Scrap bus timetables and help commuters
Tuesday 13th April 2010, 3:00PM BST.
Transport Minister Mike Jackson wants a consistent bus service all year round
A COMMUTER-friendly bus service should be introduced to cut traffic congestion, the Transport Minister says.
Mike Jackson wants the bus service to run later during the winter because many commuters are now working longer hours.
He wants to encourage more people to use the bus in order to reduce car traffic and says that introducing a commuter-friendly service is the way forward.
The Constable of St Brelade would like to scrap the summer and winter bus timetables and offer a more consistent service throughout the year.
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I only started using the buses regularly last summer and couldn’t understand why so many people moaned about the service – and then the winter timetable kicked in. Large swathes of the island do not see a bus for 8 months!
Can someone please tell the states snd Connex that winter finishes in March and not at the end of May!!! The summer timetable should be up and running now.
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Hallelujah. Mind you, he also suggested doubling car park charges to force people onto the buses on Radio Jsy.
Use the CARROT not the STICK for a change – make it easy, make it cheap and make it reliable and people will use it – don’t stuff up the cars any more before you provide a decent alternative.
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Great idea! Then no one will know what time to get to the bus stop and how long to wait for it.
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This is a sensible suggestion from Mr Jackson.
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Tell us something we do not already know. Connex have been a disaster, full buses, timetables that should be in the fiction section of the local library. Nothing will change without competition. The very fact they get a subsidy of millions of pounds make it even worse. Also twice as expensive as our sister island. If you want to get from say Gorey to St Brelades you have to pay twice.
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I never thought the day would come when I would be in complete and utter agreement with Mike Jackson!
Well done, Connetable; more strength to your elbow!
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and what about the amount of people getting on the last number 8 bus and then getting off at first tower? I finish work at 5.30 so it is my last bus home and on more than one occassion i have been refused entry to the bus because its full – did they ask how many of the people on the bus are getting off at first tower and then ask them to wait 3 minutes for the number 12, 14, 9 or 15?
the cost of the bus is also ridiculous – it’s cheaper to ride a 125cc motorbike than to get the bus and so thats what I did as soon as i turned 17
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I think that the buses here are too expensive. Why are they double the price of buses in Guernsey or in many cities in the UK (for comparable distances)?
If I am to be persuaded to use the buses, they should go down in price. It certainly shouldnt cost over a pound to get from Liberation Station to First Tower – that’s just ridiculous.
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Come on M.J do your moonwalk and get a decent bus service going! A fast service to St Brelades please not stopping every 5 yards for those salad dodgers in First Tower who insist on sitting on the back seat! We have it going into town so why not back again too! Also where are the double deckers?
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good idea, it always seemed that the bus service was only here for the tourists ,we no longer have.
maybe ,some extra bus shelters will be needed, to brave the foul weather.
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Congratulations to Mike Jackson.
Never thought I would be positive about TTS but the minister looks as if he has finally got the civil service under control. He has a long way to go, but it is clear leadership which has been missing for years.
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The timetable does need updating, and the bus fares to be cheaper. Me and my girlfriend cycle to work, but on the odd occassion when we might catch the bus, it’s cheaper to drive becuase the bus would be £6.40 between the 2 of us. And I don’t know how this makes sense, but in the summer the last bus home (Portelet) is 5:15, yet 5:45 in the winter!
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How do you run a service witout timetables? You use FREQUENCY! Headspace as it is called in the trade. A bus will pas a point at a specific interval. In London a High frequency is every twelve minutes. Clock time has nothing to do with it. In theory you wait twelve minutes a bus arrives. Except, there are other vehicles on the road, the road is being dug up, put down, narrowed widened, cars are parked in places that make you belive people must practice, nobody could be born that stupid. As for ‘decker’s, they will only add one third to the capicty. a single decker bus has a seating load and a standing load. ‘Decker’s have no standing up stairs!
The other joy is whose’s going to ay for extra buses? A driver has fixed driving hours and statutory rest periods. Please not Connex no longer run bus services in UK, they couldn’t get their tenders accepted! Londo Transport runs on QSI, Quality Service Indicators, if a company dosen’t meet or exceed the contracted QSI’s, they get fined.
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A commuter friendly bus service – now that’s a novelty!!!
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When I see Mike Jackson using the bus into town, I will do the same. I am a firm believer in ‘leading by example’.
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Double deckers start on saturday folks!!double the wait!!
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A bus timetable that lasts all year round is the only way forward!! All bus users over here know the misery of being sat on a sweltering bus thats full to bursting on a hot summers day, and also the queue that exists in the ‘winter’ months!! With regards to price, I live part time in Brighton, a ten minute journey can cost me £1.80 so think yourself lucky!!
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Sounds good but I can’t see much coming from it. They could learn a lot from the way Guernsey runs their bus service. Maybe we could get the JMT back?
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Good Idea Mr Jackson, but have to agree the cost of the buses are very high. A small increase in petrol prices will be able to reduce bus fares significantly.
Also buses later in the evenings would be good too especially to outer parishes.
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Sounds good!Should do return ticket fares, some of bus routes need re-organizing like bus no.9 it would be convenience for passengers if it could run through the airport because I often saw passengers walking from-to airport with handbags/suitcases to catch the bus at rugby club stop.
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Good idea Mr Jackson, just one slight flaw to it and – as admitted by Connex – more buses will equal higher running costs, and with their recent statement on the radio, they will seek to recover any extra costs through the states on top of the millions they already get from them now, so in effect for many, you will pay twice, on the bus and through your taxes.
And for those who remember the JMT, no hand outs here when they operated, they operated within their budget and a much better service provided and they didn’t need to operate oversized empty buses with P30 plates on them that hurtle towards you overhanging the white lines on our not so wide roads.
Let’s just get a decent local operator for the buses not some outsiders that won’t provide a service that everyone has been asking for since the day Connex got their licence!!!!
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I use the number 9 at 5.20 and it is always over crowded and late leaving meaning it never arrives at its published time. Many of the passengers get off anywhere betweem the stop opposite the old Inn on the Park and Bel Royal.Plenty of other buses pass this way. Maybe they should put on a commuter bus to go as far as Bel Royal. We have no buses on a Sunday during the winter months and the last bus finishes ridiculously early. Are we all supposed to be hermits and not venture out on a Sunday or late at night. The cost of a Taxi is far too much.
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What pains me is that all routes lead to St Helier. We have this lovely new bus terminal that every single bus departs from and returns to. Surely we would be better off with a service that means you can catch a bus to a certain stop else where and then catch another bus to your destination, similar to that of trains in the UK or even… buses? It makes no sense to me catching a bus into town to then catch a bus that was passing through your 1st route anyway. If this is already achieveable could Connex not set up a website facility that tells you the best possible route for you such as those like thetrainline.com?
I suggest that perhaps three ‘major’ terminals are needed, or rather two additional areas to Liberation Station where bus routes for the east, west and perhaps even central areas of the island operate from. We could keep lovely new station in town as the ‘transport hub’ serving the whole island, but if needs be commuters would be required to catch a connection to their desired destination via the other areas. It is ridiculous that to get from St Mary to the airport takes an hour plus, and at not particularly convenient times.
Also, perhaps the charging scale could be reorganised. Too often the buses are overcrowded by people living in the outskirts of town (ie. St Tower). This means that there are less seats for those who are catching the bus to areas nearer its point of turnaround for St Helier. Perhaps to encourage people who live further away from St Helier to catch the bus, therefore reducing the number of cars on the road, they are in fact charged less rather than more. On the flip side, those who live closer to town could be charged more to encourage them to walk.
I have always thought that a tram service is an excellent way to travel. I was in Manchester recently and it was quite excellent, coupled with their park and ride system. But then again, Jersey is that small we should all cycle anyway, but wait, they now want to charge us to cycle…
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totally agree that there should be return tickets
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Bring back the J.M.T.
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#7
I totally agree!! People getting off at first tower should be given least priority compared to people who have no other bus to get other than the one in question…8, 12 etc. They also sit right at the back and then have to squeeze past everyone to get off….logic?
Also commuter timed buses should purely be just for commuters! Why should we stand the whole way to st Brelade or St Ouen because kids don’t wanna get on the designated school buses. Back when i was that age we were made to stand for someone who paid full fare too!!
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Wow!
That noise that we all heard was the penny finally dropping.
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An overhaul of Connex’s services are desperately required! As mentioned there needs to be more linking of services so you don’t have to go via town, return tickets or day savers!
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as a tourist to your island for 6wks every year since 1988,i agree the bus service does need updating.later services for all routes.the only thing im happy with is the prices.norfolk in england fares are way over the top.we pay £2.20 single fare for 10 minute journey.so im happy to buy a 5 day ticket because i get value for money when im in jersey.
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If they lowered the speed limit Island wide to 20mph, this would help to solve this problem.
Rose x
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Driving to work costs me £15 a week. To use the bus would cost me £30 ! Er ?
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What can i say? …. thank god the penny has dropped! We live here and need to use the buses to get to work, back home after a night out, or just around the island.
When i first moved here last year during the summer i literally SUNG the praises of Jersey’s bus service right up to the point that the winter timetable kicked in and suddenly found i could not get a bus after 5:30 in the evening.
I could not understand why the bus service finishes just as every person on the island is looking to go home.
For gods sake run the summer timetable all year around! just add in the explorer service between march – november…. please i beg you
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#30 Why would it solve the problem? Journeys taking longer on the bus?
Actually the bus rarely gets above 20 going thru the inner road.
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No 31, is that £15 in fuel or £15 in fuel, parking, servicing, depreciation, insurance etc etc etc? The max single bus fare is £1.60
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If the speed limit were lowered to 20mph it would force people to buy more ecomomic cars, or abandon cars altogether in favour of public transport or pushbikes.
It can be done and you need to think outside of the box.
This would, and the list is non exhaustive:-
1) reduce green house gas emissions;
2) reduce obesity and health problems associated with lack of exercise;
3) reduce road traffic accidents;
4) increase revenue making the bus journeys cheaper;
5) create a happier and more slower paced island which everyone can enjoy…
Rose x
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Which is the better bus service
JMT or Connex?
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#36. Theres only one way to find out, fiiiiight!!!
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MJ I agree. The last service to St Mary’s is at 4.05 on a weekday in the winter, a problem when most people finish work after 5.
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i travel by bus here in the uk to work. 7 miles = £5.50 you lot have it cheap
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A Few weeks ago I was in Gory with a friend and her new born baby. The weather was torrential rain so we decided to hop on a bus which took us less then a mile from Gory Pier to the village. The bus driver decided to charge us £3!!! It’s appalling! I also live on the No 7 route (St Mary)… last bus is at 5.50! So what happens in the evenings when you finish work late?! Its about time winter/summer timetables were scrapped and a more reliable service was brought in.
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I am blessed with living on the number one bus route and have used the service for the past 11 years. No need to use a car. It is cheaper than driving and parking.
I totally understand the frustration however of those who live in parts of the island that are poorly served by the bus service. There is no insentive to use the bus especially when the timetable is so poor.
Also as one contributor stated, why does the summer timetable only start at the end of May. At the least it should start around Easter and end at the end of October.
One last point. Set up a bus route that is purely for residents of the First Tower area. Another way to prevent those passengers taking up places in the bus for those travelling further afield is for the bus to not stop before it gets to Beaumont or St Aubin for instance.
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I definately agree with those calling for JMT coming back, what a much better service they gave! It may just be me but i found the JMT drivers so much happier, liked a banter and much more helpful. I have given up on the buses really since Connex took over, prices are too high and service is poor from my personal experience, as said before the times are inconvenient for most users after 5pm!!??!!
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Getting the bus to work just takes too long. Sometimes an hour from st.brelades bay!They are also not frequent enough. a bus every 2 hours and none on a sunday in the winter is crazy.
Schools traffic is the problem though. been getting to town in 20/30 mins over easter.what a difference!
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heres a shocker for you – even a modest runabout – say £5000 – will cost you well over £6 per day to commute, let alone parking fees or breakdowns (thats all in – see http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/cost-of-your-car-calculator to try it for yourself)
but given that most people are unlikely to keep a car just for commuting, its the headline cost – fuel/parking that skews the reality.
so unless those fees go up, and the bus service becomes just that – a public service – with more & cheaper buses – i dont see that much is likely to change.
and how about giving the bus a competitive advantage, like closing off 1 lane of victoria avenue in rush hour to serve as a bus lane
and in remoter parts of scotland where theres no proper bus service (sounds like st ouen in winter) they have a pre-booked on-demand service. technology, eh
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I live in st marys and the only buses I can get are to town. What if I need to go to st brelades? Does that mean I have to go in circles getting two buses? Hardly green.
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Tony B – 12 minute bus turnaround is not feasible. Unless you wish to see a queue of 10-12 buses on Victoria Avenue waiting to get through the traffi, each one of which left Liberation within 12 minutes of the previous one.
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