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Showcase bus routes

Showcase bus routes are bus services and their routes that have been targeted for comprehensive improvement. The idea is to create a dramatic improvement in the quality of the bus service so that it can be considered as a new form of transport. This page provides information about the 'showcase bus route' initiatives being progressed throughout the city.

Background to the Initiative

Bristol City Council is working in partnership with the local bus company to carry out a series of showcase route improvements in a planned programme over the next 5 years. Voluntary agreements between the Council and the bus company commit both parties to providing these improvements.

Features of a Showcase Bus Route

Showcase bus routes aim to raise the profile of specific services by improving the environment through which they pass. The aim of this is to increase the number of people using the buses and to assist the bus company to provide a reliable and frequent service.

Showcase bus routes include:

• Raised pavements to ease access on and off buses
• Real time information at each stop, providing details of approaching buses
• Audio information to assist visually impaired people
• New bus lanes
• New bus shelters
• New and enhanced traffic signals to give bus services priority
• Restricted parking and loading regulations to help reduce congestion
• Better timetable information including information at every stop along the route
• Better promotion of the service
• New low floor, environmentally friendly buses

Showcase schemes also aim to improve the bus service itself with:

• Better reliability
• Faster journey times
• Greater frequency
• Better quality vehicles
• Better quality shelters
• Clear information
• Better ticket pricing and availability for trips involving more than one bus journey

Future developments will include quicker and easier ticket arrangements to speed up boarding times and improve passenger convenience.

The programme

A total of five routes are to be upgraded as part of the showcase bus routes initiative in the next 5 years (to the 2005/06 financial year). This programme has been outlined in appendix 3.5 of the Bristol Local Transport Plan.

The first route to be upgraded is the 76/77 service between Henbury and Hartcliffe and was launched at the end of 2003.

The second route will be between A420 at Kingswood and A4018 Whiteladies Road. This will improve services running east / west across the city.

Funding

The Council is able to commit funds to these schemes from the transport budget awarded annually by the Government. This totals over £1million each year.

The Partnership arrangement that exists with the bus company ensures that they commit extra money to the specific services, for example, through investing in new buses and shelters.

The first route - service 76 / 77 Henbury to Hartcliffe

The first showcase bus route to be upgraded runs north / south across the city, from Henbury to Hartcliffe.

Parking and loading restrictions have been reviewed to standardise hours of operations, physical space requirements and signing and road marking. Through this review, the Council aims to:

• minimise delays to public transport particularly in the morning and afternoon peak times,
• reduce delays to all vehicles,
• provide adequate loading / unloading facilities for all shops and businesses along the route,
• provide short stay parking spaces for customers of local businesses,
• provide parking for residents, given the need for short stay parking spaces as well, and
• introduce restrictions which are consistent, easy to understand and easy to enforce, and that meet the needs of residents and businesses.

As with the bus lane along A38 Cheltenham Road, the Council is investigating the potential of prohibiting parking and loading along the showcase route between the hours of 0700 and 1000, and 1600 and 1830 Monday to Friday to allow the effective operation of bus lanes. Where 24 hour bus lanes may be appropriate, the parking restrictions would operate for all 24 hours and loading restrictions would operate during the busy periods.

Local circumstances may alter details, for example on Parson Street gyratory. Some local exceptions may also be appropriate, such as less restrictive loading periods in East Street, Bedminster.

Parking and loading restrictions will apply at all bus stops at all times to allow safe boarding and alighting of vehicles.

Integrated Travel Information Centre

Introduction to the ITIC project

The ITIC idea is very simple - to bring together all the sources of transport and travel information together in one place to assist the people of Bristol to travel around the city safely and efficiently. This involves providing real-time bus and rail information for public transport users and details of congestion and disruption on the city's road for motorists.

A number of individual systems already operate and provide information for different groups of people travelling around the city. The ITIC idea is to research and develop new ways of linking these systems to provide a comprehensive travel advice service for all types of travellers throughout the city, every day.

The Council's extensive consultation on the Local Transport Plan made it clear that there was a need to provide a high-profile, one-stop shop for local information and advice to business and individuals on transport-related issues.

Similar projects are beginning to appear in cities of mainland Europe, and Bristol wishes to build on this experience to pioneer a project in the UK.

The aim of the ITIC project

The aim of the Integrated Travel Information Centre project is to bring together a range of travel services to:

• improve the management of Bristol's traffic and transport,
• improve access to information on mobility and journey planning,
• encourage more use of public transport, in particular those journeys using more than one type of transport.

To initiate the ITIC concept the council developed a project to establish a Travel Advice Screen for a strategic transport interchange location. The aims of this project were to:

• develop new sources of travel information,
• bring together existing travel information systems,
• provide a high profile, high quality public interface to introduce the ITIC concept to the general public,
• to demonstrate the necessary technology.

Clifton Down Shopping Centre was identified as an ideal location to pilot this element of ITIC as it:

• is located on Whiteladies Road (A4018) - a major through route from north to south Bristol,
• is adjacent to Clifton Down railway station which is served by the Severn Beach Line,
• is served by a number of important rail link bus routes,
• has a large integrated multi-storey car park.

The Clifton Down Shopping Centre Travel Advice Screen

The Travel Advice Screen is sited in the public foyer area in Clifton Down shopping centre that has seating and other facilities such as telephones, children's rides etc. Due to it's central location, the screen is just 2 minutes walk from all forms of transport.

The screen displays a wide range of information, including:

• real time arrival information for services on the Severn Beach railway line,
• real time arrival information for rail link buses (routes 8 and 9 to / from Temple Meads railway station),
• scheduled departure information for all other bus services serving the area
• real time data from the City Council (see below),
• multimedia presentations.

The City Council inputs information onto the screen in their capacity as highway authority. Such information includes details of:

• temporary road closures or traffic restrictions,
• roadworks,
• details of accidents or emergencies,
• major events.

The technical specification of the Screen is as follows:

• four poly-silicon LCD modules mounted in a 2 x 2 arrangement,
• total size 2 metres by 1.5 metres,
• the display is virtually seamless with a gap of just 0.8 mm between each module,
• the video wall represents the latest technology in display equipment and was selected for maximum flexibility in terms of the quality and variety of images that can be reproduced.

The Travel Advice Screen project was short-listed for an Interchange 2000 Award and contributed to Bristol winning a special commendation award.

Info Bus

The info bus is one of the projects recently being progressed under the Vivaldi European project and integrated travel information centre umbrellas. The aim of this project was to develop a mobile travel information centre in an electric minibus to take some of the information available in the info centre in the city centre to local areas throughout the city.

The info bus is used for a variety of activities:

• Consultation on proposed traffic and transport schemes e.g. new Home Zones
• Advertising event information, e.g. roads closed for the Bristol Half Marathon; parking arrangements for the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta
• Providing travel information
• Corporate travel plan advice surgeries
• Road safety education in schools

The info bus contains a variety of facilities to display and access information, including up-to-date and emerging computer, power and communication technologies.

i+ kiosks

10 new information kiosks are being placed around the city as part of the European funded Vivaldi project to improve access to information. These kiosks have been, or will soon be located in:

• Lawrence Hill
• Hareclive Road, Hartcliffe
• Portway Park and Ride car park
• Brislington Park and Ride car park
• St Peters Rise, adjacent to Bishopsworth library
• Bristol Zoo
• Bristol University Students Union, Queens Road
• Gloucester Road, Bishopston
• Clifton Down Shopping Centre, adjacent to the Travel Advice Screen
• North Road, Bedminster

These new kiosks will also launch the new information channel dedicated to traffic and travel news and information, including:

• Road works and Events
• Public Transport
• Campaigns and Activities
• Walking and Cycling
• Community and Accessible Transport
• Current Initiatives

The kiosks give you the opportunity to request further information by e-mail and post.

Last Updated

13th January 2005