Sandhills station

[Street end man]

Yes, a certain number will not have access to a direct public transport service, be that via Merseyrail or buses to the city centre (or a combination of both with onward shuttle or walk), and a proportion of those will have mobility issues. However, the consultation process was supposed to be about establishing those numbers, and with well over 20k of our season tkt holders having a Liverpool/Merseyside postcode, the idea was to try to capture the vast majority of those local based supporters with the modal shift to public transport, as projected in the transport plan. Thus freeing up roads for those who really need them.... and keeping the immediate road space clear for public transport access/egress and disability access and drop-offs.

As Furey1878 has shown above, all of the eastern arterial routes, (ie the bulk of the Liverpool conurbation), do not have direct public transport routes to BMD. Merseyrail essentially skirts around the majority of the city's suburbs and existing bus routes serving all of them do not go within a mile of the stadium.

Of the routes shown, the Walton Lane/East Lancs Rd route is only covered by the 19 bus route, which doesn't come down to Scotland Rd, as it cuts back inland to go up St Domingo Rd. So its nearest point is probably the top of Everton Valley. Those fans would probably be less inclined to leave their cars at home because the available service is too distant, and to go into town is probably too convoluted and inconvenient.... so a shuttle service to the Goodison area could have helped (and allowed many fans to use familiar parking spaces away from BMD too). All of the other north eastern bus services enter the city centre via London Rd. If just a small proportion of these buses could be diverted or extended on matchdays to offer more direct routes to the area, this could take a lot of pressure off the shuttles, and add significantly more "direct services" and keep more people out of their cars. Similar for bus routes serving the south eastern corridors. Just say 1 in 4 (or 5) of every bus route extended to BMD would greatly improve bus capacity and comvenience.

We have also already seen that Sandhills Stn itself is limited in its present format.... so the onus is being placed on Shuttle buses to make that connection with the city centre and all of major local and regional public transport capacity. That system also has limited capacity at present. So the shortfall at present is essentially filled by the "walking" option.

You've also got the Townsend/Breck road route in too Tom.
When we go to the area which is often we never use the same route twice..often coming in up Breck road and leaving via kirkdale and up to Walton Hall ave.
All congested ratruns even on a quiet none matchday Sunday.
My view is it's fine to walk half an hour to Goodison, parking up outside current zones.
Whether that be bottom of Cherry Lane/Towsend ave or back towards Norris Green.....Kirkdale for some.
The half hour walk is not the issue, it's the half hour walk then the slog onwards on Public Transport....if any goes your way.

Serious amounts of shuttles needed for all fans whether they be in cars or on Public Transport.

 

[Barrowjohn]

Yeah that's something that concerns me, as well. The majority of the city is not covered by the trains. Buses don't really run to Sandhills. And if you make everyone go to town or wherever their nearest train station is, the capacity issue at Sandhills will be further compounded.

We need good match day bus routes that cover the train-less area of the city. Something like this would go a long way imo.

As someone who drives in from out of town for matchdays my current routine is to park at Stanley Park car park. I am hoping that this will still be an option with an added park and ride scheme.

 

[Tom Hughes]

You've also got the Townsend/Breck road route in too Tom.
When we go to the area which is often we never use the same route twice..often coming in up Breck road and leaving via kirkdale and up to Walton Hall ave.
All congested ratruns even on a quiet none matchday Sunday.
My view is it's fine to walk half an hour to Goodison, parking up outside current zones.
Whether that be bottom of Cherry Lane/Towsend ave or back towards Norris Green.....Kirkdale for some.
The half hour walk is not the issue, it's the half hour walk then the slog onwards on Public Transport....if any goes your way.

Serious amounts of shuttles needed for all fans whether they be in cars or on Public Transport.

Yes, that's another big population corridor that has to dog-leg a bit. I just thought that it was slightly less than the Walton Lane-East Lancs bus route. ....

And yes, it's one thing asking people to walk half an hr to the relative comfort of their car, and another asking them to walk half an hr to wait in a Q for a bus in the rain.

The key thing about shuttles is that you want them to be as short and as unhindered (congestion-free) as possible to reduce their turn-around time and increase their effectiveness in moving good numbers away from the immediate vicinity. If they can get as short and clear route to Goodison then it might be possible to provide an efficient shuttle in that direction too.

 

[Street end man]

Yes, that's another big population corridor that has to dog-leg a bit. I just thought that it was slightly less than the Walton Lane-East Lancs bus route. ....

And yes, it's one thing asking people to walk half an hr to the relative comfort of their car, and another asking them to walk half an hr to wait in a Q for a bus in the rain.

The key thing about shuttles is that you want them to be as short and as unhindered (congestion-free) as possible to reduce their turn-around time and increase their effectiveness in moving good numbers away from the immediate vicinity. If they can get as short and clear route to Goodison then it might be possible to provide an efficient shuttle in that direction too.

Away from the BMD issues but Liverpool central is always an issue to get to from bordering regions and the outskirts.
Motorways stop well short of easy striking distances leaving awkward routes in.
M58 stops at switch island, leaving the choice of the dreaded Switch island and the awful Dunnings Bridge....or cutting through Rainford to the Lancs, or through Aintree.
M62 again leaves you with the choice of a myriad of rat runs to choose from to get in from the rocket.
I am smack on the Merseyside border. No chance of public transport getting me close to anywhere near without multi change overs and still having to use the car.

 

[BJF101]

Away from the BMD issues but Liverpool central is always an issue to get to from bordering regions and the outskirts.
Motorways stop well short of easy striking distances leaving awkward routes in.
M58 stops at switch island, leaving the choice of the dreaded Switch island and the awful Dunnings Bridge....or cutting through Rainford to the Lancs, or through Aintree.
M62 again leaves you with the choice of a myriad of rat runs to choose from to get in from the rocket.
I am smack on the Merseyside border. No chance of public transport getting me close to anywhere near without multi change overs and still having to use the car.

Parking near Maghull North station may be an option for the M57/M58 but then that brings you back full circle to the whole Sandhills debacle……..

 

[ultra]

so a shuttle service to the Goodison area could have helped (and allowed many fans to use familiar parking spaces away from BMD too)

I found this the most baffling omission from the transport for the first test event, at the risk of repeating myself.

As one of the many thousands who park around Walton Hall Park, it was bizarre that the transport "plan" totally failed to cater for us (in terms of shuttle buses).

I will be very interested in the experiences of those going to the 2nd test event in terms of transport.

 

[Lmc2016]

The club ran buses to and from Goodison for Stewards working the first test event, allowing them to park in the Park End carpark.

Could work to help some disabled fans get better access to BMD, would need to run on a bigger scale though.

 

[Tom Hughes]

The club ran buses to and from Goodison for Stewards working the first test event, allowing them to park in the Park End carpark.

Could work to help some disabled fans get better access to BMD, would need to run on a bigger scale though.

Yes, it is all dependent on available buses/drivers and how many shuttle journeys that they can do. If necessay bringing in private bus companies to fill those gaps.

 

[davek]

It's a fantastic solution alright: all down to the old stadium to get to the new stadium.

Almost as hilarious as that lad with the drone walking to the stadium from Lime Street and declaring it a success at 30 minutes duration...but was blowing for tugs by the time he got to Leeds Street.

 

[ultra]

The club ran buses to and from Goodison for Stewards working the first test event, allowing them to park in the Park End carpark.

Could work to help some disabled fans get better access to BMD, would need to run on a bigger scale though.

Not just disabled fans - oldies like me need it too!

 

[James Patrick]

It's a fantastic solution alright: all down to the old stadium to get to the new stadium.

Almost as hilarious as that lad with the drone walking to the stadium from Lime Street and declaring it a success at 30 minutes duration...but was blowing for tugs by the time he got to Leeds Street.

"Fittest fans in the league, you'll never sing that !"

 

[Connor]

Second test event is the same day as the Liverpool Half Marathon

There will be extra road closures, so, be aware and all that

 

[James Patrick]

Second test event is the same day as the Liverpool Half Marathon

There will be extra road closures, so, be aware and all that

Isn't it the same thing ?

 

[Street end man]

Second test event is the same day as the Liverpool Half Marathon

There will be extra road closures, so, be aware and all that

Still weird how they have the 2 events clashing.
Surely it has to hamper the analysis of the traffic problems when you've got thousands of extra people in town for the event.
A preper Everton thing that.

 

[Tom Hughes]

Still weird how they have the 2 events clashing.
Surely it has to hamper the analysis of the traffic problems when you've got thousands of extra people in town for the event.
A preper Everton thing that.

Possibly not ideal, but the half-marathon is from 9am. It should be largely done and dusted by the time that most of the matchgoing crowds start arriving in the city centre pre-match.... and all clear by the time it the mstch is finished.