Swindon Bus Station
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What is this document? We (primarily Lee) have looked at what the bus network might look like under option 24/7 in a pilot area, at the request of Philip Whitehead (meetings March and April 2016) The area selected was from (in the north) the Bath – Corsham – Chippenham – Calne – Royal Wootton Bassett corridor through to the Bath – Bradford-on-Avon – Trowbridge – Westbury – Warminster corridor to the West, covering all of West Wilts, services within that area out to Devizes. There is always considerable overlap across boundaries with public transport services, so you'll find significant services off the edge listed here, many of which are adjustments of ongoing supported services to continue to provide a logical, useful service. The suggestions here reduce the number of vehicle diagrams in the area from 59 to 52 – a saving of around 14%. The number of drivers required would be reduced somewhat less due to extension of some ENCTS time only services to cover journeys to and from work and in the evening and on Sundays and perhaps where appropriate a night bus. In general, very very few places / streets have lost their services, whilst areas such as the Pewsham Estate in Chippenham and Pickwick Road in Corsham see regular buses return, having been withdrawn under the current system. A number of new journey opportunities are provided too (some significant, some making use of much better bus / train connectivity) but there are cases where a change of vehicle will now be needed in place of a through service. Currently commercial services which thrive as “turn up and go” operations remain hardly changed – we are not proposing messing with what works – keeping the good. Buses / types have been gauged for the traffic on offer and for their suitability for the roads to be driven. It must be stressed that this is a first draft of what a network could look like. We have taken a number of decisions along the way based on our best knowledge of the current routes / areas, but would look to the detail being revisited via stakeholder and public input with final choices should this network update go ahead being made with the expert inputs of the council's (and perhaps communities') technical bus team, working with the experienced operators to ensure that the whole result works. Detail prepared for meeting with council officers at cabinet member's request and available at meeting on 31st May 2016. This page of notes added prior to release on our website on 1st June 2016, minor adjustments 3rd and 4th June. See http://option247.