AN OPEN LETTER TO ANDREW JARVIS
REGARDING SERVICE 8
Dear Mr Jarvis,
We are not contacting you to tell you about how important the number 8 bus service is to the community. I know you have had plenty of feedback directly and through SurveyMonkey to illustrate that.
We are not contacting you to convince you the number 8 is profitable. Only you have access to the passenger data and you are clear on its viability.
Why we are contacting you is that our group has been making representations to your company since 2016 to give feedback to improve the 8 service. When it replaced the no 4 that year we were clear the route and timetable of the 8 was wrong. The team in place then disagreed. In 2017 we contacted David Phillips to argue the 8 should be extended to the then forthcoming Bridge of Don Retail Park. Mr Phillips chose not to extend it. The retail park is now thriving with M&S and Homebargains at the centre of it, the car park is at capacity at weekends, but two years on we still do not have a bus service to it. In April 2018 we met with your Aberdeen leadership team and gave numerous examples of how the bus links the number 8 serves could be better served by cost neutral changes to the route which could more make it more viable. We were encouraged by your Network Managers enthusiasm for our proposals but ultimately disappointed when your Aberdeen team decided not to progress with these changes as they “were generally happy with the performance of the network”. In December 2018 we again met with your Aberdeen team and again put forward the case that the 8 need changes to make it more viable. Whilst we were happy that your team agreed to change the other Dubford service back to the route we had argued it should take ten months earlier we were again frustrated that it took to July 2019 for your team to accept the 8 timetable was badly timed with the 1B and should be changed. Yet our shortlived delight was cut short just weeks later when you announced the service would be withdrawn before the changes could be implemented.
In short, your team picked the route and timetable. We told you it was wrong. Your team declined to implement any of the changes the community have suggested or give any reason why they couldn’t be implemented. We were not arguing for extra buses or drivers. Just the same resource you have now, better used to everyone’s benefit.
We were clear in April 2018 that any further attempt to reduce or withdraw the 8 without exploring our enhancements would be met with opposition from the community a point that was accepted by your team at the time. We are disappointed your company has chosen to ignore our help and support to grow the service.
The timing of the 8 withdrawal could not be worse. You admit that passenger numbers on the 8 have increased. The reduction of the 1 service in the southern part of Danestone from every 15 minutes to every 30 minutes on Monday will no doubt increase its passenger numbers further. The removal of the 18 service from Danestone, Grandolm and Tillydrone will likely see a massive increase in use in those areas. Currently the 18 serves the same route as the 8 here, but often runs wastefully just a few minutes in front. Some of those 18 buses have standing passengers. Where will they go now? Your 1 and 19 services do not replicate most its links. The closure of Union Terrace for two years shortly will mean the 8 would have been the only bus link to ARI from Union St area as the 3 and Stagecoach 59 routes will be diverted away under the Denburn. Another potential opportunity to grow. Scotia Homes are advanced in the building of the next phase of homes at Shielhill and Cala at Grandhome both on the 8 routes. Coupled with the removal of the 18 from Mugiemoss it seems strange for the future growth of the business that you would reduce or stop running buses to the only parts of Aberdeen where large scale housebuilding is active?
We are also puzzled by your continuing commitment to the X27 service. If the 8 is under used and not sustainable where you have two buses running a service with up to 30 passengers, how is it viable to invest so heavily in a service that has five buses running with passenger number of up to seven but very often no one at all. The X27 (as the 16) started the same day as the 8 service yet the 8 has not enjoyed the leaflet drops, fare promotions, advertising it has. The 8 has always better performed with a lower cost than that service so we would like to see the same commitment given to the 8 service. We accept TECA has just opened but as the AECC at Bridge of Don you cut services from six buses and hour to two as the site wasn’t viable yet expect TECA to be viable with ten buses an hour? If the X27 is sustainable to continue then the 8 must also be.
We believe that if the 8 service is adapted to run the route and times that suit the community it would be a great success for your company preventing travel poverty from being experienced across what is often described as Europe’s biggest suburb.
We have already been in contact with your Network Manager with a number of proposals that could short term maintain links. As your Network Manager is on holiday you will not be able to progress these before within the legal timeframes necessary to commit these service changes on 27th October. Over a 1,000 passengers have committed time to giving feedback on these changes in the belief there feedback could shape these proposals better around there needs. It would be wrong to deny them the chance to enhance these services because you do not have the personnel in place to implement these.
Therefore our proposal would be:
• Withdraw plans to submit a service cancellation for the 8 to the Traffic Commissioner next week.
• Submit a short notice registration amending the route of the 8 to improve its performance in the short term as follows:
• Change the route of the 8 to extend the full length of Union St from Bridge St junction and access Westburn Drive via Holburn Junction and Argyl Place. This would allow the 8 to serve the busier stops on Union St and encourage additional footfall whilst the journey time would be the same as at present. The request for a service the full length of Union St to be reinstated has long been made by the Dubford community since it was withdrawn last year.
• Loop the 8 from ARI bus port to return via Foresterhill Road, Westburn Road, Camperdown Road rather than double back on itself. That’s a major factor in passengers choosing other services from ARI to the City Centre rather than the 8. It also gives better and faster links for 8 passengers to Royal Aberdeen Childrens Hospital and Foresterhill Health Clinic. Links withdrawn by your company in 2016.
• Extend the 1218 and 1318 departures from ARI from Dubford to loop Bridge of Don Retail Park via Denmore Rd, Parkway and Ellon Road. There is sufficient time in the layover at Dubford for this to happen. Reducing the journey time by implementing the change of loop at ARI could allow more journeys to serve the retail park. This would increase usage within the Bridge of Don.
• Change the 8 on Union St to serve the 1&2 bus stops for Bridge of Don rather than the 13 Seaton bus stop. This is why the northbound service is less used than the ARI bound buses and was always a very odd decision. Retain the service at the Adelphi stop though.
• These changes should significantly enhance the passenger numbers of the 8 and allow time for proper dialogue between the community and your network team to devise a better and more viable service to implement from your next batch of changes due in late January 2020.
I must remind you that as a leap of faith we decided against taking our concerns about serious performance issues with the 8 service in 2017 and 2018 and ongoing issues with the N1 service to the Traffic Commissioner to work with you to improve the service. Please return that respect by considering our proposal above.
https://www.facebook.com/busesfordubford/posts/2669696159736918
