A DIRECT bus service to link Frenchay and Stapleton to Bristol city centre will return from September.
The new First 50 service is set to operate from Frenchay to the Centre via Bristol Road, Park Road, Stapleton Road, Old Market and Broadmead, every 30 minutes between 6.35am and 7pm.
The bus will be operated on a commercial basis and will be the first to link Frenchay and Stapleton directly to the city centre for nearly two years, following the withdrawal of the Y4 and 5 services in October 2022.
News of the service was revealed by the Better Buses for Bristol campaign group.
Group member David Redgewell told a meeting of South Gloucestershire Council’s cabinet on July 15 it was “good news” that Frenchay and Stapleton would “finally get a bus service back”.
Since 2022 Frenchay residents have had to take the 19 to Downend, Staple Hill or the Avon Ring Road in order to catch a direct bus to the city centre, while Stapleton residents have had no service at all.
First did not confirm any details of the new route and timetable when approached by the Voice.
However the West of England Combined Authority, which has responsibility for transport planning in the region, confirmed some of the details.
A spokesperson said: “We informed First bus about the loss of service and impact to the local area, and the number 50 is a commercially-operated service that they have set up in response.”
However there has been no good news for Winterbourne Academy pupils in Downend trying to find a replacement for the axed 458 service from Fishponds and Downend.
The school ran a service itself during the 2023/24 academic year but said it could not afford to do so again from September.
Parents have been lobbying for a replacement service, and organised a survey which they say shows up to 49 children would use it.
Libby Rogers, who has two children at the school, called on the council to find a solution at its cabinet meeting.
She said parents believed that some children who are on the route served by the 458 may be entitled to free travel to school, which would mean the council was obliged to provide it.
Two other services for Winterbourne Academy pupils – the 427 from Frenchay and the 459 from Lyde Green, Emersons Green and Bromley Heath, “which is significantly oversubscribed” – have been undergoing a subsidised tendering process, after Stagecoach said it would no longer operate them commercially.
Libby said the situation was “immoral and unjust”.
Cabinet councillor Chris Willmore said: “We sympathise hugely with all of the families affected, both the 458 families and those on the 427 and 459 routes. Our difficulty is that we’re not the transport authority, so there’s very little we can do.”
She blamed WECA for “pulling the plug” on all three services last year and said officers had been through “child-by-child” to see if any qualified for free school transport finding, but the plan “just didn’t work”.
Parents were set to lobby WECA at the end of July to call for a replacement for the 458.
However a WECA spokesperson told the Voice: “Unfortunately, the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority has a limited supported bus service budget, which is fully committed and has no available funding for any further services.”
South Gloucestershire Council has awarded a new contract for the 427 service, which will be operated by Eurocoaches next year.
An operator has yet to be found for the 459 service.
WECA is carrying out a contract tendering process on behalf of South Gloucestershire.
A WECA spokesperson said: “We have requested prices from operators to commence service from September 2024, subject to affordability.”
A South Gloucestershire spokesperson said: “This process is live at present but will not conclude until after the end of term. We are working closely with the school so that updates can be provided to parents over the school holidays.”