Road, Rail & Access Issues

[TheLocalYokel]

A4 Bath Air Decker

An additional late night service will be added from this coming Sunday (1 September).

Currently the first departure from Bath is at 0300 and the first departure from the airport at 0400, with the last departure from Bath at 2300 and the last departure from the airport at midnight. The service runs half-hourly from early morning until early evening then at hourly intervals linking Bath with the airport via a number of south Bristol outer suburbs as well as Keynsham and Saltford. From Sunday an extra departure will leave Bath at midnight and the airport at 0100.

Bath Bus Company which operates the service says the A4 route has continually grown since its inception in 2013 and is handling more passengers than ever.

Later this year two brand new low emission diesel engined double-deckers will join the dedicated all double-decker A4 fleet at a cost of nearly half a million pounds.

 

[superking]

Planning is being made to make the A3 service from Weston Super Mare to the airport.24 hours operation.
The service starts at WSM train station. The service has started calling at Worle Parkway in recent weeks. At a guess I would think the service would operate half hourly during the day and once per hour at night,thats my guess.All looks good for this service,but as normal its use it or lose it

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Planning is being made to make the A3 service from Weston Super Mare to the airport.24 hours operation.
The service starts at WSM train station. The service has started calling at Worle Parkway in recent weeks. At a guess I would think the service would operate half hourly during the day and once per hour at night,thats my guess.All looks good for this service,but as normal its use it or lose it

As with the A1 the A3 is an airport-run service, albeit First West of England actually provides the vehicles and staff under contract to BRS, so if the A3 is to be extended the airport is presumably happy. When I'm out and about I often see the A3, whether at the airport, in Weston or along the A370, and it appears to be better-used than seemed to be the case when it began.

What it doesn't do, and which the the old A2 did do, is serve a number of villages between Weston and the airport, but that was a different route to the A3 and took longer. I was told that the Carmel-operated A5 between Winford, the airport, and Winscombe along the northern section of the old A2 route would like to extend into Weston, continuing along the southern section of the old A2 route from Winscombe. I believe the airport and local authority subsidise the A5 route so the airport might not be keen to subsidise a competitor to its own A3 route.

The current A2 is the Airport Connect half-hourly double-decker service to Bristol city centre (Lewins Mead) via Bedminster. This is a First West of England service and I believe that the fares are cheaper than the A1 although the A2 doesn't call at Temple Meads but does terminate within 150 metres of the country bus and coach station. Another oddity is that pensioners' bus passes can be used on the A2 but not on the A1 (unless a pensioner has an authorisation from the airport but to get that you have to live in certain post codes around the airport).

I posted recently that the A4 Air Decker to Bath operated by the Bath Bus Company has just extended its operating hours and is now nearly 24 hours a day. It is also taking delivery of two new low-emission double deckers to replace some of the older vehicles in the fleet.

The 24-hours a day Stagecoach-operated Falcon service from Plymouth, Exeter and Taunton, seems to be well patronised when I see it at the airport as does the National Express (Edwards) 216 service from Cardiff and Newport.

BRS has a good selection of bus routes, most either 24 hours a day or nearly so. A lot of people would like a rail connection and on the face of it that would be an improvement - assuming frequency was adequate. It's not a panacea though. Only this week I pointed out in another F4A thread that Southampton Airport has a very convenient railway station almost in the terminal but it hasn't done anything to stop SOU's decline in passenger numbers and destinations in recent years with further culls announced only this week. The same applies with Prestwick Airport.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Airport press release now published re the A3. Interesting that over 40% of passneger journeys on it are made by people working at the airport.

Weston Flyer to Provide 24/7 Airport Link as part of Development Plans

A round-the-clock bus service between Weston-super-Mare and Bristol Airport forms part of a package of public transport improvements.

www.bristolairport.co.uk

Weston Flyer to Provide 24/7 Airport Link as Part of Development Plans
Created: 20th Sep 2019

A round-the-clock bus service between Weston-super-Mare and Bristol Airport forms part of a package of public transport improvements.

These improvements would accompany future development if plans are given the go-ahead by North Somerset Council, boosting employment opportunities for residents and further strengthening links to the rail network.

The A3 Weston Flyer currently operates from Weston railway station every hour from 03:05 to 23:05, calling at Worle, Congresbury and Cleeve. The proposed enhancements will also see the route changed to call at Worle station. This will provide further opportunities to connect with the rail network, all on one integrated ticket making the interchange between transport modes quick and easy for passengers.

More than 75,000 journeys were made on the service during the last 12 months, of which more than 40 per cent were by people working at the Airport. Around 500 people from Weston work at the Airport, with development forecast to create a further 100 jobs for residents of the town. Operating 24/7 will make these jobs accessible to even more people, ensuring that all shift patterns are served by public transport from North Somerset’s largest population centre. Airport staff enjoy discounted fares on the Weston Flyer, with tickets including a connecting journey within First’s Weston Town Zone at no additional cost.

Paul Baker, Surface Access Strategy Manager, said:
“These enhancements will make the Weston Flyer even more attractive for passengers and staff. It further demonstrates our commitment to providing alternatives to the car when travelling to and from Bristol Airport.”
GWR Managing Director Mark Hopwood said:

“It is great to see that the Weston Flyer will now call at Worle Station. The Airport Flyer service from Bristol Temple Meads is an incredible success and now the Weston service is growing in popularity. Having it stop at Worle station will further support our work to improve integrated travel and help shift people away from their cars.”

Mark Langman, Network Rail’s Wales & Western Regional Managing Director, said:
“This is another step forward as integrated travel and connectivity between the railway and Bristol Airport is further improved following strategic partnership working.

“The Airport Flyer service from Bristol Temple Meads is already very popular and a huge success. This builds on significant improvements to the railway in and around Bristol in recent years which is providing more frequent services and thousands more seats.”

The new stop at Worle station would bring the number of railway stations linked to Bristol Airport in the future to five*. This follows the announcement earlier this year of plans to trial an innovative new public transport service which would provide links to Yatton and Nailsea & Backwell stations, as well as the towns of Clevedon and Yatton. ‘Demand responsive’ shuttle services could be in operation on these routes as early as 2020.

Significant highways improvements are also proposed in the Airport’s plans to increase capacity from 10 to 12 million passengers a year, alongside major investment in sustainable travel, which will be set out in a new and ambitious Airport Surface Access Strategy.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Busy road out of Bristol could be widened in a bid to increase traffic capacity

The A38 is often used as a diversion to the M5

www.bristolpost.co.uk

North Somerset Council has been given £260,000 by the government to investigate ways of improving the A38 south of Bristol.

 

[superking]

With todays prices £200.000 wont go all that far.It will for sure to see what and how they do the improvements,but don't hold yr breath when they will make a start of it.

 

[tpm]

Isn't this matched / complemented by a contribution from the airport as well? (I have a vague memory of £400,000, but maybe that was for something else or the economic link in general in case that's a separate project).

 

[TheLocalYokel]

With todays prices £200.000 wont go all that far.It will for sure to see what and how they do the improvements,but don't hold yr breath when they will make a start of it.

The £260,000 seems to be to enable the local authority to study the problem and come up with proposals. It's not intended to pay for any actual work on the A38 because, as you say, that wouldn't go very far.

Isn't this matched / complemented by a contribution from the airport as well? (I have a vague memory of £400,000, but maybe that was for something else or the economic link in general in case that's a separate project).

Possibly this that you posted a couple of years ago - post #227 in this thread. The airport would contribute £450,000 and North Somerset Council £200,000. The £260,000 quoted in the recent Bristol Post article (post #365 above) seems to be money provided by the government so the two might not be linked, although they have partly the same aim.

BBC West reports that North Somerset Council is about to agree to spend £650k on an options study for better transport links to the airport.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

There has been a lot in the local press recently about First's problems in providing enough buses to serve Bristol and its region. The company has been scouring the country for more vehicles and the ones they've found are mainly elderly, some still in the livery of their home cities. Furthermore in Bristol itself some of the route-specific liveried buses (the fronts are painted in various colours according to the route they are intended to serve) have been used on other routes, causing confusion amongst some passengers, and single-deckers are sometimes appearing on double-decker routes.

This afternoon I was travelling down the Gloucester Road near the Rovers' ground when I passed a liveried Airport Flyer double-decker heading north. It was operating one of the cross-city routes, the 76 that runs from Hengrove in the south to Henbury in the north. I don't know what the passengers made of that. Perhaps they thought it had become lost and believed that Filton was still active and was headed for that. First certainly has major headaches with its Bristol operation.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

A1 Airport Flyer diversion until further notice

Cumberland Road has been closed following part of the river bank suffering a landslip into the river. The two bus services that use this road (A1 Flyer and M2 Metrobus) have been diverted along the parallel Coronation Road (south of the river), Cumberland Basin and A370 before, in the case of the A1, regaining the normal route at South Bristol Link Road. This means that five bus stops along busway and along Cumberland Road will not be served.

The mood music seems to be that Cumberland Road might be closed for a very long time. It's likely to cost millions of pounds to reinstate the river bank and roadway to a safe condition.

Ironic that the one and a half mile long busway with guided sections that was controversial and suffered delays in being opened now seems redundant for the foreseeable future.

Cumberland Road closed 'for foreseeable future'

The path had been closed in 2017, now the road is too dangerous

www.bristolpost.co.uk

 

[superking]

I notice Bath bus company had 2 new double deckers delivered. They are low emission euro 6 engine. These bussed are to be operated from Bath area to the airport.Perhaps TLY can answer how the route does pax wise as it did not start off very well.

 

[tpm]

Could it be related to the Bath Clean Air Zone which will come into effect in the near future and will charge high emission busses £100 per day?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I notice Bath bus company had 2 new double deckers delivered. They are low emission euro 6 engine. These bussed are to be operated from Bath area to the airport.Perhaps TLY can answer how the route does pax wise as it did not start off very well.

Could it be related to the Bath Clean Air Zone which will come into effect in the near future and will charge high emission busses £100 per day?

I think it is related to the Bath Clean Air Zone. The Bath Bus Company also operates the hop-on and hop-off buses around the city. No doubt they will ensure those buses are compliant too.

The MD of First West of England was on Radio Bristol recently doing his regular Q and A session and said that his company will be fully compliant too when the Bath Clean Air Zone comes into effect. He also said that dozens of new buses will be arriving in Bristol this year to replace some of the older models.

I think the A4 route is very successful. It's been running for around six years from memory. After a year or so the frequency was doubled to every half-hour for much of the time with extra late-night/early hours services added last year too. It's almost a 24/7 service these days. In fact, nearly all the seven bus routes serving BRS are either 24/7 or nearly so.

As with the other services the peaks and troughs of airline operations mean that sometimes buses are nearly empty and at other times full. The A1, A2 and A4 services are all liveried double deckers, with the A3 a liveried single decker, the South West Falcon large coach type liveried vehicles and the South Wales service National Express liveried (Edwards coaches). The exception is the A5 'village hopper' operated by Carmel that is a daytime-only service every two hours. I think the airport and local authority subsidise the A5 as it is very lightly used during much of the day.

The A4 picks up a lot of passengers between the airport and Bath who don't travel the full journey. It's now the main service between Keynsham and Bath following First's reorganisation. At times in the day the A4 runs nearly full along parts of its route. The 'en route' passengers help keep the route viable, although the stopping and starting must be annoying to some passengers using it purely as an airport service.

Incidentally, the Joint Local Transport Plan was published yesterday and envisages a lot of new metrobus routes, one of which will be from the city centre to the airport. It is envisaged as a stop-gap measure until the mass transport system begins which is 10--20 years away - if it ever happens. I'm not sure what the metrobus would replace - presumably the A2. The A1 seems successful and is an airport-run operation, albeit operated for it under contract by First.

The nine proposed new metrobus routes include a service to Bristol Airport

The nine routes have been identified in the latest version of the Joint Local Transport Plan

www.bristolpost.co.uk

Addendum (29.1.20)

I found this press release on the BRS website News Section.

New Buses for Air Decker

Two further brand-new Air Deckers have joined the fleet at Bath Bus Company and were launched at Bristol Airport this week.

www.bristolairport.co.uk

 

[tpm]

Didn't have very high expectations, but not overly impressed by the Proposed Planning Obligations re. surface access in Appendix 3 of the officer's report. Proposed increase in public transport from 15% to 17.5% with regular review and measures to make sure it's achieved, but nothing earth shattering really. Basically more of the same with minor tweaks, plus Metrobus integration of the A1 service (including online ticketing and allowing regular use between stops within the city at regular fares).

Only thing I noticed was that the proposed transport interchange might get moved from the top of the first MSCP to the area that's now the express drop-off zone next to the terminal:

Public Transport Interchange (PTI)

A PTI will be delivered to provide a high-quality facility. Construction of the PTI would commence no later than 12 months following planning consent (subject to securing necessary planning approvals) with it being complete and operative within 30 months post consent. Details will be submitted to NSC for approval prior to commencement of construction of the PTI.

The location is currently envisaged to be immediately adjacent to the terminal on the site of the current’ Drop and Go’ express drop off car park, allowing for direct integration with the terminal. The PTI would be provided to at least the same standard as under the 10mppa proposals. The new facility will provide a significant enhancement to the airport’s bus and coach capacity, an enhanced experience for public transport users, and with the new location being directly adjacent to the terminal, it would allow BAL to create a sense of ‘arrival’ at the terminal for all passengers travelling to the airport by bus and coach. The walking distance for passengers between the PTI and the terminal facilities would be comparable with the previous design.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Didn't have very high expectations, but not overly impressed by the Proposed Planning Obligations re. surface access in Appendix 3 of the officer's report. Proposed increase in public transport from 15% to 17.5% with regular review and measures to make sure it's achieved, but nothing earth shattering really. Basically more of the same with minor tweaks, plus Metrobus integration of the A1 service (including online ticketing and allowing regular use between stops within the city at regular fares).

Only thing I noticed was that the proposed transport interchange might get moved from the top of the first MSCP to the area that's now the express drop-off zone next to the terminal:

The last CAA passenger survey that included BRS was that for 2015.

In that year it was said that 22.8% of BRS's passengers used public transport. The other airports surveyed that year with their percentage of public transport passenger use were:

Gatwick 44.4%
Heathrow 39%*
London City 52.1%
Luton 30.6%
Stansted 50.7%
Birmingham 25.7%
East Midlands 7.2%
Manchester 16%
Liverpool 17.5%
Cardiff 15.6%

* it was acknowledged that there were problems with the data at LHR that year so the percentage was probably higher

Of these eleven airports BRS was the 7th best or 5th worst depending on whether someone is a glass half-full or half-empty person.

Public transport was said to include charter coach, chauffeur (I presume taxi amongst others), courtesy bus, hotel bus, local bus.

 

[tpm]

Of these eleven airports BRS was the 7th best or 5th worst depending on whether someone is a glass half-full or half-empty person.

Public transport was said to include charter coach, chauffeur (I presume taxi amongst others), courtesy bus, hotel bus, local bus.

The relevant pages in the office's report are p85 onwards which also features a table.

Ubers/taxis should really be excluded from public transport statistics IMHO.

It also appears that the CAA statistics differ in methodology, and the numbers (15% to 17.5%) refer to the Bristol Airport methodology:

The purpose of these service enhancements would be to increase the percentage of
passengers travelling to and from BA by public transport from 15% by the time 10 mppa is
reached to 17.5% by 12mppa, which is expected to be reached in 2026. For consistency,
the increase to 17.5% at 12 mppa is based on a continuation of BAL’s PT recording
method which differs from that used by CAA. Officers recommended however that future
recording should be consistent with the CAA methodology and this will be explained in the
planning obligations within the ASAS if planning permission is granted. Furthermore, a
short-term PT inputs approach, which describes investments targeted to make a
meaningful difference to PT mode share, followed by a more flexible outputs and
monitoring approach above a 16% mode share will also be provided.

To be fair, the report argues that an increase of 2.5 percentage points (~17%) over a period of 5 years is not an easy target to achieve, especially given how many passengers come from regions that are further away, so in practice it will require a much bigger increase in public transport passengers from the wider Bristol-Bath region. They say that it will require frontloading improvements. All of which is fair enough I guess. The real challenge will be the next step (12mppa -> 15/20mppa).

And it should also be noted that the public transport target for airport workers/employees is much higher (30% iirc).

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The relevant pages in the office's report are p85 onwards which also features a table.

Ubers/taxis should really be excluded from public transport statistics IMHO.

It also appears that the CAA statistics differ in methodology, and the numbers (15% to 17.5%) refer to the Bristol Airport methodology:


To be fair, the report argues that an increase of 2.5 percentage points (~17%) over a period of 5 years is not an easy target to achieve, especially given how many passengers come from regions that are further away, so in practice it will require a much bigger increase in public transport passengers from the wider Bristol-Bath region. They say that it will require frontloading improvements. All of which is fair enough I guess. The real challenge will be the next step (12mppa -> 15/20mppa).

And it should also be noted that the public transport target for airport workers/employees is much higher (30% iirc).

It does seem that getting more passengers onto public transport is a running theme through many of the 235 pages. The airport will be expected to plough in money to fund more bus services as well as such things as increasing the timetable and/or reach of the long-distance bus/coach services. I'm not quite sure how the South West Falcon could be enhanced in its number of journeys. It already operates 19 return journeys every 24 hours between Bristol, the airport and Plymouth via Taunton and Exeter and other stops on the way.

I note that the required rise in the percentage of passengers using public transport from 15% at 10 mppa to 17.5% at 12 mppa will be kept under constant review, with penalties imposed such as the airport having to spend more money on bus services and seeing the number of car parking spaces diminish if the required rate of growth is not met in the intervening years. I like the idea of the airport car parking website having to draw potential customers' attention to alternative public transport. How many that will 'convert' I wouldn't like to say. I suspect not too many unless some major financial inducement is thrown in.

The current master plan published in 2006 targeted 13% of passengers using public transport at 9 mppa. They aren't far out.

 

[tpm]

My experience (BS3 resident) is that ever since the airport flyer was switched over to the MetroBus route via Long Ashton I take public transport to the airport much less often. Before I'd pretty much always take the bus. The A2 is just not frequent enough. Before I could just turn up and there would be a bus every 7-15 minutes, so I'd catch the bus even at 4.30am and it would be fine. The A2 requires "planning" and if you miss it or it comes a bit early you're out of luck (or need to leave much earlier to have extra margin). So I can't always be bothered and just take an Uber or ask for a drop-off. I'm sure the new route is much more convenient for other people, so it's probably still a net positive overall. I'm hoping they'll increase the A2 frequency in an effort to encourage more staff to take public transport, don't think it was mentioned in the report though. Oh well.

 

[kfs]

I'm not quite sure how the South West Falcon could be enhanced in its number of journeys. It already operates 19 return journeys every 24 hours between Bristol, the airport and Plymouth via Taunton and Exeter and other stops on the way.

The fares are competitive and the service frequent and fast, but an issue is that the stops are mostly out of town, with no parking provision for leaving your vehicle overnight or for longer. Exeter Park and ride sites regulations specifically forbid overnight parking. Most folks aren’t keen to take multiple modes of public transport, with all the uncertainty and transfer complications involved. I remember the 60s and 70s when Park and ride and Parkway stations were first introduced, and the attraction was that the parking was free and convenient and gave you easy access to the city and the rail network. Based in mid Devon, if I could drive to Exeter or Cullompton, leave a car there and get the bus to the airport, I would do so. I’m not prepared to catch two buses, a lengthy, unreliable, and expensive journey, to do so, and therefore drive to the airport.

If I had a magic solution I’d go into politics and stand on that platform. We can only hope that someone far cleverer than me will come up with one!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

My experience (BS3 resident) is that ever since the airport flyer was switched over to the MetroBus route via Long Ashton I take public transport to the airport much less often. Before I'd pretty much always take the bus. The A2 is just not frequent enough. Before I could just turn up and there would be a bus every 7-15 minutes, so I'd catch the bus even at 4.30am and it would be fine. The A2 requires "planning" and if you miss it or it comes a bit early you're out of luck (or need to leave much earlier to have extra margin). So I can't always be bothered and just take an Uber or ask for a drop-off. I'm sure the new route is much more convenient for other people, so it's probably still a net positive overall. I'm hoping they'll increase the A2 frequency in an effort to encourage more staff to take public transport, don't think it was mentioned in the report though. Oh well.

The A1 and A3 (Weston Flyer) are airport-run services albeit they are are operated under contract for the airport by First West of England.

The A1 operates at 10-minute intervals from the bus station from 0600 until 1840, at 20-minute intervals until 0020; then every half-hour until 0120; hourly until 0420; a combination of half-hourly and every 20 minutes until 0600, with a reciprocal timetable from the airport. Weekends are now slightly less during the day being every 12 minutes instead of every 10 minutes.

Has the change of route affected the A1's performance?

The A2 is ostensibly a First West of England-run service but I can't imagine it pays for itself commercially without some input from the airport, given that it runs at half-hourly intervals from 0310 from near the bus station right through the day until 2315 when it reduces to hourly until 0310, again with a reciprocal timetable in the other direction. Weekends see the same frequency.

I believe it's possible to use All England Concessionary Passes ('pensioners' bus passes) on the A2 but you can't on the A1, unless you live in certain BS postal districts in North Somerset when you can get an authorisation from the airport to produce with your pensioner's bus pass. I also believe it's cheaper on the A2 than on the A1 to get to the centre of Bristol and probably quicker as the A2 doesn't make the detour to Temple Meads station. Seems odd if that is the case as the A2 will be taking punters from the airport's own service, albeit that might be a scarifice worth making if the overall number of bus passengers using the airport increases

The fares are competitive and the service frequent and fast, but an issue is that the stops are mostly out of town, with no parking provision for leaving your vehicle overnight or for longer. Exeter Park and ride sites regulations specifically forbid overnight parking. Most folks aren’t keen to take multiple modes of public transport, with all the uncertainty and transfer complications involved. I remember the 60s and 70s when Park and ride and Parkway stations were first introduced, and the attraction was that the parking was free and convenient and gave you easy access to the city and the rail network. Based in mid Devon, if I could drive to Exeter or Cullompton, leave a car there and get the bus to the airport, I would do so. I’m not prepared to catch two buses, a lengthy, unreliable, and expensive journey, to do so, and therefore drive to the airport.

If I had a magic solution I’d go into politics and stand on that platform. We can only hope that someone far cleverer than me will come up with one!

I was reading earlier that nearly 50% of Southend Airport's passengers use the train to reach the airport. No doubt most are from the capital and the trains are fast and frequent.

In the provinces, especifically the peripheral areas of the country such as the South West, the train services are nowhere near as good as those in the South East. If it was posssible to build a railway link to Bristol Airport - given its elevation at above 600 feet AMSL it would be a mammoth civil engineering task to link the main line several hundred feet below but within about three miles distance. If it was viable there would then be the need to find rolling stock and pathways on the main line to reach Temple Meads. At best the frequency would be no more than half-hourly.

The elected mayor Bristol is looking at a form of mass transport that would probably be a type of tram - I presume a tram could climb the steep hills from the city to the airport although finding dedicated tramways for it through the city would be a problem. Anyway, the mayor himself admits that scenario is 10-20 years away.

In the meantime the bus and coach will doubtless remain the prncipal means of public transport serving the airport and it can never be universally useful to all potential travellers. Surface access is one of BRS's serious weaknesses.