This morning we ran later than normal, possibly down to me on a goslow and the snow! (blame me here t'was my fault i think) So we're left with no choice but pop to the nearby guided busway to pick up a through bus for the school snow walk.
On getting there the area was covered with mostly untouched snow, so naturally we played while waiting 19 mins for a bus, a welcome late bus for the girls.
They decided to make a snowman, and i think they built a pretty good one in such a short time.
While making our busway snowman he was offered a lift by a pretty lady in a BMW ;)
But in the end both smalls bought a smile to many faces as a result, even if we were late for school .
After all, fun is just as important as learning!
Disclaimer - this is a post of my thoughts and ideas, while factual inaccuracies may result they are derived from the information available in public,
Arriva the shires we need to talk.
Over the last week you've announced changes to the Dunstable and Luton bus network with a consultation on at the moment. The problem is Houghton Regis News Desk broke the news of this first.
The Luton and Dunstable Busway made some positive changes to journeys for most of us but said busway misses out a lot of important services for the communities the buses serve. This means more stops for some but for now we have some legacy services left, like the 38 and the 24.
Now for many it's done the trick but the legacy services now suffer with dropping numbers, in some cases I see it's going to become unprofitable for them to run the legacy services as it is without changes. Problem is implementation of said changes made things worse for many, for instance. The 38 still runs, but on a 30 min basis over it's 15 minute basis (face it, one slowdown in bury park and everything bunches, and on the old setup it was really bad)
But from March, they want to delete the 38 and offshoot 39 buses. This will be detrimental to many people, from workers getting to the Woodside estate, parents and children going to schools, the elderly requiring medical assistance or rely on the service to be independent and the disabled/vulnerable who would not be able to make it to the busway due to it's distance or it's lack of options for those who require assistance.
The removal of the 38 (ignore the 39 for a moment please) would remove Ashton square, High street north and Houghton Road from any bus services bar council run ones that are not suitable for many commuters and not under the hiphop multi bus ticket scheme in place. cutting off access to three schools, doctors and dental practices, shops and access for those who require a bus service in specific areas.
Now here's the annoyance for me, Arriva have put a dedicated information page online with a survey but the information they've printed out tells you to go online, so those without internet or without the need for a computer will have no voice, plus the survey expires on the 3rd Feb. This is naughty Arriva.
Now for those offline Arriva have sent CBC Travel choices flyers about the proposed changes but as the staff have to be impartial as it's not being run with help from the hub. So unfortunately there's not much they can do bar pass you a flyer, but sends you to a weblink!
Now the community of Houghton Regis and Dunstable is split on the changes, many don't care as the busway serves their purpose and the others are worried as the 38 and 39 is their lifeline out of the home to town, doctors and other services. We'll not go in circles, it seems that's the Arriva Social Media dept's job.
Me and a few others want to represent those without internet access so their voices are not heard and in doing so wish to meet with Arriva staff to talk about this in a decent manner, the image below show's my fruitless conversation!
Well for now we have a few days left to spread the word. If you can help join this page, Tell your family who may be affected by the change, and please fill out the survey
I do have an idea for an alternate route which could fix a few issues for both residents and bring a good compromise. A looped service, using smaller buses.
Arriva are trailing 7 electric buses in Milton Keynes, the buses previously used on these routes (according to spotters I've spoken to - this may not be gospel) were smaller vehicles, while the route is under trial could we not move the displaced buses here and try a looped service.
The service would serve Dunstable, Lewsey and Houghton Regis, but only certain buses would serve the L&D Hospital. Also on peak times for workers there could be a loop around the industrial estate.
These respective routes would be the
38L (loops to the busway,) similar route but goes to the busway to get back to Ashton Square.
38W for the industrial estate, missing out Lewsey park (a limited service for factory workers so they can interchange with other buses)
38H (loops to either the busway or the A505.) but adds the hospital into the route, the only one on the map that would actually stops directly outside the hospital.
All of these would interchange with other services on Ashton Square and opposite the Quadrant, High St.North, Dunstable, Morrisons in Houghton Regis and finally Dominic Square, Lewsey farm. meaning more services link up together, bringing more revenue for the company and a potentially better service.
Now before anyone says they want a complete service, it's going to be difficult to get this, especially with costs of operations compared to actual users throughout the day, not just in the peak times it becomes clear things do have to change. I wish it could be the same but this is the consequence of a fast services via the busway being introduced.
If you have something to say about this let us know below, and I'll try my hardest to get Arriva to respond!
I originally wrote about the Busway a month before it was due to open as I was concerned about a few things and it seems despite the improvement to public transport the Luton and Dunstable Busway has bought along with it. Some of the items they've failed to implement or improve upon has become (in my eyes) a considerable concern for public welfare and safety.
Before anyone says I'm trashing it deliberately I assure you this is considered as feedback by myself with no intention to thrash the route. I just see things some people may not have noticed, on top of this I use the Busway many times a week using both the path and the buses. The Busway is a great asset for all the local communities it connects to. And with it's construction it bought huge improvements to existing travel links throughout Luton, Houghton Regis and Dunstable with a reduced cost of bus fares if you choose to exclusively use the Busway.
It's fair to say that the busway has not been without it's share of both minor and major teething troubles along the way, but to be fair it's less than a year old and I would rather the problems were highlighted and fixed sooner rather than later in my eyes. So without any more rambling let's get onto the feedback.
I'll Highlight problems first (Sorry it has to be done this way but these issues are small compared to the Cambridge Busway cockups) then a suggestion my daughters suggested to me recently.
Now onto the snags that were promised to be fixed in an exhaustive snag list, heck I don't know them all.
CCTV and lighting. We got a GSM/3G Camera on a bridge, bus stops and busway entrances. But not the promised ones across the rest of the busway and the infamous Dog Kennel Walk/Down (depends on the age of the person I've been told) Yes Route6/ Dog Kennel is the route that crosses the busway via the bridge. This was tidied up but no extensive upgrades ever undertaken. Similarly to the Busway footpaths. They have no light or CCTV bar on bus stops and the entrances to two housing estates on the Portland Ride stop, old lights on dog kennel that light the crossing of the Busway Path and Dog Kennel but that's it. Oh I forgot one set of lights by the Jeans Way crossing point. but it's merely a LED light or two so the drivers see people dart across the track. (to those who complain about some of the original gates bear in mind some are there to stop accidents like this one in Cambridge but not all of them the rest to stop motorbikes.) These being missed out mean certain areas are dangerously dark and due to the covering with trees and bushes tied in with no light and steep hills each side at certain points with one footpath off the Portland ride stop (High street north to Portland ride) is a concern to locals. But it's ok for now as many people people avoid this part as they made decent access via the housing estate pathways to the bus stop tarmac and well lit. Plus walking to the stop from Park Street/Tavistock street is quicker anyway!
On the safety side of things the lack of lighting is also dangerous to cyclists as bike ninjas use the route and it's not always that easy to see them even with Kree LED light setups. Even one high powered LED clusted street light every 10 meters or so would help enough without causing drastic light pollution for animals and residents nearby.
ON CCTV here's an image that was uploaded to the Grant Palmer Limited facebook page by a bus driver highlighting why CCTV is really needed out there as in this instance without the sharp eye of the driver and his prompt action it could have caused derailment of the bus and injury to people using the service and the driver too. Also costing the company more money to repair the buses.
There are other worrying reasons why CCTV is needed across the areas promised. Central Beds Council promised things would happen to make Dog Kennel Walk safer after the assault on a pregnant lady caused uproar( I know the girl and her family). They also assured residents via Let's talk central's facebook page last year that the CCTV would be installed across the route and the busway as part of it's construction and that it's costs were tied in with sustainability grants and Busway funding, adding six more cameras on NCN Route 6 through Dunstable and Houghton Regis as well as suitable cameras to keep people using the Busway safe too, I think one GSM/WCDMA camera does not cut it in my eyes. Not at all.
Next the stone pathway/cyclepath. In places it's flattening down nicely and becoming ok to ride on (by ok I mean passable. JUST) but it's still very unstable and going out of level in places and in others gaining speed humps due to the earth movement with use and pipes being underneath it for drainage in places. Some areas I'm sure BAM staff assumed it was going to have tar laid so manhole covers are raised (from where the stone begins from Chaul end lane to hatters way towards Luton before the track turns to tarmac) and have stone around them and have been since my original post. On top of this the earth has sunk at areas where you cross from tarmac to stones or vice versa the separating kerb has shifted. Buckled wheels anyone (Central beds/Luton borough council will be paying for wheel repairs!) This problems is visible in many areas where the paths change from stone to tar.
I noticed the track has a lovely flat patch on the stone where everyone rides, it's the width of one bike and throughout the stoned parts of the cyclepath. In places where this mark is not very prominent the track is unstable. BIG TIME. Taking the girls to Luton this afternoon today felt like a puppy with a slapped arse. with the stones causing a lot of wobble. Not sensible with children in a trailer. However in some of the loose stoned areas I am worried about the hidden things annoying people leave behind.
Dog walkers. I love you good ones who clear up after your dog religiously, you rock this is not about you. Where the stone is loose is brings more hidden dangers where dog poop and glass gets mashed under the stones, meaning safety issues for people and animals there. I cycle the busway a lot with two different bikes and both have different tyres but both bikes struggle and seem to attract poo. The Poop can cause blindness in children and the glass can cut people, animals and our tyres. At least on tar it'll be easier to clean.
Bus Company Feedback
Arriva Please run more buses on a sunday morning, it's a struggle when all of your services run from around 9AM in the morning and end earlier than normal, I understand it's a sunday service BUT A MASS TRANSIT SERVICE STARTING AT 9AM? CURSES TO YOU ARRIVA. You run a skeleton service overnight from Luton Interchange/Train station to Luton airport every night. C'mon an 8am bus would not kill you would it? Bar that the service runs well. Bar making the buses cleaner inside I have no other complaints.
Centrebus. The buses are ok, but inside they look a little shabby, the Scania's are ok but are loud, sound like their oil has not been kind to them over the years and also some many of the handrails going from seats to roof are in poor condition with three different sets of paint showing through, welded botch jobs on the odd one and hard seats But you have one good advantage over Arriva, your buses smell clean as well as look clean inside whereas the Arriva buses don't seem to have the same cleaning schedule.
Grant palmer. No complaints with you so far. with exception of no Sunday services. But it can be ignored due to the route you use. :)
All drivers are polite and courteous that I've experienced so far so no complaints here about that.
Before I forget.
I assume this is part of a guide wheel from the Busway. I found it this afternoon by the Chall End Lane - skimpot approach guide rails. I assume someone' hit the metal guide too hard and part of the wheel failed. If you want it back let me know and I'll leave it at the Travel Hub
Oh and a few more things that need sorting. The Busway.info site thinks it's January and runs excruciatingly slow and this is on a stable 80mb line.
The Vix LED Matrix displays are weak a slight tap and they giltch, I've seen someone showing their kids what bus to look out for by touching the display and it goes black, comes back with half of the text on one line missing.
Also the LCD Panels at Busway stops where the display is in direct sunlight highlights a huge issue. Sunspot. The monitors go black and cannot display until they cool down or get the ability to work. the AOU Panels seem to not have adequate protection from UV rays being beamed from the sun and the sun itself. Also the Data on the VIX Lcd Panels shows incorrect news. We're not in Tyne and Wear. We're in the bbc 3 counties news area!
Gates. What good is it to have them when they are held closed with BINBAGS?
I'm not expecting miracles or to see anything highlighted fixed in the long run but it would be nice if this feedback is taken into account by the councils as a whole and the bus operators who also use the busway.
Now for my daughters idea.
There are a few bridges the busway goes under, including Dog Kennel bridge. The Dog Kennel bridge soon got named the Troll Bridge by my daughters on one of the many times we pass through to school, friends houses or just passing through to the adventure playground. The Troll was based off Dora the Explorer and I've played on this with the girls every time we pass it via bike or bus. To be educated on the Dora Grumpy Old Troll watch the video below.
Now on using the cyclepaths we've noticed the new Dog Kennel bridge has ledges below the bridge and manholes each sides of the track. The girls asked me if the Troll and his wife live in their home under the busway and the front doors are the manholes on the side, placed on both sides so they don't risk getting run over by the buses.
Now with that in mind they want to see the troll living under the bridge, be it a painting on one side or a wooden/card cutout. It would be a fantastic addition as it would add more attraction to the busway for kids. But not just Dog Kennel, how about they paint the Chall end lane underpass/bridge with artwork from local communities? It could also be pretty cool to decorate some of the fences that face the buses to give kids more to see than the hunks of metal murals, trucks, cows, horses and lots of people, bikes, dogs, occasional cats and the odd car or service vehicle!
Other users have ideas too! Ask them and help improve it!
On discussing this post on Facebook we will be adding feedback here from the General Public. Clive Harradence What happened to the "Real Time Indicators" at the bus stop in Court Drive.? What happened to the info displays in the plinths ?
Clive has a good point here as they're not all working well, one of them by the crown was showing inaccurate data for a service that does not even run past it, but they've turned off the old RF display too so there is no decent real time info available.
These things which are mentioned are in the snag list. Things which will be resolved hopefully before the official opening. Date will be updated soon.
Today I took a trip on the unofficially open cyclepath on the new luton and Dunstable Busway. On paper it looks like a fantastic way for people to get on their bikes, walk or jump on the bus. Be it for a short journey or to soak in the views on blows downs.
However I've spotted a few issues with it. Some of them could bring dangerous concequences.
Let's explain. Part of the cycleway crosses a dangerous area, Dog Kennel Down. This area is well known for sexual assaults, robberies, assaults and other random crimes. In 2012 there was a serious assault on a heavily pregnant lady. This sent shockwaves through the community due to the nature of the attack. The council assured people that CCTV would be installed in the area. I don't think the community expected a small temporary mobile camera. The only other cameras I've seen are cctv at junctions for the busway, the stops (both the passenger side and the cyclepath side)
Additonally there are no lights on the pathways. Something which is genreally dodgy given the crimerate in one area, this is not good especially in low light.
One other thing i do not get is the lack of decent paving on the track. It's all stone, in some parts (high street north to dog kennel) the path is attracting creeping brambles and grass growing through the path, meaning they've not prepped it properly. Oh and in the exit to high st north the turn is hazardously tight on stone. In other parts of the path they have botched it with more stone on top, making it unstable on the path in places.
I do appriciate that some of these snags will be sorted eventually but I am genuinly concerned that some will be ignored until they cause harm to others or their property.
Additionally i see the amazing benefits from having this busway and cycle route. But it only takes a few things to spoil it for everyone.
On getting there the area was covered with mostly untouched snow, so naturally we played while waiting 19 mins for a bus, a welcome late bus for the girls.
