Timetables
During 1989-2002, Southern Vectis released a series of summer timetables, one per year with pictorial covers. Usually these featured a Rupert Besley cartoon of an Island location and featured a Southern Vectis bus. The winter timetable booklet was normally less unusual, featuring a photograph of a bus on the cover. Other timetables released include plain covers.
Prior to 2006, Southern Vectis' timetable booklets showed their own buses, Island Line train services, ferry times, connecting mainland trains and complementary, non-competing routes offered by other bus operators, mainly Wightbus. These booklets were titled "Getting Around the Isle of Wight". However, when Southern Vectis introduced their revised network in 2006, all third-party timetables were removed. The Isle of Wight Council began producing The Isle of Wight Public Transport Handbook which provided a new impartial source for this information, though this stopped being produced after Southern Vectis included the Wightbus timetables in their September 2010 timetable book.
In addition to timetables for the Isle of Wight, Southern Vectis previously produced the Great Britain Bus Timetable. However, this ceased publication with the increasing availability of bus times on the internet.
The summer timetable normally consists of seasonal services such as the Island Coaster, the Island Breezers open top tours and the Road Trains, so aren't shown in the table below, although the Medina Tour was withdrawn permanently after the 2009 season. Southern Vectis have previously charged for timetables, normally 50p, however since 1 October 2006, they were given away free in an attempt to increase awareness of bus times to potential passengers. Bus timetables are delivered to 97% of homes across the island. Timetables produced after the new network were given the title "Island Hopping", however from 20 December 2009 this title was dropped with the timetable now titled simply as "Bus times for the Isle of Wight".
In June 2001, timetables appeared online. After the network change in April 2006 a timetable was added to each bus stop. With the new website in 2008, a text service was launched to allow passengers to find out when their next bus would be coming from bus stops across the island.
The 2008 winter timetable onwards have been printed on recycled paper to increase Southern Vectis' environmental credentials.
| Date started | Date ended | Cover photo | Routes added | Routes deleted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 April 2006 | 30 September 2006 (originally to be 1st) | Alum Bay and coastal path to The Needles | New Network | |
| 1 October 2006 | 30 December 2006 | Totland Bay | 16, 15 | 19, 13, 24, 34, 35 |
| 1 January 2007 | 31 March 2007 | Osborne House | 20, 29 | 37 |
| 1 April 2007 | 29 September 2007 | Freshwater Bay | None | 20 |
| 30 September 2007 | 15 March 2008 | Newport Town Centre | 23, 27, 28, 37 | 12, 30, 32 |
| 16 March 2008 | 19 April 2008 | Black and White interim copy - None | 35 | 15, 39, 21 |
| 20 April 2008 | 30 August 2008 | Compton Beach, with couple walking | None | 23, 35, 37 |
| 31 August 2008 | 4 April 2009 | The Needles at sunset | None | 27, 28, 29 |
| 5 April 2009 | 29 August 2009 | Horses outside Carisbrooke Castle | None | None |
| 30 August 2009 | 19 December 2009 | Bembridge lifeboat station from St Helens | None | 22 |
| 20 December 2009 | 17 April 2010 | The Downs from Rowlands Lane | None | 10, 11, 14, 16 |
| 18 April 2010 | 4 September 2010 | Blackgang Chine with bus 1117 | 37, X10, X11 | None |
| 5 September 2010 | 8 January 2011 | Sandown beach | 12, 25 | None |
| 9 January 2011 | 16 April 2011 | Chale Bay from Blackgang Chine | None | None |
| 17 April 2011 | 3 September 2011 | Yaverland Beach | 21 | None |
| 4 September 2011 | 22 October 2011 | Racecourse Roundabout with bus 1111 | 22, 23, 24, 32, 33, 34, 35, 39 | None |
| 23 October 2011 | 30 March 2012 | Merstone Cross with bus 1105 | None | 21 |
As well as this, routes are altered, changing the route the service takes or to increase frequency.
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Famous quotes containing the word timetables:
“To divide one’s life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry on its dull wall-existence by the arbitrary timetables we have drawn up in consultation with those permanent commuters, Earth and Sun. But we, unlike trees, need grow no annual rings.”
—Clifton Fadiman (b. 1904)