Stagecoach has changed the way it publishes its printed timetables for Lancaster and Morecambe, bringing them into line with other parts of the network. A new 69-page booklet, in a similar style to the popular “Lakes by Bus” publication, includes (almost) every Lancaster and Morecambe-based service and replaces a whole series of individual service leaflets.
Design
The Guide contains a network map, unfortunately not to the same high cartograpic standard as that in the Lakes Guide, but nevetheless adequate; a list of the bus services contained and a three-stage “How to Catch the Bus” section. Presumably aimed at those new to bus travel, or considering in for the first time, this takes readers through the process of planning a journey and buying a ticket. The third stage, however, entitled “Go”, advises passengers to “Wave the bus down and enjoy the journey”. New users – or those from other parts of the world where bus travel is less formal – could be forgiven for not realising that the “waving down” has to be done at a recognised bus stop!
Also included are some ideas for days out on the bus to local attractions and details (but not prices) of tickets. (A QR code link is provided for these).
Timetables
The timetables themselves follow the standard Stagecoach pattern in a clear and easy-to-read format, although those with poor colour vision might struggle to understand the purpose of the various shadings applied to some journeys. One fault concerns services 1/1A, 4 and 100 that serve Lancaster University and have significantly different service levels in term time and holidays. Both levels of service are shown, but unlike some previous leaflets there is no information on when “term time” and “holidays” actually are. Instead, passengers are asked: “For Lancaster University term dates, please check their website”(sic). It wouldn’t have been difficult to provide an actualwebsite adress, the Bus Users’ Group can do it on our website after all. In practice, there is plenty of room in the booklet to provide the actual dates for the whole of the forthcoming academic year and these are known well in advance.
Only Stagecoach services are included as the “Enhanced Partnership of Operators and Councils” doesn’t appear to extend to comprehensive timetables yet. On the two services where Stagecoach provides part of the timetable and Lonsdale Buses the remainder – the 18 and 81 – only Stagecoach journeys are shown and passengers are just informed that the other operator provides the rest, again with no website address or other means of establishing the full timetable.
Unfortunately, unlike recent leaflets, it appears that there is no room for the Bus Users’ Group logo in the new publucation.
Dates of Operation
The cover carries the apparently arbitrary date of 1st August (no timetables actually changed on this date), although the timetable for service 55 doesn’t apply until 30th August, when minor changes will be introduced. Unlike the Lakes Guide, there is no end date to validity. This is a common problem with bus timetables and produces unceratinty over accuracy as time goes on. The Group hopes that Stagecoach will resist the temptation to make minor changes, or at least to save them up and combine them with sufficiently large revsions that justify re-issuing the whole Guide. Better still would be to submit to the discipline of a published “until” date and delay any chnages until then, so that passengers know where they stand. This has been practice in the Lakes Guide for several years and hasn’t prevented the introduction of additional services during the validity period.
Missing Links
Two important services are missing from the Guide. The 555 Lancaster to Kendal and 755 Heysham to Bowness have only QR codes that enable suitably-equipped passenegrs to read the timetables on their smartphones. For print copies it is necessary to obtain a copy of the Lakes Guide.
Omitting these services saves just five pages of print (out of 69) and the current timetables for these services run until 1st November, by which time Stagecoach is more than lilely to want to make changes to Lancaster services anyway. The Group feels that they should be included.
The booklet is available from Lancaster Bus Station and it is promised that copies will also be available on the buses, although we have yet to see one.
Despite these minor “niggles” the Bus Users’ Group recognises and supports Stagecoach’s commitment to printed timetables and the fact that putting (almost) everything in one booklet makes it much easier for passengers to get the full picture of the services available to them. Who knows, it might even encorage people to make additional bus journeys to places that they didn’t even know they could get to!
Lancaster Bus Users' Group 
Received a parcel batch from LCC when in theory I only wanted a ‘few’ although the Blackpool tourist information centre was glad to receive the rest from me when I carried them down to them!