Favbug wants to hear your problems using the 162 and 161 along with 184 and 173/174

Favbug would like to hear about any problems on the Frome to Wells via Shepton route and the Frome to Bath via Midsomer Norton route.
Favbug wants to know if you are finding it harder to get to and from work or school do the buses connect well, do you have long enough to spend for a day out etc along with the overall cost. Please leave  a comment as we can use them for a case study.

Utter madness

We used to have a bus every hour to Bath now we have 2 buses in an hour. If you miss one bus you have 10 minutes to catch the next. If you are unlucky enough to miss both buses you have to wait an hour, walk or get a taxi.
Whilst Rode has been cut from the route for most of the day to save 5 minutes off the journey time

Front page of the Standard

Well done Rode campaigners, you made front page of the Frome standard along with a lovely spread on page 4.




                                   

To help confused Bus users living along Green lane in Frome

Bus users it is only Faresaver that has stopped operating along Green lane, you can still catch First bus from Green lane.

Rode village mourning the loss of the 267

                                   Mourning the passing of the 267. Anticipating the rebirth.






250 people gathered in Rode village on the 22/8/15 to mourn the loss of 267 bus service between Frome and Bath via Rode Village . First  bus will be reducing their 267 from 52 buses passing through the village of Rode to just six a day from August 23. This will leave Rode village cut of at certain times of the day from Frome and Bath.

162 timetable + 161 connections

The new timetable for Frome Minibuses 162 service is now online, also showing the connecting First journeys to/from Wells. See www.fromeminibuses.co.uk for more details

Good news for 161 and 162 commuters

For the first time ever bus users can commute from Frome to Shepton and Wells.
You can now catch the 162 at 0710 Monday to Saturday  from Frome market to arrive in Shepton at 0759 . If you want to travel onto  Wells you can connect to the 161 at 0808 Monday to Friday that arrives in Wells by 0828 or the 0815 on a Saturday that arrives in Wells by 0833. To connect with the 1825 which is the last bus back to Frome from Shepton you will have to catch the 1645 or the 1755 from Wells bus station.

Bus passes

You can use bus passes on Libra travels 184.

Protesting in Bath

This morning around 20 residents from Rode village travelled to Bath bus station to protest against the proposed cuts to the 267 through their village on the 23rd August. Cllr Adam Boyden came along to offer protesters his support.

UPDATE FOR 162 FROME to SHEPTON SERVICE

Somerset county council jumped the gun slightly and sent out the 162 timetable before Frome minibuses had a chance to finalise their timetable.
The new timetable will be available at Frome councils info desk this afternoon and on the Frome minibuses website in the next couple of days.

Changes to bus services along the Butts Frome

Faresaver and First bus plan to make some changes in August that will affect the Butts area of Frome the changes are as follows.
First bus will be cutting their 161 service on the 23rd.
Faresaver  will be operating their 267 on an hourly service to take in the Butts.
Faresaver plan to cut their x34 service to Sainsbury's on the 1st September so will no longer operate along the Butts after that date.
With cuts to both the 161 and the x34 their will be no buses on a Saturday.


Frome Minibuses 80 service Bath - Shaftesbury operates to Sainsburys so may be a lifeline to bus users living along the Butts on a Saturday
Frome Sainsbury's to Cork St  1017  1417
Cork St to Sainsbury's  1210  1630

Crippling bus cuts to the 161 and 184

First bus have decided to withdraw two of their  bus services from within Frome with devastating consequences for bus users. Frome will lose two of their Saturday bus services on the 161 and 184 routes.
Cuts to the 161 will see the loss of 6 buses a day along with another 13 buses on the 184 bus route. Cuts to both bus services will leave bus users living between Frome and Shepton and Frome and Radstock without a bus service over the weekend or 3 days during a bank holiday period.


Paying bus users will be hit the hardest as they will have to pay to use more than one bus to complete the full bus journey on the 161 and 184 routes. Anyone that works during a weekend will be left without a bus service to get them to work. A lot of working families only get to spend time together at the weekend if they don't drive how  can they enjoy a day out together without a bus service. Bus users wont be able to visit sick or elderly relatives, so their relatives will be left to feel lonely and isolated from their loved ones. Bus users will know longer be able to visit Frome or Wells market which is one of the busiest days of the week in both areas. Bus users living in Coleford, Holcombe, Mells, Stratton -on- the-Fosse and Great Elm will have to take 3 bus journeys to get to their major hospital for appointments a major headache for those feeling unwell. The new operator of the 184 bus service have  cut their  service to Frome's Sainsbury's as it will now terminate at Frome market place. Cutting Sainsbury's from the 184 route will mean that villagers will struggle to buy the basics unless they take 2 bus journeys, the smaller stores in Frome market place don't carry a wide range of products.


Favbug did some research for usage of the 161 last year and we found that the 11am, 1pm and 3pm buses were the busiest times. It would take 2 buses to save the Saturday 161 if they ran them at 11am and 1pm. Their must be quieter times during the week were buses could of been cut back to help to save Saturday bus services on both bus routes.
Instead of cutting both bus services on a Saturday without any kind of consultation a better solution could of been found if the bus users themselves had been consulted.

UPDATE FOR 161 AND 184 BUS USERS

 SCC  have agreed interim funding for the Monday to Friday services of both routes, the 161 replacement from Shepton Mallet to Frome will be called 162 and operated by Frome Minibuses. The 184 replacement from Frome to Midsomer Norton will be operated by Libra Travel.

Unfortunately we do not have the funds to provide a Saturday service as well. The funds agreed for Monday to Friday are in place until 31/05/16, during the period between now and then Somerset County Council will be reviewing everything it funds, including all bus services, as part of the on-going effort to save approximately £30m due to reductions in the Government funding we receive.

 

.

Meeting in Shepton

The Don't Cut Us Off! Meeting took place at Mendip District Council Chamber on 3rd August to discuss concerns over impending cuts to First bus services. You can read the minutes here.