Since Stagecoach withdrew service 4 from Bare Lane in October the lower part of that road has been served only by Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire's 33, the "Bare Circular" operated under contract to Lancashire County Council.
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| The new stop on Lonsdale Road near the junction with Bare Lane |
The 33 maintains a link to Princes Crescent, Morecambe Promenade and Morecambe Bus Station from most of Bare Lane but leaves the stop on Hall Drive unserved. The service turns onto Bare Lane from Lonsdale Road, no more than a few metres from the Hall Drive stop and provides a useful alternative. The Bus Users' Group was happy to suggest that former users of the 4 at Hall Drive could instead use the 33, but realised that with that bus serving Strickland Drive and Lonsdale Road on a "hail & ride" basis passengers used to the certainty of a marked bus stop might be unhappy at the prospect of waiting at the side of the road for the 33 and in the absence of a timetable display would not know when the service ran.
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| The new stop has a timetable display and the council minimised costs by using an existing traffic pole. |
The Group felt that despite the hail & ride facility a marked bus stop was required as close to the now unserved Hall Drive stop as possible and following our approach Lancashire County Council has been happy to provide one.
A marked bus stop was erected within a few days of our request, initially on a temporary basis to assess suitability of the site. Despite LCC's stated policy of not increasing the number of timetable displays provided, a display case has been positioned at the stop after we suggested that it could be considered a replacement for that at Hall Drive, which is no longer required.
The BUG hopes that former users of the Hall Drive stop will now make more use of service 33 from the new stop on Lonsdale Road and that this will increase passenger numbers and secure the future of the service.
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| A notice at Hall Drive directs passengers to the new stop and service 33 |