I saw it there as well (from a passing X1)
I had plans set up for yesterday but an unfortunate turn of events suddenly meant I had a clear day. Rather than cancel my days holiday, I decided to enjoy the good weather and have a trip out around Somerset using the two First firms. Here's the travelogue - hope it's of interest.
The day began in Midsomer Norton but a combo of my getting up late and some traffic delayed me by a crucial minute. Hence, I missed my early 173, seeing it disappear and so denying me the delight of travelling across the Mendips and the view across from the Horringtons across to Glastonbury. Instead, I waited for the 174, tracking its progress as it leisurely arrived 5 mins late; one thing I noticed is that Bath and NE Somerset council have the times at stops for the indies but not for First where a QR code is provided. On arrival, the driver then revealed that the Volvo was indeed a bit sickly and the temp gauge was a bit high. After a quick call to the depot, it was agreed that he'd nurse the vehicle back to Wells. The B9 was one of those refurbished for Mendip Explorer routes, gaining new moquette and USBs which seems like a long time ago yet it was only 3 years ago. Certainly, our driver was very careful to stop frequently and let the vehicle rest. Now, I am somewhat dismayed by Mendip Explorer and this typified the issue. It was launched with a revised network and new Streetdecks/refurbished B7 Eclipses a few years ago. At that time, the vehicles had excellent interior promotion. Whilst there were banners at Wells bus station and other promo stuff in Bristol and Bath, the bus stop flags were never updated, even in new sections of route such as Chilcompton to Shepton. I was sat on a bus and it was slightly depressing - a major route that once had regular new vehicle intakes now surviving with 13 year old B9s and a mix of 7 and 9 year old e400s with none of the internal promotion. Moreover, roadside publicity is now absent (covered over) and at Shepton, the bus flag still proclaims the 161/2 (withdrawn 2015?) and the 901 (withdrawn 2011). It really feels that the ME scheme's mojo has gone and it's now just "some livery". Still, the scenery was still nice as we passed the rushing torrent of overnight rains near Croscombe and then a very laborious climb as our driver got the Volvo over the hill from Dulcote. Time for a coffee in Wells, and then ready for some BoS action.
I went for the 75 and instead of the usual e200, one of the ex Cornish, now 21 liveried Solars appeared. The vehicle looked smart though I still can't get on board with the red and dark blue interior on these machines. I KNOW it's just my subjective view but I find it a bit discordant. Again, the provision of times is now really poor in Wells where it used to be excellent. BoS actually do a good professional job - it's FWoE that is quite bad though someone did stick on some sheets of A4 with the 126 and 376 times on the bus shelter (and again, the stand markers again reference services that no longer exist). Note, there can be some allowance for Covid in these respects but if BoS can get stuff sorted, so should FWoE. The bus was a rattly affair as we headed across the slightly sodden route to Glastonbury and then into Street despite some terrible drivers and parking; driving standards in that area are noticeably poor for some reason! I got off in Street and had a quick nip to a particular target shop and then back for the 77. This was another elderly machine being one of the ex Bristol/Southampton Darts, and it was actually a really good machine. Very clean and having had a repaint, it looks smart. The eLeather inside is also wearing very well and it belied its 15 years as it had barely a squeak as we headed across to Somerton. Again though, and this is a common criticism (that I hope is constructive) is that there is so little publicity on BoS vehicles on any route. Instead, I had four NHS ads regarding Hep C but one knocked up A4 poster on Axminster market. Surely there must be something to shout about with BoS - day tickets, Yeovil Zone, Exmoor Coaster?
I got off at Somerton and had a cup of tea, whilst awaiting my 54. It duly arrived and it was surprisingly, one of the ex Hampshire Omnicities that are on loan. It's a smart vehicle and nicely presented despite it being in Urban. Again, a noticeable lack of rattles and squeaks despite its age (and experience of similar ones not being so good) as we made our way towards Langport. The evidence of the overnight deluge being evident by the large tracts of flooded land in the area, it's a superb ride across the levels. Now, this is an observation and not a criticism of BoS; I really hope that the BSIP for Somerset can ensure some money and improvements for the county's bus services. The 54 runs every 90 mins, combining with the 77 between Yeovil and Somerton and from Henlade to Taunton with the 30 to be every 45 mins. It would be good if some core routes could be uplifted as well as gaining evening services. Also, and I appreciate the economics of bus operation and that Somerset has always been thin territory, but the BoS fleet is really quite mature now as are the cascades now due. Now a 15 year old Gemini is much better than a 15 year old VR of old and I'm sure that BoS will spend some time and money on making them better; however, it's quite an old fleet. Perhaps, with new vehicles for the Taunton P&R allowing Streetlites to be cascaded and a number of other cascades in future, this statement will age badly in a couple of years time; I hope so. We got into Taunton, passing the depot with a sorry looking Trident (33177?) in the yard and into the town centre. This is where I get frustrated again but again, not with BoS. Taunton is a town where no small amount of money has been spent on new road links in recent years. Yet, the routes into town like East Reach have no bus lane or priority. Instead, it's perfectly fine to have cars parked, for free, using up the road space. Despite all the new roads, there is still a constant flood of cars through the very centre of the town; it is crazy and I feel for BoS. It's not so bad on a quietish Thursday but I've seen it so much worse and it makes any semblance of service reliability difficult to achieve. Now, a confession.... I have mentioned the age of the BoS fleet and also, I very seldom travel on a bus just to travel on a bus but instead for the scenery or to get from a to b. However, I did have a very quick trip on the 22 towards Wellington and back, just to have a last trip on some of the older Tridents. Pleasantly, it was on one of the ALXs (which have been good servants) and then back on a President. The latter reminded me that we have nearly reached the end of an era in a positive sense - the awful First Bus seats that afflicted 1998-2002 are nearly consigned to history! That said, they were very decent vehicles to travel on (apart from the President's bum numbing seats) but at 18/19 years of age, it's time for them to be replaced even if their replacements are perhaps not that much newer.
Back into Taunton and a hope that a) it might be a decker and b) wouldn't be a Solar. Well, half there as it was one of the pair of refurb e300s that went to the 21 rather than the 28. I've mentioned it before but I really like the job that's been done on these in terms of the new seat cushions. They look great when you walk on board; my gripe is that there was some vinyl attached to the seat backs (in Glasgow) so the rear of the seats looks grubby. A bit of solvent would bring them up, I suspect. That minor whinge aside, it was a very pleasant place to be for the next 1h20 as we headed to Burnham. The light traffic was evident by the constant stopping to wait time. Passing through Bridgwater, it was interesting to see lots of all white Streetdecks on Hinckley work before we headed back out to Burnham. Despite this, we were somehow late arriving but my connecting Badgerline vehicle was there as I left the relative modernity of the e300 for a former London B7TL. These machines are also supposedly in their final days but the livery has taken years off them but they are a little tired internally. It was a healthy load as we left Burnham with many heading for the now out of season caravan and holiday parks around Brean. There was the odd low branch that I assume saw off the open top operations. All the bus stop flags had been changed to Badgerline as had the timetables but sadly, these were showing the half hourly summer times erroneously. The sun was shining and the route had fantastic views of the Bristol Channel - it was absolutely glorious with views over to Cardiff and the Glamorgan coast.
However, it was clear when we crossed the county boundary into North Somerset as the smart Badgerline flags gave way to faded First and the defunct Crosville. In fact, how poor are North Somerset Council (cue
@Citistar ). They sum up the most inept public transport bodies. They've had great schemes with central funding and attendant photo ops that dwindle to nothing. Meanwhile, they have a singularly weak approach on even the most basic stuff like tidy bus stop flags though I assume they have insisted that no one else can touch them, with defunct firms and route numbers now joined by timetable displays that have a blank Covid poster and that times cannot be displayed as emergency timetables may exist - true in 2020, but not true now. Then you have the scheme to redevelop Regent Street in Weston so buses are dispersed across a range of stops. The 20 now terminates at the WSM rail station and goes nowhere near the town centre being a half mile walk; if that's the best resolution they could come up whilst the works are on, lord knows what they dismissed! Annoyed and hungry, I grabbed a bite to eat and then wandered to the sea front where all the local routes now depart from. I decided to have a leisurely trip to Worle and was pleasantly surprised to see that my service 5 was operated by a former Bath Dart, one of a handful that still survive. I travelled on these so often on often quite demanding routes and they have been great servants so it was nice to have one last trip (as I suspect they won't last much longer) and again, it was a very decent trip on a well presented if elderly vehicle. Moreover, it was a fascinating trip as we headed up the hill and I had a view of Weston that I've never seen before. It was an absolute if unexpected joy. I got off at Worle and the mini interchange there expecting an excel e400 but instead, it was a B9 heading back to its home depot of Bristol. I mentioned the Excel network a few weeks ago and the points are similar to Mendip Explorer in many ways with a set of services that really do need a reboot, some attention and some investment. The B9 was probably an improvement on the e400s on there but still....
After seeing the stricken 37324 on the Long Ashton bypass, with the service 2 vinyls removed and yet retaining Bristol fleetnames, we passed the end of the new south Bristol link road, traffic tailing back. When will planners realise that building more roads is not the solution? Our X1 entered the city and yet again, another of my pet peeves with the outbound bus lane in Hotwells yet not an inbound one despite their being the room. Can't do too much to upset the motorist, I guess? The B9 deposited me in Bristol bus station and I had chance to pop and get a few bits of necessary retail therapy. That meant forgoing the usually lovely 178 and instead, I took the X39 to Bath. It was one of the usual dual door Scania e400s and finally, a bit of modern kit. And it had USBs, and internal promotion - just what a service really should have. We made steady progress out through the rush hour traffic and fairly bounded along the A4 before we trudged through Bath (another place crying out for bus priority but instead has penalised commercial vehicles but private cars are not covered by the CAZ) and into the bus station. Onto my final bus of the day and eventually, an e400 got me with one of the 2014 ex Bolton machines. Ok, it may not have had the stuff like USBs and the like but it was stunningly clean inside and it made short work of the hills such as Dunkerton as it returned me back to Norton Radstock.
In summary, I can make some criticisms of BoS but really, they are operating in very thin territory and their hands are tied somewhat by the harsh economics of the area. It would be good if the age profile can be improved further than getting 16/17 year old cascades but I have a lot of sympathy for them. First West of England perhaps less so - it feels like they have dropped the ball a bit from just a few years ago and in much better bus territory, and that's even allowing for Covid. Not replacing erroneous bus times on the 20 is something that never used to happen, and the decline in standards in all aspects of the ME and Excel routes is really apparent. Somerset CC have traditionally been tepid in supporting buses and have chopped so much from their budget (though I have sympathy for many LAs who had to swallow that) and hope that BSIPs will see some funding to allow developments in areas such as restoring hourly headways to the 30, 54 and 77 and having a better service on the 25, and perhaps even some late evening services on stuff like the 21, 22 and 28. However, it was BaNES and especially North Somerset that really got me. The BaNES approach to roadside publicity is fairly poor, NSCs is downright appalling. It really should be better.
Anyhow, I've talked too much - I hope you enjoyed this wittertainment and thanks to First for a very nice trip out - every bus did turn up and in these challenging days, they should be applauded for that!