Bus stop rationalisation (closure) pilot South Birmingham

[Busmapper]

Three routes affected - details here (note 38MB file) as follows:

Introduction - pg 57 on pdf doc (53 as numbered) to pg 64(60)
Stratford Road route 6 report - pgs 65(61) to 93(89)
Alcester Road route 50 report - pgs 95(91) to 126(122)
Inner Circle route 8A/8C report - pgs 127(123) to 155(151)

The recommendations are set to be implemented imminently and monitored for 6 months.

[JoNi]

Thanks for this busmapper!

Blimey, how much did this report (paid by my fares) cost to produce for NxWM. Sadly it also an admittance that they do not know the journeys their customers make.  It is wonderful example of suggestions made by consultants who at no point say the the demographic of customers that use the service and stops.

The logic that taking out bus stops on suburban services out speeds up journeys is totally flawed. If passengers use a stop it should be there, if they don't the bus doesn't stop anyway!

Ultimately drivers will get a lot of grief through the opinions of faceless individuals.

Councils in many places have been shifting bus routes away from road junctions moving them closer together. I don't know if is the case here.

I presume roles exist in NxWM and TfWM charged with communicating with the bus user in the street that has the capability of being more than stick a survey on the web.

A quick win = there is no long term strategy!

[Kevin]

Yes, so what if your fares went towards this? Money goes to the company to improve the service, exactly what they're doing here

"If passengers use a stop it should be there, if they don't the bus doesn't stop anyway"
In many cases there's bus stops maybe only 100 yards apart and one person gets on at each, why can't they just be replaced by one stop? Would you genuinely prefer that to be a standard distance between all bus stops? Just in case it's a tiny bit more useful for one or two people? Adding 10 even 15 mins to the schedule?

[Busmapper]

'Bus stop not in use' flags now in place at identified locations on the 50 route, eg in Maypole-King's Heath area at Sladepool Farm Rd inbound, at Warstock La in both directions and at stop between Cocks Moors and Alcester Lanes End turning circle inbound.

[Sandy Lane]

All affected bus passengers are able to complain to TfWM. If they do not do that then they should not moan about it. I bet very few, if any, do complain?

[JoNi]

The report states National Express commissioned the report to reduce the number of bus stops. The real reason is indicated on page 76 where it was indicated that the reduction of bus stops would allow a reduction in the peak vehicle requirement.

An elderly female in Coventry outside Pool Meadow asked where the Cheylesmore bus goes from now. When I told it had been moved to round the corner she said she would get a taxi rather the walk to the stop which was within 400 metres!

[Kevin]

An elderly female in Coventry outside Pool Meadow asked where the Cheylesmore bus goes from now. When I told it had been moved to round the corner she said she would get a taxi rather the wall to the stop which was within 400 metres!

Well that's her own issue then. Buses aren't for a door to door service, taxis and Ring and Ride are

[JoNi]

Well that's her own issue then. Buses aren't for a door to door service, taxis and Ring and Ride are

Thats a traveller who is potentially lost to the bus industry whose managers would do well to get out and speak to those affected by their actions!

[JoNi]

I've sampled the 8A/C over a couple of days to understand the logic of this initiative. I'm left with the initial impression that this would make an excellent case study in how not to run a bus company. Passengers annoyed when the bus is stuck in traffic beside an out of use stop approaching traffic lights where they wish to interchange. Who ever came up with this initiative ought to go to Sainsburys and ask the manager if he had ever thought of leaving empty shelves so customers can move faster along the aisles...

[Steve3229vp]

I've counted at least 3 times when I was on the 50 when the driver let passengers off at stops that are clearly marked "NOT IN USE"

[don]

Blimey this seems a potentially flawed initiative - presumably missing bus stops out reduces general traffic congestion which in turn improves journey time reliability (for everyone including bus passengers) - but possibly at the expense of convenience to some passengers. This seems a slippery slope to me - rather like main line railways in the 1960s where almost all stopping services were deleted and the stations closed - except notably in the south east where there are still very low usage stations today. Of course many of those stopping services are or would be very useful now.

It does strike me that this initiative may be fuelled by TfWM being keen to reduce traffic congestion as well - perhaps one of the other quality partners (eg Stagecoach) could run some buses which stop also at the bus stops deleted - ok an inflammatory and slightly tongue in cheek comment but competition is usually the answer to matters like this because the incumbent might get off its backside and run some short workings or the like to improve overall reliability.

Will the INIT ticket machines give NXWM better intelligence in respect of which stops, journeys and routes need adjustment ...... init (sorry I couldn't resist!! 😂 )

To those who think it doesn't matter about making people walk another 400 yds it does - what's the point in providing accessible buses when they become inaccessible owing to the space between stops when they are moved or closed - this issue has been raised re the West Midlands in the Houses of Parliament - where NXWM was portrayed as being quite responsive (having seen the error of certain decisions it had made) in marked contrast to Diamond, who were portrayed as unresponsive - the general indication was they were behaving like twxts!!

Take care NXWM - slippery slope!! There's a close balance between running services for operating convenience and providing the service customers require. 

[Kevin]

I've been trying to find time to ride the routes concerned to properly refresh my memory of each individual stop and so far managed one journey on each since the stop closures. I made some notes for myself might even go as far as writing a blog about it all - might try them out in rush hour first.

Some stops, and only a few, I agree with the naysayers. But the majority of them I understand: stops on both sides of a junction is overkill, and many of them are very close to other stops with no real way to cross the road without walking back to the previous stop.

The Hubert Road stop on Bristol Road (from city) - in my 5 years at uni I hardly saw anyone use it
The Pershore Road stop on the 8A is useless, there's nothing there.
Others on all 4 routes are stops that have no equivalent in the other direction

[j789]

Surely one option on the high frequency routes like the 50 would be to have an all stopper service every eight to ten minutes with a more limited stop service in between thus still maintaining 4 minute frequency (50 and x50). That way nobody loses a bus stop. Also, research could be undertaken along each route to find, perhaps, the 20 least used stops on that route and the limited stop bus could miss them out. This wouldn't save a huge amount of time but maybe enough to ensure that there was more chance to keep buses running to a fairly decent timetable, especially at peak times without large gaps..

[Tony]

Surely one option on the high frequency routes like the 50 would be to have an all stopper service every eight to ten minutes with a more limited stop service in between thus still maintaining 4 minute frequency (50 and x50). That way nobody loses a bus stop. Also, research could be undertaken along each route to find, perhaps, the 20 least used stops on that route and the limited stop bus could miss them out. This wouldn't save a huge amount of time but maybe enough to ensure that there was more chance to keep buses running to a fairly decent timetable, especially at peak times without large gaps..

The problem is on some of those roads when a bus stops at a bus stop, there is no room for the other buses, or any other traffic to overtake and the whole road stops when a bus does. Some stops on the 8 are particularly prone to that with no room to build pull in stops

[j789]

The problem is on some of those roads when a bus stops at a bus stop, there is no room for the other buses, or any other traffic to overtake and the whole road stops when a bus does. Some stops on the 8 are particularly prone to that with no room to build pull in stops

That is true on the 50 through Kings Heath too. Shame there is no way to build a bypass around it. I wonder if it would be possible to do something down the old train line where they are thinking of reopening the station. Maybe a guideway or even convert it to a road bypass if they could reroute the freight trains. Probably not feasible though.