It's been going for over a week now and it is a fairly safe to say that most of the drivers and lots of passengers are not completely happy with the new bus route. If a passenger is traveling between Newton and Paignton then it should be fine. They should have a bus every 7 or 8 mins. But many of the buses are still running very late, some times 3 or 4 buses running together, then a big gap and more buses then turn up running together. Part of the problem is the road works in Newton and part of the problem is the fact that we are now running on winter times. In summer we get longer times to make up for the fact that there are more people about, both getting on the buses and more traffic on the roads. But in September the holiday season is still going. Lots of OAP's turn up in the Bay for their holidays.
Brixham is a popular day out but if you are traveling to and from Brixham the shorter route on the number 12 is now only every 15 mins, it used to be every 10 mins. So the number of people getting on each bus to go to and from Brixham has gone up by 50%. All this extra loading adds to the journey time, as does explaining to bemused passenger the difference between the 12 and the 12A.
It goes like this; holiday maker, who has been here before and knows it's the 12 to Brixham and doesn't understand the differance the A makes, gets on the 12A in Torquay or Paignton and asks for a ticket to Brixham, driver has to explain to the passenger that the 12 is the better bus to go to Brixham, 1) it takes 15 mins less and 2) the journey round Roselands involves 27 sharp bends, 5 speed ramps, 4 right turns from minor roads into main roads (1), quiet a few turns from main roads into minor roads that involve going onto the wrong side of the road and the possibility that the bus will be held up in several narrow roads the were not built with double deckers in mind. No one who has traveled to Brixham from Paignton on a 12A is likely to do it twice. In Brixham those people who have been waiting for a long time for a 12 and risk getting on a 12A usually comment, "That was ******* awful, next time I will wait for the 12".
An other problem I have with this over kill of a bus route is the question,'How many students are we going to take to New South Devon College?' The students can buy a weekly ticket for £10.00 and will attend college 30 weeks in a year. 1 student = £300 per year, 10 students = £3000, 100 students = £30 000 , 1000 students = £300 000. So if we carry a thousand students every day the college is open we will increase our income by £300 000. Well that seems well worth the effort. But hang on a moment, to carry one thousand students to college in the morning and home again in the afternoon will take 11 buses that are full to the brim. At 4 buses per hour that will take 2 and three quater hours just to get the buses to the college plus the time it takes to load 90 people on to each bus. And if the buses are now all full, what about the good people of Roselands Drive who used to have a number 3 bus but now have the 12A (full of Students). Are they going the have to travel before the students or wait until they have gone.
Foot note.
(1) I have been driving buses now for over 8 years ( 275 000 miles ) and in the past 10 days have discovered some thing I had not noticed before. Buses are not designed to turn right from minor roads on to main roads. We have a great view to the front, big windows, a great view to the right, but to the left there are door pillers in the way, the nearside mirrow is in the way, the cab door frame is in the way and we have 7 such right turns to make. On the old 12 route there was one right turn from minor road to main road and the main road is one way with nothing coming fron the left. Most bus route I have driven on both here and in London do not have such right turns. In fact, thinking back to all the bus trips I have been on over the last 55 years I and finding it difficult to remember any bus routes with right turns like these. And the 12A has 7. I have not had any near misses yet, just a couple of nasty moments.
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