The point is, there is no mention of "tweaked" bus services in the transport strategy or any changes to it since. This could be for a number of reasons, perhaps because they (a) haven't thought of it (although it was suggested repeatedly during the consultation processes); (b) there isn't enough buses/drivers in the system to maintain existing route services and divert the required number or because; (c) when they've tried modelling diverting the buses into the immediate area with expected matchday traffic, it doesn't work. Or some combination thereof.
Yes, Sandhills is as close to BMD as Kirkdale is to access GP... but again, the point is, why do so few people use Merseyrail at present? Could it be because of that relative lack of convenience of that 1km walk? Could it be there are so few soccerbuses serving from Sandhills? Could it be that there are lots of bus services far closer to GP that are much more convenient and therefore only those people who live close to a Merseyrail station choose that mode of transport?
It's one thing parking your car say a kilometre away from the Goodison and walking to and from the ground. You know that when you're walking back to it after the match, you won't be expected to stand in the rain for an hr or more before you can get in it. Of course halving the parking catchment area by being on the waterfront, means that those parking distances will also increase, not withstanding more stringent residential parking restrictions.
Sandhills is reasonably close, although 500m would've been ideal, for both greater convenience and to still stagger the arrival of fans post match. However, the main point is that it currently can only accommodate 3k passengers per hr, because it is an island platform of limited space and outside access is also limited. They estimate that the new marshalling area and matchday staff can increase that to upto 6k per hr, which is far short of the total train capacity serving that station. So even if more people could be enticed to leave their cars at home, or park and ride to use the train, the capacity is limited by that accessibility.
I believe that there are solutions. Yes, some diverted buses to extend eastern and southern suburb bus routes. Also, originally there was going to be a new 2 platform train station at Vauxhall. This fell off the agenda as soon as the commonwealth games bid failed, and that obvious funding vehicle was lost. The Lime Line proposals for a trackless tram serving the whole waterfront and the city centre has also gone quiet in recent times (possibly superceded by the Glider proposals) . Hopefully both of these can be revived asap, to really drag BMD (and the whole Liverpool Waters and Ten Street schemes) into the city centre proper. That would be a game-changer for our new stadium. Only then, will they be able to achieve the 60:40 public to private transport ratio they say they need, to avoid gridlock and achieve a good dispersal time. Ideally, they should be trying to change people's matchday travel habits before they get established, ie when it opens.
We'll see Tom.
There's gonna be a lot more buses on the road...
The money will also be used to purchase dozens of new zero-emission electric buses. This is in addition to the 58 electric double-deckers already secured by the region in April this year, via the ZEBRA (Zero Emission Bus Regional Area) fund.
Existing services are already gonna be improved...
Funding will also be targeted at some of the region’s busiest bus routes – including the 10A from Liverpool to St Helens, 53 from Liverpool to Crosby and 86 Liverpool to John Lennon Airport – with the aim of improving punctuality, reliability and journey times.
I think loads of people get the bus to Goodison because they can Tom, not because there's no other way they could possibly get there. Maybe some people who don't live near Merseyrail stations could take advantage of the free park and ride on offer at stations? The Northern Line has 2,674 free parking spaces for use and The Wirral line has 2,712, there's also loads of stations where it's not too difficult at all to find a parking spot on a road close by. I can see the platform on Seaforth & Litherland station (it's not a 'secret' that I don't actually live in L20) when I look out of a window at home. No parking restrictions in my street...
As for the roads being able to handle buses? Hmm, think they can easily accommodate it. It might be a bit of a problem at say 8;30am or 5 pm on a weekday but it's not gonna be is it. And as I say, more buses are gonna be pushed in to service anyway, there's plans to purchase more depots, and reintroduce bus lanes. I don't know what the exact timescale for all this is to be fair, just that the shift is expected be complete by the end of 2027.
There's already a couple of 'minor' services that run closer to the ground than Scotland Rd. The 54 from town to Thornton, but that only runs half hourly. It runs along Vauxhall Rd, where bus stops are even closer to the ground and Boundary Street than Sandhills is, and I can see Vauxhall Rd being key to any tweaked routes going forward, along with Great Howard Street obviously. The 54 service could be ramped up for match-days/times for a start, and I'm sure there's scope for some buses that come along County Rd (towards town) to use Boundary Street and Vauxhall Rd or Great Howard Street as opposed to Scotland Rd without causing too much trouble. It will make them services take a bit of a longer journey to town like, but with a revamp of services underway and more buses to use this shouldn't be something that causes anybody too many problems. I'm confident solutions will be found Tom, but appreciate people would relax a bit more if we were told that there's gonna be regular services(and the shuttle services) that run closer than Scotland Rd. At least on match-days anyway.
Great Howard Street is gonna have to get at least one permanent service at some point anyway. Residential properties are already being built in the area, and we know there's a lot more to come with Liverpool Waters. I think we'll be fine Tom. The words of Steve Rotherham this year...
"Last year, I took control of our buses in the biggest shake up to the region’s transport in decades and the change will be transformational. For the first time in almost 40 years, we will have control over fares, tickets and routes and will be able to ensure that services are run in the best interests of passengers – not shareholders."
Taxis are also gonna be able to get in and out of the immediate vicinity of the ground easier than they are now at Goodison, I think the parking exclusion zone has ensured that, whether that was it's intention or not. We're aren't right next to a busy shopping street anymore, so the roads around BMD will be a lot more free-flowing than say Spellow Lane/County Rd are on a Saturday, and Sunday or night games are always a little bit less chaotic anyway.
As I said at the start, some people will just get the bus to Godison because they can. Some people might have to get a bit more 'creative.' Even just getting dropped off by somebody might be a very good solution. Or driving to a station, or getting a taxi instead of a bus, but I'm confident there will be a better bus service than what is currently on offer for that part of the city.
