New bus route to service North East Somerset villages
It comes as 42 other routes are set to be scrapped from April
A new bus will serve North East Somerset from April, where villages had faced being “cut off.”
The new 522 bus will run hourly between the Odd Down Park and Ride on the edge of Bath to the Brislington Park and Ride on the Bristol outskirts, via Radstock, Midsomer Norton and Keynsham.
Crucially, it will also serve several villages in North East Somerset which had faced being cut off, with buses across the district set to be axed in April and June this year.
42 publicly-supported bus services are being cut across the West of England this year after the three councils that make up the combined authority — Bath and North East Somerset Council, Bristol City Council, and South Gloucestershire Council — voted not to increase the combined authority’s transport funding, despite inflation in the cost of running buses.
Of the 42 buses that will stop running, 19 are in North East Somerset.
Timsbury mum, Katie Trawin, said: “We are being cut off from everything: baby and toddler groups, the closest towns, friends and family. For those of us who can’t drive and have small children, it means losing the ability to socialise with other mums and little ones at the groups run outside the village.”
But now the village, along with Peasedown St John, Paulton, Hallatrow, High Littleton, Farmborough, Marksbury, and Burnett will be served by an hourly 522 service.
The new bus route is one of five that Bath and North East Somerset Council leader Kevin Guy had written to West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris asking him to provide as a “vital spinal route.”
Writing again to the Metro Mayor, Mr Guy said: “It is good to see proposals from him that reflect this. However, we are still yet to hear from the Mayor about his plans to support spine routes in other areas within Bath and North East Somerset, particularly to serve the Chew Valley. ”
The council leader says that the routes are needed in order to support the Mayor’s plans to launch a new demand-responsive transport (DRT) scheme in North East Somerset, but Mr Norris has insisted that DRT is not meant to replace supported buses and that councils should continue to fund their buses.
Bath and North East Somerset Council found extra money to keep all supported bus services in Bath, where DRT is not being introduced, while cutting most North East Somerset buses in April — except for five routes continuing to June which the council says will ease the transition to DRT.
Sarah Warren, the council’s cabinet member for sustainable travel, insisted: “All we have done is try to piece together the best possible coverage of a network that we could.”
DRT will begin being rolled out across the West of England from April, and will let people book a minivan to take their nearest bus stop.
Although it is not designed as a replacement for regular buses, it will be the only public transport option for many parts of North East Somerset after April unless the council or the Metro Mayor put on more services.