The Convenience Bus
How to Reinvigorate Local Bus Services (Page 1)
Contents:
Introduction
Often overlooked as a Cinderella amongst city centre services, though of most importance, are workaday local services. For many bus users, short distance local services, radial or circular, provide a convenient way of travelling from A to B in a matter of minutes.
Usually, the local service is the first bus many people to get to their nearest town centre or railway station, either to shop, or board longer distance trains or buses. Though much noise is made about medium distance inter-town services, in terms of frequency, a typical Smallshaw circular from Ashton [the 331/333 services] is more important to members of communities living there.
Seen at Fleetwood Transport Festival (2006) a restored First PMT Mercedes minibus. Between 1996 and 2001, these vehicles were common on local routes such as the 40 (Ashton - Dukinfield, Tennyson Avenue) in the Tameside area.
The Tameside Area
For the example of this piece, I have used the Tameside area. At present, the Tameside area has a mix of long to medium distance services, intermingled with shorter distance circular and radial routes, most of which commencing from Ashton-under-Lyne bus station. For example, Ashton has a fair number of circular routes, most of which inherited from Ashton-under-Lyne Corporation, and its forerunners.
These services were renumbered in 1973 by SELNEC, in preparation for Greater Manchester Transport, and also to eradicate duplication of other routes (for example, the 8 to Bolton from Manchester was also a service from Stalybridge to Oldham).
In preparation for deregulation, the Ashton circular services, serving Hurst, Smallshaw, Crowhill and Hazelhurst, were rebranded by the outgoing Greater Manchester Transport as 'Ashton Minilyne'. The familiar numbers were replaced with service numbers starting with the letter A. These changes were embargoed till deregulation day, Sunday 26th October 1986. Unlike the standard bus frequencies of every twenty minutes, minibuses would operate every eight minutes.
Circular services from Ashton-under-Lyne
- 38, 39: Hazelhurst Circulars;
- 331, 333: Hurst and Smallshaw Circulars;
- 332: Hartshead Circular (Evenings, Sundays and Bank Holidays only);
- 335: Denton (Town Lane) Circular;
- 337: Crowhill Circular;
- 338: Crowhill Circular (Evenings, Sundays and Bank Holidays only);
- 345: Denton (Pendle Road) Circular;
- 347: Denton (Haughton Green) Circular;
- 393: Smallshaw Circular.
Of the circular routes operational in 1974, the 334 is omitted, having been long withdrawn and replaced by Speedwell Travel routes 396 (Newton Heath) and 395 (Limehurst Farm).
The 38 and 39 services assumes the daytime role formerly provided by the Ashton - Hazelhurst section of the 337 route. Recently, the current 337 had a link to the Ashton Moss development, which was withdrawn on the 29th January 2006.
Another short lived circular route was the 300. Originally allocated to the Localine service from Ashton to Stockport (via Guide Bridge), the number was used again for an Ashton town centre shuttle service, which linked the bus station with the temporary market hall and Stamford Street. This was withdrawn on November 2005.
In late September of 2006, the evening, bank holiday and Sunday 339 and 340 services were withdrawn and replaced by the 41. In the previous month, the daytime 41 services were transferred from First Pioneer to Speedwell Travel. The remainder are operated by First Pioneer, from its Dukinfield depot. A similar arrangement exists with the 337, Crowhill circular service, where the evening, bank holiday and Sunday journeys are operated as the 338.
Analysis
The Ashton area is well covered with circular services, in terms of quantity, though this is not reflected in terms of frequency. One example, the 331, has a 20 minute frequency before 1900 hours. After that, the frequency is every hour. From personal experience, I have walked from the Broadoak Hotel to Ashton town centre within 25 minutes. Assuming person X wishes to see Ashton United at Hurst Cross, walking up Kings Road seems more viable, albeit for the fit and agile.
All the other Ashton circular routes, have similar issues, as do the shorter distance radial routes. One example is the 350. Though every ten minutes in the daytime to Mossley (Hey Farm Estate), with half hourly extensions to Oldham, this is reduced to an hourly service after 1900 hours, with no extra journeys starting from Mossley.
With these short distance routes being the starting point for most longer journeys, it is important that catching a local circular or radial service should be as easy as nipping to the shops for a bottle of milk.
