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Post by SCH117X on Dec 3, 2022 16:04:14 GMT 1
There are a number of empty runs between Starbeck and Leeds which seems pretty stupid. Even on Boxing Day when services are not that many - if an extra 36 working has to be run with X98/99 branded vehicle so what. Unbranded red deckers are common on the 36 and running one to Leeds to pick up a 7 working use to happen so quite why that isn't is a bit puzzling.
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Post by SCH117X on Dec 6, 2022 19:41:05 GMT 1
Alex Hornby has tweeted a picture containing some elements of Transdev Talk - Our Plans for 2023 carefully arranged not show the routes slated for possible withdrawal but missing from the rest of what is visible are Blackburn 2 & Red Express; Flyer A2; Harrogate 8 & 21; Little Hotline; Ribble Country; Wharfedale Links inc. Otley Dash; York 22/23 & 194. Alex comments re them being withdrawn; "Not necessarily. We are in discussions with local authorities and potentially other operators. A way to go before decisions are made." Services listed for improved efficiency/cost savings are Blackburn 4 & Valleyline; Burnley 1,2,3,4,5 & PendleWizz; Harrogate 7, 24 & Electrics; Keighley 62,64,67 & Locals; Rosso Irwell Line; Team Pennine 20,21,22. 360 and another I cannot make out (319?). Theres also a comment that recruitment issues are now localised to Harrogate and Rochdale /photo/1
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Post by westyorkshirebus on Dec 6, 2022 19:53:15 GMT 1
I believe it says A1-A3 not A1, A3
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stephen01
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Post by stephen01 on Dec 6, 2022 21:32:59 GMT 1
I believe it says A1-A3 not A1, A3 Nope it is A1, A3 amd listed as Premium routes so are big money earners.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2022 22:28:41 GMT 1
I believe it says A1-A3 not A1, A3 Nope it is A1, A3 amd listed as Premium routes so are big money earners. Looks like A1-3 to me as well, if you compare the dash to the comers used in other boxes, plus didn't all 3 routes come as one package when Transdev won them off Tiger? If so i doubt they would be able to just drop one while keeping the other 2. Looking at some of the other routes listed as 'premium' I don't think it makes them big money earners, rather they are earning enough to make some sort of profit on & have potential for future growth. With the Wharfedale locals being at risk i wonder if Connexions (depending on driver numbers) might try & swoop back in, at least for the 965.
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Post by stephen01 on Dec 6, 2022 23:04:06 GMT 1
Nope it is A1, A3 amd listed as Premium routes so are big money earners. Looks like A1-3 to me as well, if you compare the dash to the comers used in other boxes, plus didn't all 3 routes come as one package when Transdev won them off Tiger? If so i doubt they would be able to just drop one while keeping the other 2. Looking at some of the other routes listed as 'premium' I don't think it makes them big money earners, rather they are earning enough to make some sort of profit on & have potential for future growth. With the Wharfedale locals being at risk i wonder if Connexions (depending on driver numbers) might try & swoop back in, at least for the 965. A2's contract will be different as it's funded by 2 PTEs as well as LBA. The 3 have usually been in one package at least for Leeds & Bradford city Centres when Centrebis got the contract. The A3 is also just as jucier route like A1 is given that it no consists of 2 services since 967 got added after TLC lost the route.
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Post by mattb7tl on Dec 6, 2022 23:39:35 GMT 1
I'm really happy that denby darts is listed as a premium service. But more growth? They are going to need to find a way to deal with the capacity. It is becoming a bit too common to jump on the bus at Lord St, to find yourself standing up all the way to Waterloo or Kirkburton...
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Post by deerfold on Dec 7, 2022 10:50:03 GMT 1
Looks like A1-3 to me as well, if you compare the dash to the comers used in other boxes, plus didn't all 3 routes come as one package when Transdev won them off Tiger? If so i doubt they would be able to just drop one while keeping the other 2. Looking at some of the other routes listed as 'premium' I don't think it makes them big money earners, rather they are earning enough to make some sort of profit on & have potential for future growth. With the Wharfedale locals being at risk i wonder if Connexions (depending on driver numbers) might try & swoop back in, at least for the 965. A2's contract will be different as it's funded by 2 PTEs as well as LBA. The 3 have usually been in one package at least for Leeds & Bradford city Centres when Centrebis got the contract. The A3 is also just as jucier route like A1 is given that it no consists of 2 services since 967 got added after TLC lost the route. The A2 does not receive funding from North Yorkshire County Council (assuming this what you meant by PTE). I'm not sure what you're saying about the A3. The extension to the A3 replaced an extension on Transdev's 62 (long ago it was the 967, but not when the A3 took it over).
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Post by deerfold on Dec 7, 2022 10:52:01 GMT 1
The comments on the 22 are a little worrying. It's running at half the frequency it had just a few years ago, already.
Fingers crossed for my local 62.
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Post by SCH117X on Dec 7, 2022 22:08:38 GMT 1
Theres an image appeared on another forum of the "exit" list which does not include the A2 nor any mention of Whitby or the 194. Those listed therefore are Blackburn 2 & Red Express; Harrogate 8 & 21; Little Hotline; Ribble Country; Wharfedale / Otley Dash; York 22/23
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Post by mattb7tl on Dec 10, 2022 10:45:00 GMT 1
Any mention of the 262? They bought very modern second hand buses for the route, and yet they have hardly been running the route. Bus times also says that it isn't supported by a subsidy so it shouldn't fall under the contracted section of the leaflet?
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Post by gledhill56 on Dec 10, 2022 11:32:44 GMT 1
Any mention of the 262? They bought very modern second hand buses for the route, and yet they have hardly been running the route. Bus times also says that it isn't supported by a subsidy so it shouldn't fall under the contracted section of the leaflet? Where is it mentioned under the contract section, it only states Huddersfield without mentioning specific services.
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Post by WYBS on Dec 17, 2022 14:38:20 GMT 1
Meanwhile in Harrogate, Alex has tweeted that the 36 will be going back to a 10 minute frequency from February.
What exactly makes them think they can achieve that I do not know. Still daily cancellations at the moment.
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Post by mattb7tl on Dec 17, 2022 15:35:59 GMT 1
I believe that is the first route in the region to go back to a ten minute frequency?
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Post by deerfold on Dec 17, 2022 21:12:08 GMT 1
I believe that is the first route in the region to go back to a ten minute frequency? The Wakefield Free City Bus is every 10 minutes for most of the day (all hours of operation on a Saturday). Incidentally, I can't believe how many frequencies are wrong on Metro's lists (along with the 0020 bus on the 662 not being marked as Friday only on their Monday - Friday timetable which they'd fixed once).
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Post by joshben on Dec 19, 2022 18:55:32 GMT 1
Can't see transdev making much money soon, prices cut to £2 singles... Down from £16 for a Leeds - Whitby single! The government can't be reimbursing that much!!
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Post by WYBS on Dec 19, 2022 19:39:47 GMT 1
Can't see transdev making much money soon, prices cut to £2 singles... Down from £16 for a Leeds - Whitby single! The government can't be reimbursing that much!! They must be reimbursing to a sufficient rate otherwise Transdev would have chosen not to opt in to the scheme.
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Post by SCH117X on Dec 19, 2022 20:56:56 GMT 1
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Post by lucyp on Dec 20, 2022 17:33:33 GMT 1
I'm not sure whether the WY £2 cap support figures are available. The national £2 cap that runs from January to March 2023 involves 130 operators and £60 million of Government support.
There shouldn't be any loss for companies, because of the government support, and because the existing average return journey is probably not much more than £4, and presumably the services will be busier.
If Transdev didn't spend so much money on design agencies and personalised number plates for buses, (the latter to disguise how old many of the buses are, (and how many people even know or care what ESU stands for?) With TDV you can work it out, although sometimes TRD would be more appropriate) then the losses might be less.
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Post by deerfold on Dec 20, 2022 18:35:43 GMT 1
I'm not sure whether the WY £2 cap support figures are available. The national £2 cap that runs from January to March 2023 involves 130 operators and £60 million of Government support. There shouldn't be any loss for companies, because of the government support, and because the existing average return journey is probably not much more than £4, and presumably the services will be busier. If Transdev didn't spend so much money on design agencies and personalised number plates for buses, (the latter to disguise how old many of the buses are, (and how many people even know or care what ESU stands for?) With TDV you can work it out, although sometimes TRD would be more appropriate) then the losses might be less. I can't see number plates being a major part of Transdev's expenses compared to wages or fuel.
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Post by SCH117X on Dec 20, 2022 21:59:36 GMT 1
Numberplate costs are pretty negligible; if they were not how come cost concious Connexions spend all their time re-registering vehicles.
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Post by nic on Dec 20, 2022 23:36:16 GMT 1
If Transdev didn't spend so much money on design agencies and personalised number plates for buses, (the latter to disguise how old many of the buses are, (and how many people even know or care what ESU stands for?) With TDV you can work it out, although sometimes TRD would be more appropriate) then the losses might be less. I'm pretty sure that number plates are negligible cost to transdev. And I'm also sure that it's not to disguise how old vehicles are but rather to add more to the branding of said route. But of course I'll let you think its not the reason to hide the age. You never know the Electric 36 may displace the diesel streedecks onto the X98/99. Would you mind riding on a 7 year well kept Streetdeck?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2022 0:05:49 GMT 1
If Transdev didn't spend so much money on design agencies and personalised number plates for buses, (the latter to disguise how old many of the buses are, (and how many people even know or care what ESU stands for?) With TDV you can work it out, although sometimes TRD would be more appropriate) then the losses might be less. I'm pretty sure that number plates are negligible cost to transdev. And I'm also sure that it's not to disguise how old vehicles are but rather to add more to the branding of said route. But of course I'll let you think its not the reason to hide the age. You never know the Electric 36 may displace the diesel streedecks onto the X98/99. Would you mind riding on a 7 year well kept Streetdeck? The 36 Buses are Gemini 3s not Streetdecks,as they use the Volvo B5TL chassis
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Post by dwarfer1979 on Dec 21, 2022 9:08:37 GMT 1
I'm not sure whether the WY £2 cap support figures are available. The national £2 cap that runs from January to March 2023 involves 130 operators and £60 million of Government support. There shouldn't be any loss for companies, because of the government support, and because the existing average return journey is probably not much more than £4, and presumably the services will be busier. From what I understand the West Yorkshire scheme works in a similar way to the Greater Manchester scheme where operators reclaim the difference between what the fare should be & the £2 cap so operators know they are not losing out by participating in the scheme. The national scheme does not work remotely like this, operators are simply given a pre-calculated fixed fee to participate in the scheme which will not change regardless of usage. This fixed fee was calculated for the DfT by their consultants based on a mass of data on fares, usage & mileage that had to be provided by operators with less than a weeks notice a couple of weeks ago (this may have been an easier job for big groups with sophisticated back office systems but for medium sized companies like my employers it was several days work for most of the commercial department including working over the weekend) then about two days to make a decision on actual participation after final figures were provided (there was no negotiation, it was a simple yes or no) at the end of last week. Given the short timescales for the operators it is clear it would be very easy for a slight miscalculation by either party to mean operators actually lose money on the national scheme (I know it was something of a margin call for many and the fact the big groups were participating meant many have felt they need to be in as long as the money wasn't wildly out but there are risks for operators). This amount of data demanded in such a short period of time is why many of the smaller operators aren't participating in the national scheme, they simply couldn't turn that data round in a couple of days so couldn't participate even if they felt there was the likelihood that the reimbursement would be enough (and if they all had been able to, as the fund is a fixed £60 million regardless, the reimbursement may have been insufficient for many as the pot would have been split more)
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Post by lucyp on Dec 21, 2022 18:28:21 GMT 1
It cannot work like Greater Manchester. In an attempt to speed up the snail-like X99, and in fact taking one of my suggestions posted on here, you now just tap your card for the £2 fare, or you just put £2 in cash down and walk away. You don't get a ticket, unless you need a £4.50 day ticket. Therefore they have no idea how far you are travelling, and therefore cannot know what the fare would have been under the old rules, and therefore cannot work out the difference.
And as for replacing the current buses with the 36 Volvos, the sooner the better. At least the heating works and there isn't an epilepsy inducing disco upstairs at every stop, as there was during the day on the X99 that I used on Monday. The lighting for the gloomy day was about right, but at every stop, on the left hand side, suddenly the lights went from that level of lighting to full operating theatre brightness. Once the doors closed again and the bus moved off, they dimmed again to a reasonable level. At night, there are never any lights on the left hand side either upstairs or downstairs.
For some ridiculous reason the upstairs lights seem to be linked to the downstairs lights. Why would you need the lights upstairs to come on brightly at each stop? And at night, I understand on a rural route, for visibility, the driver may not want the left hand lights on downstairs, but why can they not be on upstairs? The whole left hand side of the bus upstairs is so dark because there are no lights on. Far too dark to read one of the dog-eared books that fly off the shelf and land on the luggage rack downstairs because of the route style. I think the turn at Bardsey to and from Rigton Grange and East Keswick gets them every time!
And the Volvos don't have the grills at the bottom of the windscreen upstairs blowing filthy air into your face if you sit at the front. You can see the dirt blocking the grills, especially the middle one. That has never been cleaned. A disgusting health hazard.
The Volvos don't have the reading lights in the seat backs, but none of them work on the X99 anyway, so those won't be missed! There are no tables for people to fill with litter either, and when someone presses the stop button, at least it is audible, and no one is pressing the button 20 times in panic, thinking it is not working.
And with the recent filthy weather, you should see how dirty the shiny black plastic which lines the staircase is. Whoever thought that shiny black plastic was a good idea was wrong!
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