(19 Nov 2014, 5:23 pm)gtom wrote So a reduction in frequency by removing those short runs? I'm sure some mouthy councillor will be straight on the phone!
It'd be interesting to see if Morrisons (Easter 2015) opening will reduce traffic out of Birtley to Wrekenton and Galleries and increase traffic into Birtley as Morrisons is a fairly lower cost supermarket compared to Co-Op at Wreketon.
The 23 used to omit the bus link but the lack of shelter and confusion as to where to board the bus contributed to the changes. It's a bit like the 21 stopping on Percy Street when everything else goes to Eldon Square
If this route was to be funded by Nexus then yeah unfortunately the short runs would probably have to be removed as I doubt Nexus would pay for them. By my estimates, my proposed 23A/C would take around 45-50+ mins to complete the full route. The short runs on the current 23 take between 17-19 mins, so if these journeys were to continue it would mean an increase in the number of buses needed (PVR?) for the route, which is what I doubt Nexus would pay for sadly. You could say that its a bit unfair how only parts of the current 23 benefit from a 30 minute frequency whereas other areas don't. Another problem with the existing 23 is that it stops running at around 5.15pm, and most of the areas it serves do not have a bus service at all on evenings or Sundays. This is unfair on the residents, particularly the elderly who maybe would like to go to the shops,the pub or church or visit friends etc. I think it might be worth trying the proposed 23A/C as a commercial route, with a frequency of every 30 mins during the day and every hour evenings and Sundays, and Nexus may be prepared to help out with the costs of the less profitable areas of the route as they do with other commercial services. If it were to be a commercial route though, I would hope it would be given a lot of promotion and advertising.
Yeah I'd imagine the new Morrsions would attract more people into Birtley. The residents of Birtley have had limited options for shopping since the likes of Kwik Save, Netto and Somerfield closed. Having said that I think some people will still prefer to go to Wrekenton where there are also low priced supermarkets such as Farmfoods and Lidl and I think some people would still prefer the Galleries where there is a more choice of shops and it is indoors. It will be interesting to see what happens anyway.