Forum members have been slagging off the lack of passengers on routes 800 and
900 right from their first day of operation. One of you judged the routes'
performance on the first few hourd' operation; another of you on the first few
days. Fortunately those bodies funding and operating the new services have more
patience.
Stagecoach in Oxfordshire's Managing Director has talked in the past of
building up patronage on a bus service over a year or two, not the first week
or two. He never jumps to premature judgements based on data from before
patronage has had a chance to build up. His strategy has made the Oxfordshire
operation one of the most dynamic and successful bus subsidiaries in the
Stagecoach Group.
Route 700 made a slow start when it was launched a few years ago, but is now
very popular. Even its original operator's erratic and unreliable choice of
buses, and then its 2012 bankruptcy, didn't prevent that route's eventual
success. It is a tendered route but I will not be surprised if in a few years
it becomes commercial and Stagecoach dispenses with the subsidy.
Car journeys to and from the three hospitals are a daily source of congestion,
pollution and wasted time in Headington. In order to reduce this congestion,
bus services have to keep increasing and improving. The status quo ante is not
an option. Adding useful new routes certainly is.
I note that some of the critics of routes 800 and 900 are those who would like
to force buses out of Osler Road and make them take a longer, more circuitous
route to serve the JR Hospital. Stagecoach is very clear that the large and
rapid growth in use of route 10 started only when the Osler Road access to the
JRH was opened.
Critics also include one or two opportunistic local councillors who have
adopted the partisan position of some residents of Osler Road who want fewer
buses to serve their front door. One expects councillors to promote the best
interests of their wards in general, not just one sectional objection to good
public transport.
I have used routes 800 and 900 and I look forward to using them again. The
buses are brand new. Each route is both handy in itself and a useful connection
with other routes.
For example, the new routes increase the number of buses per hour serving
Risinghurst Turn. As route 9 runs only twice an hour, this improves that part
of Risinghurst's link with Headington and thus a handy connection with other
routes including the 8. As routes 800 and 900 are Stagecoach, SmartZone joint
ticketing covers both the new routes and all Stagecoach and Oxford Bus
connections with those routes.
Stagecoach has issued a free "Headington Connect" leaflet that combines a
timetable and very clear map for routes 700, 800 and 900. They show how one can
now, for example, travel between Thornhill or Risinghurst and Summertown or
Kidlington, with only one convenient change in Headington. I recommend picking
one up next time you are on any of these three services.
You are welcome to raise your views on routes 800 and 900, and any other bus
service in Oxfordshire, at the Bus Users' Forum at the Town Hall on Tuesday 15
October. Noam Bleicher posted details a few weeks ago: 6 pm for 6.30, free tea
and coffee, and it finishes at 8.30 pm. Representatives of the County Council,
City Council, Stagecoach, Thames Travel and Arriva will all be there to respond
to your comments.