Working in collaboration with Dorset Council, First Bus South will continue to run the Route 3 bus service for passengers in Westham and Southill.
First South originally trialled the Number 3 service from June this year, creating a route that served residents in the Southill area. Despite best efforts by all involved, the route didn’t get the patronage required make it commercially viable. Based on previous data, passenger numbers were expected to fall further, with a significant drop through the winter.
To ensure the service can run over the winter, Dorset Council has agreed to financially support the route until April 2024. At this point, First Bus South hope to continue the service through the more profitable summer months without Council subsidy.
The Route 3 starts and finishes at Weymouth King’s Statue via Westham and Southill and return. It will continue to run to its current timetable: Mondays to Fridays from 9.30am to 2.20pm.
Cllr Ray Bryan, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said:
“I’d like to thank everyone who has used and campaigned for this service, especially Weymouth councillors Tony Ferrari and Louie O’Leary, who have been strong supporters of the number 3 bus since its reintroduction was proposed.
“It’s important for all councils to strike a balance between responsible use of public funds and ensuring that communities can access vital services, and we want to give the bus route the best chance of long-term success.
“By keeping the service running through the winter months, First South can hopefully build on their passenger numbers as more Westham and Southill residents start to integrate this new transport option into their travel plans. This would benefit the local community and Weymouth businesses, with fewer cars on the roads resulting in better traffic flow and fewer vehicle emissions.
“We’ve also heard of bus pass holders voluntarily paying for part of their journey, which I think demonstrates the strength of support many passengers have for this service.”
First Bus South Director, James Eustace, added:
“We want to support our local communities and we continued to look for solutions to retain the Number 3 service over the winter. Working together with our local authority partners, I’m pleased to say that Dorset Council have agreed to financially support the service during the 2023 winter period. This means the service will continue to run throughout the winter, with the timetable remaining unchanged.
“The service will run until April 2024, and we will then review our plans for the service again for next summer, using real time passenger data to tell us who is using the service and when.”
What about a better bus service in Portland the one you have only serves half of the Island. Pretty poor round Tophill.
Always glad to see support for vital bus services
If residents were fully informed about the bus timetable and route they might use the bus service more fully. When there was a recent introduction of a No 9 service on Chickerell Road, the bus company did not even find it necessary to put a full timetable and route on the bus stop!! No wonder people don’t use these buses.
Recently I found the No 8 bus stop unavailable from the bus stop by the multi storey car park. Nobody thought to inform passengers that the stop had been moved to nearer the “Debenhams'” stop. I asked the bus driver about it, but he said there was no need to put a notice because people didn’t wait there. I rest my case. Never heard such an outrageous answer. This company does not try to involve passengers in its service, it tries to discourage them!
Good to see that Bus service no. 3 is continuing through the winter period but surely First Bus and Dorset Council need to consider extending the hours across the whole day. This would be much fairer to workers and younger people to make use of bus travel to and from work and to cater for school children that may partake in after school activities.
Also why not extend the service or provide another service to include the Granby Industrial Estate? Its unbelievable that this large industrial area is not catered for with a bus service from the Southill/Radipole area. It wouldn’t be that difficult to work out a route that could incorporate both?
I moved to Weymouth 3 years ago from Buckinghamshire, who have an excellent service operated by Arriva, and have to say am very disappointed in the service provided by First Bus.
What about a regular bus service through RURAL VILLAGES in NORTH DORSET?
With our village and neighbouring villages in the Sherborne area expanding with new housing developments the dismal lack of public transport affects both young families, middle aged people and the elderly.
Not everyone has access to 2 cars (some not even one car) so if one family member needs the only car for work then other person may well be stuck at home (possibly with young children) and due to a lack of public transport they are unable to access services, employment opportunities, library services, children’s services as well as meeting with friends or family to socialise.
I can imagine many readers will say why move to a rural area if you don’t have adequate transport? Well a few reasons spring to mind
1) Private rents are often less for the same size property than their town/city equivalent.
2) People may move to support other family members such as elderly/disabled parents who cannot find suitable alternative housing elsewhere.
3) People may wish to live in quieter areas away from the stress and noise of more built up areas.
Our village had a bus service until a couple of years ago when it was taken off apparently due to under use however some residents (who would welcome a bus service) in my village that I have spoken to since my husband and I moved here (thinking there was a bus service) say no consultation process with the villages it served was offered to see if a suitable compromise could be found such as reduced frequency of journeys, smaller buses hence less fuel.
I have recently found out from the council website that there is a request service twice a week one journey to Sturminster Newton and the other to Sherborne BUT it has to be booked 48hrs in advance and you are only allowed 2 hours to do any shopping, attend appointments, meet up with friends for a coffee etc which is not much use if you have reduced mobility.
Why limit a drop off/pick up time of only 2 hours? Surely it would be more practical to allow a 5 or 6hr window which would allow for a mix of shopping, socialisation, medical/dental appointments, take toddlers to playgroup/nursery, visit to the library etc, it would even allow some people to take a paid part time job or volunteer in one of the many charity shops if they have no other transport.
I have recently read that some Ukrainian families living in rural areas (staying with host families in the UK due to the war at home) are seeking relocation to town areas where they can access the above services or employment which would certainly help a lot of businesses such as retail/hospitality who are currently struggling to recruit staff.
One final note if our Government ministers wish people to reduce reliance on cars and make more use of public transport then they need to ensure it is not only available but reliable.