User:Editor5807/Southern Vectis timetables

During 1989-2002, Southern Vectis released a series of summer Timetables, one per year with a cover theme of a cartoon image of an Isle of Wight location, normally featuring a Southern Vectis bus. The winter timetable booklet was normally less unusual, featuring a photograph of a bus in service on the cover. Other timetables released include just plain covers.

From in network change in April 2006 and to early 2007, Southern Vectis changed their timetables on four occasions to update their services. In later 2007, this was changed to twice per year. These were to be a winter and a summer timetable of their services. The summer timetable normally consists of seasonal services such as the X40 "Island Coaster", the Island Breezers open top tours and the Road Trains, so aren't shown below.

2 April 2006 - 30 September 2006 (originally to be 1st) This was the start of a new network for Southern Vectis. Many old routes were discontinued and new routes started. Others were given increased frequency. In total there were 29 routes, although some of the services Southern Vectis had timetabled were still contracted out to Wightbus, such as route 13. The timetable cover was of Compton Bay with a coastal path and was priced at 50p. It was the last timetable Southern Vectis charged for.

1 October 2006 - 30 December 2006 The cover photo was of Totland Bay and Pier by Patrick Eden. This timetable was the start of Southern Vectis beginning to fine-tune their services, merging many smaller routes with the more frequent main routes. This reduced the number of routes they operated to 23, although simplified their network resulting in the following ammendments:
 * Route 13 and 35 (operated by Wightbus) no longer listed in the timetable.
 * New routes 15 and 16 added to serve Ryde and local areas such as Haylands and Seaview.
 * Route 14 extended to serve Bembridge and route 9 reduced to just go between Newport and Ryde.
 * Route 19 merged with main route 6.
 * Route 24 merged with route 22.
 * Route 34 merged into main route 1.
 * Route 39 axed.

31 December 2006 - 31 March 2007 The timetable featured Osbourne House as the cover photo. A local map was also added of Freshwater and Totland to show buses operating in that area, along with other island town maps. Increased passenger numbers led to an increase in timetabled services provided by the bus company, with the following service ammendments:
 * More afternoon services on route 10.
 * Many more services on route 11.
 * New route 20 started to serve Ryde and Tesco store.
 * Route 39 re-instated.
 * Route 29 to Ryde started, with a limited daytime service.

1 April 2007 - 29 September 2007 The timetable featured Freshwater bay as the cover photo. As it was a summer timetable, it also included Island Breezers services and road trains. Many routes were increased in frequency for this timetable to cope with an increased demand: The timetable also featured a larger, clearer network map of bus routes.
 * Route 2 extended to Ryde to provide a service from Shanklin and Sandown every 15 minutes.
 * Frequency of route 5 decreased to every 12 minutes, from every 15 minutes
 * Frequency of route 9 decreased to every 10 minutes, from every 10 minutes
 * Route 20 removed from the timetable, and operated instead by Wightbus
 * New seasonal route X40 started, with a similar route to the old 'Island Exporer' route with two journeys per day.
 * The Medina Tour started, a new open top tour designed to show passengers the history of the island, with visits to Carisbrooke Castle and Osbourne House.

30 September 2007 - 15 March 2008 The cover photo featured Newport town centre, showing St James' Square. For the first time, in addition to the main timetable, a 'better buses' leaflet was also produced detailing the improvements made to bus services.:
 * 24-hour buses were introduced on routes 1, 3 and 9 running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
 * Route 6 was extended to serve St Lawrence, with extra journeys running between Ventnor and St Lawrence at peak times.
 * Sunday service introduced for route 10, with buses running every hour.
 * Sunday service introduced for route 22
 * New route 23 to serve Alvestone, running between Newport and Shanklin.
 * Routes 30 and 32 re-numbered to routes 27 and 28, with controversy over omiting the Crossfield estate.
 * New Newport town service 37 to operate around Carisbrooke and Camp Hill.
 * Route 39 running later into the day, as well as having a sunday service introduced every 30 minutes.

16 March 2008 - 19 April 2008 This was a black and white interim timetable, featuring no cover photo. None of the usual island town maps were present either. Due to subsidy cuts from the Isle of Wight Council, there were cuts to some services: Due to the early Easter holiday, the timetable also featured open-top buses and roadtrains. The frequency of the Sandown Bay Tour was decreased to every 15 minutes from every 30 minutes.
 * Route 15 cut and temporarily amalgamated with route 29.
 * Route 21 and 33 no longer operated by Southern Vectis, just by Wightbus.
 * Limited route 35 added with two journeys per day.
 * Route 39 axed.

20 April - 30 August 2008 The cover photo showed Compton beach, with a couple together walking. The main route map was moved to the back of the timetable, with a 'notes' section added. Continued subsidy cuts from the Isle of Wight Council resulted in further service cuts:
 * 24-hour services on routes 1,3 and 9 were restricted to just operate on Fridays and Saturdays.
 * Routes 14 and 16 reduced to hourly from every 30 minutes previously.
 * Route 4 re-routed to take over from the old route 15.
 * Route 23 no longer operated by Southern Vectis, but by Wightbus instead.
 * Route 35 no longer operated by Southern Vectis, just by Wightbus.
 * Route 37 deleted, and route 11 re-routed around Newport to take on much of the old route 37s bus stops.
 * Frequency on the Sandown Bay Tour reduced back to every 30 minutes.

From the second timetable of the new network (1 October 2006) onwards, Southern Vectis stopped charging for their bus timetables. This was done as an attempt to increase awareness of bus times, and then increase bus usage. Now, timetables are delivered to 93% of houses across the Isle of Wight.