Causeway.
The latest cut back follows the axing of the 74 and 74X services in February last year, which led to then Bradley Stoke Mayor Robert Jones describing the bus company’s actions as “death by a thousand cuts”.
The announcement is accompanied by a rare piece of good news for bus travellers: some multi-journey tickets are to become slightly cheaper. For example, the price of a First Day Adult Peak ticket will be reduced from £4.30 to £4 from Sunday 7th February.
Related link:
- Bus Services in Bradley Stoke (The Journal)
And yet more tax payers money is being pumped into improving the roads for the use by First Bus with dedicated 24h bus lanes (A38) but they are continuing to reduce services.
The total lack of joined-up thinking by those who run South Glos and the local councils is staggering. They have no clout whatsoever with First but pander to their every whim it seems
“Improve puncutality” = “Improve our profit margin”
Interesting. I seem to recall the move to 12-minute frequency a few years ago was also to ‘improve punctuality’ of the service. Any one else see what might happen in a few years?
To my mind the only way to ‘improve punctuality’ is by addressing the congestion on the route (possibly the most congested bus route in Bristol). Not that this would solve First’s comically high prices…
N.B.: I abandoned all hopes of sensible bus travel in BS not long after the last big timetable shuffle. Guess what? Cycling is always faster than the bus! heck of a lot cheaper to.