The dawn of MetroBus

“Where’s the party?” asks the first passenger on the MetroBus’ first service as he steps on board on Tuesday morning.

It may have cost more than £230m so far but the launch of the MetroBus was a subdued affair, with only three passengers leaving the centre towards Emersons Green on the double decker green bus at precisely 6am.

Travel is free for a fortnight on the M3 route. After that, it will cost £1.50 for one zone and £2.50 for multi-zones.

Before the first bus had even left there was already a considerable amount of bird poo on the ‘iPoint’ where you will soon be able to buy your tickets by card – there is no cash on these services.

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The first bus on this service run by First Bus reaches the M32 at 6.07am, sailing past Ikea on the left and Eastville Park on the right, much of it still fenced off after Love Saves the Day.

The early morning fog still hasn’t lifted when the bus takes a left turn. The solitary passenger on the lower deck, with a mop of curly grey hair and wearing a blue pinstripe suit jacket, shifts in his seat. This is the first exciting bit of the route.

We pass a 15mph sign as the road bends right through a meadow, over the motorway and through Stapleton allotments, where campaigners camped out in the canopy in 2015 to protest about the loss of land to this bus lane.

At 6.13am we have our first passenger boarding near Lancelot Way. We take a loop within UWE’s Frenchay campus and then reach the ring road.

‘hey! remember to get off here’ reads a sign in trendy lowercase letters next to the exit doors located in the middle of the vehicle. There’s sadly no chance of a cheery “Cheers, drive” on a bus like this.

On board and on brand

Screens on the lower and top decks are for now just showing logos for First Bus and Hanover, not Bristol’s twin town but the company responsible for the passenger information displays.

At the back of the bus is a large black and white photo of two men looking at computer screens at Newicon Software Development, a business based at the Bristol & Bath Science Park. ‘push boundaries’ reads the trendy lower case sign.

Twenty minutes into the journey and the first passenger presses the button to get off, shouting her thanks to the driver at the front as she steps off onto a new bus stop.

We pass the Willy Wicket, an old pub in Downend marooned among new builds, before driving by the National Composites Centre, along a road in desperate need of resurfacing and into the brand new housing estate of Lyde Green, featuring such romantic street names as Snowdrop Drive and Honeysuckle Road, with dozens more new homes still being built within view of the bus route

Round the Rosary roundabout to return the way we came and we pick up our second passenger at 6.33am at Emersons Green, the final stop on the M3 line.

The final M3 MetroBus stop at Emersons Green

“Is that okay?” the driver asks the solitary passenger downstairs other than Bristol24/7.

“Yeah, it was okay,” the pinstriped jacket gentleman answers. “Of course, there’s no traffic at this time of day.”

Following a short break, at 6.40am we set off again from Emersons Green where we are soon back at Lyde Green and another passenger gets in with a cheery “morning!” to our driver.

We pass the National Composites Centre again and at 6.46am pick up two – yes, two! – passengers from the next stop, one of who heads upstairs and one of who stays downstairs.

There is now noticeably more traffic and passengers are coming onto the bus thick and fast, the next one collected by the Willy Wicket.

Bromley Heath roundabout is still quiet though at this early hour. A student gets on at UWE’s Frenchay campus stop soon before 7am to bring the number of passengers on this bus into double figures.

Coming down the hill towards the M32, we can see the Metrobus bridge to our left as we head down back through the allotments, having to drive for a hundred yards or so on the right of the road due to a small area being fenced off.

There appears to be a hole in the ground on the route close to Stapleton allotments

Off the motorway and we’re back in the city centre, with the bus needing to halt at a precarious 45-degree angle at the stop closest to the Bearpit due to an inconsiderately parked white lorry.

And then just before 7.15am we swing a left down the centre’s new bus lane, overseen by the statue of Edward Colston.

As we reach our final destination, a couple of passengers who have stayed on board for this historic round trip take a few photos as a memento to the inaugural morning of MetroBus.

It’s a new dawn for transport in Bristol but on its first day there is little excitement.