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Post by Bradford Traveller on May 17, 2021 18:35:47 GMT 1
Anyone agree regarding the new bus stop flags, that all the information is a tad on the small side? It might all look stylish when being designed on a computer screen, but 10 feet up in the air they aren’t very clear The old LCT had a similar idea, with a list of routes on the bus flag in tiny print.
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Post by rwilkes on May 18, 2021 16:13:57 GMT 1
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Post by westyorkshirebus on May 18, 2021 22:20:31 GMT 1
A lot of what she says is aimed at people who don’t use buses and think they are worse than they actually are, and therefore she will announce improvements that are basically almost there anyway.
I have to laugh about the complaint about lack of timetables at bus stops that she will sort. This being entirely in Metro’s control already, and it always has been, so has nothing to do with who runs the buses. And in normal times, any that are missing or out of date is an oversight not a policy that needs changing.
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joseph
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Post by joseph on May 19, 2021 6:31:39 GMT 1
To be fair about the bus stop timetable issue, if someone can go about taking old timetables out and replacing them with a standard message, they have the time to replace old times with new ones. Yes times changed quite a bit, but it wasn't exactly week by week, more like a few months in between. If they were really struggling, I'm sure that some spare bods from Metro HQ could have been found to put up timetables that they print from home, after all that's what Transdev did in Keighley bus station. Staff wouldn't need training as printing off a timetable and opening a case is easy. Mind you, I bet they'd be some flaiming clots coming up with the 'I don't want to catch covid from a timetable case' excuse, well wash it first then and just get on with it, would be my response lol.
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Post by peteleeds on May 19, 2021 18:51:43 GMT 1
To be fair about the bus stop timetable issue, if someone can go about taking old timetables out and replacing them with a standard message, they have the time to replace old times with new ones. Yes times changed quite a bit, but it wasn't exactly week by week, more like a few months in between. If they were really struggling, I'm sure that some spare bods from Metro HQ could have been found to put up timetables that they print from home, after all that's what Transdev did in Keighley bus station. Staff wouldn't need training as printing off a timetable and opening a case is easy. Mind you, I bet they'd be some flaiming clots coming up with the 'I don't want to catch covid from a timetable case' excuse, well wash it first then and just get on with it, would be my response lol. My stop in pudsey has real time display and a timetable case. However our services changed on sunday. Real time display says "refer to timetable " and timetable is out of date displaying services 14 and x14 but we now only get the 4f . Not a great impression for anyone new to getting the bus never mind us regular travellers
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Post by twansport on May 19, 2021 19:08:32 GMT 1
To be fair about the bus stop timetable issue, if someone can go about taking old timetables out and replacing them with a standard message, they have the time to replace old times with new ones. Yes times changed quite a bit, but it wasn't exactly week by week, more like a few months in between. If they were really struggling, I'm sure that some spare bods from Metro HQ could have been found to put up timetables that they print from home, after all that's what Transdev did in Keighley bus station. Staff wouldn't need training as printing off a timetable and opening a case is easy. Mind you, I bet they'd be some flaiming clots coming up with the 'I don't want to catch covid from a timetable case' excuse, well wash it first then and just get on with it, would be my response lol. My stop in pudsey has real time display and a timetable case. However our services changed on sunday. Real time display says "refer to timetable " and timetable is out of date displaying services 14 and x14 but we now only get the 4f . Not a great impression for anyone new to getting the bus never mind us regular travellers Have you reported the real time display? They can be temperamental but I am aware that systems seem to struggle when the timetables change.
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Post by peteleeds on May 19, 2021 19:59:00 GMT 1
My stop in pudsey has real time display and a timetable case. However our services changed on sunday. Real time display says "refer to timetable " and timetable is out of date displaying services 14 and x14 but we now only get the 4f . Not a great impression for anyone new to getting the bus never mind us regular travellers Have you reported the real time display? They can be temperamental but I am aware that systems seem to struggle when the timetables change. Yeah reported to metro tonight. Not working on first bus app either but not sure where that pulls data from
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Post by stantheman on May 20, 2021 7:55:12 GMT 1
Hm, so I wonder how franchising services out is going to be radically different to what we have now? It certainly doesn’t sound like the PTE are going to run and maintain the actual vehicles as they did until 1986. She talks about ticketing and timetables - is that really a big problem? But whatever she wants to should be easy to sort. This could end up being one of these things where she talks the talk but at the end of it, nothing will really have changed.
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Post by jdodger08 on May 20, 2021 10:55:10 GMT 1
Well if her plans lead to integrated ticketing and franchising of routes it could be a possibility in the future that we see First sell out, like in Manchester and London.
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WYBS
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Post by WYBS on May 21, 2021 0:57:59 GMT 1
Well if her plans lead to integrated ticketing and franchising of routes it could be a possibility in the future that we see First sell out, like in Manchester and London. Who would replace First? Transdev? Arriva certainly wouldn't have any interest in their current form it would appear. I can only see Stagecoach and Go Ahead moving in if that were to happen. First group recently changed their long term vision and have seemingly decided to focus on the UK bus market (quite the opposite of what was proposed a year or so ago); and with West Yorks being their most profitable division, I can't seem them leaving without a fuss.
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Post by stevieinselby on May 21, 2021 11:27:24 GMT 1
Well if her plans lead to integrated ticketing and franchising of routes it could be a possibility in the future that we see First sell out, like in Manchester and London. Remember that part of the reason that First dumped the Manchester division was because it was full of militant unionists who were bringing the company to its knees with outdated working practices and ridiculous demands, and so it was haemorrhaging money as they tried to placate staff and stop them from striking and from picking up the pieces when they did. And First decided that the hassle of bringing the division into line with the 21st century was not worth it.
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Post by nic on May 21, 2021 12:44:21 GMT 1
If this was to happen wouldn't it be better for a set staple number of routes franchised out to the current operators.
What I mean by that is -
110 - remain with Arriva 163/166 - remain with Arriva. 202/203 - remain with Arriva
72 - remain with First X6 - remain with First X84.- remain with First
(6 are an example. But those are the ones which I think would be decent sticking with their original operators).
What about the X98/X99? Trandev pick them up giving them dominance in the Wetherby market?
And what is she going to do about cross border journeys such as the 36? Franchise out the Harewood to Leeds part? Or allow Transdev to, considering they've improved and have a very good service, continue to provide the bus service?
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Post by martinsfp on May 21, 2021 13:31:51 GMT 1
If this was to happen wouldn't it be better for a set staple number of routes franchised out to the current operators. What I mean by that is - 110 - remain with Arriva 163/166 - remain with Arriva. 202/203 - remain with Arriva 72 - remain with First X6 - remain with First X84.- remain with First (6 are an example. But those are the ones which I think would be decent sticking with their original operators). What about the X98/X99? Trandev pick them up giving them dominance in the Wetherby market? And what is she going to do about cross border journeys such as the 36? Franchise out the Harewood to Leeds part? Or allow Transdev to, considering they've improved and have a very good service, continue to provide the bus service? As with London and the plans for Manchester, the operators will bid for contracts for routes or groups of routes. Which operator won’t matter much for passengers as they’ll all have the same ticketing and livery. In Manchester, cross-border routes aren’t covered by franchising.
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Post by rwilkes on May 21, 2021 16:30:24 GMT 1
It is no use speculating what she might do. The proposals are nuts and everyone should oppose them. We could get a fantastic bus services with bus priority and demand management. Fitsis doing good stuff where they have partnerships like Bristol and Somerset
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Post by stephen01 on May 21, 2021 17:20:13 GMT 1
It is no use speculating what she might do. The proposals are nuts and everyone should oppose them. We could get a fantastic bus services with bus priority and demand management. Fitsis doing good stuff where they have partnerships like Bristol and Somerset Totally agree. Metro have done the best they can for timetables during the pandemic as have operators. We already have an integrated ticketing system in operation - the Mcard which you've got the option to get tickets to use on both bus & train. Mass Transit just will not work as all the roads will need reconfiguring which will cost a fortune and lets face it some councils are struggling to resurface roads and fill in Potholes with one road in Batley been refused to as it would cost £600k. First have also tried using articulated buses like the Wright Fusion and Wright FTR which have eventually been phased out for varying reasons and again not all routes are suitable for that style of bus. We've also already seen the big 3 operators working together over the last couple of years on certain projects but again the smaller operators need to be included too.
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Post by yorkslad on May 21, 2021 21:35:34 GMT 1
Anyone agree regarding the new bus stop flags, that all the information is a tad on the small side? It might all look stylish when being designed on a computer screen, but 10 feet up in the air they aren’t very clear The old LCT had a similar idea, with a list of routes on the bus flag in tiny print. They did indeed, but Brunswick Green is darker than Leeds City Bus green, so the white (gold?) numbers stood out more than on the current flags. We've gone back to the period immediately pre-1974, when immediately post-1974 might have been better: a coloured stripe to indicate the operator, all of the numbers black on a white background.
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Post by westriding on May 22, 2021 10:09:59 GMT 1
The Mayor for West Yorkshire states her desire to reform local buses, based on one journey with the German owned company which is winding down its UK operations. No ride with the luxury of Transdev or First Leeds new double-deck fleet then. Previous interference by a politician (Ed Balls, remember him?) introduced the 214 which carried 'fresh air' between Birstall Ikea and White Rose for two years. Tendering operations by WYCA/Metro always brings a cheap and low standard operator, some like Tates and LOT soon went bust. No doubt the knowledge and experience of former actors is limited to those old buses which have been converted to hospitality units on film sets. Please drop the socialist dogma, and leave business to the professionals.
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Post by deerfold on May 22, 2021 11:32:06 GMT 1
The Mayor for West Yorkshire states her desire to reform local buses, based on one journey with the German owned company which is winding down its UK operations. No ride with the luxury of Transdev or First Leeds new double-deck fleet then. Previous interference by a politician (Ed Balls, remember him?) introduced the 214 which carried 'fresh air' between Birstall Ikea and White Rose for two years. Tendering operations by WYCA/Metro always brings a cheap and low standard operator, some like Tates and LOT soon went bust. No doubt the knowledge and experience of former actors is limited to those old buses which have been converted to hospitality units on film sets. Please drop the socialist dogma, and leave business to the professionals. Is it winding down its UK operations? It's expressed a desire to sell, but usually you'd want something you're going to sell to be doing as well as it can be. My local tendered routes are run by Transdev and Jacksons, both reliable and high quality. It sounds like she uses the buses regularly.
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Post by martinsfp on May 22, 2021 17:01:07 GMT 1
A lot of the reflexive rejection of franchising on here seems to be based on a misunderstanding of what franchising is. There are pros and cons to the approach, but it’s very different to the current tendering system or ‘interference’ by politicians. It’s worth reading up on the Bus Services Act 2017 to see the powers mayors can access, and reading up on the plans Andy Burnham is going to roll out over the next few years in Greater Manchester to see how it could work in West Yorkshire.
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Post by resolution on May 25, 2021 14:59:01 GMT 1
It is no use speculating what she might do. The proposals are nuts and everyone should oppose them. We could get a fantastic bus services with bus priority and demand management. Fitsis doing good stuff where they have partnerships like Bristol and Somerset Well I shan't be opposing the proposals. Like most of Britain, West Yorkshire has not had a bus SERVICE since 1986. What it has had are a load of profit-orientated bus BUSINESSES, which are not the same thing at all! Unfortunately I suspect that the lousy legislation which has existed since 1986 has destroyed any chance of us having decent bus services ever again - the market has largely vanished.
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Post by irhardy on May 25, 2021 21:30:38 GMT 1
It is no use speculating what she might do. The proposals are nuts and everyone should oppose them. We could get a fantastic bus services with bus priority and demand management. Fitsis doing good stuff where they have partnerships like Bristol and Somerset Well I shan't be opposing the proposals. Like most of Britain, West Yorkshire has not had a bus SERVICE since 1986. What it has had are a load of profit-orientated bus BUSINESSES, which are not the same thing at all! Unfortunately I suspect that the lousy legislation which has existed since 1986 has destroyed any chance of us having decent bus services ever again - the market has largely vanished. But remember in London where the bus services were never deregulated and are run under contracts by private companies, but are planned by Transport for London (a public body) and funded at great public expense initially by National Government grant (but that was cut at the same time as Khan's 4 years fares freeze) and by Londoners council tax. The service has been influenced by the whims of the mayor at the time: Firstly we had the bendy buses introduced by Ken Livingstone, but were withdrawn early by Johnson and then replaced by normal double deckers and then by the Borisbus. e.g. the 38 from Victoria to Clapton was operated with a PVR of 50 RMLs, they were replaced by 42 artics and then again by 70 low floor double deckers, then by 59 Borisbuses and that has gradually reduced as usage has fallen so it is now only a PVR of 43. Another thing, public bodies are not very good at changing things quickly to respond to changing requirements, new TfL routes seem to take an age to be introduced, because TfL have to consult about changes, but they have already awarded contracts as though the changes will go through, so only new 12 buses are ordered to support the new contract but the existing route needed 15 buses. TfL has now said they are going to reduced 4% of the mileage over the next few years as usage was falling off a cliff even before COVID. Be careful what you wish for, if the funding is guarented then you could get a good bus service but if it is not, then the services provided by the profit-orientated bus BUSINESSES will seem very good compared to what you get.
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Post by MetrolineGA1511 on May 31, 2021 19:15:17 GMT 1
It is no use speculating what she might do. The proposals are nuts and everyone should oppose them. We could get a fantastic bus services with bus priority and demand management. Fitsis doing good stuff where they have partnerships like Bristol and Somerset Well I shan't be opposing the proposals. Like most of Britain, West Yorkshire has not had a bus SERVICE since 1986. What it has had are a load of profit-orientated bus BUSINESSES, which are not the same thing at all! Unfortunately I suspect that the lousy legislation which has existed since 1986 has destroyed any chance of us having decent bus services ever again - the market has largely vanished. I think West Yorkshire Metro Mayor is considering following in the footsteps of Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and reforming buses, potentially through an enhanced bus partnership. www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/yorkshire-news/west-yorkshire-buses-reap-rewards-20600253
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Post by stephen01 on Jun 1, 2021 10:40:26 GMT 1
Just seen on twitter that First Leeds are advertising for drivers for a new DRT minibus system in Leeds. Wonder how it will impact Accessbus, CTPlus's minibus hire scheme and other community transport programmes e.g. Easy Travel
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Post by yorkslad on Jun 16, 2021 11:56:42 GMT 1
Two things I noted on my walk to do the shopping (earlier) this morning.
Some of the city centre bus stop flags have been changed so that they are broadly white, with a coloured stripe if a 'line' calls there, followed by the service numbers (white out of a coloured rectangle) and then non-line services in black. Examples on The Headrow and Infirmary Street. Former stop H1 on The Headrow is now all-white and just says "No departures from this stop", which is incorrect; it's an alighting-only stop and, by definition, the bus must have to depart after arriving ;-)
Infirmary Street now seems to be open for through traffic, spotted a service one and an out-of-service bus exiting onto East Parade. No indication of which services call at the three stops though; and the centre shelter seems to be in the wrong place, there's a lot of space ahead of it in the layby but not much behind it to the next stop.
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Post by granger on Jun 19, 2021 10:07:24 GMT 1
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