Dude, where’s my bus stop?

I met with Stagecoach this morning to discuss the appalling proposals for Buchanan Bus Station, and I left the meeting even more opposed to the plan than before.

I knew of course that there had been no attempt to discuss the plan with bus operators before it was agreed in principle at the City Council. I knew that the construction would hugely disrupt just about every bus route in the city centre, and most of the rest of the traffic too. I knew that it would deprive the city of one of the best-used public spaces, the concert hall steps.

But one aspect I hadn’t quite twigged was how the new concrete-encased bus station would work once it was built. Apparently the plan is that each bus would be allocated a stance as it arrived, with the result that passengers would turn up for their bus without having a clue where to wait. You might know where you’re going, which bus to catch and when it’s due to leave, but you’ll need to be super-nimble to get yourself (along with shopping, children, buggies etc) to the right place in time.

This scheme tends to work OK with many railway stations, where all the platforms lead off the concourse as at Queen St or Central. But at a bus station you often need to walk right round the outside to get from one stance to another.

For a comparison, imagine that the bus stops along Hope St and Renfield St kept swapping around every five or ten minutes – you turn up in the city centre for your bus and have to keep wandering around in the hope of finding the right stop. Next time you’re looking for the same bus there’s no point going back to the same place – you just have to start the hunt all over again.

If anyone wasn’t convinced that this plan was a nonsense, surely this settles it. Never mind going back to the drawing board – this whole scheme should simply be scrapped if the city is remotely serious about public transport.

2 Comments

During my MSc, 3 years ago, we looked at EIA process of the proposals you describe. In my presentation to the consultants I defended the Concert Hall steps as not only a social space but as the only bit of the town where you can sit and have a good view south. Clearly my comments were wasted.
One thing I did notice was that the re-development of Buchanan bus station was deemed to be not within 500m of a residential area. This is wrong – there are houses much nearer to the east. Could this be a relevant technicality in the environmental assessment that could undermine their position? Perhaps not, I never saw the final Environmental Statement for the EIA so that point may have been addressed.

Comment by Caroline Scott — January 22, 2010 @ 5:30 pm

[...] knew that it would deprive the city of one of the best-used public spaces, the concert hall steps. Read more « Northumberland rewrites concessionary scheme | [...]

Pingback by Dude, where’s my bus stop? » The Bus Passes Blog — January 23, 2010 @ 11:13 am