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We want bus travel to be the first choice over car use, to help ease traffic congestion and create a greener way of traveling, and helping us reach our carbon neutral goal by 2030.
To help make it easier for people to choose bus travel, new routes and schemes have been introduced.
Find timetables and route maps on the TravelWest website.
The interactive journey planner tool also let you see live departures and total route times.
Vital 126 service returns
An essential bus service linking Weston-super-Mare to Wells is relaunching in the new year after a funding deal was agreed.
We’ve joined forces with Somerset Council to reintroduce the 126 service after it was discontinued in October last year due to low passenger numbers.
Operator First West of England will run the service from Tuesday 2 January after winning a tendering process.
It will operate Monday to Saturday, about every two hours, and connect Wells to Weston-super-Mare via Winscombe, Sandford Banwell, Hutton and Weston Hospital, providing journeys timed for schools and college students.
We’re jointly subsidising the route with Somerset Council, using ring-fenced money from the Bus Service Improvement Plan.
New year revolutions on shopper hopper
People living in Weston-super-Mare will be able to start the new year with a trip to the shops thanks to a new bus service.
The new number 9 service is designed to help people get to the town’s supermarkets and central shopping areas.
It will run Monday to Friday, three times a day between West Wick and the bus interchange at Alexandra Parade.
The route will include Worle retail park, Worle Lidl, Queensway, Lower Kewstoke Road, Church Road, Worlebury, Ashbury Drive, Baytree Road, Aisecome Way retail park, Winterstoke Road retail parks and the town centre.
It is subsidised service though so there is no certainty of future funding. We are hopeful that it will be popular so it can be viable commercially in the future.
Free shuttle bus for hospital patients and staff
Free shuttle buses run between Weston and Bristol hospitals for patients and staff to get around more easily.
The free bus service, funded through Bristol and Weston Hospitals Charity, aims to make life easier for those needing to get to one of the 10 UHBW hospitals.
Locally it runs between Weston General Hospital, Weston train station, and then onto Bristol Royal Infirmary.
For a timetable or to find out more, call 0117 342 6362 or email sustainabletravelandcarparking@uhbw.nhs.uk
Still time to have your say on proposed bus changes in Backwell
Residents, community groups and businesses in Backwell still have time to help shape plans for public transport design improvements in the area.
We have created initial concept designs for renovated bus stops, proposed bus priority measures at Backwell crossroads and a new local transport hub, which includes cycle stands, parcel lockers and electric bike charging points.
The A370 junction in Backwell is a key congestion point so if you use this route regularly, or live in Backwell or Nailsea, or use Backwell Recycling Centre, please get involved in the consultation.
The initial concepts are designed to improve A370 traffic flow for all vehicles and we want to work with residents and businesses to test and develop these proposals together to address the current challenges for all road users.
View proposals and comment online before the consultation closes at 11.59pm on Friday 29 December.
Feedback from the consultation and engagement process will inform additional work to test the feasibility of the ideas and to revise designs before any decision is taken as to whether the plans will be progressed.
Hop aboard on-demand buses
Have you used the innovative on-demand buses in North Somerset yet?
The distinctive bright green WESTlink minibuses run as ‘demand responsive transport’, meaning buses go where they’re needed and without a set timetable or route.
The service launched at the beginning of April and is used to get people to work, shops, the cinema, hospital appointments and train stations for onward travel.
Communities who were without a local service now have the chance to get back on the bus.
Buses run Monday to Saturday, from 7am to 7pm (except public holidays).
The interactive map on the TravelWest website journey planner shows where in North Somerset the service operates.
How to book:
- download the free WESTlink app on your usual app store.
- call 0117 457 8561, charged at local rates
- go online.
Have you applied for your birthday bus pass?
Free bus travel across the area is still available to all North Somerset residents during the whole month of your birthday.
Apply online for unlimited free travel across North Somerset and the West of England in the month your birthday falls in, thanks to this unique initiative.
Bus companies including First and Stagecoach have signed up, as well and the region’s WESTlink on-demand bus service.
The initiative runs until the end of July.