Southern Vectis route 1

Southern Vectis route 1 is a bus service operated by Southern Vectis between Cowes and Newport on the Isle of Wight. The daytime frequency of the route is every 6 minutes. The route takes two directions, either serving Cowes Roundhouse or Cowes Park and Ride. Mini-pointer darts are the only buses that can be used on the route to negotiate a tight turn into Cowes Pontoon.

History

In its current form, route 1 is a fairly new route, starting from 1 April 2006 at the start of Southern Vectis' new network change. It originally had a frequency of every 7-8 minutes however this was later upgraded to every 6 minutes from a new timetable in March 2008. The route originally operated from South Street bus lane next to Somerfield, the only route to do so while Newport bus station was being redeveloped.

Before April 2006, the route ran under the Oxford Blue and stripes livery. The route ran from Bembridge to Ryde then Newport and finally to Cowes. A further extention to Gurnard was introduced from 31 October 2004. It was not the only route to run to Cowes as main routes 2, 2B, 3 and 3B also ran to Cowes under Route Rouge branding.

Route

The journey from Cowes to Newport originates at Cowes Pontoon next to the Red Jet Terminal. From there the route either goes through Cowes Park and Ride or Cowes Roundhouse, to Northwood, Parkhurst, St Mary's Hospital, and finally terminates at Newport. The standard journey time is 20 minutes from start to finish. An awkward turn into Cowes Pontoon means that the only buses that can be used on this route are smaller Mini Pointer Darts. However even with smaller buses being used, there have still been concerns about the safety of the turn, although it has been classed as safe by the Health and Safety executive. [ [http://www.iwcp.co.uk/News/BUS_SAFETY_PROBE_AT_TIGHT_TURN.aspx IW County Press -"Bus safety probe at tight turn"] Accessed 3 August 2008]

Every other service on route 1 uses Cowes Park and Ride. It was especially designed in 2003 for commuters travelling over to the mainland on the Red Jet in Cowes. From the Park and Ride a £2 return ticket is available, one of the only return tickets Southern Vectis currently offer on their standard services. [ [http://www.islandbuses.info/news/news005.shtml Southern Vectis - Changes to fares] Accessed 3 August 2008]

On entering Newport from Cowes, route one comes in from lower St James' Street and makes use of bus lanes on St James Street and South Street before entering the bus station at stand E, located in the middle of the bus station. Route 1 is the only regular bus route connecting Cowes with Newport, although Wightbus do run an occasional, slower service on their route 30.

Frequency

Route 1 operates a day-time frequency of every 6 minutes (Monday to Saturday). This is currently the highest frequency of all of Southern Vectis' routes. However, this is in part due to the need to use smaller Mini Pointer Darts, which have a smaller carrying capacity at around 45, much lower than a standard double deck bus at around 95. Evening and Sunday services have a frequency of every 15 minutes. Nightbuses which run on Friday and Saturday nights have a frequency of every 30 minutes. Between 30 September 2007 to 20 April 2008, route 1 had a service 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. Throughout the night during the week buses ran to a 30 minute frequency, effectively meaning this service never stopped. However now due to subsidy cuts made by the Isle of Wight Council to Southern Vectis these buses have been restriced just to operate on Friday and Saturday nights.

The increase in frequency to every 6 minutes (from every 7-8 minutes previously) resulted in a further two journeys each way per hour. To cope with this, four more Mini Pointer Darts were transferred over from Bluestar for use on this route. All of which have now been re-sprayed into the new two-tone green livery and now feature advertisements for the increased frequency of the route on the rear of the bus. These are fleet numbered 317-320.

ee also

* List of Southern Vectis bus routes
* Transportation on the Isle of Wight

References

External links

* [http://www.islandbuses.info Southern Vectis Official Website]
* [http://www.islandbuses.info/routelist.shtml Southern Vectis route list]
* [http://www.islandbuses.info/r1.shtml Southern Vectis route 1]