Initial Bus Boulevard visit.
These are my initial thoughts on the new Bus Boulevard after a Sunday afternoon visit as a member of the public.
The immediate visual impact is exceedingly pleasing, it is very nice to look at, appears spacious and it invites you to experience the vista. However, as with most things in life, there is a compromise, and with the Boulevard there are several major ones.
My initial reaction was one of distance between stops, and which stops to go for which bus, as there initially seemed to be a lack of signage to help with this; and, while waiting, many passengers were asking, “Where do I go?” This was summed up by an official representative the other day with a stern rebuke, “You’ll get used to it!!!” I would expect this, though, as it is new and confusing.
It took me almost four minutes to walk from one end to the other, without shelter in a quite heavy shower. I think, when visiting, a brolly or waterproof is advisable.
The shelters have illuminated signs with live updates, but I found it hard to work out which shelter I should head for, as the maps seemed few and far between; especially when entering the area from the town centre or the other crossings, where there is no easily visible signage.
Just listening to comments as I walked around one thing stood out: It looks good but is not passenger friendly, especially for the disabled who have difficulty walking. It is designed for buses, and to look good; although, even there, there is a caveat.
That caveat is, as pointed out by several representatives of the bus companies, that the bus lanes were only just wide enough, but they said that professional drivers must adapt to the environment.
Another disabled person’s complaint was that the toilets were at the railway station end of the Boulevard, which is a long walk from the most popular bus stops, and many buses will be missed because of it.
So, to sum-up on my first visit; it looks good, in fact I may go as far to say excellent; however, there are a lot of teething problems, as one would expect from such a major project. It is now up to the council and the bus companies to listen to the passengers who are going to use the area, and not assume that they know best. It is an amazing benefit to the appearance of the town centre, which was a view that several passengers admitted, but the apparent lack of passenger input from the outset of the project dents one’s initial enthusiasm for the resulting scheme.
Looks: 9/10
Practicality on initial visit: 5/10
