DOWNEND and Staple Hill will have faster bus services from the city centre when a new timetable comes into effect this month.
But direct services between Frenchay and Downend are being lost, as the 19 service is rerouted as part of changes announced by operator First.
Stagecoach is also axing its 462 commuter service, which linked Emersons Green, Mangotsfield and Bromley Heath to the Centre.
First says it is introducing “express” 48x and 49x services, which use the M32 at Eastville instead of travelling along Stapleton Road and Old Market, outbound from the Centre from September 1 onwards.
Until now the 48x and 49x services, whose journey times are around 10 to 15 minutes shorter than the 48 and 49, have only operated into town from Emersons Green.
First says it is introducing outbound services “following customer feedback”.
It is also extending the 49x service and some 49 journeys beyond Emersons Green to Lyde Green and the Bristol & Bath Science Park, “following customer demand”.
On weekdays there will be around two 48x, two 49x, two 48 and two 49 services per hour in each direction.
First has also confirmed the timetable for the new 50 service, reported in last month’s Voice, linking Frenchay and Stapleton to the city centre, which will run every half hour from Monday to Saturday between the Centre and Beckspool Road.
But the operator has changed the route of the 19, which will no longer go through Frenchay between Downend and Bristol Parkway station. Instead the bus will go straight from Downend to UWE’s Frenchay campus along the Avon Ring Road.
South Gloucestershire cabinet councillor for transport, Chris Willmore, said re-routing of the 19 away from Frenchay means residents will no longer have a direct service to reach their local GP surgeries in Downend, as well as its local shops.
First says the move is due to “the increased journey times by having to double back on the ring road via the M32 Junction in this direction”.
A spokesperson said the change was “to help us minimise disruption to our services caused by congestion on the ring road”, and said Frenchay passengers would be able to use the 50 as “an interchange for other local bus services, improving connections to other parts of the area”.
However to use the 50 to reach Downend, passengers would have to take it all the way to Robertson Road in Easton and change onto an outbound 48.
Stagecoach’s decision to axe the 462 means that the last service to run through Bromley Heath is being lost.
The commuter service ran three times inbound in the morning and twice outbound in the afternoon, linking Emersons Green, Mangotsfield and Bromley Heath to the centre via the ring road and M32. Service had already been cut back from four in each direction in April.
Stagecoach said the decision was made “due to declining customer numbers”.
Bromley Heath commuter Claire Lewis, who used the 462 to travel to and from her job at a city centre school, said the service was “very busy in the mornings” and is often full, although afternoon services were quiet because it only ran at 4.05pm and 6.25pm.
The Voice asked Stagecoach if it had figures on passenger numbers.
A spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, the usage on this service is still very low over the course of the day and whilst there is a busy journey, there is still not a sufficient number of customers over the course of the day to cover the costs of operation. We have therefore had to make the difficult decision to withdraw this service.”