Cheshire East Local transport engagement

[iMarkeh]

RE: Cheshire East Local transport engagement

(24/11/2020 19:20)K10K11 Wrote:  Love the line about Crewe Bus Station -


Short term improvements to make sure the roof doesn't fall down!!! I do wonder how long the current bus station will remain in situ given the demolition of the shop rows is starting.

Bus access to the Grand Junction retail park is an interesting one. Given how it's a big focus of retail in Crewe now with the issues surrounding the town centre, the retail park is only served by one bus, and that only goes in one direction so anyone looking to get a bus back to town has to go on a 15 minute journey round a couple of estates. Congestion is a big problem, and I'm not sure what they can do about that.

There's some interesting stuff in there even if some of it is basically restablishing links that previously existed, but I'm intrigued as to where the money's coming from to pay for it all.

(25/11/2020 09:32)knutstransport Wrote:  A D&G manager said they never look at rail timetables when preparing bus timetables as in his view 'very few people' transfer between buses and trains and train timetables are 'constantly changing.' (Nevermind they only normally changed twice a year and for many routes there are noticeable changes from one timetable change to the next.)

And he would be right for most of the smaller stations. Interchange stations with quite a few services, people will be up for multi modal but Congleton, Knutsford etc, people don't use the bus and change between modes because the trains are irregular and so if a bus is a few minutes late, you risk missing your train.

Integration between modes only works at bigger train stations because of the passenger flows. There is a much higher chance of the bus being useful to passengers (Ie if 5% of passengers use the bus, the laws of scale show that Wilmslow will have a lot more passengers interchanging onto the bus than Handforth for example). There are also more services so if something goes wrong on the bus leg of the journey, you can catch another train and it not affect your journey as much. Wilmslow and Crewe are the key stations which need more integration.

When planning a commute, if the train is a few mins late, that's ok as at least you are close to work. IF your bus is late to the train station though and you miss the train, you are stuck miles away from work and you either are late or have to have a day off. It's a lot of money to lose. It's hard for bus operators to link up these times as well for dropping off since the bus can't be late but it also can't be too early as passengers don't like sitting around. I think in general, it's more hassle than it's worth linking up buses to trains except where there is a significant commuter flow from the station to a nearby workplace (Knutsford to Radbroke).

Quite often, people calling for these sorts of integration are people on free passes. They complain because it makes it harder to get to places and because by and large, they become 'entitled' and believe they deserve a bus to run where and when they want it and they don't want to change buses.
For councils, they feel it makes buses look more attractive but they don't understand the cost or operational implications which come with it. For example, buses sat around waiting for trains means a less frequent service so people who want to travel locally or connect between buses are disadvantaged as the buses are less frequent so those very few which do connect between modes, can do so.