The eagerly-awaited return of a bus service has frustrated its passengers in an area of Dundee by running at almost the same time as an existing service.
The people of Tullideph have called on West End councillor Fraser Macpherson to ask for the frequency of the outer circle buses to be changed so that they don’t pass through the area just a minute before the number 17.
The Outer Circle buses were brought back at the start of this month by National Express Dundee with subsidy support from the council.
Although they welcomed the move, Tullideph residents watched in disbelief as the service passed their doors at 25 minutes past the hour, followed by the number 17 at 26 minutes past.
Mr Macpherson said: “Constituents in Tullideph are rightly complaining about the rather bizarre timetable for this new service.
“It runs on evenings and weekends, which was previously lacking, but residents are rightly complaining that the timetable is badly aligned to other services.
“The biggest problem is that the bus from the Tullideph area travelling into town is at 25 minutes past the hour and the 17 is at 26 minutes past the hour.
“Both are half-hourly services and passengers many of whom are elderly have to wait at least another 28 minutes for the next bus.”
He continued: “It would make far more sense for the 9, 10, 11, 12 (outer circle) service to be spaced equally between 17 buses so Tullideph and adjacent areas got a 15-minute service.”
Mr Macpherson raised the issue with the council’s head of transportation, Neil Gellatly, who said that a large percentage of bus services in Dundee are commercially operated, and the council has very little say in frequencies.
He continued: “We will, if necessary, look to subsidise any areas that we feel are disadvantaged by some service withdrawal decisions made by the operators.”
This was done with the 9, 10, 11 and 12 services which operate all around Dundee and have a running time of two hours.
“This means these buses cannot run in between other services in all areas of Dundee. If the service was to operate evenly on Tullideph Road it would not operate evenly between buses in other areas of Dundee, and this was a decision that National Express have decided to operate.”
Mr Macpherson said that as it is a subsidised service the council should be able to influence the timetable.
He said: “The new service is welcome, but it has to be appropriately timed to maximise the benefit for local communities such as the people living in the Tullideph area.”
A spokesperson for National Express Dundee said the company considered very carefully the complexities of reintroducing the 9, 10, 11 and 12 outer circle services.
They said: “We have worked hard to achieve as much synchronicity as possible, without sacrificing the reliability of new or existing services.
“Residents of the Tullideph area have a frequent and reliable service in the 17, which gives them access to the city centre and Ninewells Hospital.
“We hope they will also benefit from using the 9, 10, 11 and 12 buses to reach leisure and shopping facilities, such as those at Camperdown and the Kingsway Retail Park.”