Ways to improve the First Glasgow Network

[PaulMc7]

Yes but you can't legislate for every issue.

Surely with this consistent issue, have the TC not been dragging FG up in front of them?

Highly doubt it tbh. Would have heard something surely. When they first started in November 2012 they were pretty reliable it only seems to have been the last 2 years where they've got very inconsistent. The 1C is usually on time with the exception of peaks which is why I'm glad it's easy for me to get that. There's other buses I've seen mentioned that are unreliable not all of them I've used a lot but the 3 and 6 in particular near me are generally quite bad but that's probably route length more than anything. Anything over 2 hours generally won't result in good timekeeping especially with the city centre and main roads the way they are

 

[Arriva Fan]

When the 1/1A/1B/1C/1D/1E terminate in Helensburgh, Drumchapel or Clydebank they should return to Glasgow via Expressway as Service 1.

There's no point to all the variations in that direction and it would hugely simplify the timetables and 'what Bus to get to Glasgow'.

 

[PaulMc7]

When the 1/1A/1B/1C/1D/1E terminate in Helensburgh, Drumchapel or Clydebank they should return to Glasgow via Expressway as Service 1.

There's no point to all the variations in that direction and it would hugely simplify the timetables and 'what Bus to get to Glasgow'.

The 1 and 1A have parts of the route between Alexandria and Balloch that are different and again between Dumbarton town centre and the A82 so it needs the variant. The 1B goes with the 1 along Glasgow Road and the 1A goes through Bellsmyre. It would work with the 1C/1D though

 

[tbtc]

When the 1/1A/1B/1C/1D/1E terminate in Helensburgh, Drumchapel or Clydebank they should return to Glasgow via Expressway as Service 1.

There's no point to all the variations in that direction and it would hugely simplify the timetables and 'what Bus to get to Glasgow'.

The 1 and 1A have parts of the route between Alexandria and Balloch that are different and again between Dumbarton town centre and the A82 so it needs the variant. The 1B goes with the 1 along Glasgow Road and the 1A goes through Bellsmyre. It would work with the 1C/1D though

I'd agree with using one service number for all eastbound journeys (once beyond the Bellsmyre area, as pointed out above) - it'd make things simpler for passengers - people boarding at Clydebank/Partick don't care where the bus has come *from* - just where the bus is going *to* - there are a few examples of operators doing this (e.g. the long running Mainline/First 97/98* corridor in Sheffield had two northern termini and two southern termini for many years - for a period the routes ran showing "97" for Totley and "98" for Totley Brook regardless of which starting point the journey had - and vice versa northbound - the "Mainline" through Burnley was similar - the 28/29 in Dundee used to show just one number eastbound (where there's one simple route/termini in Douglas).

Maybe the same could apply for services coming into Glasgow from Lanarkshire too? Maybe First could do the same with services along the A8 into Edinburgh (might attract "city" passengers if they felt that there was one frequent service running every eight minutes instead of several service numbers)?

(* - the 98 used to be the 97A, but the same principle applied)

 

[PaulMc7]

I'd agree with using one service number for all eastbound journeys (once beyond the Bellsmyre area, as pointed out above) - it'd make things simpler for passengers - people boarding at Clydebank/Partick don't care where the bus has come *from* - just where the bus is going *to* - there are a few examples of operators doing this (e.g. the long running Mainline/First 97/98* corridor in Sheffield had two northern termini and two southern termini for many years - for a period the routes ran showing "97" for Totley and "98" for Totley Brook regardless of which starting point the journey had - and vice versa northbound - the "Mainline" through Burnley was similar - the 28/29 in Dundee used to show just one number eastbound (where there's one simple route/termini in Douglas).

Maybe the same could apply for services coming into Glasgow from Lanarkshire too? Maybe First could do the same with services along the A8 into Edinburgh (might attract "city" passengers if they felt that there was one frequent service running every eight minutes instead of several service numbers)?

(* - the 98 used to be the 97A, but the same principle applied)

Yeah something like that could definitely work. I'm surprise First don't have a Glasgow to Edinburgh service tbh although I reckon it would need to be pretty good to even compete with Citylink or the train.

Could even work with the likes of the 60/60A towards Easterhouse too. Would definitely be worth a go on services that don't have different routes passed a certain point. The 38s used to just all be 38/38A at peaks towards the south side too although I'm not sure if it's still the case and the 4/4A could do it towards Broomhill and I think there's a couple of journeys that are numbered with the opposite route. 4A from Newton Mearns, 4 from Eaglesham

 

[69036]

The 38 used to be just the 38 in all it's varations meaning it was confusing which one you needed iirc

 

[PaulMc7]

The 38 used to be just the 38 in all it was covarations meaning it was confusing which one you needed iirc

Yeah the 38s in general are still confusing even now although I think it's down to having a 38/38A/38B/38C/38E. If anything I think it should be an A variant at most and the 38B/38C/38E renumbered. Even have it as this:

35-Rouken Glen to Barlanark
36-Rouken Glen to Chryston
37-Rouken Glen to Baillieston

Would make it so much easier for people

 

[smtglasgow]

Personally I don’t like all the a’s and b’s, but I suspect that beyond bus enthusiasts nobody cares. The 38 is a strong brand in itself – it goes back to whenever it replaced the trams – and the core section from Giffnock to Alexandra Parade has never changed. It’s got that impressive 5 min frequency as well which is rare enough nowadays. Only downside is having to check the destination. I occasionally get it to just beyond Eastwood Toll and I’ve ended up in Wood Farm before now but that’s down to me bumbling on without looking.

 

[PaulMc7]

Personally I don’t like all the a’s and b’s, but I suspect that beyond bus enthusiasts nobody cares. The 38 is a strong brand in itself – it goes back to whenever it replaced the trams – and the core section from Giffnock to Alexandra Parade has never changed. It’s got that impressive 5 min frequency as well which is rare enough nowadays. Only downside is having to check the destination. I occasionally get it to just beyond Eastwood Toll and I’ve ended up in Wood Farm before now but that’s down to me bumbling on without looking.

Yeah I think a lot of people have probably done that tbh because there's usually 3 or 4 38s together most of the day

 

[PaulMc7]

Can anyone think of any renumbering etc that could be done to clean up the network or even changes to route etc that would simplify anything?

I'm surprised that the 57/57A were never split like the 10 was as it could have been made into a 85/86 to Balornock East/Auchinairn and then Springburn would have the 85,86,87,88,89,90 through it and then the M3 and 8 as other services

 

[PaulMc7]

A lot has happened with Covid etc since this thread has last been used and I was having a small think about what could be done going forward to keep in line with the original topic.

Personally, merging shorter routes and dropping frequency in order to save some buses is definitely something that could be used as a money saver. I also feel like creating the most efficient network possible is pretty key. Getting more out of each mile a bus does seems vital.

An example of merging I thought of was the 31 with the 64 and running Carmunnock to Carmyle. Cuts a set of recovery time and would work for a route as they operate at Osborne St anyway

I do think it's tougher to merge due to city centre congestion in particular but that could possibly be helped with less buses on the road. The other option to merge services I see is having something like Simplicity occur again and shake everything up but keep the branded buses the same. Been 7 years since Simplicity now too