Being in the front seat on the top deck of the X3 bus has all the excitement of a fairground ride, but you don’t get an announcer shouting, ‘Scream if you want to go faster’. Instead, every stop is announced by a calming voice, ‘Vineyard… Our Ladys Abingdon … Oxford Road shops …’
There were two Lib Dem posters up the Oxford Road. That is fewer than in previous local elections, and the amount of literature through the door is also reduced.
At the Boundary House, the X3 passed another X3 coming the other way. The drivers waved. My first car was a VW Beetle, and we used to wave to other Beetle owners.
At Peachcroft Roundabout, a new flood alleviation pool is visible. Apparently, flooding in North Abingdon after the recent rains is being blamed on the new housing. The latest Abingdon Herald has a headline about calls to stop further house building until the flood risk is sorted.
Returning to Abingdon, I missed the X3, but the X2 arrived soon afterwards to pick up passengers at St Aldates to Abingdon.
Another X3 had just arrived from Abingdon, coming the other way. Then came the X1, the Wantage, Abingdon, Oxford bus.
It took me two and half hours yesterday afternoon to get from the JR to Mill Road using the X3 and X2 buses. I changed at Redbridge (a three minute wait). The Oxford traffic was extremely dense, not helped by discharging all vehicles onto one or two main roads, so that relief routes were unavailable to local traffic.
Ho hum!
Extra traffic is using Abingdon Road because of the closure of Botley Road. Always something to hold us up!
The Dunmore Rd bus route is definitely a big plus for the North of the town – most people can reach a bus stop within a 10 min walk or less now.
For a small city Oxford’s traffic woes should actually be solvable, but with all the various conflicting interests I don’t think even the likes of Insp. Morse would be able to do it…!
At the moment of course there’s the Didcot-Oxford rail line closed due to that crumbled bridge (which should have been dealt with ages ago, they knew it had issues, but that’s a whole other story) so people from South Oxon face months of 2+ hours on a bus or driving in.
Then of course there’s the 6 month Botley Rd closure. (where pedestrians and Pedal Post and people on bikes are being funneled through one foot tunnel – how about an extra temporary footbridge as well? Anyone thought of that? Ho hum.) Then there’s the contentious / highly taboo subject of the LTN barriers which may or may not be adding to current congestion because they funnel traffic onto a few main roads only, and can make traffic drive a longer route to get to a destination.
If city Park and Ride services (and local county bus routes?) were subsidised more and made much cheaper, more people would use them and be on the buses, freeing up Abingdon Rd a little bit, but of course some people do still need a car if they are working in city and then picking up young kids from school or nursery, plus bus links are fragmented in Oxford due to the geography, no physical space for a bus lane along Abingdon Rd or Iffley Rd, and some bus routes take so long due to congestion that it’s sadly not practical to take a bus… Plus there’s also P&R parking capacity issues now – some park and ride sites get full (some people who usually park at Botley now parking at other sites.)
(Takes a breath) Whew…. Fortunately Abingdon has few traffic issues by comparison, but many Abingdonians work and shop in Oxford so of course we know issues with buses, trains etc have a knock on effect on us…
I don’t think it holds that:
“…If city Park and Ride services (and local county bus routes?) were subsidised more and made much cheaper, more people would use them and be on the buses…”
People drive in their cars because it is, simply, far and away the most convenient, easy and basically ‘better’ way to travel. I would always choose to drive first….and second and possibly third. Failing that I’d sincerely question whether I want or need to make the journey in the first place. Then….I’d consider getting a lift. Somewhere down the list I may consider a bus (or park n ride).
I recently got the bus to Oxford for the first time in years. I took my children and 2 adult and 2 child returns was just under 16 pounds.
If my husband had been coming we definitely would have driven as parking is so much cheaper for the amount of time we visited.
If it were cheaper, I would definitely consider using the bus more often.
Bus fares are capped at £2 so this is clearly a lie.
It’s £2 per journey – not returns so Laura is quite right and I’m sure is not lying! – it’s worse if you happen to hit rival bus companies who don’t accept each other’s tickets for returns eg Headington Hill
Having said that I still use the buses for Oxford trips as a pretty good service and better than facing parking challenges most of the time (plus good for the planet)
Love the X1 bus service. I’ve lived on the Dunmore estate for over 20 years and in that time the only local bus I remember is the little one which did three loops out from the centre of town. It didn’t last long.
My fingers are crossed for this service, the only benefit that I can see from the massive new estates being built in North Abingdon .
Have you noticed that another bus pull in has just been added on Dunmore Road (in the direction towards the Oxford Road roundabout) more or less opposite the end of Alexander Close ?
There is an argument that we put bus stops too close together in this country but as this will be my nearest when it’s activated I’m not complaining
Bus fares are capped at 2 pounds per single journey so 4 pounds per person for a return. I wasn’t sure about the rate for children but the driver said the return rate would be cheaper. When I last checked, 4 x 4 = 16.
Oops – just realised you already made my point above – sorry for repetition
A cross-post! Thank you for your comment. I’m not entirely sure I didn’t overpay by a small amount but the driver was insistent that the return would be cheaper.
I was impressed with the ease of the journey and frequency but as a usual family of 5, the bus just isn’t a particularly financially viable option., even if it is a more environmentally sound one……
Clearly there is not a “one-size-fits-all” solution for this. For some people and some trips car will be the only realistic option, but for others there will be a choice and surely what we should be doing is to encourage those to shift towards the bus option. If we can substantially reduce the percentage of car journeys it will make a big difference to the traffic – and the environment.
I also think that very cheap fares for children – right up to school leaving age – would raise a new generation whose default was bus not car.
It’s interesting how all this (and a big article in the Oxford Mail about LTNs) is in the same week that great fanfare was given to “BWMs 1 millionth Mini off the production line”.
It’s almost as if there’s no connection.
The answer to these issues isn’t going to come from us individually making choices, no matter how worthy they may be/seem/feel. The answers have to come from huge, multi billion pounds business.
I will continue to “drive” or do what causes as little inconvenience as possible, until those that can ACTUALLY make a difference are inconvenienced as well.
Let’s all argue amongst ourselves, while those over there carry on being responsible for the actual problem (and make a profit out of it).
20 years in production. One million cars: average production rate 50K per annum. Number of drivers in UK – don’t know; but 50K pa doesn’t seem wicked to me.
I acknowledge that I am a “baddy” on this issue. The most exorbitant Mini has better mpg and carbon footprints than my car, but I bought mine at about a third of the price (12K) of a new Mini and it will run well past my ETD (estimated time of death).
Sadly, Gordon Murray’s city car never took off. That was a serious (non-electric) contribution.
I stand entirely and thoroughly corrected.
I can’t find whatever OM article I was referring to…but a quick Google and actually 1m mini was in 2007.. I think we’re somewhere up near 5m now? Eitherway…it’s 1000 a day. 1000 a day. Every day. One every 67 seconds.
Feel free to tinker round the edges, but the issues aren’t going to be solved by me getting the bus – or buying a £26000 electric mini (soon to be shipped over on massive cargo ships from China).
Completely agree, Daniel.