(16 May 2016, 10:30 pm)beefcake wrote Just a couple of things to ask here:
1 Is it only services 1 & 7 that are going to be cross town services, with other services requiring a change of bus in the town or marina?
2 Would a bus station of any size be of any use on Navigation Point? Can't really see any scope for any bus service down there unfortunately, kind of like the Interchange in Church Square.
3 Not a question so much as an observation, Service 3 was removed from Duke Street and re-routed down Chatham Road and later Challoner Road due to passenger feedback wanting a direct bus to the marina and 'Charlie's Corner' and the layout of the road on Duke Street/Sheriff Street/Mulgrave Road meaning it wasn't particularly safe for a bus to navigate
1) From the years I used all of the existing services, cross-town passengers were few & far between. Mainly school children but only a few journeys at peak. Since the General Hospital has been severely downgraded theres no real pull at one side of the town for through passengers. The exception could be the coastal areas on summer days but theres are where the remaining cross town routes 1 & 7 come in.
2) I think its clear there's far more going on at Navigation Point than at Church Square where the ghost interchange is. On Sundays Navigation Point is the busiest area of the entire town! The council ran explorer bus calls here as it's a main town attraction. The Marina/Naviagtion Point area is a key location for development in the council's 15 year plan; introduction of bus services would compliment this. Progress is already underway at the Vision Retail Park and there's hope yet for Jackson's Landing. The mini-bus station would make the office and residential space entirely more attractive.
3) I've covered a service for Challoner Road through the possible subsidised service. I found it annoying when I used to get the 3/8 from Throston to town that it got as far as Duke Street then went further away from town to occasionally pick someone up on Challoner Road before going back in the right direction. There have also been improvements to the carriageway along Duke Street since buses last ran down there. Although Charlies Corner is slightly tricky, we were talking lenghty B10Ms last time there was a bus through there. I don't think it's any tighter than, say, Queen Street in Seaton Carew where the 1 currently runs.