Bus Services

School buses to/from Harris Academy – latest update #dundeewestend

Residents will recall our previous articles in August and October about insufficient capacity on one of the school buses (the 6s – the pupils concerned live in the Pentland area) to/from Harris Academy, we have again been in touch with the council’s transportation team in the run up to the Christmas school holidays.

The team has responded to us with this helpful update in advance of the schools returning after the New Year :

“As previously discussed, I wanted to update you about the route amendment we have agreed with McGill’s buses for the Service 10s to be introduced officially after the festive period.

From Monday 8th January 2024, the Service 10s will extend its route to cover the Pentland area of the City rerouting via Charleston Drive (not serving Elmwood Road), Ancrum Road, Tullideph Road, City Road, Pentland Avenue, Balgay Road, Blackness Avenue and Perth Road and we believe this will provide adequate support to the 6s to ensure that all the pupils are picked up in the Pentland Avenue / City Road area of the city.

Registration documents have been submitted to the Scottish Traffic Commissioner with Dundee City Council agreeing to an earlier start date to try and resolve this matter as soon as we could. Both McGill’s Buses and Harris Academy are endeavouring to distribute this information to pupils, however I would be grateful if you could pass this information on directly to any of your constituents who have contacted you recently regarding this matter.”

Save the 204 and sheltered shopping bus services

At this year’s council budget, SNP council administration forced through cuts to council-supported bus services which will sadly mean that the 204 service across parts of the West End will be axed next year along with other services including the sheltered housing shopping bus service.

The 204 – although it sadly does not serve some of its original area around Newhall Gardens, Invergowrie Drive and Glamis Drive – remains a vital service for residents in the Magdalen Yard Road/Windsor Street area and also in Scott Street and Tullideph Road – all streets that lack main bus services.

The sheltered shopping bus service runs services on Tuesdays for folk at Tullideph, Logie and Pine Court and on Thursdays for folk in Corso/Abbotsford, Pennycook Court, Muirlands and Paton’s Lane – taking shoppers to Tesco Riverside to shop and back afterwards. In addition, the “Out and About” service that takes older folk on day trips will also see its funding withdrawn.

We strongly opposed the bus services cuts that will impact especially on older residents.

In the totality of the council budget, the savings from these cuts are minor and alternative savings could have been found. Taking away these services is indefensible. We will continue to campaign to save them before the axe falls in April 2024.

Update on bus timetables at stops #dundeewestend

As residents are aware, we have repeatedly raised with the City Council that, although real time bus information is working at bus shelters, paper timetables became been out of date following the bus companies altered services at the start of the COVID health emergency in 2020.

We pressed this issue on numerous occasions and were advised in February that 350 stops had now had up to date information on them.

However that means the majority still did not and this recent example from Hawkhill at the Sinderins underlines the problem – the timetable information here is from 2018!

We think proper information at bus stops is vital if the council is to successfully promote public transport – not everyone has access to an on-line app and many people get on a bus at a stop without a bus shelter and its real time information facility.

We have therefore highlighted this example to the council transportation team and asked for progress on the restoration of bus timetables at bus stops.

Sheltered shopping bus service #dundeewestend

The council’s shoppers’ bus service restarted in June 2022 after being withdrawn at the end of March 2020 due to the pandemic.   It aims to help older residents mainly in sheltered housing get to a supermarket and back each week.

The service operates Tuesday to Friday every week and in the West End runs as follows :

Tuesdays – Pick up at Tullideph Place (12.05pm), Logie lounge in Lime Street (12.10pm) then Pine Court in Logie Gardens (12.15pm) to take folk to Tesco Riverside and return.

Thursdays – Pick up at Corso Street (10.10am), Pennycook Lane (10.15am), Muirlands (10.20am) and Paton’s Lane (10.25am) to take folk to Tesco Riverside and return.

Sadly, the SNP administration on the council decided to axe the service from April 2024, something the Liberal Democrat Group opposed at the council budget earlier this year.   Unfortunately the SNP decision to axe the service won the vote.  

The council is now trying to get one of the community transport operators to take the service on and our group strongly feels this vital service must be saved.

Service 17 bus service #dundeewestend

As residents will know, some time ago, the bus service 17 route was changed which took the bus away from its original route that included Lochee Road, Tullideph Road and Ancrum Road.

In the Ancrum Road and Tullideph Road area, access to buses has sharply reduced as a result with just the off-peak 6 and 204 services serving parts of the area.    The 6 does not operate at weekends and the 204 not on Sundays.  

The situation will deteriorate further in 2024 as the SNP administration on the City Council pushed through at this year’s budget a full cut to supported bus services from next year which will see the 204 service end.   We opposed this axing of supported bus services but unfortunately the administration group won the vote.

Residents have regularly raised with us the lack of 7 day a week regular services in the Ancrum Road and Tullideph Road area – that also run in the evenings – and we asked the managing director of Xplore Dundee if he will look again at the 17 route when the next review of bus services/routes takes place.

He has responded positively as follows :

“I note your comments and I will raise them at the next service level review which is likely to be near summer.”

Although this does not guarantee a solution, it is helpful that the situation will be reviewed and we will keep residents updated.

Bus timetables concern – an update #dundeewestend

As residents will be aware, over a protracted period, we have raised with the City Council that, although real time bus information is working at bus shelters, paper timetables had been out of date since the bus companies altered services at the start of the COVID health emergency in 2020.

Bus stops in our neighbouring authorities like Angus and Perth and Kinross have had timetables restored long since and we were given assurances that timetables in Dundee would start to make a reappearance.

We asked for an update and the council’s Senior Transport Officer updated us as follows :

“We have now prepared, printed and set out timetable information at around 350 bus stops across the city. 

We have focused our efforts on the busiest stops where passenger loadings are most significant.  

We are reviewing the datasets provided to us by the bus operators before we generate any further displays.”

There’s updated timetables on the Perth Road bus stop at Party Wizard but, as the photo indicated, it had been covered in an unauthorised advert.    We asked the council to have the glass panel cleaned and were promised this would be done.

Bus stop outside Dundee Rail Station #dundeewestend

As reported in yesterday’s Evening Telegraph, we have raised concerns with Dundee City Council about road safety at Dundee rail station, following constituents highlighting the lack of a proper bus bay outside the rail station – see photo.

Residents have raised with us the fact that, as there is no bus bay for the Stagecoach buses that drop off and pick up passengers at the station, the very busy inside lane is blocked when a bus is stationary at the bus stop.   

This leads to drivers trying to switch lane to get past the bus and residents have highlighted examples of near misses of vehicles as some drivers dart out to get past the bus and back into the nearside lane.     All this could have been avoided if the council simply supplied a bus bay at this site. 

The councillors contacted the City Council about this and were advised by the council’s Team Leader for parking and sustainable transport as follows :

“I do recall that there was a discussion about pros and cons of a bus lay-by (circa 2015/2016) at the station but I can’t recall the detail of why it was rejected.   My best memory was that ultimately it was a considered decision taken by the then Director of City Development and based on a desire for high quality public realm in front of the station.   

“In practice, the Stagecoach buses stopping at this location has not caused significant disruption to traffic and I am unaware of any accidents involving buses.   The sightlines are fairly good on the approach from east and west and much of the traffic should be travelling at reduced speeds.”

We really don’t accept the “high quality public realm” argument against putting in a bus bay here – public safety is paramount and the space in front of the station is really wide so a bus bay could have been accommodated without impacting on the quality of the public realm at all.   

We did have the accident record database checked and although accepting that any bumps to date will have been minor as there have been no more serious accidents reported to Police Scotland since 2019, we still think it would be common sense to provide a bus bay – not just from the safety aspect but it would also help avoid tailbacks at this very busy stretch on road when buses are stopped at the bus stop, particularly at rush hour.

We have asked the Director of City Development if senior officers can discuss this request more fully.

There’s a wider issue about the disconnect between rail station and bus station services in the city but meantime we would like to see the bus situation right outside the rail station addressed.

Bus diversions during Balgay Road/Blackness Road/Blackness Avenue junction works #dundeewestend

The road resurfacing and road safety work at the Balgay Road/Blackness Road/Blackness Avenue junction starts tomorrow – Wednesday 19th October.

The City Council has provided us with the following information about bus diversions during the roadworks :

“We will have Public Notices out at affected stops from Tuesday with diversion information for all services and Realtime displays within the closure will also be amended accordingly.

For this particular closure, the 73 will divert via West Park Road and Perth Road in both directions and therefore the 73 will not serve any stops between West Park Road and the bottom of Blackness Avenue.

Xplore Dundee diversions are as below –

Road closed: Blackness Road

Commencing: Wednesday 19 October

Scheduled duration: three days

Services affected: 6 | 17 | 22

UPDATED

Service 6

Towards Ninewells Hospital

Normal route to Blackness Avenue, then right into Hyndford Street, right into Blackness Road and left into Glenagnes Road. Resume normal route from Scott Street.

Towards City Centre

Normal route to Scott Street, then left into Glenagnes Road, right into Blackness Road and left into Seymour Street. Resume normal route from Blackness Avenue.

Service 17

Towards Whitfield

Normal route to Pentland Avenue, then left into Scott Street, right into Glenagnes Road, right into Blackness Road and left into Seymour Street. Resume normal route from Blackness Avenue.

Towards Ninewells Hospital

Normal route to Blackness Avenue, then right into Hyndford Street, right into Blackness Road, left into Glenagnes Road and left into Scott Street. Resume normal route from Pentland Avenue.

Service 22

Towards Craigowl

Normal route to Blackness Road, then right into West Park Road, left into Perth Road, left into Blackness Avenue and right into Hyndford Street. Resume normal route from Blackness Road.

Towards Ninewells Hospital

Normal route to Blackness Road, then left into Seymour Street, left into Blackness Avenue, right into Perth Road and right into West Park Road. Resume normal route from Blackness Road.

Bus timetables at bus stops – or lack of them! – an update

Residents will recall that we highlighted some time ago that, although real time bus information is working at bus shelters, paper timetables have been out of date since the bus companies altered services at the start of the COVID-19 health emergency.

This has dragged on far too long. The City Council has maintained the position that ‘instability’ in the bus network has made providing new timetables at bus stops difficult, but we are have now been advised by the council’s Team Leader, Parking & Sustainable Transport as follows :

“We are targeting the timetable information to be ready for display by 15th August 2022.

We are required to create the timetable display in pdf format using the data supplied by the bus operators. We have now received that from Xplore Dundee and will look to create the PDFs over the next two weeks.

These will be then sent to the printer who will print the PDFs to specialist (waterproof) paper. We should receive the displays back from the printer by mid August allowing us to start setting out the information at the stops to coincide with the new timetables.

I had hoped we would have been able to create publicity for some of the stops on routes that are unaffected by the Xplore Dundee service changes in August. If this can be achieved earlier than the timeframe above I will let you know.

We will be provide printed information on selected stops only. Locations will be decided in due course but we will consider a number of factors when making our decision – e.g. whether the stop is used primarily for boarding or alighting, whether the bus timetable is expected to be varied regularly, the availability of real time information at the location.”

Whilst the return of bus timetables is welcome, whilst we do not expect them where real time information is available at bus shelters, we would want them at all other bus stops. We have asked the City Council to confirm this will be the case.

Meeting with Xplore Dundee

Yesterday evening, we had the pleasure, along with our Liberal Democrat Group colleague Councillor Daniel Coleman, to meet with David Phillips, the new Director and General Manager and Marc Winsland, Commercial Manager, at Xplore Dundee to discuss bus services in the city.

We had a really productive and useful discussion and it is clear that the positive relationship we have had with Xplore Dundee over a long period will continue and grow in the years ahead.

Bus services changes affecting West End from 3rd January #dundeewestend

Xplore Dundee is making several changes to bus services from next Monday, 3rd January.

+ I am very pleased at the launch of a new Service 6 linking Ninewells with Menzieshill, Elmwood Road, Tullideph Road, Pentland Avenue, Blackness Road and the city centre.  This will operate hourly and is good news as it assists with provision of services around Ancrum Road and Tullideph Road, something I have been campaigning for since the Service 17 was re-routed right along City Road.

+ The Service 9/10 (Outer Circle) is renumbering as Service 10 – a service linking communities to the north of the city.  Service 5 and 10 will interlink to provide a full circular service across Dundee. 

+ There will be some slight timetable adjustments to Service 28 (between 8am and 6pm) to improve punctuality.   Also. the new ‘Electric Emerald’ buses to go into service on the Service 28 route, Dundee’s first zero-emission buses.    I am pictured at the launch event for the Electric Emerald buses which will assist tackle the air quality issues on Lochee Road.

Full details of all the changes are available at www.xploredundee.com/2022Changes

Blether Bus for older residents proposed for the axe – a sad tale #dundeewestend

I have today slammed a recommendation that will come before the council’s City Development Committee on Monday 25th October that, if approved, will axe all the Blether Bus services in Dundee that assist elderly residents who have difficulty accessing the main bus routes. These include services in the West End but also services in Stobswell and Lochee.

If approved this would be a really bad decision for the elderly folk who rely on the service. There are older residents in streets in my own ward who cannot manage uphill to the main bus services and, after the SNP axed their supported proper bus service, the Blether Bus has been all they were left with. Now they will have nothing at all – a real disgrace.

I have been promised by the council for months that the Blether Bus would return once COVID positive cases dropped as this was allegedly necessary as the bus is a minibus. These promises have proved worthless and I am furious about this. It would leave elderly folk in parts of the West End with no access to public transport – and I fear the SNP administration will simply rubber stamp this dreadful recommendation.

There is something ironic that Dundee City Council was seeking to reduce public transport and thereby increase private vehicle use as the affected residents would have to rely on family and friends running them about by car if they are to get out at all. At a time of COP26, it is bizarre that the council would be reducing public transport and increasing reliance on the private car – what a dreadful signal to be sending.

I would suggest that the better way forward with the Blether Bus service is to consult communities on making the routes more attractive to increase usage, rather than axing the service. 

I will be strongly opposing the axing of these older people’s bus services when this comes before councillors next Monday.

Bus timetables at bus stops – or lack of them!

There’s been a large reaction from residents to the articles in the Courier and Evening Telegraph last week in which I highlighted that, although real time bus information is working at bus shelters, paper timetables have been out of date since the bus companies altered services at the start of the COVID-19 health emergency.

There has been an attempt to remove erroneous and out of date timetables but bus stops across Dundee still lack correct timetables – some 18 months since the pandemic started.

I think everyone accepts that during the 2020 lockdowns there was significant change and understandable volatility in bus services but some stability has returned – just not the timetables at bus stops! It is unhelpful for passengers who do not have access to apps on their mobile phone.

I have repeatedly raised this with the City Council over many months and the most recent feedback from the Team Leader, Parking & Sustainable Transport advised :

“The commercial bus network in Dundee has still not stabilised so we continue to push passengers towards apps, websites or Traveline (phone service) for the most accurate and up to date bus information. The real time displays in our bus shelters are updated with each change.”

I have made clear to the City Council that I think this line has run its course particularly as other authorities are restoring timetables, such as in Perth and Kinross.

There are repeated requests from constituents and bus passengers about this. The lack of timetables at bus stops impacts on older passengers in particular where a higher proportion of people do not use or have access to mobile apps.

I have said to the council’s transportation team that I do think we really do now need a timeframe for restoration of timetables after consultation with the bus operators. We should be making it as easy as possible for people to use public transport and Dundee City Council’s current position on this simply is not helping.

Blether Bus – an update #dundeewestend

As residents will recall, following the unfortunate removal some time ago of the ‘old’ 204 bus service that covered streets like Newhall Gardens, Invergowrie Drive and Glamis Drive, the council’s response was to establish the “Blether Bus” minibus service for older residents.   

I strongly opposed the withdrawal of the old 204 as it was a better service than the Blether Bus.  The previous version of the 204 went to both the City Centre and Ninewells Hospital, something the Blether Bus did not.   However, at least the Blether Bus gave some sort of service for older residents who would struggle to walk (often uphill) to main bus services on streets like Perth Road and Glamis Road. 

With the onset of the COVID health emergency, the Blether Bus was suspended as it uses a minibus where social distancing is a challenge.   As restrictions ease, I have been anxious to ensure that a service for older folk in the area is restored.   

Back in May, the council’s Team Leader, Parking & Sustainable Transport told me that he hoped the Blether Bus would be restored during the school summer holidays but he has since advised :

‘We are conscious of the potential for community transmission on the minibus services, particularly with the vehicles being shared between school children at Kingspark and older adults.    We will further review our options in the weeks ahead, giving regard to any public health advice available. 

My e-mail in late May 2021 suggested a return date during the school holidays but this was before the spike in Covid cases in the Dundee area which caused us to rethink our plans.  We also had to consider driver availability and the potential of having to withdraw minibus services at short notice if the drivers were ill or required to self-isolate.’

I have made clear to council officers that it is vital that a bus service is restored as soon as possible and also raised the issue at the recent West End local community planning partnership meeting.   It is not acceptable that older residents who cannot get to the main bus services on streets like Perth Road are left without their Blether Bus service.     

I will keep residents updated and can assure the Blether Bus passengers that I will be continuing to pursue this to get the service back ASAP.

Good news for Tullideph/Ancrum area on bus services #dundeewestend

I have today welcomed news that bus passengers in the Tullideph Road/Ancrum Road area are likely to again have a bus service near to them, after months of being left high and dry without a bus service following Xplore Dundee re-routing Service 17 away from the area.

The re-routing of Service 17 earlier this year so it now goes right along City Road was really bad news for the Tullideph Road and Ancrum Road area as it left them without any bus service.

I felt strongly that every effort should be made to serve Tullideph Road and Ancrum Road particularly because the Morven Terrace and Ancrum Place sheltered housing with many elderly folk has been left without easy access to a bus. Many constituents raised this concern with me.

The council is proposing a new 204 tendered bus service – a service number previously used but this new service would cover a very different route and would miss out much of the old 204 route.

However, the new 204 service route is sufficiently close to the Ancrum Road and Tullideph Road areas that it could be slightly re-routed to cover the area and this needs to be done – otherwise many residents and particularly older folk are left without any bus services.

I took this to Dundee City Council’s City Development Committee when it was agreeing to bus tenders including the 204 and it was agreed that the viability of having the 204 cover parts of Tullideph Road and Ancrum Road would be looked at. The issue is the high camber on the Ancrum Road/Logie Street junction that had to be road tested to ensure safe for a bus to use.

The council’s Team Leader, Parking & Sustainable Transport has advised me :

“The routes are currently being registered with the traffic commissioner and will start on 16 August 2021.    We have agreed the routing of the 204 with the operator (Stagecoach) so that it will operate via Tullideph Road. I am not expecting this to be rejected by the Traffic Commissioner’s office.

We will prepare publicity for each of the new services and publicise via the council website in advance of the services operating and communicate with key stakeholders including elected members. I am hopeful of this all being completed next week.”

This looks very positive in giving the Tullideph area a bus service back. I am not pretending it is perfect – it’ll be a daytime hourly service but it is a whole lot better than no bus service at all and I am grateful to transportation officers for taking on my route change suggestion.

It is important that tendered bus services actually cover the areas that are isolated from bus services. Real practical action is needed to ensure the newly tendered services work for local people.

It is also important that the older people across the city who relied on the currently suspended Blether Bus minibus service are given access to public transport and I am assured council officers are also working on that.

Getting things done – Blackness Road #dundeewestend

During the recent demolition works at 219-245 Blackness Road, the bus stop at the Ashbank Road junction for services towards the City Centre has been out of action for safety reasons.

Now the demolition works are nearly complete – and it will be some time before the new build will commence – many residents have asked when the bus stop will be back in action. It is used by many people from the Blackness and Logie areas and a fair walk to the next nearest stop.

I took this matter up with the City Council and the Senior Transport Officer in Parking & Sustainable Transport updated me yesterday as follows :

“We’ve had a further update from the contractor regarding the above works, they’ve confirmed that the site hoarding is being finalised today/ tomorrow and that they’ll clean up, remove fencing, and off hire the pedestrian crossings on Thursday/ Friday.

I’ll visit the site on Friday and once clear, will request that the bus stop at Seymour Street is served again.”

The removal of the temporary traffic/pedestrian lights is also welcome and I am also grateful for the council’s very prompt action on Monday when a safety concern about their operation was raised by me on behalf of residents.

Blether Bus – an update #dundeewestend

As recently reported in the Courier and Evening Telegraph, a number of residents have asked me when the Blether Bus service that was suspended at the start of the COVID-19 health emergency can return. It has take longer to bring back as it uses small mini-buses and that’s a challenge with social distancing still in place.

The City Council’s Team Leader, Parking and Sustainable Transport has now updated me as follows :

“My colleague has been in discussion with the team at Fleet Management and we are targeting a date during the school summer holidays for the return of Blether Bus services.

We hope this can be achieved.We are also watching the public health advice for bus travel carefully, conscious of the age of the client group and the limited space within the minibuses for physical distancing.

When we have a firm date for the return of the Blether Bus services we will communicate this with all elected members within whose wards the services operate. We will also liaise with colleagues in the communications team to discuss how we can best publicise the return of the services to passengers.”

I will, of course, keep residents updated.

Bus service X54 – an update #dundeewestend

Residents have been in touch with me about the decision by Stagecoach to currently suspend bus service X54 as far as its route west of the City Centre goes. This is concerning as it removes the service from the most westerly part of the Perth Road.

I took this up with the City Council’s Team Leader, Parking & Sustainable Transport who has now advised me as follows :

“I have spoken to the commercial manager at Stagecoach East Scotland who has confirmed the ‘temporary’ suspension of X54 between the city centre and Ninewells.

The longer term future of this express service will depend on passenger numbers returning to something like pre-pandemic levels. If this does not happen, it is possible that Stagecoach will curtail the X54 service in the city centre and passengers travelling from Fife will be advised to change buses for onward connections to Ninewells.

If that scenario were to happen, the commercial manager has indicated it is possible that Stagecoach East Scotland may then consider diverting another bus service (e.g. Service 39) so that some journeys serve the most westerly section of the Perth Road.”

I have asked to be kept updated as the loss of the X54 service is of real concern in this part of the Perth Road given the dearth of bus services there.

Bus timetables concern – an update #dundeewestend

Last year, I highlighted that residents have pointed out that, although real time bus information is working at bus shelters, paper timetables have been out of date since the bus companies altered bus services temporarily at the start of the COVID-19 the health emergency.

Whilst appreciating there needed to be the return to normal services and stability in timetables before new and correct timetables could be placed at every bus stop, I got assurances that erroneous, out of date information would be removed meantime.

With the Xplore Dundee recent bus services review having taken place at the start of 2021, I asked the Sustainable Transport team at the council for an update and have been advised by a Transport Officer as follows :

“Xplore Dundee is amending its service provision again from 12th April.    Therefore ‘at stop’ timetables will not be erected at this stage until we are sure that the service provision is stable.

I have been in contact with the bus operators and are in the process of providing an at stop notice which will be erected at bus stops directing passengers to websites and phone numbers for any information regarding bus services.   These, I am hopeful will be designed, printed and erected within the next few weeks.”

Bus changes proposed for the West End – and across the city

There is currently formal consultation period being undertaken by Xplore Dundee.   The company recently announced a major review of its commercial network which will see changes in the number of routes served and frequency of services.  

The changes to the bus network are detailed here.

The changes would come in effect on 24th January and the affected routes include the 4, 5, 9/10, 17 and 28/29.

I recently had an on-line meeting with the Managing Director of Xplore Dundee and one of her colleagues about the proposed changes.    The most significant aspects affecting the West End are :

• Service 4 – Xplore Dundee does not intend to bring back Service 4 at this stage which has a real impact for the Scott Street/Logie area and also for Windsor Street/Magdalen Yard Road/Roseangle.    

• Service 17 – Xplore Dundee intends to re-route the 17 away from Tullideph Road and Ancrum Road.

The situation for the 4 and the 17 concern me a lot and already numerous constituents have been in touch with me about these.   Xplore Dundee advises me that it will discuss with the council possible “infill” services to cover gaps like these but whether or not this proves possible will depend on the council supporting such services and, as we know only too well from the axing of Service 204 in 2019, funding for this is limited.

Please note the consultation formally ends on Thursday 10th December – do please give Xplore Dundee your views.

Blether Bus – an update

Residents will be aware that the so-called “Blether Bus” that replaced the 204 bus service the council axed last year and covers a number of streets in the West End that would otherwise have no bus service – streets like Invergowrie Drive, Newhall Gardens and Glamis Drive – was suspended at the start of the COVID-19 health emergency.

The service assists older residents who find it difficult to walk the distances – often uphill – to the main service buses.   

I recently noticed that Aberdeenshire Council has, with proper safety arrangements including social distancing, announced a restart to its Dial a Bus service that has similar aims.   To quote that council :

“We preparing to re-introduce a number of #A2B #dial-a-bus services operated by our fleet of minibuses in a controlled and phased manner.”

I raised this with the City Council and have been advised :

“The Dial A Bus model of operation requires users to pre-book their journeys and this allows the operators to manage the number of passengers using the service at any one time – and the timings of those journeys.   From speaking with colleagues from other local authorities I think most minibus services are limited to two passengers on the vehicle at any one time.   The Blether Bus model is much closer to a bus service and there is no pre-booking option so we cannot manage journeys in this way.

We will continue to liaise with colleagues at Fleet about vehicle and minibus availability and appropriate protocols that need to be in place before we can safely restart the Blether Bus services.”

I have responded :

“ … surely some out the box thinking is required so what about temporarily converting the Blether Bus to something around the Dial a Bus model?   I have constituents in streets like Newhall Gardens who simply cannot manage the hill up to Perth Road.”

Bus timetables concern #dundeewestend


A number of residents have highlighted that, although real time bus information is working at bus shelters, paper timetables have been out of date since the bus companies altered services during the health emergency.

As one resident pointed out in relation to the bus stop in Perth Road near Step Row :

“Perth Road is a main local community shopping area where people are being encouraged to think/act sustainably, yet the Step Row Stop (with no real-time display) has the main Stagecoach Tayway high profile route timetable still showing the old 10 minute weekday frequency, with appropriate comments from a disgruntled punter.

Add to that 2018 route maps not updated and … it is a far cry from “Bringing Confidence to Public Transport”.    Attention grabbing EV and electric bike hire initiatives are all well and good, but the simple public transport basics should not be forgotten, particularly since the operators’ own traditional printed timetables, for now, at least, seem to be hard to find.”

I appreciate that, given the changing bus timetables during the health emergency replacing every paper timetable at bus stops is difficult in terms of resourcing but I have sought and obtained assurances from the that erroneous timetables will be removed.

Hopefully once there is more of a return to normal services and stability in timetables, new and correct timetables can be placed at every bus stop and we will also hopefully see the return of suspended bus services like Service 4 and the Blether Bus in the West End.

Loss of bus service 4 and the blether bus : an update #dundeewestend

During the COVID-19 health emergency, some bus services have not run and these have included the “blether bus” service (run by the City Council) and Service 4 (run by Xplore Dundee).    

The council’s Parking & Sustainable Transport Team Leader recently advised councillors as follows :

“As a response to lockdown, declining passenger numbers and the unavailability of bus drivers who were shielding, all bus operators reduced their commercial service offering in March/April 2020.   This meant reduced frequencies on core routes and in some neighbourhoods the suspension of non-core bus services.

With financial support from Scottish Government, the bus industry has been able to slowly reintroduce services and increase frequencies so that passengers could return to services with confidence that they would be able to physically distance themselves from other passengers.   Overall passengers numbers are now hovering between 55% and 60% of pre-covid levels but bus service provision is running closer to 90%.   Within that overall picture of reinstated services, there are two commercial services operated by Xplore Dundee that have not been reintroduced and following discussion with Christine McGlasson, MD at Xplore Dundee, I can advise that there are no immediate plans to bring back either Service 4 (Dryburgh – Lochee – West End – City Centre) or Service 23 (Woodside – City Centre).    Therefore, for the immediate future the residents in these communities will be required to walk further to access other buses operating on the core routes.

Separately, as lockdown approached, the Council took the decision to withdraw its minibus operations from service – including the Blether Bus Services, the weekly Shoppers Bus and the Out & About trips.   More recently we have fielded a handful of enquiries about when these services might restart.  Given the elderly user group that would normally travel on these services, the compact design of the minibuses and the requirement to have these vehicles available for school runs (with additional hygiene measures) it is not our intention to restart these services in the immediate future.    We will keep the situation under review and take guidance from public health colleagues.  We will communicate any decisions with users as best we can using a number of different channels in the weeks ahead.

 The next couple of years will bring major challenges for the UK’s bus industry but we will work closely with all the bus operators in Dundee to give them as much support as possible as they face that challenge.”

I have spoken with many residents who miss the services that are currently not running.    For example, the loss of Service 4 adversely affects many older folk in the Magdalen Yard Road, Windsor Street and Roseangle areas as there is no other bus service there and, for many elderly residents, a steep uphill walk to Perth Road to the nearest bus services.    One resident in the area made what I felt was a very good suggestion of asking Xplore Dundee to temporarily do a minor re-routing of Service 17 to cover the area.

I raised this with the Managing Director of Xplore Dundee who replied as follows :

“I know this is very difficult, trust me, and I sympathise greatly with these communities. I understand why your constituent thinks this would be an easy fix and I do appreciate her suggestion, but it is not that easy. The 17 is established as a service for travelling to/from the district centre on Perth Road which would have to be missed in order to serve Magdalen Green and cause problems for existing users. Equally, the 17 is already quite a circuitous route between Ninewells and the City Centre so adding this in would not go down well with those who already use the service.

Clearly, the 17 is a core service carrying many passengers, although sadly many less than pre-Covid -we are currently at 59% of pre-Covid patronage. We believe that deviating from this core service and district centre would only switch off more customers from using the service than we would gain in going into this area. I hope you can appreciate that, despite really feeling for the people who are adversely affected, we could not encourage a further decline to our business in the present circumstances. We are having to make some really tough choices throughout this time as we don’t have the resources to do everything.

 I hope this at least answers your question and sorry I can’t give you better news.”

I will continue to pursue the issue of the lack of any bus service here and hope that it will be possible to restore Service 4 in the near future.

Update on bus service 4 #dundeewestend

 
Bus service 4 has not operated since the start of the COVID-19 health emergency.
 
As the only bus service covering Windsor Street, Magdalen Yard Road and Roseangle (as well as also passing Pentland and Logie), I asked Xplore Dundee if there is any chance of its resumption in the near future.
 
The company’s Operations Manager has responded as follows :
 
“Unfortunately, at this time, we are unable to operate service 4.   We have had to concentrate all of our resources on mainstream services to allow for physical distancing measures.    I cannot give you any indication of when this will change.”
 
I will, however, update residents further when there is any change to this.

Bus services in the West End #dundeewestend

With thanks to Suzy Scott, there’s an update to bus services in Dundee and across the wider region.    Changes take effect today and you can read this here.
 
Key changes that affect the West End are :
 
• Service 9/10 Outer Circle will see minor timetable changes every day (as a result of the 5 changes), including one extra early morning bus (06.24) from Barnhill to the City Centre and Ninewells Hospital. 
 
• Services 15/17 will now combine to provide buses every 12 minutes Monday-Friday daytime (combined), with 15 running 3 buses an hour and 17 running twice an hour.
 
• Service 22 Monday-Friday daytime Service is reduced to a bus every 10 minutes.
 
• Service 28/29 Monday-Friday daytime Service is reduced to a bus every 10 minutes (combined), 20 minutes (each of 28/29).

Buses update from 29th June 2020

 
From Dundee City Council :
 
From Monday, 29 June 2020, the commercial and supported bus network in Dundee will begin to return to something close to its pre-Covid levels.   Xplore Dundee and Stagecoach are proposing to operate around 80% to 85% of their registered journeys.   For the last three months around 30% of journeys have been operated.    To allow this to happen, there has been a deal negotiated between the Scottish Government and the bus industry and Transport Scotland has agreed to meet shortfalls in passenger revenue.  Full details can be found on operators’ websites.
 
In Dundee, the two supported services operated by Stagecoach East Scotland (Service 202 and Service 206) will commence operation again.  They were suspended in March 2020.  The other supported services, Service 236 operated by Moffat & Williamson and Service 9/10 (Outer Circle) operated by Xplore Dundee have continued to operate throughout lockdown. 
 
There is expected to be further changes in late summer which will hopefully see a further increase in frequencies and service provision.
 
Prior to lockdown, Xplore Dundee had consulted on a number of service changes that were due to take effect on 12 April 2020.  These changes will be implemented this weekend.
 
We will update all our real time information and all bus users are being asked to refer to Traveline Scotland and bus operator websites for accurate and up to date timetables.   We are not currently in a position to update roadside publicity but will keep this under review.