(20 Dec 2020, 5:55 pm)streetdeckfan wrote When I was looking at moving, having access to good, frequent public transport (preferably GNE because of ticketing) was at the top of the list of priorities, and to be honest it was surprisingly challenging.
My mother lives in Crook, and despite it looking like they have pretty good links on the surface, from her house it's a 1 mile walk to get the bus to Durham, and a half mile walk to get the bus to Bishop/Darlington. That was enough to stop me using the bus at all for the couple years that I lived there.
When I was up in Gateshead and had a 10 minute frequency service with the 49, I'd use the bus all the time, it was often faster and easier than using the car, especially if going to Gateshead or even Newcastle on the half hourly X30, the fact that the bus stop was basically 30 seconds from the front door was great too! So like I say, when moving that was my number one priority.
So when searching for the house, I basically just followed the bus routes until I found an area that was tolerable (yes, I had my standards set quite low because frequent buses tend to run through dodgy areas!)
I've followed a similar pattern in the past, with the last three houses I've bought.
Made very little difference in the grand scheme of things, as with two of those houses we lost a number of links - including direct ones to Newcastle.
When I bought a house in Durham, the motorway, station and bus routes were all factors.
However our priorities could be different to someone elses. Schools, nightlife, retail, employment and whatever else might be the things someone else looks at and public transport may be at the very bottom of the list.
If public transport is at the bottom of the list, operators can either do something about it and make the provision appealing (see the mention of the new estate in Birtley and the ludicrous one way loop of the 81/82 which means residents can't use the bus to the shops and the decision to increase journey times on the 25) or just not bother.
I've not lived in Birtley for almost 30 years, but having returned on a regular basis to see friends and family the transport provision is one I've kept an eye on. Apart from deciding to live near a school with a decent reputation and having family nearby, one of the reasons my folks bought a house there - was access to public transport for both commuting and for non-driving family members to see them and then the family when we born. They decided to remain a one car household and managed to do so for almost 15 years.
That was a decision they made in the 1970s.
As a kid growing up, there was the 26, 721, 727 and later the 777 which stopped 5/10mins away.
The 551 was a bit further to walk, as was the 725, 726, 183 and a minibus which ran up Vigo Lane and operated between Chester and Washington (can't remember the number).
The number of cars per household was a lot lower than now - yet there wasn't a bus which entered the estate and made life easier or stopped my Mam dragging me down to Presto and then back up Harras Bank.
There was the option of getting a bus back up, but it meant my mam was clock watching and reliant on us coming out of the shops as the bus was due. Once my first sibling came along and a pram was needed, the bus just wasn't an option at all.
Needless to say, in the early 90s the decision to become a two-car household was made.
Fast forward 30 years and not much has changed for the better.
The 26, 183, 551, 721, 726, 727, 777 and Chester based minibus are all long gone. The 25 (what was the 725) is clearly viewed as second rate and whilst the 82 enters Vigo and stops at the end of my old street in one direction, it's only good if you fancy a trip to the Galleries or hanging around bus stops in Birtley.
Nexus to their credit have secured the 23 and TB14 - but they're not that frequent.
Car use has gone through the roof and instead of each household having one car if they're lucky - they now have at least 2.
But yeah, WiFi, fancy tables and bus priority measures will fix things
