Road Safety Residents Action Group
|
|
On behalf of the RAG, we wish to thank all residents, stakeholders, elected ward councillors and community councillors who took the time to attend the first meeting of this group. For those who were not able to attend but sent forward apologies, thank you.
The meeting was extremely positive and the forward plan is being worked by Mike and Mark and will be communicated soon. Minutes of the meeting can be found here. Mark Ansell from the Community Council will be taking the lead from the CC on this community project - Road Safety - Residents Action Group. You can contact him on: ansells4@btinternet.com |
Bus Service Updates
At the recent bus forums in Stonehaven and Aboyne, the CC raised issues with Stagecoach and Aberdeenshire Council about the quality of bus services on the North and South Deeside roads. The main ones were:-
Stagecoach has agreed to investigate these issues but also advised that there are now 4 newer buses on the 201/202/203 route, with 3 more to come in the next few weeks. This makes 7 out of 8 buses in the fleet, which should help with reliability.
As part of the investigation, Stagecoach has asked for help from the local community, Mike Taylor will act as focal point for this, so please email your issues with buses, of whatever nature, giving Service Number, destination, location, time, date etc to Mike at miketaylor1955@aol.com . He will then collate the information and send it to Stagecoach on a regular basis. In addition, Mike will shortly be drawing up a bus survey, please watch out for this.
Bus timetables will also be updated shortly and will take account of actual running times. Again, this should lead to improved reliability. Note there are 2 different timetables currently on the web – Stagecoach and Traveline Scotland. Make sure you use the former.
Finally, Stagecoach has a website where (most) live bus times can be tracked. It is https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/national/live-bus-information
This is handy for checking before you leave home. In addition, live times can be tracked from bus shelters with the QR code, if you have a smartphone.
- Buses very late or missing altogether
- Buses driving past passengers at bus stops – whether the buses were full or not
Stagecoach has agreed to investigate these issues but also advised that there are now 4 newer buses on the 201/202/203 route, with 3 more to come in the next few weeks. This makes 7 out of 8 buses in the fleet, which should help with reliability.
As part of the investigation, Stagecoach has asked for help from the local community, Mike Taylor will act as focal point for this, so please email your issues with buses, of whatever nature, giving Service Number, destination, location, time, date etc to Mike at miketaylor1955@aol.com . He will then collate the information and send it to Stagecoach on a regular basis. In addition, Mike will shortly be drawing up a bus survey, please watch out for this.
Bus timetables will also be updated shortly and will take account of actual running times. Again, this should lead to improved reliability. Note there are 2 different timetables currently on the web – Stagecoach and Traveline Scotland. Make sure you use the former.
Finally, Stagecoach has a website where (most) live bus times can be tracked. It is https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/national/live-bus-information
This is handy for checking before you leave home. In addition, live times can be tracked from bus shelters with the QR code, if you have a smartphone.
Flagging Down Buses - Stagecoach Advice
The service will stop on a hail and ride basis outside all town/village boundaries where it is adjudged safe to do so by the driver and provided good clear notice is given by anyone intending to board or alight.
My advice to anyone using hail and ride would be to ensure they are in an area of good visibility with bright clothing and clearly signalling, in the hours of darkness a mobile phone screen or torch waved to the driver really does help our staff out greatly.
many thanks
Graeme Leslie
Operations Director
Stagecoach North Scotland
My advice to anyone using hail and ride would be to ensure they are in an area of good visibility with bright clothing and clearly signalling, in the hours of darkness a mobile phone screen or torch waved to the driver really does help our staff out greatly.
many thanks
Graeme Leslie
Operations Director
Stagecoach North Scotland
