Only one month on and I already have a revision to my original plan:
With the confirmation that More will be withdrawing their 11 route to Bearwood and the X6 being diverted to replace this, all future ideas will take this concrete plan into account. My original proposal was to replace the current 11 with a route 9 between Poole and RB Hospital, but now I believe this route can be adequately served by other routes.
Firstly, the m1 and m2 have grown to become iconic route identities in the area that it would do more harm than good to replace them. I would keep these as they are, with the sole addition of an extension on the m2 to Christchurch (Two Riversmeet Leisure Centre). This gives Southbourne Crossroads its sole bus service with a high frequency.
Now that the m1 and m2 numbers are retained, I would have to avoid using any additional numbers in the 1 and 2 series to prevent confusion arising, therefore the 1a/1b and 2/2a would have to be renumbered. For the former, I would number these as 11 and 12 respectively since these will become unused consecutive numbers in the area (next summer my proposal will see the existing 12 incorporated into the x0 numbering system for Breezer routes). The 2/2a would make most sense being changed to 4/4a, which would then mean the Poole - Wimborne routes would have to become 3/3a. Unlike the existing 1b, route 12 would run via Springbourne between Bournemouth and Boscombe to provide a 15-minute frequency along Holdenhurst Road combined with the 4/4a.
Another change is the abandonment of my idea to merge the Poole - Wimborne with the Wimborne - Bournemouth routes. While I thought this was a great idea to improve connectivity, it would probably have too much of a negative impact on timekeeping due to the numerous congestion hotspots these routes pass through. The 3/3a would terminate at Wimborne, 13 would retain its number for the Bournemouth via Ferndown route, while Bournemouth via Merley would be incorporated into the new route 9 as I will explain further on.
My plans for the 5/5a, 6/6a and 8/8a remain unchanged.
As for the 7 series, I think it would be best left alone on its current Parkstone circular routes. Since these routes are council tendered, changing them would be a lot of hassle for no gain. To put this into context, look what happened when Yellow Buses tried to get the 18, 33 and 36 renumbered to H1, D1 and U8 respectively, only for the short-lived alphanumeric system to be abandoned.
Routes 9 and 9a would now be allocated to the Bournemouth - Wallisdown - Bearwood corridor. These routes would be the exact same as the current 6/6a in all but number (9 Bournemouth to Wimborne, 9a to Kinson) to differentiate from the routes from Poole to Canford Heath, which IMHO would be a better fit for the 6/6a.
With the changes to the 7/7a and 9/9a, numbers 14, 16 and 17 would now be retained on their existing route. The 15 would remain too.
Finally, the A1 would be extended to Kinson to provide a direct link from the airport to northern suburbs of Bournemouth. Apart from the twice-daily 32, this would be the only bus service serving Wimborne Road in Northbourne.
Summary of changes:
m1: Poole - Ashley Cross - Bournemouth - Charminster - Castlepoint - RB Hospital
m2: Poole - North Road - Bournemouth - Boscombe - Southbourne - Christchurch
3: Poole - Broadstone - Corfe Mullen - Wimborne
3a: Poole - Broadstone - Merley - Wimborne
4: Bournemouth - Winton - Muscliffe - Castlepoint - Townsend - RB Hospital - Boscombe - Springbourne - Bournemouth
4a: Same as above but in reverse
5: Bournemouth - Charminster - Winton - Leybourne Avenue - West Howe - Kinson
5a: Bournemouth - Charminster - Winton - Columbia Road - West Howe - Kinson
6: Poole - Canford Heath - Tower Park
6a: Poole - Canford Heath - Tollerford Road
7a/7b/7c: Parkstone local routes
8: Poole - Hamworthy - Turlin Moor - Upton - Creekmoor - Poole
8a: Same as above but in reverse
9: Bournemouth - Winton - University - Wallisdown - Bearwood - Wimborne
9a: Bournemouth - Winton - University - Wallisdown - Bearwood - Kinson
11: Bournemouth - Boscombe - Iford - Christchurch - Somerford Sainsbury’s
12: Bournemouth - Springbourne - Boscombe - Cranleigh Road - Christchurch
13: Bournemouth - Winton - Northbourne - Ferndown - Colehill - Wimborne
14: Poole - Alderney - Wallisdown - West Howe - Kinson - Ensbury Park - Castlepoint - RB Hospital
15: Poole - Upper Parkstone - Alder Road - University - Winton - Castlepoint - RB Hospital
16: Poole - Alderney - Arne Avenue - Branksome - Westbourne - Bournemouth
17: Poole - Alderney - Arne Avenue - University - Winton - Bournemouth
A1: Bournemouth - RB Hospital - Bournemouth Airport - Aviation Business Park - Northbourne - Kinson
50: Diverted via Alum Chine during winter months
70: Extended to Hengistbury Head when it resumes operation next summer
X6: Diverted via Bearwood to replace the current 11
All other Morebus routes would remain unchanged.