Yorkshire 'Takt'

[jc]

I've been reading up on the methods used on the continent (Switzerland, Netherlands, parts of Germany, Austria etc) in order to try and optimise connections outside of major cities, namely some form of 'Integrated Clockface timetable'.

See for example
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock-face_scheduling (Network based)
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X16301469

- It is Swiss policy that places with a population over 500 have an hourly public transport link (ha!)
- They try and limit connection times to around 15 minutes at 'pulse points', centred around the :00 'symmetry minute' (European standard is :58.5 minutes) - so that would mean running times between nodes (i.e. town centres) would need to be (at a push) 15 to 30 or 45 to 60 minutes depending on whether you're trying to meet a 'pulse point' at :00 or :30
- Depending on standard, services running every 15 or 20 minutes are considered integrated by default
- You'd need enough bus stances in town centres to form an effective interchange point
- The whole thing needs to be coordinated as one network with departures delayed to try and accommodate late running services - contract, competition, funding issues

So my thoughts on routes north of York (not comprehensive at all, just to see what could theoretically be achieved) as follows, based on existing timetables. Principal pulse point normal / secondary in italics:

Based on route	Route segment	Running time - minutes
55 X34	Richmond Mkt :00 - Scorton Green :30	15 (27 via Catterick - as a loop?)
55	Northallerton Buck Inn :00 - Scorton Green :30	25
X54	Catterick Garrison Tesco :00 - Scorton Green :30	25 via Catterick
159	Richmond Mkt :30 - Leyburn Mkt :00	30
159	Leyburn Mkt :00 - Masham Mkt :30	27
159	Masham Mkt :30 - Ripon Bus Stn :00	26 direct
155	Leyburn Mkt :00 - Bedale Mkt :30	25-30 dependent on route
73	Bedale Mkt :30 :00 - Northallerton Buck Inn :00 :30	23
144	Masham Mkt :30 - Bedale Mkt :00	25
70	Northallerton Buck Inn :00 - Thirsk Mkt :30	24 via Thornton le Moor
70 170	Thirsk Mkt :30 - Ripon Bus Stn :00	23 direct via A61
22	Ripon Bus Stn :00 - Boroughbridge Mkt :30	19 via Skelton
22	Ripon Bus Stn :00 - Dishforth :30	26 via Sharow & RAF Dishforth
22	Boroughbridge Mkt :30 - York Piccadilly (?) :30	58 (54 via neither Aldborough nor Hessay)
30	Thirsk Mkt :30 - Easingwold Mkt :00	25 not via Raskelf
30X 31X	Easingwold Mkt :00 - York Stn Ave :30	30
40	Easingwold Mkt :00 - York Stn Ave :00	49

[jc]

Appreciate it's an epic bump but these guys explain the situation in Switzerland far better than my squaking on here

www.tssa.org.uk/en/whats-new/news/index.cfm/developing-a-radical-transport-policy-a-taktfahrplan-for-the-uk

I remember around 10 or 15 years ago it was Oxfordshire County Council policy for villages over 1k population to get an hourly service, which resulted in respectable coverage around Witney at least.

[kenh]

Its all very well designing a nice regular timetable but something will mean an out of course run. the need to combine a service bus and a school run, or meet a train or be there when a factory shift ends can suddenly spoil the even pattern.

I'm indexing the midland red timetable for timetableworld(dot)com. So many timetables have buses that only operate on certain days, that only operate on school days, that interwork with other services (The local buses fill in gaps for local journeys between the longer distance services) its quite complex.

[jc]

Nov 16, 2020 16:04:46 GMT 1 kenh said:

Its all very well designing a nice regular timetable but something will mean an out of course run. the need to combine a service bus and a school run, or meet a train or be there when a factory shift ends can suddenly spoil the even pattern.

I'm indexing the midland red timetable for timetableworld(dot)com. So many timetables have buses that only operate on certain days, that only operate on school days, that interwork with other services (The local buses fill in gaps for local journeys between the longer distance services) its quite complex.

I suppose it depends how much the funding body are willing to support the connections. So in Switzerland the topology helps in that the mountains create narrow valleys that can be settled in, and the rail network is fairly dense so this forms the backbone of the regular interval timetable that buses connect into.

I think they prefer to supplement timetables at peak times, so for example a 60 minute regular interval might become 30 minutes or 30 becomes 15. Also might be worth looking into who is deciding the start/finish times of schools in that scenario.

Another scenario might be to say the timetable prior to 9am is designed to accommodate the start times of schools, and from 9am onwards is designed around when they finish though this might cause problems when combined with other routes. I don't know how much flexibility there is here - the current timetables show the 30, 30X and 40 arriving at Easingwold School between 0816 and 0825, though all depart promptly at 1500.

Journey length can be manipulated to try and minimise connection time but again has to be a whole network approach with support. So for the sake of argument, instead of running a service 30 Easingwold-Alne-York taking ~40 minutes, you have a direct 30X taking ~30 minutes on a 30 or 60 minute frequency, and a Easingwold-Helperby-Alne-York service taking ~60 minutes on a 60 or 120 minute frequency.