Student punctuality affected by delayed buses and roadworks

Bus services operating to and from the University have been delayed for up to 45 minutes in rush hour periods due to campus roadworks centred on Gibbet Hill Road.

The buses affected include those run by Stagecoach and National Express which travel between Leamington Spa and the University. The U1 Unibus service is most frequently used by students living in Leamington.

With some journeys taking over an hour, students have found themselves having to leave earlier for an adequate amount of time in order to arrive on time for campus commitments. The University has recommended adding an extra 30 minutes to a journey.

Even so, in many cases students have complained of turning up late to lectures and seminars because of bus disruptions.

Warwick’s senior press and communications manager, Kelly Parkes-Harrison, said of the University’s actions regarding the problems: “We’re working with the local bus companies to monitor the performance of bus services to and from campus with the aim of achieving a service that’s as regular and reliable as possible at this time.”

She commented that bus companies will “watch the situation closely, and have mitigation plans ready for the upcoming changes to the way the roads on and around campus operate”.

Concerns about transport have not gone unnoticed on campus, with the Students’ Union recently launching their ‘On the Buses’ campaign. It encourages students to complete a questionnaire about their opinions of the local bus services, with the aim to lobby for improvements where necessary.

Second-year Education student, Carrie Barnsley, said: “We realise it’s inevitable that there will be traffic if road works are taking place, but as a university the priority should be getting students to their lectures. There seems to be no real effort to ease the problem, as arriving on time at the university continues to be a struggle.”

In connection with the issue of getting onto campus in good time, second-year English Literature student, Megan Griffiths, said of the delays: “The main issue I have is how sporadic the service can be, it’s so frustrating to wait for buses which then don’t turn up.

“This week I waited for an hour for a bus to show up and then was late for work.”

Irregular bus timetables were a common complaint among students. Steve Burd, managing director of Stagecoach Midlands, commented about measures that the company is enforcing to tackle the issues: “During the last few weeks my company has regularly had at least one of our inspectors supervising and regulating our university services.

“We have been utilising two additional single decks that we have allocated to help cope with the traffic delays and the passenger numbers on U1.

“These single decks should be replaced with two double decks next week, which we have just obtained from another Stagecoach subsidiary to further improve capacity. We will also be adjusting our timetables to provide additional departures between 6pm and 8pm, as the number of students travelling at this time has increased.”

Second-year German and History student, Phoebe Arentsen, reacted to these comments: “After a few attempts of getting home from campus at 5 o’clock and having to deal with the vicious scrambles to get onto the bus, it’s clear to see that a few extra buses at busy times would make so much of a difference.”

Mr Burd also explained the plans that Stagecoach has for the near future in terms of working closely with the University to minimise the impact of the roadworks on students and staff.

Recognising that there are plans to reopen Gibbet Hill Road to traffic on November 2, he said: “We have agreed that we will closely monitor the impact of the reopening of the university area section of Gibbet Hill Road on the timekeeping of our services, particularly during the afternoon period, to see if this results in a sufficient improvement.”

He made clear that in the event of serious traffic delays continuing after that date, Stagecoach “will look to revise at least our afternoon U1 route so that our services operate via Westwood Heath, Cromwell Road, Red Lane, Kenilworth Castle and Kenilworth town centre to the A46 in order to avoid this congestion”.

Some students take a different view of the issues by recognising the difficulties that the bus companies are faced with.

Ben Wood, a second-year Mathematics student, suggested that he is not overly concerned by the disruptions: “In my opinion the bus service is operating as efficiently as it currently can. The roadworks are the problem, not the bus service.”

The extensive roadworks, which began during the summer holidays, are part of the University’s plans to improve traffic flow around campus.

They include building a new roundabout at the junction of University Road and Gibbet Hill Road, constructing a new right-turn lane into the Gibbet Hill campus, and changing the crossroad junction at the Gibbet Hill, Kenilworth and Stoneleigh Roads into a roundabout.