110 and 111 become 510-NCC service changes

As part of a Nottinghamshire-wide review of supported bus services, Nottinghamshire County Council has made changes to services 110 and 111 in the Stapleford area. These services will be combined into a new service numbered 510 from the 4th August 2014, which will run from Beeston through Attenborough and Toton along the route of the 110, serving the new tram terminus when it opens, and then continuing into Stapleford before serving the majority of the roads currently served by the 111.

The service will run hourly on Mondays to Saturdays, with no Sunday service, and will be operated in-house by Nottinghamshire County Council under the NottsBus Connect brand. This is an enhancement in terms of service provision, providing a through link to Beeston and a larger part of Stapleford for those currently served by the 110, and later buses and a Saturday service for people currently served by the 111. The 110 runs hourly at the moment, meaning most passengers will not lose out frequency-wise, but for those who use the 111 their frequency will fall from every 30 minutes to every 60.

I travelled on both services end to end in each direction to assess demand and try and gauge whether the frequency reduction would cause problems. I travelled first on the 110, which, for an urban minibus service, was relatively well loaded in both directions. Although there were never more than 5 passengers on board at any one time, overall 10-15 passengers used the service in each direction. There was a good turnover of passengers, and the 20 seat Fiat Tucano was never crowded, despite transporting a buggy and a good quantity of shopping. The majority of passengers were free pass holders rather than fare-paying passengers, which means that the council would only directly have taken a few pounds on each trip-the rest just goes from one part of the transport budget to the other! It was a similar story on the 111, and although the vehicle, a short-wheelbase Alexander Dennis Enviro 200, was slightly larger, there were never more than seven passengers on at any one time. From a capacity point of view a lower frequency will cause no problems, and if NCC decides to use the smaller Fiat minibus rather than a full sized vehicle this would still provide more than adequate capacity.

There was little talk of the impending frequency reduction, although the changes were a hot topic onboard the 111. This is likely to have been because the driver was incorrectly informing passengers that buses would still run every thirty minutes, as he had not been provided with a copy of the new timetable. In addition, he didn't know if he had a job past the changeover date, the new service requiring fewer vehicles and fewer drivers. The most controversial change is the removal of a 0.3 mile section of Brookhill Street, because with a lack of clear publicity about the changes people have misunderstood and assumed that the whole of Brookhill Street will no longer be served. Although it may seem a little melodramatic, petitions have been started, and the Evening Post ran a story that was highly critical of the council.

The publicity for the changes is lacking, and as is so common in the transport industry, frontline staff members have been kept in the dark, which upsets them and affects their ability to effectively inform passengers. Overall however, the change itself is beneficial to most residents. The Stapleford estates will gain earlier and later buses along with a Saturday service, whilst the Toton area will gain a new link to Beeston, and although some areas see a frequency reduction at least they still have some form of service. A new post will follow in early August with an analysis of the new route.