tbtc
Veteran Member
Back in the day, Town Service seemed a regular sight on destination screens. The same bus turning up at the civic bus station every half hour for most of the day, with the destination blind unchanged.
Maybe this was because, in a day before easily programmable electronic destination screens, able to provide hundreds of destinations, it was easier to put something generic (TOWN SERVICE / CIRCULAR) on the limited number of destinations on a destination blind if the bus moves depots or the route changes its terminus then the simple TOWN SERVICE would still suffice.
Nowadays, I dont remember when I last saw it as a destination. And the number of proper town services (regardless of the place listed on the electronic screen) seems fewer.
It could be personal perception - because Ive moved from a town in a county that had lots of towns to a city?
If could also be that its no longer economical to run short services no more breadvans on equally tiny services?
Changes in economics mean that whilst many operators offer good value regional tickets, short distance tickets are much worse value (esp compared to historical ones)- you cant go three stops for the price of a Mars Bar nowadays so few fare paying adults are going to be interested in paying over a quid for a ticket on a service that only goes round the block.
It could be because a number of local routes have become combined into longer distance services (e.g. Im from Fife many of the local routes in Leven/ Glenrothes/ St Andrews/ Dunfermline have been amalgamated into through services to Kirkcaldy/ Dundee/ Ferrytoll etc partly for operational convenience, partly to link people to places like hospitals that require people to move outside their own conurbation).
Populations and boundaries change. 1980s Mussleburgh was a town in East Lothian with a stand-alone town service - the Eastern Scottish 138 every half hour (terminating by looping round the electricity pylon at Stoneybank ah, nostalgia ). Modern Mussleburgh is more of a suburb of Edinburgh and the routes to Stoneybank/ Wallyford etc are served by services to/from Edinburgh. They days when you could work, rest and play in a small town are maybe over for most people, so buses similarly wander over the border(s).
In this neck of the woods, there used to be local services for local people in places like Dronfield, Chapletown and Stocksbridge almost all of them are now merged into through services to Sheffield (or Chesterfield, Barnsley etc).
So, three questions:
Maybe this was because, in a day before easily programmable electronic destination screens, able to provide hundreds of destinations, it was easier to put something generic (TOWN SERVICE / CIRCULAR) on the limited number of destinations on a destination blind if the bus moves depots or the route changes its terminus then the simple TOWN SERVICE would still suffice.
Nowadays, I dont remember when I last saw it as a destination. And the number of proper town services (regardless of the place listed on the electronic screen) seems fewer.
It could be personal perception - because Ive moved from a town in a county that had lots of towns to a city?
If could also be that its no longer economical to run short services no more breadvans on equally tiny services?
Changes in economics mean that whilst many operators offer good value regional tickets, short distance tickets are much worse value (esp compared to historical ones)- you cant go three stops for the price of a Mars Bar nowadays so few fare paying adults are going to be interested in paying over a quid for a ticket on a service that only goes round the block.
It could be because a number of local routes have become combined into longer distance services (e.g. Im from Fife many of the local routes in Leven/ Glenrothes/ St Andrews/ Dunfermline have been amalgamated into through services to Kirkcaldy/ Dundee/ Ferrytoll etc partly for operational convenience, partly to link people to places like hospitals that require people to move outside their own conurbation).
Populations and boundaries change. 1980s Mussleburgh was a town in East Lothian with a stand-alone town service - the Eastern Scottish 138 every half hour (terminating by looping round the electricity pylon at Stoneybank ah, nostalgia ). Modern Mussleburgh is more of a suburb of Edinburgh and the routes to Stoneybank/ Wallyford etc are served by services to/from Edinburgh. They days when you could work, rest and play in a small town are maybe over for most people, so buses similarly wander over the border(s).
In this neck of the woods, there used to be local services for local people in places like Dronfield, Chapletown and Stocksbridge almost all of them are now merged into through services to Sheffield (or Chesterfield, Barnsley etc).
So, three questions:
- Do any services still just show TOWN SERVICE on destination blinds/screens?
- Where is the smallest place to retain a dedicated commercial town service in 2014 (for arguments sake - a route that doesnt leave the boundaries of the town/village, runs at least every hour or two - ignoring routes sponsored by local supermarkets to drag shoppers to their store)?
- Where is the biggest place to not have/never have had any bus service that stays within its boundaries?
