|
Post by dwarfer1979 on Oct 2, 2017 9:00:31 GMT 1
Unless you work in senior management at Arriva Yorkshire there is no way anyone can know whether any specific routes is losing money, breaking even or actually profitable. There are many off-bus revenue streams, operational efficiencies, specific time based travel flows and innumerable other factors to take into account that are not obvious to anyone outside a small group of managers. You can't tell anymore (if you ever could) simply by looking at the buses & the number of passengers onboard how well a route is doing. Besides for a company like Arriva, unless there are depot capacity constraints there is no either/or question over route development, taking out one route isn't necessary to start or improve another. If they were going to improve something else they would have already done it so taking out a different route will likely see the resources saved not redeployed. For many passengers the train is not a realistic alternative to the bus with distance from the station & cost often being a factor (concessionary bus passes are not valid on trains and many trains & stations are still not fully accessible) so simply saying that the bus should be removed as there is a train line along certain sections is not necessarily realistic.
|
|
|
Post by passenger859 on Oct 2, 2017 18:48:53 GMT 1
Ey up! I live at the Leeds end of that route and often use it to visit Selby. However, when I board with my weekly pass, does any revenue get attributed to the route?
For folks travelling the other way,the many commuters/shoppers visiting or working in the hub of the city region it's another story.
The 401,then 402/3 route has changed (grown in how it wiggles) over the years to the point where it takes several times longer than train from Selby into Leeds. In fact, Selby to Leeds by bus is longer than Selby to Manchester by train! I have a timetable from 1975 and back then the 401 didn't even serve South Milford and Sherburn in Elmet, let alone Micklefield or Cross Gates or Killingbeck!
There's a lot of competition from train services, given that Selby has regular and fast train service into Leeds. Both the Transpennine and Arriva Northern Rail quicker and more regular in fact than services into Leeds from most other towns on the Arriva Yorkshire network.
One stopping service and some form of 'X' service may work better?
Coming to facts though, villages between Leeds and Selby are attractive for commuters. There's a lot of new housing build, especially in Sherburn in Elmet and dragging folks out of cars onto buses is hard.
|
|
|
Post by adam on Oct 2, 2017 20:04:47 GMT 1
Not sure how much difference it'll make but shortly south Milford train station car park will become pay and display a flat rate for the day
|
|
|
Post by stevieinselby on Oct 2, 2017 22:29:40 GMT 1
There's a lot of competition from train services, given that Selby has regular and fast train service into Leeds. Both the Transpennine and Arriva Northern Rail quicker and more regular in fact than services into Leeds from most other towns on the Arriva Yorkshire network. One stopping service and some form of 'X' service may work better? It's a possibility, but I'm not convinced. Running straight along the A63, you might just about manage the journey in 50 minutes, although if you're stopping along the way then you might need to allow another 5 minutes. That's unlikely to attract many people off the train, as it is still twice as long as the fast train ... but as it misses out Sherburn and South Milford, you lose the biggest source of intermediate traffic. Adding those on takes another 10 minutes, and then all you're really doing is missing out Micklefield and Garforth to save about 12 minutes. The problem with this kind of express service is that relying too heavily on pensioners defecting from the train because the bus is free is not a god business model – even if the bus is full, if it is carrying almost entirely ENCTS users making end-to-end journeys then it may well not be covering its costs. CityZap does carry fare-paying passengers, because it is tapping into a much bigger market and it is linking cities with a lot of students and young people, who may be looking for cheaper travel options but are still paying full fare – Selby doesn't have that market.
|
|
|
Post by stevieinselby on Oct 2, 2017 22:32:38 GMT 1
I can imagine an express service every off peak doing OK actually. (Say at 1100,1300,1500 from Selby and 1200,1400 and 1600 from Leeds. This could stop at Sherburn giving the pensioners an option. Google gives a driving time of Selby to Leeds via Sherburn as 49 minutes. Even with a limited stop service, a bus is not going to reliably do that in under an hour, meaning you can't run a 2-hourly service with one bus.
|
|
|
Post by stevieinselby on Nov 2, 2017 15:17:49 GMT 1
Suggestions to be made to Arriva Go on then, I'm sure the people at Arriva could do with a laugh.
|
|