(17 Aug 2021, 11:56 am)mb134 wrote Just on this, if we take the new development at Cramlington on the A1068 opposite the Snowy Owl as an example. That road has had a bus service since forever, and new stops were installed right at the start of the development. While I'm sure there are occasions of people getting on there, I've not one seen anything stop there - and while I'm not in the NE for months at a time, when I am down I use the X21/22 almost daily to get into town.Might be just the X21/22 up that end if what ive read is true,that Arriva are supposedly withdrawing their X9
If we then look at the current level of service past those stops:
X21/22 - every 15 minutes combined.
X9 - every 30 minutes.
So that's a bus to town every 10 minutes or so, a bus to Cramlington and Blyth every 30 minutes, and a bus to Ashington/Bedlington every 15 minutes. Realistically, then, frequency isn't an issue here, and to be honest neither is journey time - from those stops the X9/21/22 go straight into town and have bus lanes to avoid traffic cars would face, so it's likely faster if anything.
Advertisement? Well, possibly, but the bus stops created can hardly be missed by anyone living there, nor can the double decker buses flying past every 15 minutes. Arriva include the stop in their timetables (though not the PDF with only key timing points) "Cramlington Fisher Lane - Arcot Manor"), as do Bustimes and Google (though Google don't have the X9??). All maps show the stops in the wrong location, i.e south of the roundabout rather than north, but I don't imagine that would make a huge difference.
It seems to me like even when decent bus services are spoon fed to people in newer developments, there's little to no uptake.
RE: September Service Changes
Kind Regards
Tez
Tez