Bosses at First Bus bowed to furious residents in Ashton Vale and gone back to the drawing board in their plans to improve bus services around Ashton Gate Stadium.
First boss James Freeman said he had listened to residents, who had complained from a single decker bus to a double decker bus would mean it would be re-routed all the way around the Long Ashton Bypass into Ashton Vale ‘the back way’.
First Bus wanted to make the number 24 bus, the only one that serves Bristol City’s ground, into a double decker - but that meant it couldn’t go under the low railway bridge into Ashton Vale.
had the bus route going up past Ashton Gate, and looping all the way around the A370.
Some residents welcomed the new route - which would serve the stadium and Ashton Park School directly for the first time.
But residents in Ashton Vale pointed out it would add time to their previously short hops from their estate into Sainsbury’s on Winterstoke Road and the shops of North Street in Bedminster.
So James Freeman said the company went ‘right back to the drawing board’ and has scrapped the plans for something completely different.
Mr Freeman attended a public meeting about the plans and a petition against the changes was started too.
Now, the loop around the Long Ashton bypass has been ditched for most of the day - between 7am and 7pm - and the double decker service will terminate at the Robins pub at the start of Ashton Road into Ashton Vale.
From there, residents living in Ashton Vale can get a new 24A single decker shuttle bus service that will go back and forth from there into the estate, and connect up with the big bus that then heads of on the usual 24 route. Single tickets will be valid across that transfer.
“After I attended the meeting held by Ashton Vale Together in August and following extensive consultation with local people, it was clear that the long diversion via the A370 wasn’t going to serve the needs of the community, so we went back to the drawing board,” confirmed Mr Freeman.
“I’ve very pleased that we’ve been able to find a way to keep Ashton Vale connected to the service 24, at the same frequency as it is now, and I would like to thank people for their feedback and being so engaged with the process,” he added.
The double decker service will still go up and round into the back of Ashton Vale after 7pm every day and all day on Sundays.
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