Where do the buses go?
Comprehensive schematic maps are provided of all routes in Bedford Borough and Bedford Town, as well as a detailed map of Bedford Town Centre.
Bedford have gone out of their way to make life easier for passengers and bus companies by making it easier for all to see which bus goes where. They get 5 out of 5 in this category.
Timetables
Timetables for all routes in the borough can be found here. They could have made you go trawling through the operators' sites or Traveline, but again have done the hard work for you. 5 out of 5.
Fares
This is Bedford's stumbling block. No information on single fares. Nothing about day tickets. No multi-operator ticket. You need to check with the individual operators for any info on tickets, such as Stagecoach who provide information and Grant Palmer who do not. Plusbus gets a passing mention. The cheapest adult rail ticket with which you can buy a Bedford Plusbus is an Anytime single between Bedford and Kempston Hardwick at £2.50, meaning a spend of £5.40 gets you a ticket to use on any bus in the Bedford Plusbus zone.
This category really lets Bedford down. Just 1 point out of a possible 5.
Summary
Good, comprehensive bus network maps and timetables all in one place. Let down by the lack of a multi-operator ticket or any information on the tickets that are available.
Bedford scores a total of 11 out of 15.
It looks as if Bath and North East Somerset Council should pay a visit here - Not a bad score.
ReplyDeleteIn the future,if an assesment is made on this site,it would be intresting to see how Southampton City Council come out in a score.
ReplyDeleteI would also be interested to know how easy it is to obtain printed timetables by post and 'on the ground' as a visitor. That is what worries me about what is happening in Salisbury.
ReplyDeleteAs a regular visitor to there and Southampton I used to know where to go in both places. The old Tourist Information Centre in Southampton was reasonably well situated and usually well stocked and helpful. The new one is badly located in the basement of the library and had incomplete and out of date stock when I visited earlier last year. Walking back to the town centre both the First enquiry office and the Bluestar hut were closed for lunch!
I do wish operators would understand that many people do still want face to face contact and printed material.
I agree with your comment 100%. The last time I visited the basement in the Library the assortment on offer was abysmal and much of what there was out of date. In the First travel shop in Pound Tree Road it's very difficult to obtain timetables for the Gosport and Fareham or Portsmouth areas, when times change. As Firstbus, as an example, do not include service 26 Fareham to Hedge End in the Southampton area timetable book,it's very frustrating trying to obtain times for this service.when it changes times. It is common on a timetable change, to have to wait weeks for them to have the timetables for Gosport and fareham area in stock, and you might as well forget Portsmouth area altogether. I shall within a few weeks,when the timetable changes that have taken place,and have settled in,visit the Library and see wether the situation has improved. I don't hold out much hope thow.
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