Bristol’s metrobus
20 March 2022
ABOVE: 39488 (YN69 DTK) in Cabot Circus on Friday 11th March 2022, coming to the end of a journey on the rare route m3x
Bristol is a large, sprawling city. It’s quite confusing too, given that neither of its main railway stations are in the City Centre. I’ve spent a week there and am just starting to work the centre out (and it’s far from having been my first visit)!
If ever there was a city deserving a light rail scheme, it’s probably Bristol. But in the meantime, the best that can be offered is a series of three limited stop bus services trading as “metrobus” (and yes – aargh! – they use a small m).
The network was introduced in 2018/19 and seeks to provide fast connections around the city, using bus priority measures and some bus-only roads (some of which were specially built for).
All three services use two-door E400City vehicles, with two doors. The latter is quite unusual here so there are signs on the buses reminding people to leave via the middle doors!
metrobus services are provided as part of the First Bus network, which is extensive in Bristol. However, route m1 is sub-contracted to Bristol Community Transport, part of the HCT Group. You wouldn’t notice, though.
Wheelchair spaces are in a different position to their position on dual-door buses in London, presumably for consistency with other local vehicles.
Buses are pay-before-you-board, and every stop has a ticket machine (which can also provide general travel advice).
I’m in two minds about pay-before-you-board. One of my concerns is that someone not ‘in the know’ will have to be turned away by the driver. If you send someone away they might not come back… There’s also the fact that buying a ticket from a machine takes a minute or two – see further down for why that’s a problem.
ABOVE: Ticket machines like this one can be found at every metrobus stop
Each bus stop has been built to a superior design – resembling a platform for a future tram operation perhaps?
I decided to try out all three of the main routes (there’s a variant to one of the routes that I wasn’t able to do). Do they present the quality and speed that is promised? Can they revolutionise travel in the region?
m1: Cribbs Causeway Shopping Centre to Hengrove Park
ABOVE: Bristol Community Transport’s 2916 (YN68 DXM) and an unidentified colleague await their next journeys from Cribbs Causeway Shopping Centre on Wednesday 9th March 2022. The route number, with the small m, does not sit well next to the words Cribbs Causeway on the display, and is difficult to read from a distance.
The metrobus services have what I would term as the ‘best’ stop at Cribbs Causeway bus station – nice and close to the shopping centre entrance.
I’m setting out to catch the 1710 departure from Cribbs into the City Centre. It’s a busy Monday evening and there are already a couple of people at the stop at 1703, even though the previous departure has only just gone (buses run every 10 minutes).
The bus is already on the stand and the driver is in the cab. He’s busy playing on his mobile phone and doesn’t allow anyone to board until it is time to go.
I have bought a ticket from the machine, but I could have boarded and paid using my contactless card on a ‘tap-and-cap’.
The ticket from the machine is timed to be used within an hour of its issue. So I couldn’t buy one before going into Cribbs to do my shopping, to save worrying about it afterwards when I am laden down with shopping and rushing for the bus. As it has a QR code, to be read and cancelled by the bus ticket machine, why so tight a constraint?
My ticket won’t scan – I’m holding it too high up – a fact that the driver manages to convey to me without uttering a single word. Instead he just grabs the other end of the ticket and pulls it, and my arm, downwards.
We leave Cribbs with a healthy load, and the bus gets busier as it arrives at the University of the West of England (UWE). It’s 1735, the end of the academic day, so there are a large number of people waiting.
Interesting to note that the recorded next-stop announcements refer to ‘UWE The Gardens’ – the stop before the campus – as “You-ee”, but spell out “U W E” in full for the Frenchay Campus itself.
We’re almost full after leaving UWE, although two of the four front seats are still available and there’s another seat in row four. This is pertinent as three intending passengers are left behind at the next couple of stops.
A recorded announcement reminds people that it is compulsory to wear a face covering, that some seats have been closed out of use, and that no standing is permitted. We’re a good two weeks on from “freedom day” when compulsory mask-wearing was dropped, and the other measures were cancelled many moons ago, so it’s probably time to switch these messages off.
There are various bus lanes along the route but they all finish with “Give Way” lines to re-join the main carriageway. As traffic is light in this direction, the driver doesn’t use these but stays on the main carriageway. Then we come to a very short bus-only road that takes us onto the M32 motorway.
There’s not much to say about the motorway, other than that it gets you right into the heart of the city of Bristol. A number of bus services use it as a quick route in and it’s certainly effective for the m1, coming into Cabot Circus for an on-time arrival at 1751.
This is where I leave the route for the day. A few days later, I’m back at Cabot Circus for a ride out to Hengrove Park, for the sake of research and completeness!
First challenge is that I want a First West of England Day Ticket, and I can’t buy it on the m1 because it’s pay-before-you-board. Will I be able to buy this ticket from a machine?
The good news is yes, I can. There’s a wobbly moment when it asks for a Smartcard, but I see a very small button below the main screen labelled “or continue”, and am then informed that I will be given a paper ticket. I note that the machine takes cards and “squids”.
The biggest snag to this is that, when I leave the machine and turn around, there’s an m1 in the stop. I start towards it but it pulls away. I would have been on that bus if I had been able to pay on board. This is one of the drawbacks of pay-before-you-board. Faster bus journey 1, Customer Service 0.
There’s a bit of a delay, so it’s about 13 minutes before I’m on my way. Although it starts as a busy service, many have left before we leave the City Centre.
There’s a problem further down when a passenger boards, having bought a ticket via the First Bus app, but with no idea how to validate the ticket. It takes a couple of minutes for the driver to take him through it. Having seen some of the reviews for the App in question, I can understand his difficulties.
The m1 goes through residential areas. Even here, the stops are quite a long way apart; I can’t help wondering whether the balance between keeping the service flowing and providing stops where they are needed isn’t quite right here. There’s a particular stretch in the Whitchurch area where stops remain wide apart, in a residential area, even though there don’t seem to be any other services around.
In my experience, people will be prepared to walk half a mile to a station, to catch a train, but I can’t see them walking half a mile or more to a bus stop if they have an alternative mode of transport.
m2: City Centre to Long Ashton Park & Ride
ABOVE: First’s 36812 (YM17 FKG) at the Long Ashton Park & Ride terminus of route m2, on Wednesday 9th March 2022. The building is well-equipped for waiting for a bus, including seating and rest rooms. Note the helpful “the buses are this way” sign.
It’s a very smart P&R facility at Long Ashton; well equipped, with rest rooms, a waiting room and leaflet racks. The latter have not just tourist attraction leaflets, but all three of the Travelwest Public Transport Guides covering the West of England Combined Authority region. I had already found two of these really useful guides in my hotel, but am able to complete the set here.
As well as the m2, there’s also a 505 service here to Southmead Hospital, which “charges its own fares”. As it also runs to the City Centre, and especially as the m2 only runs every 20 minutes (quite poor for a P&R facility, and not attractive), it’s a shame that some sort of arrangement can’t be out in place to allow people to use the 505 if that comes first.
I board the m2 in the City Centre and sit at the front right-hand side upstairs. This is a mistake as there is bitter cold air blowing straight down on me. This is a ‘feature’ (ie, design failing) of the air-con on the E400 City, and I’m glad to have my woolly hat with me to reduce the impact.
The on-board announcements are slightly defective, as I am reminded that this is the “m2 to … [silence]”.
We run down past the river and then turn unexpectedly into the first of a number of short sections of guided busway. There are children playing on skateboards dangerously close to the ‘track’ and the area is covered in graffiti. Neither of these have spread to the actual P&R facility, thankfully.
It’s a very quick but very interesting ride. The m2 does a loop around the City Centre so only really has one terminus. It’s a quality service (bus design flaws excepted) and a good P&R facility that is being well-used on the day I am there. Could use a higher frequency, though.
m3: Bristol to Emersons Green
ABOVE: 39488 (YN69 DTK) at Emersons Green at the end of its run from Bristol on route m3, on Thursday 10th March 2022. The photo gives a good appreciation of the lengthy, tram-like stops that are provided for metrobus services, including the combined departure board and ticket machine pole.
There’s a healthy load heading out of the City Centre in the evening rush hour when I try out route m3. A lot of people are paying by mobile phones on this trip. We’re back to the M32 and the UWE campus, as per the m1.
Although half of the m3 services terminate at UWE, we retain a healthy load beyond. Again, something better than a 20-minute frequency would be more attractive.
There’s less to talk about with the m3. We run down a lot of dual-carriageways, many of which have bus lanes (and this time, they’re needed)! We come to an area called Science Park, where all of the buildings look new and many areas are not yet developed at all. Methinks the service will gain more demand in the coming years as new housing is built here.
We arrive at Emersons Green after 40 minutes, just a couple of minutes behind schedule, and with still a decent load on board. Apart from residential areas, the main ‘attraction’ here is a giant Sainsbury’s, and it’s noticeable that the m3 stop is further away, and much less convenient, for this than the stop for the number 48, which also links Emersons Green with the City Centre (more slowly of course). Accessing the 48 also does not require one to cross two halves of a busy road without a pedestrian crossing. Possibly the desire to have separate metrobus stops everywhere has slightly clouded the more logical approach in this case.
There is also an m3x service, which skips UWE and stays on the motorway a little longer. But there are only a handful of journeys so I don’t get the chance to ride on one.
Conclusions
The metrobus network presents a quality image of smart, modern buses. As people movers, especially for Park and Ride and UWE, they are effective, and they are well-used. With the exception of the m1 (and m3 inner section), frequencies are not particularly attractive; a higher frequency might encourage more use.
Neither of the main railway stations in Bristol are served by metrobus (they go somewhere near Temple Meads but not right to the ‘gates’ like other services do). There are rumours that the m3 may be extended to Parkway and that would be a useful addition.
I didn’t particularly appreciate standing out in the cold at Cribbs Causeway while the m1 driver was in his cab (see above), and it was noticeable that, on several of the buses that I observed, drivers were not opening the front doors until they had offloaded people and closed the middle doors, making a mockery of the idea that two doors are quicker. Some training needed?
The traffic that these services were having to contend with suggests that metrobus has not yet cracked the modal shift ideals that it needs to, and the fact that the m1 bus was not able to pick up all intending passengers suggests a need for a peak-hour frequency enhancement. Someone needs to do something about the fierce air-con blowing onto customers’ heads as well.
On the positive side, I noticed how many people, on leaving via the middle doors, were calling out to thank the driver. Far rarer in London where two doors are the norm, and nice to see!
Neither of the main railway stations in Bristol are served by metrobus (they go somewhere near Temple Meads but not right to the ‘gates’ like other services do). There are rumours that the m3 may be extended to Parkway and that would be a useful addition.
I didn’t particularly appreciate standing out in the cold at Cribbs Causeway while the m1 driver was in his cab (see above), and it was noticeable that, on several of the buses that I observed, drivers were not opening the front doors until they had offloaded people and closed the middle doors, making a mockery of the idea that two doors are quicker. Some training needed?
The traffic that these services were having to contend with suggests that metrobus has not yet cracked the modal shift ideals that it needs to, and the fact that the m1 bus was not able to pick up all intending passengers suggests a need for a peak-hour frequency enhancement. Someone needs to do something about the fierce air-con blowing onto customers’ heads as well.
On the positive side, I noticed how many people, on leaving via the middle doors, were calling out to thank the driver. Far rarer in London where two doors are the norm, and nice to see!