219 - It Is Fine! (1)

Or Maybe Not?

Enter Twitterer Kevin Tennent.

This jolly chap is a lecturer in the University of York Business Studies department and he is co-author of a book ...

... which will tell you all about the organisation of the 1966 world cup; you know, the one wot we won against Germany, as in "They think it's all over. Well it is now!"

The book is not about the football itself and will set you back approx £120.

Anyway, young Kev has some views on buses (as you do) and has set them down in a series of twitters.

Twit No 1

To decarbonize UK transport and reduce reliance on oil, we need to get to a #publictransport network that is workable for a larger proportion of the population.  One simple and cheap way to do this would be to improve bus routes, making them more simple to use and direct.

Hmm? fbb is not sure that the answer is as easy as that.

Twit No 2

Many bus routes take a lot longer to get anywhere than by car, and are extremely complicated and confusing without clear information or mapping.  They are also quite infrequent, meaning potential users rarely see buses passing; obviously the best advert for a bus route!

Hmm again? If course bus routes will tend to take longer than a car journey because they do need to stop and pick up passengers now and then. Likewise they need to stop and let them get off. But, hey; route branding might help his latter point.

Twit No 3

Let's look at an example, the Stagecoach route 219 from Doncaster to Barnsley. It has many permutations and even doubles back on itself in places. How is anyone meant to fathom it?

Perhaps he has a point. Here is an extract from the map on the Travel South Yorkshire non-printed leaflet ...

... which seems designed (designed, really?) to be utterly bamboozling. The timetable is less than helpful ... 

... note, for example, Thurnscoe Merrill Road/Houghton Road AND Thurnscoe Houghton Road/Merrill Road. Also note three time points in Sprotborough which is hardly a massive metropolis. Then we have two Nanny Marr Roads in Darfield and Park Spring Road which, fbb knows, is nowhere near Grimethorpe.

Traveline doesn't help because it shows the 219 ...

... separated from the 219A ...

... although the difference is far from clear. After several abortive attempts and some periods of brain ache, fbb still cannot be certain what a 219A does that a 219 doesn't.

Maybe Stagecoach can help - after all they run the bus!

Hands up who can work out the difference between a 219 and a 219A?

What about maps? The map on the Stagecoach Barnsley site implies that only the 219A is the variation that runs via Great Houghton ...

... but the timetable says they all do! Then the map runs out!

The Stagecoach Doncaster map ...

... is not too helpful.

The PTE Barnsley map, which looks very much like the Stagecoach version, is equally wrong BUT ...

... it takes us a little further east and suggests that the 219A does its own little wiggle and terminates at Goldthorpe. The timetables (all versions) politely disagree, showing 219A buses continuing to Doncaster.

Just to illustrate the cartographic confusion even more, the 203 (WEEDY GREEN) uses part if the A635 Goldthorpe by-pass and turns RIGHT at the Fields End Roundabout ...

... where it meets up with various bits of the 219/219A (PINK); so readers can enjoy matching reality to the map. 

Confused VERY.com!

As Mr Tennent says in Twit No 3, "How is anyone meant to fathom it?".

It is not any easier if you go back in history. Below is a very old Yorkshire Traction map, over enlarged (sadly) of the contentious area.

Nope. Don't go there. 

But, fbb is known for his bravery and dogged determination in fathoming the unfathomable, so the old man will have to go and draw a map.

But that excitement will have to wait until tomorrow's blog.

And we will meet Larratt Pepper as well, seen here resting peacefully near Ryde Esplanade, Isle of Wight!

And there is more from Mr Tennent to come.

There may be a problem, however, with the blog delivery process. There is a possibility that Mrs fbb will be discharged from hospital later today (Monday). She has had a practice with crutches and managed quite well BUT struggled with getting from recumbent to upright. Teetering and tottering traumatically tends to tragedy and she will not be let out until she teeters much less.

But it is all going very well. Here is an extract from a note sent round to friends and prayer contacts.

Cookery Corner

fbb has had to learn a lot during Mrs fbb's indisposition and is likely to be on victualling duty for a while more as recovery continues. For number 3 son, who has arrived for a few days' stay, tonight's mean was one of the easiest.

Throw two large pork chops in a roasting tray, add chopped potatoes (not peeled), chunks of onion and ditto of carrot. Add a sprinkling of stuffing mix and a large cup of chicken stock. Bung it in the over for about 35 mins at 180 thingeys and hey presto - one yummy meal for two.

And somebody at church, yesterday, asked fbb whether he was OK with "Ready Meals" and tins of soup!

Only when absolutely necessary!

 Next 219 Is Fine blog : Tuesday 26th April