Good point about the upper deck, it's something I'd not considered when I read about it.
EDI/Waverley Bridge/EDI uses double deckers on their shuttle (Airlink 100) and so did DUB to Dublin city centre when we used them a few years ago. Other airports such as GLA and CWL use single-deckers. The A4 Bath Air Decker between BRS and Bath uses double-deckers but that's not usually rammed with passengers unlike the A1 Flyer at peak times.
 
A3 Weston Flyer

The A3 Weston Flyer has brand new vehicles, 67 reg. They are liveried along the lines of the A1 Bristol Flyer buses which are in the process of being withdrawn. The new A1 double deckers that should be commencing in the next week or so have liveries generally lighter in shade than the A3 and old versions of A1 if the picture of the new A1s on the airport website is anything to go by.
 
New look airport buses join the fleet

The first of a fleet of new look larger double decker buses was unveiled at Bristol Airport this week. The vehicle forms part of a £3 million makeover which will see 12 new buses operating the Bristol Airport Flyer service from the middle of February doubling the capacity on this exceptionally popular transport link between the City Centre and the Airport.

31012018-flyerbus-656x193.ashx

The new buses will also have the capability of taking advantage of the Metrobus route guided busway when this opens later in the year.

The Flyer links the Airport to Bristol Temple Meads, Marlborough Street Bus Station and other city centre locations. The service is operated on behalf of Bristol Airport by First West of England and runs every 10 minutes at peak times.

Tickets for travel, including onward rail connections, can be booked in advance online or using the Fast Ticket machine at the Airport. The new vehicles will be equipped with the latest technology to allow contactless payments via debit/credit cards, the First Bus M-Ticket app or via Apple Pay.

The new vehicles are wheelchair and baby buggy accessible, with special racks on the lower deck to stow luggage.

Each bus features leather seats and wood-effect flooring, with some seats enjoying a table location as well as free WiFi access and USB charging points. The new vehicles will also deliver improvements in fuel efficiency and emission reductions as they are compliant with Euro 6 standards.

James Freeman, Managing Director, First West of England said:

“We are so pleased that our work with Bristol Airport has evolved these splendid new buses, which deliver much-needed extra capacity to the Flyer service. We are sure that customers will appreciate the extra seats, the extra space and the wonderful panoramic views of the city from the upper deck on the way into town especially! These are the most luxuriously-appointed buses in the West of England.”

Tom Hack, Head of Commercial at Bristol Airport, said:

“We expect in excess of around 1 million passengers to use the Flyer in 2018, and around 12% per cent of all passengers now choose the service.

“The introduction of the larger, double decker buses on the route shows our commitment to significantly improve public transports links to the Airport providing enhanced public transport services to passengers and staff."

The new A1 Bristol Flyer double-deckers (67 reg) took to the streets today, replacing the unliveried double deckers (17 reg) that were used as a temporary measure. I was in the central area this afternoon and saw several of the new vehicles in service, although I saw one of the unliveried double deckers operating as well. I presume the size of the fleet is the same as with the single deckers that they are replacing (12 buses) because the frequency remains the same. It might be that not all the new buses are available yet, hence the unliveried one in the 'team' today.

Today's West Country edition of the Metro contained a wrap-around advertisement for the service, consisting of four fullsize pages. The A3 Weston Flyer was included in the advertisement. It recently took possession of brand new liveried single decker buses.

There has been criticism in this thread that the stand-in double-deckers had insufficient storage space for suitcases. I looked through the window of one of the new buses at the bus station today and it is fitted with ample luggage storage space on the lower deck, similar to that of the previous single decker fleet.
 
South West Falcon

I noted a large advertising hoarding today on the main entrance road to the airport publicising this service. I hope this doesn't mean it's in need of a boost. Only a few weeks ago there was a newspaper article saying how well it was doing - the performance had exceeded Stagecoach's projections for the route.

19 return journeys each day of the week between Plymouth, Exeter, Taunton, BRS and Bristol is a fair old frequency for such large vehicles. Whenever I've been at the airport it always seems well patronised by those arriving and departing.
 
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/updates-main-road-bristol-airport-1368983

A38 closed in both directions following serious road traffic accident outside the Fox & Goose on Barrow Hill this afternoon.

I suppose the alternative from the city is via the A370 and Brockley Combe. Otherwise it's the A37 to just before Pensford then through the villages of Chew Magna, Winford and Felton, unless anyone wants to try the hilltop roads over Dundry.
 
Re my previous post, the airport has this message on its website.

The A38 is closed in both directions at Barrow tanks due to a traffic collision. The A1 Flyer bus service is operating via Congesbury. Please allow extra time for your journey when travelling to the airport this evening.

Via Congresbuty is a long way around. Perhaps the A1 double-deckers can't get up Brockley Combe. The single-decker A3 Weston Flyers certainly can as they route that way.
 
More than likely got the message from the evening post. Printed but not checked.
I could quite believe going the long way round as many low branches in brockley combe as they would not be trimmed as not a normal decker route.
 
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-metrobus-delayed-again-people-1378454

The MetroBus farce lumbers on. The first route to be opened is now likely to be the one from North Bristol Fringe to the city centre but even with that there is no definite date - not for at least a month seems the best estimate.

The first route to open was supposed to be the one from Temple Meads to Ashton which the A1 Airport Flyer service is due to use. That should have opened last November, was postponed to early in 2018 then given an Easter opening.

All that those who are responsible will say now is that it won't open before the North Bristol Fringe-city route opens. So that could be any time this year then, or next year or, with any luck, by 2030.

It seems the ticket machines are still problematical and there is now some sort of issue with the Ashton Swing Bridge. Presumably all MetroBus routes will use the same type of ticket machine so why aren't they a problem on the North Bristol Fringe route which is reportedly delayed only because of ongoing works on the Bromley Heath Viaduct.

You couldn't make it up but sadly, with the local authorities that serve the Bristol region, you don't have to.
 
On one of the local news channel last week,they did a summary of how close to opening of the metro links. One route they could not say and the guy they intervied was talking with a smirk on his face as he thought it was funny he could not give any dates. Also one of the metro routes has no operator to run a route and I cant remember which one. And yet another shambles to go with all other things in Bristol..
 
On one of the local news channel last week,they did a summary of how close to opening of the metro links. One route they could not say and the guy they intervied was talking with a smirk on his face as he thought it was funny he could not give any dates. Also one of the metro routes has no operator to run a route and I cant remember which one. And yet another shambles to go with all other things in Bristol..
I think First are going to operate two of the routes including the TM-Ashton route that the A1 Flyer will also use (operated by First under contract to the airport of course). They might have to pay a subsidy if they can't get anyone to operate the third, if indeed an operator has yet to be found.

The Bristol region has suffered from shambolic local governance for as long as I can remember. Goodness knows how the city region is so economically successful in the face of it all. Part of the trouble is the physical 'city' of Bristol having four local authorities responsible for parts of it, and the four local authorities rarely agree on anything of importance. The loss of a tram system is a classic example after Bristol and South Gloucestershire could not agree where the northern terminus should be sited and the then Labour Westminster government withdrew the promised funding as a result.

I await with great interest and not a little cycnicism how the Metro Mayor or whatever he is called will be able to bring these disparate groups together. At least North Somerset has stayed out of this but they can't completely ignore it as it will affect them whether they are in or out.
 
Bristol Temple Meads railway station closed for four days

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/spotlight-easter-2018-bristol-area-signalling-renewal/

Bristol Temple Meads will be closed from Friday 30 March until the early hours of Wednesday 4 April to enable a major signalling renewal to take place. Trains will stop Bristol Parkway, Bath Spa and Weston-super-Mare with replacement buses taking passengers to Temple Meads.

This is bound to impact on the A1 Airport Flyer bus service as many people use it to and from Temple Meads so passengers will have to bear in mind the longer journey times with buses replacing trains for the sections to/from Temple Meads.
 
New A5 service

According to the comprehensive Wrington village website the A2 bus will now continue operating until the 26 May - it was thought it would cease sometime in April.

With the relatively new airport-operated (by First on its behalf) A3 service to Weston-super-Mare now in being, the A2 to Weston which is subsidised by the local authority has been deemed redundant even though it uses a completely different route to Weston than the A3 and serves eight villages in so doing. Ironically, the A3 route once it reaches the bottom of Brockley Combe is along the A370 which is already served by First's frequent X1 and X2 double-decker buses (every 15 minutes) between Bristol and Weston.

It was thought that the A2 would be replaced by a community bus that would link the airport with a number of local villages - as the route 97 mini bus currently does between the airport, Felton and Winford - but it now seems that Carmel Coaches will operate a commercial service (not sure if it will be subsidised by the local authority) instead as route A5, although it won't travel as far as Weston.
 
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/local-news/plans-long-awaited-bypass-gridlocked-1413225

New M5 junction

Moves to create a new junction (21A) with the M5 just to the west of the North Somerset village of Banwell have been taken a stage further. A huge new housing development is proposed in the area which will also include a long-awaited bypass for Banwell.

Taking the new motorway junction and the bypass together ought to mean a quicker journey for BRS travellers coming from the south-west, as they will reach the A38 at Churchill which is only about five miles from the airport instead of the current 15 miles along the speed-restricted A38 from junction 22 at East Brent.

Two other motorway new junctions are proposed for the Bristol area: one from the M49 giving direct access into Severnside which has been given the go-ahead and it was reported earlier this year that preparatory work was about to start, and another from the M4 to the east of the current M4/M32 junction which will ease access to much of the north-eastern part of the Bristol conurbation including the Bristol and Bath Science Park. Although neither of the last two will directly impact BRS, they will at least ease travel and make it more likely for companies to set up or expand.

Something has to be done before the entire city region grinds to a halt under the weight of traffic. There are fears that scrapping Severn Bridge tolls will only add to the congestion.
 
I watched the bus from Weston super mare to the airport route about 8oclock ish. The bus was a new single decker and the pax loading was well over half full. Do we know if this is normal up take on each rotation,or perhaps the time of day.
 
Just caught last part of report. Bristol parkway will not get a metro service for quite some time due to the parkway infistructure. Something else you could make up. Unbeleaveable.
 
I watched the bus from Weston super mare to the airport route about 8oclock ish. The bus was a new single decker and the pax loading was well over half full. Do we know if this is normal up take on each rotation,or perhaps the time of day.
The liveried A3 Weston Flyer (single-decker) was provided with new vehicles a couple of months ago around the time the new liveried A1 Bristol Flyer double-deckers came into service. Whenever I've seen the A3 at either Weston, the airport or en route on the A370 the loading has rarely been as hgh as that.

The A2 First Group service between the airport and Weston (different route to the A3) is due to cease at the end of next month. It is reportedly being replaced by a new commercial service run by Carmel (route A5) but won't go as far as Weston from the airport. It will operate mainly hourly and begin and end at Winford from where it will call at the airport before using the current A2 route to Winscombe. However, some of the journeys will take a different route from Lower Langford via Congresbury to Yatton railway station.

This is the timetable for the A5 as set out on the Wrington village website.

https://wringtonsomerset.org.uk/topical/newsextra/2018/a5bustimes.html

Just caught last part of report. Bristol parkway will not get a metro service for quite some time due to the parkway infistructure. Something else you could make up. Unbeleaveable.

This is the latest act in this long-running farce that we've been discussing in the BRS Random thread. As with the Ashton-Vale section of the M2 route, Parkway was shown as part of the route map for the the first three Metrobus routes on the M3 route which is supposedly opening at the end of next month.

The South Gloucestershire councillor (a former bus driver, incidentally) responsible for transport in that unitary authority came up with the same explanation as that given for the missing link of the M2, ie the section via Parkway was not something that would be done in the first instance and he said the original maps showed a dotted line along the Parkway sector, something the Radio Bristol interviewer disputed when she spoke to him this morning.

With the 'missing' Ashton Vale-Hengrove link the explanation was that it was never intended to be operated until sufficient houses are built along its route to make it viable. With Parkway, the Metrobuses will have to enter via the rear of the station and currently there is insufficient room. Until Network Rail carries out the necessary work - it is suggested later this year - Parkway will not be served by the M3 Metrobuses despite, apparently, a platform already constructed there for it. In the future it's intended to link Parkway with Cribbs Causeway by Metrobus but those buses will use the front of the station. There is already a frequent bus service between Parkway and Cribbs with at least two routes operating. The front of the station sees lots of buses so why the Metrobuses can't use the front as a temporary measure I have no idea. The road under the bridge outside the station is already used by city double-deckers so that would not be a bar.
 
More metro news. They have spent 290million on what they have built up to now.On the news there is routes wiped off the plans and with these routes was how they got government funding. With them routes on plans it would cost 290 million. So with these routes missing that has cost 290 million. Questions being asked. 1 route that is missing altogeather is the route to Bristol parkway.
 
More metro news. They have spent 290million on what they have built up to now.On the news there is routes wiped off the plans and with these routes was how they got government funding. With them routes on plans it would cost 290 million. So with these routes missing that has cost 290 million. Questions being asked. 1 route that is missing altogeather is the route to Bristol parkway.

I think you might be referring to the local news item that quoted Lib Dem city councillor Tim Kent who used to be the city transport spokesman. I am making no party political point because I have no party allegiance and have a healthy contempt for politicians of all colours, but Mr Kent was not the greatest exponent of what a successful local transport leader should be when he was in office.

The snag with party politics is that it's often difficult to know whether a politician is making genuine points or party political ones.

That the Metrobus saga is now a fiasco is difficult for anyone to rebut although those involved have tried, but whether it would have led to funding not being provided by government had they been able to see into the future I don't know. Many in the Bristol area didn't and don't want Metrobus; they wanted and want a tram system.

In the early years of this century the Bristol region was about to get a tram system until pathetic, parochial wrangling between the city council and South Goucestershire council as to where the nothern terminus should be situated led to the government withdrawing the allocated funding. The quicker Bristol gets one council for the unbroken physical city instead of the four at present the quicker matters of importance will be achieved. The new West of England Combined Authority is not the answer as it's merely another layer superimposed on existing layers of local government, not a replacement.

With both Bristol City council and North Somerset council (thanks to a £600,000 grant from the airport to the latter) now looking into how best the airport can be linked with the city, it can only be hoped that conflicting solutions are not put forward as that will destroy any chance of seeing central funding as we saw with the tram.
 
Weston-super-Mare

The Bristol Post is reporting severe congestion with traffic leaving Weston this evening. It's put down to a road traffic accident on the M5 and the huge volume of visitors to the town today. The A3 Weston Flyer is seriously delayed.

The Post reports one family trying to get home to Swindon having only reached the outskirts of Weston at Worle at 2130 having left the seafront end at 1800.
 

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9 trips in 9 days done 70 miles walked and over 23-00 photos taken with a large number taken at 20mph or above. Heavy rain on 1 day only
5 trips done and 45 miles walked,. Also the RAF has had 4 F35B Lightning follow me yesterday and today....
My plans got altered slightly as one of the minibus companies had to cancel 3 trips and refunded me but will be getting nice discount when I rebook them.
wondering why on my "holidays" I choose to get up 2 hours earlier than when going to work. 6 trips in 6 days soon coming up with 3 more days to sort out

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