Legacy of the 204 bus service #dundeewestend

At the 2023 council budget, the SNP council administration forced through cuts to council-supported bus services which sadly meant that the 204 service across parts of the West End was axed along with other services including the sheltered housing shopping bus service.

The service ended on 31st March 2024 and although the Liberal Democrat Group budget proposals this year would have restored the service, SNP councillors voted this down 15-5.

Incredibly, more than a year on, the bus timetables at bus stops along the 204 route were still in place a few weeks ago for a non-existent bus service! See photo example at the bus shelter on Magdalen Yard Road near to Step Row/Paton's Lane.

The City Council promised to remove them after our raising this.

We also pointed out that leaving a good conditioned bus shelter for a route with no buses made no sense. Whilst the LibDem Group will continue to campaign to restore the service, this will not happen until the SNP council majority is removed at the 2027 council election.

We also highlighted the bus shelter issue and the senior transport officer has now advised as follows :

"Our team is aware of the redundant bus stop in question.

Due to its size and configuration, it is not suitable for relocation at all sites, as it requires a specific width of footway.

We are actively working on finding suitable sites for relocations across the city."

School buses to/from Harris Academy - latest update #dundeewestend

Residents will recall our previous articles in August and October about insufficient capacity on one of the school buses (the 6s – the pupils concerned live in the Pentland area) to/from Harris Academy, we have again been in touch with the council's transportation team in the run up to the Christmas school holidays.

The team has responded to us with this helpful update in advance of the schools returning after the New Year :

"As previously discussed, I wanted to update you about the route amendment we have agreed with McGill’s buses for the Service 10s to be introduced officially after the festive period.

From Monday 8th January 2024, the Service 10s will extend its route to cover the Pentland area of the City rerouting via Charleston Drive (not serving Elmwood Road), Ancrum Road, Tullideph Road, City Road, Pentland Avenue, Balgay Road, Blackness Avenue and Perth Road and we believe this will provide adequate support to the 6s to ensure that all the pupils are picked up in the Pentland Avenue / City Road area of the city.

Registration documents have been submitted to the Scottish Traffic Commissioner with Dundee City Council agreeing to an earlier start date to try and resolve this matter as soon as we could. Both McGill’s Buses and Harris Academy are endeavouring to distribute this information to pupils, however I would be grateful if you could pass this information on directly to any of your constituents who have contacted you recently regarding this matter."

Further update on school buses to/from Harris Academy #dundeewestend

Residents will recall that, following concerns raised by parents and carers with us last term about insufficient capacity on one of the school buses to and from Harris Academy (the 6s – the pupils concerned live in the Pentland area), we raised the issue with the City Council.

We are pleased to have been updated by the transportation team at the council to say that at the north end of the route, from the start of the new term, pupils who who also have access to another of the school bus services will use service 10s instead of the 6s.    This will hopefully ensure that when the 6s arrives at stops further south going towards the school, there will be sufficient space left to ensure all pupils can get on the bus.

The school makes good efforts at the end of the school day to ensure pupils get on the most appropriate bus home and it is hoped that bus availability will improve for all pupils during the new term.

Save the 204 and sheltered shopping bus services

At this year’s council budget, SNP council administration forced through cuts to council-supported bus services which will sadly mean that the 204 service across parts of the West End will be axed next year along with other services including the sheltered housing shopping bus service.

The 204 - although it sadly does not serve some of its original area around Newhall Gardens, Invergowrie Drive and Glamis Drive - remains a vital service for residents in the Magdalen Yard Road/Windsor Street area and also in Scott Street and Tullideph Road – all streets that lack main bus services.

The sheltered shopping bus service runs services on Tuesdays for folk at Tullideph, Logie and Pine Court and on Thursdays for folk in Corso/Abbotsford, Pennycook Court, Muirlands and Paton’s Lane – taking shoppers to Tesco Riverside to shop and back afterwards. In addition, the “Out and About” service that takes older folk on day trips will also see its funding withdrawn.

We strongly opposed the bus services cuts that will impact especially on older residents.

In the totality of the council budget, the savings from these cuts are minor and alternative savings could have been found. Taking away these services is indefensible. We will continue to campaign to save them before the axe falls in April 2024.

Update on bus timetables at stops #dundeewestend

As residents are aware, we have repeatedly raised with the City Council that, although real time bus information is working at bus shelters, paper timetables became been out of date following the bus companies altered services at the start of the COVID health emergency in 2020.

We pressed this issue on numerous occasions and were advised in February that 350 stops had now had up to date information on them.

However that means the majority still did not and this recent example from Hawkhill at the Sinderins underlines the problem - the timetable information here is from 2018!

We think proper information at bus stops is vital if the council is to successfully promote public transport - not everyone has access to an on-line app and many people get on a bus at a stop without a bus shelter and its real time information facility.

We have therefore highlighted this example to the council transportation team and asked for progress on the restoration of bus timetables at bus stops.

Sheltered shopping bus service #dundeewestend

The council’s shoppers’ bus service restarted in June 2022 after being withdrawn at the end of March 2020 due to the pandemic.   It aims to help older residents mainly in sheltered housing get to a supermarket and back each week.

The service operates Tuesday to Friday every week and in the West End runs as follows :

Tuesdays – Pick up at Tullideph Place (12.05pm), Logie lounge in Lime Street (12.10pm) then Pine Court in Logie Gardens (12.15pm) to take folk to Tesco Riverside and return.

Thursdays – Pick up at Corso Street (10.10am), Pennycook Lane (10.15am), Muirlands (10.20am) and Paton’s Lane (10.25am) to take folk to Tesco Riverside and return.

Sadly, the SNP administration on the council decided to axe the service from April 2024, something the Liberal Democrat Group opposed at the council budget earlier this year.   Unfortunately the SNP decision to axe the service won the vote.  

The council is now trying to get one of the community transport operators to take the service on and our group strongly feels this vital service must be saved.

Service 17 bus service #dundeewestend

As residents will know, some time ago, the bus service 17 route was changed which took the bus away from its original route that included Lochee Road, Tullideph Road and Ancrum Road.

In the Ancrum Road and Tullideph Road area, access to buses has sharply reduced as a result with just the off-peak 6 and 204 services serving parts of the area.    The 6 does not operate at weekends and the 204 not on Sundays.  

The situation will deteriorate further in 2024 as the SNP administration on the City Council pushed through at this year's budget a full cut to supported bus services from next year which will see the 204 service end.   We opposed this axing of supported bus services but unfortunately the administration group won the vote.

Residents have regularly raised with us the lack of 7 day a week regular services in the Ancrum Road and Tullideph Road area - that also run in the evenings - and we asked the managing director of Xplore Dundee if he will look again at the 17 route when the next review of bus services/routes takes place.

He has responded positively as follows :

"I note your comments and I will raise them at the next service level review which is likely to be near summer."

Although this does not guarantee a solution, it is helpful that the situation will be reviewed and we will keep residents updated.

Bus timetables concern - an update #dundeewestend

As residents will be aware, over a protracted period, we have raised with the City Council that, although real time bus information is working at bus shelters, paper timetables had been out of date since the bus companies altered services at the start of the COVID health emergency in 2020.

Bus stops in our neighbouring authorities like Angus and Perth and Kinross have had timetables restored long since and we were given assurances that timetables in Dundee would start to make a reappearance.

We asked for an update and the council's Senior Transport Officer updated us as follows :

"We have now prepared, printed and set out timetable information at around 350 bus stops across the city.

We have focused our efforts on the busiest stops where passenger loadings are most significant.

We are reviewing the datasets provided to us by the bus operators before we generate any further displays."

There's updated timetables on the Perth Road bus stop at Party Wizard but, as the photo indicated, it had been covered in an unauthorised advert. We asked the council to have the glass panel cleaned and were promised this would be done.

Bus stop outside Dundee Rail Station #dundeewestend

As reported in yesterday's Evening Telegraph, we have raised concerns with Dundee City Council about road safety at Dundee rail station, following constituents highlighting the lack of a proper bus bay outside the rail station – see photo.

Residents have raised with us the fact that, as there is no bus bay for the Stagecoach buses that drop off and pick up passengers at the station, the very busy inside lane is blocked when a bus is stationary at the bus stop.   

This leads to drivers trying to switch lane to get past the bus and residents have highlighted examples of near misses of vehicles as some drivers dart out to get past the bus and back into the nearside lane.     All this could have been avoided if the council simply supplied a bus bay at this site. 

The councillors contacted the City Council about this and were advised by the council’s Team Leader for parking and sustainable transport as follows :

“I do recall that there was a discussion about pros and cons of a bus lay-by (circa 2015/2016) at the station but I can't recall the detail of why it was rejected.   My best memory was that ultimately it was a considered decision taken by the then Director of City Development and based on a desire for high quality public realm in front of the station.   

“In practice, the Stagecoach buses stopping at this location has not caused significant disruption to traffic and I am unaware of any accidents involving buses.   The sightlines are fairly good on the approach from east and west and much of the traffic should be travelling at reduced speeds.”

We really don’t accept the “high quality public realm” argument against putting in a bus bay here – public safety is paramount and the space in front of the station is really wide so a bus bay could have been accommodated without impacting on the quality of the public realm at all.   

We did have the accident record database checked and although accepting that any bumps to date will have been minor as there have been no more serious accidents reported to Police Scotland since 2019, we still think it would be common sense to provide a bus bay – not just from the safety aspect but it would also help avoid tailbacks at this very busy stretch on road when buses are stopped at the bus stop, particularly at rush hour.

We have asked the Director of City Development if senior officers can discuss this request more fully.

There’s a wider issue about the disconnect between rail station and bus station services in the city but meantime we would like to see the bus situation right outside the rail station addressed.

Festive buses timetables

With thanks to Suzy Scott and dundeebuses.info, here's a link to full details of bus timetables in Dundee and across the wider region over the festive period - https://tinyurl.com/festive-buses

Bus diversions during Balgay Road/Blackness Road/Blackness Avenue junction works #dundeewestend

The road resurfacing and road safety work at the Balgay Road/Blackness Road/Blackness Avenue junction starts tomorrow - Wednesday 19th October.

The City Council has provided us with the following information about bus diversions during the roadworks :

"We will have Public Notices out at affected stops from Tuesday with diversion information for all services and Realtime displays within the closure will also be amended accordingly.

For this particular closure, the 73 will divert via West Park Road and Perth Road in both directions and therefore the 73 will not serve any stops between West Park Road and the bottom of Blackness Avenue.

Xplore Dundee diversions are as below –

Road closed: Blackness Road

Commencing: Wednesday 19 October

Scheduled duration: three days

Services affected: 6 | 17 | 22

UPDATED

Service 6

Towards Ninewells Hospital

Normal route to Blackness Avenue, then right into Hyndford Street, right into Blackness Road and left into Glenagnes Road. Resume normal route from Scott Street.

Towards City Centre

Normal route to Scott Street, then left into Glenagnes Road, right into Blackness Road and left into Seymour Street. Resume normal route from Blackness Avenue.

Service 17

Towards Whitfield

Normal route to Pentland Avenue, then left into Scott Street, right into Glenagnes Road, right into Blackness Road and left into Seymour Street. Resume normal route from Blackness Avenue.

Towards Ninewells Hospital

Normal route to Blackness Avenue, then right into Hyndford Street, right into Blackness Road, left into Glenagnes Road and left into Scott Street. Resume normal route from Pentland Avenue.

Service 22

Towards Craigowl

Normal route to Blackness Road, then right into West Park Road, left into Perth Road, left into Blackness Avenue and right into Hyndford Street. Resume normal route from Blackness Road.

Towards Ninewells Hospital

Normal route to Blackness Road, then left into Seymour Street, left into Blackness Avenue, right into Perth Road and right into West Park Road. Resume normal route from Blackness Road.

Bus timetables at bus stops - or lack of them! - an update

Residents will recall that we highlighted some time ago that, although real time bus information is working at bus shelters, paper timetables have been out of date since the bus companies altered services at the start of the COVID-19 health emergency.

This has dragged on far too long. The City Council has maintained the position that 'instability' in the bus network has made providing new timetables at bus stops difficult, but we are have now been advised by the council's Team Leader, Parking & Sustainable Transport as follows :

"We are targeting the timetable information to be ready for display by 15th August 2022.

We are required to create the timetable display in pdf format using the data supplied by the bus operators. We have now received that from Xplore Dundee and will look to create the PDFs over the next two weeks.

These will be then sent to the printer who will print the PDFs to specialist (waterproof) paper. We should receive the displays back from the printer by mid August allowing us to start setting out the information at the stops to coincide with the new timetables.

I had hoped we would have been able to create publicity for some of the stops on routes that are unaffected by the Xplore Dundee service changes in August. If this can be achieved earlier than the timeframe above I will let you know.

We will be provide printed information on selected stops only. Locations will be decided in due course but we will consider a number of factors when making our decision - e.g. whether the stop is used primarily for boarding or alighting, whether the bus timetable is expected to be varied regularly, the availability of real time information at the location."

Whilst the return of bus timetables is welcome, whilst we do not expect them where real time information is available at bus shelters, we would want them at all other bus stops. We have asked the City Council to confirm this will be the case.

Meeting with Xplore Dundee

Yesterday evening, we had the pleasure, along with our Liberal Democrat Group colleague Councillor Daniel Coleman, to meet with David Phillips, the new Director and General Manager and Marc Winsland, Commercial Manager, at Xplore Dundee to discuss bus services in the city.

We had a really productive and useful discussion and it is clear that the positive relationship we have had with Xplore Dundee over a long period will continue and grow in the years ahead.

Bus services changes affecting West End from 3rd January #dundeewestend

Xplore Dundee is making several changes to bus services from next Monday, 3rd January.

+ I am very pleased at the launch of a new Service 6 linking Ninewells with Menzieshill, Elmwood Road, Tullideph Road, Pentland Avenue, Blackness Road and the city centre.  This will operate hourly and is good news as it assists with provision of services around Ancrum Road and Tullideph Road, something I have been campaigning for since the Service 17 was re-routed right along City Road.

+ The Service 9/10 (Outer Circle) is renumbering as Service 10 - a service linking communities to the north of the city.  Service 5 and 10 will interlink to provide a full circular service across Dundee. 

+ There will be some slight timetable adjustments to Service 28 (between 8am and 6pm) to improve punctuality.   Also. the new 'Electric Emerald' buses to go into service on the Service 28 route, Dundee's first zero-emission buses.    I am pictured at the launch event for the Electric Emerald buses which will assist tackle the air quality issues on Lochee Road.

Full details of all the changes are available at www.xploredundee.com/2022Changes

Blether Bus for older residents proposed for the axe - a sad tale #dundeewestend

I have today slammed a recommendation that will come before the council’s City Development Committee on Monday 25th October that, if approved, will axe all the Blether Bus services in Dundee that assist elderly residents who have difficulty accessing the main bus routes. These include services in the West End but also services in Stobswell and Lochee.

If approved this would be a really bad decision for the elderly folk who rely on the service. There are older residents in streets in my own ward who cannot manage uphill to the main bus services and, after the SNP axed their supported proper bus service, the Blether Bus has been all they were left with. Now they will have nothing at all – a real disgrace.

I have been promised by the council for months that the Blether Bus would return once COVID positive cases dropped as this was allegedly necessary as the bus is a minibus. These promises have proved worthless and I am furious about this. It would leave elderly folk in parts of the West End with no access to public transport – and I fear the SNP administration will simply rubber stamp this dreadful recommendation.

There is something ironic that Dundee City Council was seeking to reduce public transport and thereby increase private vehicle use as the affected residents would have to rely on family and friends running them about by car if they are to get out at all. At a time of COP26, it is bizarre that the council would be reducing public transport and increasing reliance on the private car – what a dreadful signal to be sending.

I would suggest that the better way forward with the Blether Bus service is to consult communities on making the routes more attractive to increase usage, rather than axing the service. 

I will be strongly opposing the axing of these older people’s bus services when this comes before councillors next Monday.

Bus timetables at bus stops - or lack of them!

There's been a large reaction from residents to the articles in the Courier and Evening Telegraph last week in which I highlighted that, although real time bus information is working at bus shelters, paper timetables have been out of date since the bus companies altered services at the start of the COVID-19 health emergency.

There has been an attempt to remove erroneous and out of date timetables but bus stops across Dundee still lack correct timetables - some 18 months since the pandemic started.

I think everyone accepts that during the 2020 lockdowns there was significant change and understandable volatility in bus services but some stability has returned - just not the timetables at bus stops! It is unhelpful for passengers who do not have access to apps on their mobile phone.

I have repeatedly raised this with the City Council over many months and the most recent feedback from the Team Leader, Parking & Sustainable Transport advised :

"The commercial bus network in Dundee has still not stabilised so we continue to push passengers towards apps, websites or Traveline (phone service) for the most accurate and up to date bus information. The real time displays in our bus shelters are updated with each change."

I have made clear to the City Council that I think this line has run its course particularly as other authorities are restoring timetables, such as in Perth and Kinross.

There are repeated requests from constituents and bus passengers about this. The lack of timetables at bus stops impacts on older passengers in particular where a higher proportion of people do not use or have access to mobile apps.

I have said to the council's transportation team that I do think we really do now need a timeframe for restoration of timetables after consultation with the bus operators. We should be making it as easy as possible for people to use public transport and Dundee City Council's current position on this simply is not helping.

Blether Bus - an update #dundeewestend

As residents will recall, following the unfortunate removal some time ago of the 'old' 204 bus service that covered streets like Newhall Gardens, Invergowrie Drive and Glamis Drive, the council’s response was to establish the “Blether Bus” minibus service for older residents.   

I strongly opposed the withdrawal of the old 204 as it was a better service than the Blether Bus.  The previous version of the 204 went to both the City Centre and Ninewells Hospital, something the Blether Bus did not.   However, at least the Blether Bus gave some sort of service for older residents who would struggle to walk (often uphill) to main bus services on streets like Perth Road and Glamis Road. 

With the onset of the COVID health emergency, the Blether Bus was suspended as it uses a minibus where social distancing is a challenge.   As restrictions ease, I have been anxious to ensure that a service for older folk in the area is restored.   

Back in May, the council’s Team Leader, Parking & Sustainable Transport told me that he hoped the Blether Bus would be restored during the school summer holidays but he has since advised :

‘We are conscious of the potential for community transmission on the minibus services, particularly with the vehicles being shared between school children at Kingspark and older adults.    We will further review our options in the weeks ahead, giving regard to any public health advice available. 

My e-mail in late May 2021 suggested a return date during the school holidays but this was before the spike in Covid cases in the Dundee area which caused us to rethink our plans.  We also had to consider driver availability and the potential of having to withdraw minibus services at short notice if the drivers were ill or required to self-isolate.’

I have made clear to council officers that it is vital that a bus service is restored as soon as possible and also raised the issue at the recent West End local community planning partnership meeting.   It is not acceptable that older residents who cannot get to the main bus services on streets like Perth Road are left without their Blether Bus service.     

I will keep residents updated and can assure the Blether Bus passengers that I will be continuing to pursue this to get the service back ASAP.

Good news for Tullideph/Ancrum area on bus services #dundeewestend

I have today welcomed news that bus passengers in the Tullideph Road/Ancrum Road area are likely to again have a bus service near to them, after months of being left high and dry without a bus service following Xplore Dundee re-routing Service 17 away from the area.

The re-routing of Service 17 earlier this year so it now goes right along City Road was really bad news for the Tullideph Road and Ancrum Road area as it left them without any bus service.

I felt strongly that every effort should be made to serve Tullideph Road and Ancrum Road particularly because the Morven Terrace and Ancrum Place sheltered housing with many elderly folk has been left without easy access to a bus. Many constituents raised this concern with me.

The council is proposing a new 204 tendered bus service – a service number previously used but this new service would cover a very different route and would miss out much of the old 204 route.

However, the new 204 service route is sufficiently close to the Ancrum Road and Tullideph Road areas that it could be slightly re-routed to cover the area and this needs to be done – otherwise many residents and particularly older folk are left without any bus services.

I took this to Dundee City Council’s City Development Committee when it was agreeing to bus tenders including the 204 and it was agreed that the viability of having the 204 cover parts of Tullideph Road and Ancrum Road would be looked at. The issue is the high camber on the Ancrum Road/Logie Street junction that had to be road tested to ensure safe for a bus to use.

The council’s Team Leader, Parking & Sustainable Transport has advised me :

“The routes are currently being registered with the traffic commissioner and will start on 16 August 2021.    We have agreed the routing of the 204 with the operator (Stagecoach) so that it will operate via Tullideph Road. I am not expecting this to be rejected by the Traffic Commissioner's office.

We will prepare publicity for each of the new services and publicise via the council website in advance of the services operating and communicate with key stakeholders including elected members. I am hopeful of this all being completed next week.”

This looks very positive in giving the Tullideph area a bus service back. I am not pretending it is perfect – it’ll be a daytime hourly service but it is a whole lot better than no bus service at all and I am grateful to transportation officers for taking on my route change suggestion.

It is important that tendered bus services actually cover the areas that are isolated from bus services. Real practical action is needed to ensure the newly tendered services work for local people.

It is also important that the older people across the city who relied on the currently suspended Blether Bus minibus service are given access to public transport and I am assured council officers are also working on that.

Getting things done - Blackness Road #dundeewestend

During the recent demolition works at 219-245 Blackness Road, the bus stop at the Ashbank Road junction for services towards the City Centre has been out of action for safety reasons.

Now the demolition works are nearly complete - and it will be some time before the new build will commence - many residents have asked when the bus stop will be back in action. It is used by many people from the Blackness and Logie areas and a fair walk to the next nearest stop.

I took this matter up with the City Council and the Senior Transport Officer in Parking & Sustainable Transport updated me yesterday as follows :

"We've had a further update from the contractor regarding the above works, they've confirmed that the site hoarding is being finalised today/ tomorrow and that they'll clean up, remove fencing, and off hire the pedestrian crossings on Thursday/ Friday.

I'll visit the site on Friday and once clear, will request that the bus stop at Seymour Street is served again."

The removal of the temporary traffic/pedestrian lights is also welcome and I am also grateful for the council's very prompt action on Monday when a safety concern about their operation was raised by me on behalf of residents.

Blether Bus - an update #dundeewestend

As recently reported in the Courier and Evening Telegraph, a number of residents have asked me when the Blether Bus service that was suspended at the start of the COVID-19 health emergency can return. It has take longer to bring back as it uses small mini-buses and that's a challenge with social distancing still in place.

The City Council's Team Leader, Parking and Sustainable Transport has now updated me as follows :

"My colleague has been in discussion with the team at Fleet Management and we are targeting a date during the school summer holidays for the return of Blether Bus services. We hope this can be achieved.

We are also watching the public health advice for bus travel carefully, conscious of the age of the client group and the limited space within the minibuses for physical distancing.

When we have a firm date for the return of the Blether Bus services we will communicate this with all elected members within whose wards the services operate. We will also liaise with colleagues in the communications team to discuss how we can best publicise the return of the services to passengers."

I will, of course, keep residents updated.