News / Transport
New buses to link ‘forgotten’ Bristol communities
A new community bus connecting the Dings to Brislington will serve as a hopeful step towards improving buses in Bristol.
The new bus route will start from Bloomfield Road and terminate at Gasferry Road, running through Wick Road, Sandy Park Road, Avon Meads, the Dings, Old Market and the City Centre.
Operated by Brighton-based group The Big Lemon, the WESTlocal bus route 61 has been named after a Dings community member’s birth year of 1961.
is needed now More than ever
The Dings community in St Philip’s provided crucial inputs while the routes were being designed for bus 61 – photo: Old Market Community Association
Harry Simpson from Old Market Community Association (OMCA) said that the new bus service is incredible news for the “polarised” population of the Dings.
He said: “The Dings has quite a lot of old people and quite a lot of young people. These are people who need a bus. They can’t get to where they want to go by themselves, they have to rely on other people.
“So, we spoke to FirstBus initially, about diverting their number five bus service. But they weren’t so sure about that, so we started looking at other options.”
“That is when OMCA found WESTlocal, a fund run by the West of England Combined Authority which relies on community organisations designing routes and running them locally.
The Big Lemon will operate the new community bus as part of an 18-month trial funded by the WECA in partnership with the OMCA and the Dings Community Association.
Simpson added: “One of the aims of the WESTlocal fund is that it will provide the funding for the bus until mid-2026, and after that funding runs out the bus will have become commercially viable – because people would’ve gotten used to it, will be using it and so the service will be generating money. So, it’s no longer making a loss.”
The Big Lemon’s trademark Yellow Buses will be seen on this new route from September 1 – photo: The Big Lemon
The Big Lemon’s yellow 61 bus is capped at £1 for adults riding for a short hop and at £2 for longer journeys.
The inaugural service of the bus will take place on Sunday at 9.58am from Bloomfield Road in Brislington.
Main photo: Karen Johnson
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