WINTER BUS SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS PROPOSED

Emily Moore, Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The new Mybus winter timetable includes proposals for extra Sunday services and increased services on certain routes, including an earlier departure on the route 15 to get people to the Airport in time for the first flights.

A new Monday to Saturday timetable for the route 15 provides additional journeys and a more regular pattern of departures and includes a new early bus that arrives at the Airport at 0559.

Proposals also include linking the former services 5 and 7 to create circular routes numbered 25 and 27 which will result in double the number of buses that passengers in St Mary and St John can choose from and creates new journey opportunities. There is also an increased frequency of buses to Portelet on route 12.

The revised schedules commence on Sunday 3 October and feature some improvements not seen in previous winter timetables. This year bus services will operate on Sundays to:

• St Lawrence, St Mary and St John;
• Hougue Bie, St Saviour's Hospital and Faldouet.

Changes to service 15 introduce a simpler timetable with a number of passenger benefits:

• New early morning service to the Airport starting at 0535;
• Regular departures on a 20 minute frequency or better between 0605 and 0825 and from 1445 to 1905;
• Additional evening journeys at half-hourly or hourly intervals;
• Extra 'express' departures operating along Victoria Avenue.

Other areas of the Island will also see alterations. Service 12, which calls at Portelet during the summer, will continue to do so after 3 October, providing more journeys than the previous winter service on the route 12a. The revised route in Trinity introduced to route 4 in May 2010 is being retained with two journeys a day extended to include Bouley Bay as an experiment to gauge demand for buses to Bouley Bay in the winter.

There is a small change to the route of the service 18. Owing to forthcoming redevelopment in the Le Squez Area, School Road will be closed to through traffic. Therefore, buses travelling towards St Helier will now turn left after Le Marais and travel to Greve d'Azette using Rue de Maupertuis.

Sundays services to Five Oaks, Maufant and Durrell are being revised with route 3 journeys being replaced by the route 3a. This change brings the provision of bus services to Route de la Hougue Bie and Grande Route de Faldouet, which previously had no Sunday service. Bus passengers can now travel to popular destinations such as Ransom's Garden Centre and Queen's Valley Reservoir.

Connétable Mike Jackson, the Minister for Transport and Technical Services, said: 'The proposed timetable is a step towards the goal of providing a more consistent year-round bus service and I really hope the changes will attract new passengers across the network.'

The Minister is also proposing that, after a successful trial this summer, the revised route after 4pm for buses arriving from the west of the Island will be continued. In a bid to reduce congestion and improve the reliability of buses, Broad Street will be served only by the routes 19 and 25 services after this time with all other services operating directly to and from Liberation Station.

Please find below links to a summary of the proposed changes to this winter's timetable together with some further details regarding the proposed revisions to the route 15 and the replacement of the routes 5 and 7 with the circular routes 25 and 27. There is also a map showing the proposed rerouting of the 18.

Winter 2010-11 Summary of Proposals

Winter 2010-11 Route 15 Proposed Timetable

Winter 2010-11 Routes 25 and 27 Proposed Timetable

Winter 2010-11 Routes 25 and 27 Proposed Map

Winter 2010-11 Proposed Route 18 Map