On Sunday 2nd April, East Yorkshire revised timetables on a number of routes "to improve timekeeping". In some instances this has meant that 'clockface timetables' or 'even intervals' have disappeared for parts of the day. It's not unusual to see that happening at peak times or even late afternoons, but this is starting creep into morning and early afternoon timetables on some routes.
What has struck me on reviewing the new timetables is how on Saturday's, but not weekdays, services in the Hull area have been particularly affected by this.
Take the 54 between Hull Paragon Interchange and Willerby, generally half hourly but with 35 minute gaps from Paragon Interchange between 1015 and 1050, then between 1150 and 1225 followed by 1255 to 1330; similar gaps also exist in the opposite direction. The 56/57 combined from Paragon Interchange to Asda Bilton are every 15 minutes from 0815 to 1145, then 1205, 1220, 1235, 1250, 1310, every 15 minutes to 1425, 1445 then every 15 minutes to 1830. Service 66 between Hull and Hessle comes off particularly badly - every 20 minutes, but 25 minute gaps from Paragon Interchange between 0910 and 0935, 0955 and 1020, 1120 and 1145, 1245 and 1310, 1410 and 1435 and 1615 to 1640
Elsewhere there are 35 minute gaps in half hourly services 63, 104, 105 and 154 between Hull and Cottingham and 65 minute gaps in hourly services 152 (Hull to Anlaby) and 153 (Hull to Swanland).
I do have some understanding of the situation being faced by East Yorkshire - rising costs, passenger numbers not recovered post-COVID, driver shortages. Adding extra resource just to maintain the 'status quo' is not an easy proposition. We must also remember that some of these services share parts of their routes with other services; Anlaby Road for example maybe hit by the gaps in the 56, 63, 66, 152, 153 and 154 but collectively there are still plenty of services between those routes and also the 55, 350 and Stagecoach services.
However these new timetables aren't going to help get passengers back on the buses, or attract new ones. Not only are 'non-clockface' timetables a 'harder sell', there are now notable differences between Monday to Friday and Saturday daytime timetables on many routes. Take for example Setting Dyke mid-morning into Hull on route 63; it was 0950/1020/1050/1120 Monday to Saturday, 1021/1121 Sunday. Now it's 0944/1014/1044/1114 Monday to Friday, 0936/1007/1037/1107 Saturday and 1019/1119 Sunday.
These changes combined with various frequency reductions over the past three years from both East Yorkshire and Stagecoach and local services within Hull and the immediately adjoining areas of the East Riding have taken a 'battering'. Reducing all day bus lanes back to peak times only isn't going to help though, if anything it will make things worse...
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I struggle to see how buses will keep running without more government subsidy as I can imagine it's only going to get worse across all operators.
Higher fares, lower frequency = less people
Less people = Higher fares, lower frequency
With regards to Stagecoach, I am not sure how the strike effected demand on the primarily stagecoach corridors but I doubt it has helped the matter
Its the same across all but the biggest cities across the UK. Covid forced people to find what was seen as the safer option (Car), changing those habits back, especially for the elderly who might have once gone shopping via bus, but have now discovered internet shopping, or family that did their shopping during the pandemic have continued to do so. It speaks volumes that when fuel is £1.50-60 a litre, someone with a free bus pass will still choose the car. Add to that the general feeling that towns and city centres are dying off anyway (where most bus networks are focused on getting people to/from) - there's some real challenges, and potentially some significant changes needed, with a bigger focus on out of town retail parks etc (I actually think Hull has this reasonably well covered at Kingswood). The move from having key/high frequency corridors into the city centre, and getting rid of the outer city services that join them up, is probably starting to come back to bite the industry in the bum somewhat. In my observations, Saturdays are now busier than weekdays on many corridors.
There is no doubt that without further help, what's left of our bus networks are going to decline significantly in July when the current grant scheme ends, unless the government put their hand in their pocket. Extending it a further 3 months isn't the answer though, we need a proper long term solution, and some decent marketing attempts by operators too - something the industry doesn't seem to want to attempt in most cases!
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