Buses in Bristol
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Buses are the main form of public transport in
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, England. Most bus services are operated by
First West of England First West of EnglandCompanies House extract company no 25088
...
. Other companies offering services include
Abus ABUS August Bremicker Söhne KG, commonly known as ABUS, is a German manufacturer of preventative security technology based in Wetter, North Rhine-Westphalia. Its name is an acronym of its original name, August Bremicker und Söhne ("August Bre ...
, Citistar,
The Big Lemon The Big Lemon is a bus and coach operator in Brighton, East Sussex, Bristol and Bath. It is registered as a Community Interest Company. History The Big Lemon was founded by Tom Druitt in 2007. After gaining an operator licence, the firs ...
, Transpora Bus,
Stagecoach West Stagecoach West is the trading name of Cheltenham & Gloucester Omnibus Company Limited, a bus operator providing services in Gloucestershire, Bristol, Swindon, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, North Somerset and Herefordshire, in the West of England. ...
and
Newport Bus Newport Bus (the operating name of Newport Transport Limited) is the main provider of bus services in the city of Newport, Wales. A limited company whose shares are wholly owned by Newport City Council, it is one of the few remaining munici ...
.


History

Horse-bus services in Bristol were started in 1887 by the Bristol Tramways & Carriage Company, with a service from the
Victoria Rooms Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
(connecting with the trams) to
Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...
. The horse-buses were replaced by motor buses from 1906, first on a service from the
city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
to Clifton.Hulin, p.2 From 1887 to 1986, Bristol Tramways (renamed Bristol Omnibus Company in 1957) had an almost complete monopoly of bus services in and from Bristol. The exceptions were in the 1920s, when
Greyhound Motors Greyhound Motors, later known as Bristol Greyhound, was an English bus and coach company based in Bristol. History Greyhound Motors was formed in February 1921 by Sydney Tom Toogood to operate motor buses in Bristol. In February 1925, it comm ...
provided competition until taken over by Bristol Tramways in 1928; a few small independent operators, the last of which, the Dundry Pioneer, was acquired in 1950; and
Red & White Services Red & White Services was a bus company operating in south east Wales and Gloucestershire, England between 1929 and 1978. Red & White evolved into Red & White United Transport Ltd, formed in 1937, which owned bus and road freight companies in ...
, which started joint services with Bristol Omnibus Company to South Wales when the
Severn Bridge The Severn Bridge ( cy, Pont Hafren) is a motorway suspension bridge that spans the River Severn between South Gloucestershire in England and Monmouthshire in South East Wales. It is the original Severn road crossing between England and Wale ...
opened in 1966. Between 1937 and 1978 Bristol Omnibus Company was the operating partner in Bristol Joint Service (BJS) a joint undertaking with
Bristol Corporation Bristol City Council, formerly known as The Bristol Corporation (and colloquially as "The Corporation"), is the local government authority governing the city of Bristol, England. Following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, successive royal c ...
which controlled bus services within the city (and initially also its trams). The company owned and operated the buses, and shared revenues with the Corporation. BJS included services to suburbs outside the city limits (e.g.
Filton Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church d ...
,
Patchway Patchway is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, situated north-north west of central Bristol. The town has become an overflow settlement for Bristol and is contiguous with Bristol's urban area, along with the nearby towns of Filton and Bra ...
, Staple Hill and Kingswood). Bus services expanded steadily between the wars. Between 1938 and 1941 Bristol's tramways were abandoned, and buses replaced the tram routes. Bristol Tramways was state-owned from 1948. Expansion of services continued, to serve the new estates built on the edges of the city. But from 1954 passenger numbers started to decline. Most services started from the Centre, Prince Street or Old Market, although the tram replacement services started between 1938 and 1941 were mostly cross-city routes. In 1958 routes were linked, so that almost all routes ran across the city. This was to reduce congestion caused by standing buses in the central area, and also to provide better access to the new
Broadmead Broadmead is a street in the Bristol city centre, central area of Bristol, England, which has given its name to the principal shopping district of the city. It is part of Bristol Shopping Quarter. History The name of the street was first rec ...
shopping area. In 1969 the company, now known as Bristol Omnibus Company, was transferred to the National Bus Company. By 1973, growing congestion was again creating delays and unreliable timing on the long cross-city routes, and some services were again split. In 1978 the end of Bristol Joint Services enabled city services to be linked with routes in the eastern suburbs which were well outside the city boundaries. In 1981, limited stop express services were started to the outer suburbs, initially under the Clipper brand. Also in 1981 the NBC's Market Analysis Project triggered more changes, with the abandonment of some long-established routes. In 1980 the Thatcher government embarked on a programme of
privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
and
deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...
of bus services. In preparation the company was split into two operating units in 1983: the city services, which in 1985 adopted the brand
Bristol City Line Bristol City Line was a British shipping line based in Bristol, England that traded from 1704 until 1974. From 1760 Bristol City Line also built ships. The company's fleet was distinguished with the name of each ship ending in "City", and named ...
, and the country services, which in 1986 became a separate company,
Badgerline Badgerline was a bus operator in and around Bristol from 1985 until 2003. Its headquarters were in Weston-super-Mare. Initially a part of the Bristol Omnibus Company, it was privatised in September 1986 and sold to Badgerline Holdings in a mana ...
Limited. Badgerline was sold to its management in 1986, and the original company was sold in 1987 to , who kept the City Line brand. Deregulation meant that Badgerline was able to begin bus services within the city, in competition with City Line. However, in 1988 Midland Red West was itself acquired by Badgerline, so that Bristol's bus services were again controlled by a single company. In 1995 Badgerline merged with
GRT Group :''This article describes the bus group, for the Grampian Regional Transport bus company and successors/predecessors, see First Aberdeen'' GRT Group was a bus operating company in the United Kingdom from 1989 until 1995. It was formed when Gram ...
to become
FirstBus FirstGroup plc is a British Multinational corporation, multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Cribbs Causeway Cribbs Causeway is both a road in South Gloucestershire, England, running north of the city of Bristol, and the adjacent area which is notable for its out-of-town shopping and leisure facilities. The retail and leisure complex takes its name fr ...
, where a new bus station was built. A few small independent operators have competed with Badgerline, City Line and FirstGroup since deregulation. Bugler Coaches ran a few tendered local services from 1988.
Abus ABUS August Bremicker Söhne KG, commonly known as ABUS, is a German manufacturer of preventative security technology based in Wetter, North Rhine-Westphalia. Its name is an acronym of its original name, August Bremicker und Söhne ("August Bre ...
began with a competing service to
Keynsham Keynsham ( ) is a town and civil parish located between Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. It has a population of 16,000. It was listed in the Domesday Book as ''Cainesham'' (as it is pronounced), which is believed to mean the home of Sai ...
in 1991.
South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach Company Ltd was a bus and coach operator operating school bus services under contract to Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire Council and coach services under contract to Megabus. History South Glouces ...
built up a small network of local services from 1997 until it was taken over in 2007 by
Wessex Bus Wessex Bus was a bus operator in the West of England that operated from June 2007 until September 2018. History In June 2007 the bus side of the South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach company was purchased by Rotala subsidiary Flights Hallmark ...
. However, the independents have been unable to shake the dominance of FirstGroup. Long distance coach services are provided from Bristol by
National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
and
Megabus Megabus may refer to: *Megabus (Europe), a low-cost coach service with services in Europe owned by ComfortDelGro. *Megabus (North America) Megabus, branded as megabus.com, is an intercity bus service of Coach USA/ Coach Canada operating in the ...
. Previously
Bakers Dolphin Bakers Dolphin is the trading name of Baker's Coaches, a bus and coach company based in Weston-super-Mare. History In 1889, Charles Baker established a business with a pony chair for hire in Weston-super-Mare. The business expanded and in the ...
operated a service to London. Buses were first operated in Bristol in 1887 by the Bristol Tramways & Carriage Company, a company which still operates, after several changes of name, as First Somerset & Avon. The company had an almost complete monopoly of bus services in the city until
deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...
in 1986. Since then there has been a variety of operators.


Bus routes

The four councils in the
Greater Bristol Greater Bristol is a term used for the conurbation which contains and surrounds the city of Bristol in the South West of England. There is no official "Greater Bristol" authority, but the term is sometimes used by local, regional and national au ...
area are working to improve bus transport on ten corridors, designated the Greater Bristol Bus Network. The corridors are due for completion by 2012. MetroBus is a network of three express bus routes which serves many areas of Bristol. The T1 connects Bristol to
Thornbury Thornbury may refer to: Places ;Australia *Thornbury, Victoria * Thornbury railway station, Melbourne ;Canada * Thornbury, Ontario ;England *Thornbury, Devon * Thornbury, Herefordshire *Thornbury, Gloucestershire **Thornbury Castle **Thornbury (UK ...
.


Coach services

The main operator of long distance coach services from Bristol is
National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
, departing from
Bristol bus station Bristol Bus and Coach Station serves the city of Bristol in the west of England. It is situated on Marlborough Street, near the Broadmead shopping area. The original bus station and onsite depot were opened in 1958 by the Bristol Omnibus Comp ...
. But
Megabus Megabus may refer to: *Megabus (Europe), a low-cost coach service with services in Europe owned by ComfortDelGro. *Megabus (North America) Megabus, branded as megabus.com, is an intercity bus service of Coach USA/ Coach Canada operating in the ...
also operate long distance services. Special services operate to sporting venues such as
Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team play ...
and
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
for major sporting events. Megabus operates four services that serve Bristol, they stop opposite the
Colston Hall Bristol Beacon, previously known as Colston Hall, is a concert hall and Grade II listed building on Colston Street, Bristol, England. It is owned by Bristol City Council. Since 2011, management of the hall has been the direct responsibility of ...
,
City Centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
and at
University of West England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...
Frenchay. They provide direct services to and from London, The South West, South Wales and The Midlands. Tickets are also available to through destinations such as Paris and Brussels with a change in London.


Night services

Prior to 24 March 2013 there were 6 night buses (N1, N2, N3, N4, N5, N6) running across the Bristol area every Saturday and Sunday morning midnight until 6am operated by
Wessex Bus Wessex Bus was a bus operator in the West of England that operated from June 2007 until September 2018. History In June 2007 the bus side of the South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach company was purchased by Rotala subsidiary Flights Hallmark ...
, this was at a cost of £40,000 a year to Bristol City Council. This agreement was subsequently replaced by Bristol City Council to subsidise First Bristol to run buses 6 nights a week with an initial subsidy of £60,000 with a view to First taking on the services on a commercial basis once they become established. Late night services formerly ran on the following routes. 43 City Centre to Kingswood (24/7) 48 City Centre to Downend (24/7) 49 City Centre to Staple Hill (24/7) 70 UWE Frenchay to City Centre (24/7) 75/76 Cribbs Causeway to Hengrove (24/7) Night services were withdrawn during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.


Park and ride

Currently there are four
park & ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system (rap ...
services operating in Bristol these are, to the
city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
from the A4 Portway, A4 Bath Road and
Long Ashton Long Ashton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It falls within the unitary authority of North Somerset and is one of a number of large villages just outside the boundary of city of Bristol urban area. The parish has a population ...
park & ride car parks. The sites are operational all year round from Monday to Saturday. *Brislington P&R: Brislington Park & Ride to City Centre *Portway P&R: Portway Park & Ride to City Centre *m2: Long Ashton Park & Ride to City Centre Two smaller Park & Ride sites are served by local bus services rather than a dedicated P&R bus service. These sites are: *Lyde Green (served by 49, 86, 462, m3/m3x) *
Yate Yate is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England. It lies just to the southwest of the Cotswolds, Cotswold Hills and is northeast of Bristol city centre and from the centre of Bath, Somerset, Bath, with regular rail services ...
(served by 86, 202, Y1, Y3, Y4, Y6) There have also been plans from Bristol City Council to build a fourth park and ride site just off the M32 near Stapleton, although no development has started. The 903 has been renumbered and re-routed as number m2 metrobus.


Airport services

The Airport Flyer (A1) operates a frequent service on one route from
Bristol bus station Bristol Bus and Coach Station serves the city of Bristol in the west of England. It is situated on Marlborough Street, near the Broadmead shopping area. The original bus station and onsite depot were opened in 1958 by the Bristol Omnibus Comp ...
,
Bristol city centre Bristol City Centre is the commercial, cultural and business centre of Bristol, England. It is the area north of the New Cut of the River Avon, bounded by Clifton Wood and Clifton to the north-west, Kingsdown and Cotham to the north, and S ...
and Temple Meads station to
Bristol Airport Bristol Airport , at Lulsgate Bottom, on the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills, in North Somerset, is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England, and the surrounding area. It is southwest of Bristol city centre. Built on ...
. The A2 no longer runs from Bristol but has in part replaced the withdrawn 121, running from
Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmixon ...
, through
Nailsea Nailsea is a town in Somerset, England, southwest of Bristol, and northeast of Weston-super-Mare. The nearest village is Backwell, which lies south of Nailsea on the opposite side of the Bristol to Exeter railway line. Nailsea had a populatio ...
and to the airport. The above services are operated by respectively. The A4 runs from
Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...
to the airport and is operated by
Bath Bus Company The Bath Bus Company is a bus operator in the United Kingdom which runs open top tours in Bath, Bristol and Cardiff, and the 'Bristol Air Decker' service between Bath and Bristol Airport. The company has been a subsidiary of the French RATP ...
using a mixture of three types of double decker. In October 2018, the A1 service was re-routed along the guided busway in South Bristol. The previous route through Bedminster is operated by a new service A2 branded as ''Air Connect'' which runs every 30 minutes. The A2 uses the bus stops on The Haymarket as its start/terminus points in the city instead of the bus station.First Bus website: Air Connect
/ref>


Greater Bristol Bus Network (GBBN)

The Greater Bristol Bus Network (GBBN) also known as showcase bus routes are being developed by First in partnership with local government, to improve services with new buses, real time passenger information systems and traffic management measures.


Bristol bus station

The Bristol bus station is at Marlborough Street, near the
Broadmead Broadmead is a street in the Bristol city centre, central area of Bristol, England, which has given its name to the principal shopping district of the city. It is part of Bristol Shopping Quarter. History The name of the street was first rec ...
shopping area. It was opened in 1958, and was redeveloped in 2006. The station is managed by . There are 19 bays. The station has a First Travel shop, National Express shop, National Express information desk, a café, shop, security office and toilets. The bus station is used by the Bristol Airport Flyer service to the airport, most First Somerset & Avon express (X) and country services, and
Stagecoach South West Stagecoach South West is a bus operator providing services in Devon and East Cornwall along with coach services to Bristol. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach. History Devon General The Devon General Omnibus and Touring Company commenced operat ...
services to
Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...
,
Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
and
Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...
. National Express services, as well as some services by other operators to destinations such as Yate and Cheddar, also use the station.


See also

*
Public transport in Bristol The majority of public transport users in the Bristol Urban Area are transported by bus, although rail has experienced growth and does play an important part, particularly in peak hours. There were plans for a light rail system, however this has n ...
*
MetroBus (Bristol) MetroBus (stylised as metrobus) is a bus rapid transit system in Bristol, England, created as a joint project between Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils. The first route, service m3, began operations on 29 May 2018, follo ...


References


Sources

*Hulin, P (1974) ''Bristol's Buses'' Published by the author *Curtis, C and Walker, M (2007) ''Bristol Omnibus Services: The Green Years'' Millstream Books


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buses In Bristol Bus transport in Bristol Bus transport in England