Issue - meetings

Stagecoach representative to attend and discuss bus services in South Area of City.

The Committee welcomed representatives of Stagecoach to the committee meeting to discuss bus services in the South Area.

 

The Committee made the following comments:

i.             Referred to previous issues on Long Road.

ii.            Expressed concern that residents were not getting regular updates from Stagecoach.

iii.           Noted that the Bus Users Group in Cambridge was not consulted about the Mill Road, road closures.  When there were issues on Mill Road, a representative was made available on Mill Road for a week to assist residents and users. Asked if funding was available to support the Citi 2 service if there was funding available for the roundabout. Noted that both staff and patients used the Citi 2 bus. Commented that the works were due to take place for 6 months over the winter months.

iv.          Expressed concerns that the Citi 2 bus service could be reduced following changes to the service as a result of the Fendon Road roundabout works.  Commented that buses were a key form of transport.

v.           Referred to bus services which were cut some time ago to Teversham and Coldham’s Lane. 

vi.          Noted that not everyone wanted to travel via Addenbrooks and that Coldham’s Lane was a good opportunity to be looked at.

vii.         Stated that Coleville Road had their bus service cut, which had been operating for 15 years.

viii.       Queried whether Stagecoach could work with City Ambassadors.

ix.          Noted that the Trumpington park and ride bus was supposed to replace some of the Citi 7 services but it did not. This meant that residents were driving to the park and ride, parking there then catching the bus into town which used up valuable park and ride parking spaces.

 

Representatives from Stagecoach made the following comments:

i.             They had only found out about the Fendon Road road works in July and had put the best solution that they could come up with into place.

ii.            They wanted to hear views from the South Area Committee and residents.

iii.           There were not many diversion routes available and did know the congestion extent which would be created by a ‘rat run’.

iv.          Other option for the Citi 2 bus was to use Mowbray Road, but this would mean having to go through traffic lights twice and would add time to the route and was not a viable option.

v.           The only viable option was the transfer on to the Citi 1 bus if greater notice had been given other options could have been considered however other concerns would still remain with using Nightingale Avenue such as the safety of the junction with Babraham Road and the time it would take to travel through this junction.

vi.          Stagecoach had a finite number of buses and drivers, one option was to reduce the frequency of the Citi 2 bus, but Stagecoach did not want to go down that route.

vii.         Had been open with the issues at Nightingale Avenue, there was an issue with turning right at the bottom of the road.

viii.       Commented that there was some subsidy from the rail company which funded the shuttle buses during the Mill Road works.

ix.          Further information was needed to find out about users: who they were, what they wanted and what Stagecoach could offer. The traffic conditions and route will be reviewed during the operation.  

x.           Were aware that connectivity was very important.

xi.          Shuttle buses used on Mill road had now been earmarked for Histon Road and various local councillors had asked if they could be considered for use to help serve their local constituencies.

xii.         Had met with people at Cambourne and there were a lot of competing interests.

xiii.       Was aware that the network needed to be updated and that there needed to be a service review. Had noted that Teversham had been raised by a local councillor and was being reviewed.

xiv.       Stated that there were new managers in place at Stagecoach who were looking to work with the community.

xv.        Commented that improvements were planned with regards to advertising bus services at the train station and customers should see a dramatic improvement.

xvi.       Would look into the Trumpington park and ride / Citi 7 query.

 

Action: Councillor McGerty to write to Cambridgeshire County Council on behalf of South Area Committee to express disappointment at the poor communication with residents and Stagecoach regarding the Fendon Road, road works.

 

Members of the public asked a number of questions, as set out below.

 

1.      Asked whether ‘on demand’ bus services had been considered which could re-route buses round the city.

 

Commented that this had not been specifically considered and noted that as an industry, an ‘on demand’ model had not been successfully developed. This was not a closed door, but at the moment they did not know how to make such a model work.

 

2.      Acknowledged that a good job had been done in a short period of time.  Noted that the Bus Users Group did not hear about the works until August 2019 and that lessons needed to be learned from this. Queried whether buses could be staggered leaving from Addenbrooks bus station. Commented that there were a lot of confused members of the public that day who were not sure which bus to catch.

 

Representatives of Stagecoach had been in attendance at Addenbrooks on the first day of the revised bus services and noted that there was a lot of traffic on Cherry Hinton Road. He had been checking real time data throughout the day and it was only during the morning that buses were running between 15-45 minutes late.  Once buses lost time it was difficult to make this up during the day.  Also noted that children were returning to school that day. Confirmed that data would be monitored for the next couple of weeks so that this could be analysed to see what changes could be made. Also noted that delays could have a knock on effect in other areas of the city.

3. Asked whether the ice-rink would be added to the Citi 1 or Citi 3 bus service.

Confirmed that this was being considered but there were no answers at the moment. Need to investigate where people wanted to go, would also consider the park and ride service.

 

4.  Had emailed radio show presenters and producers to ask that greater information was given out as part of the travel news. Insufficient information had been provided about the works being done at Fendon Road.  Queried why Stagecoach had not been consulted earlier by the County Council. Commented that Stagecoach and the County Council had engineers so a solution could have been developed.

Commented that the consultation regarding the Fendon Road roundabout was done in 2015/16.  Did not know why the County Council did not liaise with Stagecoach earlier. Would continue to push for better relationships with the County Council as they needed to work together. 

5. Queried bus connections.

Confirmed that buses could be diverted; Stagecoach would monitor the Fendon Road works and that changes could be made to bus services if required. Commented that both sides of the roundabout were open an hour ago. Was waiting to hear back from the County Council whether part of Queen Edith’s could be re-opened.

 

6. Queried the electronic bus timetable displays and commented that these seemed to report to an internal timetable and did not reflect the buses on the road. Commented that the buses on the road needed to be increased by a factor of five and that costs needed to be reduced. Noted that only small changes in bus provision were being discussed.   

 

Commented that Stagecoach had done a lot over the past 6 months. A discount had been introduced for NHS staff and a student ticket had been introduced. Further enhancements were planned for the bus way. Had just invested in buses, although there was a shortage of drivers in Cambridge. Ambition was there, just needed to manage expectations. Acknowledged the Stagecoach app needed to be improved.

 

In response to a question about working with Whippet, commented that Stagecoach were the provider and if they could deliver improvements to the service then they would do so.

 

7. Asked how much notice from the County Council was required to enable Stagecoach to be able to consider any changes to services as a result of road works.

 

Stated that as much notice as possible would be appreciated, but 6 months would be helpful.