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Post by sharksmith on May 13, 2024 15:02:05 GMT 1
Let's hope lessons have been learned from Bee Network as it hasn't worked out well for the smaller companies on the other side of the Pennines. I'm not sure 'protected at all costs' is the best way to proceed. For each good quality independent which you have named, there are a couple of other less well regarded companies who have been highlighted regularly on this forum. You wouldn't want to provide additional help and funding to some of the cowboys who have run services in the area over recent years by giving them a competitive edge. I hope that Metro do a much better job of overseeing their franchises than they have of certain tenders that they seem to have ignored recently I'd much prefer to see a range of smaller one to three route sized packages, which could be based around current small operators networks, which are maybe of more interest to a small operator and not as attractive for the major players to bother producing a bid for. I think this is much better than positive discrimation which could end up being bad value for money and attracting chancers to have a go at running buses ahead of the more established smaller operator. It's difficult though, as even with the large groups removed from bidding you could end up with a company like A&A winning the current Ross Travel/South Pennine routes franchise with a low bid, I'm sure that's one thing we can all agree on that no-one wants to happen. Also don't forget that these smaller operators will likely lose all local identity and their vehicles will just become a bus which looks like all the others and the companies will become more anonymous to the general passenger. No matter how excellent they are operating their own routes, they will just become another Yellow...Green...Pink bus and only be as well regarded as the rest of the network is. I certainly won't want A and A Coach Travel to be involved, total cowboy operation and won't do anyone any good. Don't want them to pick up any routes, certainly won't benefit the passenger, WYCA, or the brand. I think I did mention it a bit wrong. Your quite right there is a few operators in West Yorkshire who don't have the best reputations WYCA and Metro do need to be a bit more proactive, for example, the route 30 tender, should have been stripped from them a long time ago. Fortuately I don't think there's any chance they would be awarded a franchise but putting obstacles in the way of bids could quite easily lead to unforseen consequences, just like putting your finger in a dam near Amsterdam, you solve one problem and it opens up others.
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Post by sharksmith on May 13, 2024 13:49:18 GMT 1
Let's hope lessons have been learned from Bee Network as it hasn't worked out well for the smaller companies on the other side of the Pennines.
I'm not sure 'protected at all costs' is the best way to proceed. For each good quality independent which you have named, there are a couple of other less well regarded companies who have been highlighted regularly on this forum. You wouldn't want to provide additional help and funding to some of the cowboys who have run services in the area over recent years by giving them a competitive edge. I hope that Metro do a much better job of overseeing their franchises than they have of certain tenders that they seem to have ignored recently
I'd much prefer to see a range of smaller one to three route sized packages, which could be based around current small operators networks, which are maybe of more interest to a small operator and not as attractive for the major players to bother producing a bid for. I think this is much better than positive discrimation which could end up being bad value for money and attracting chancers to have a go at running buses ahead of the more established smaller operator. It's difficult though, as even with the large groups removed from bidding you could end up with a company like A&A winning the current Ross Travel/South Pennine routes franchise with a low bid, I'm sure that's one thing we can all agree on that no-one wants to happen.
Also don't forget that these smaller operators will likely lose all local identity and their vehicles will just become a bus which looks like all the others and the companies will become more anonymous to the general passenger. No matter how excellent they are operating their own routes, they will just become another Yellow...Green...Pink bus and only be as well regarded as the rest of the network is.
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Post by sharksmith on May 13, 2024 10:02:10 GMT 1
There are two different types of people in the world, those that plan their lives and those that don’t If you are heading into town, some will consult the timetable ahead of time, and work towards a specific journey, probably then checking the real time closer to the actual time Some won’t check the timetable and will just go to the bus stop when they are ready. They will often no doubt wait an unnecessarily long time for a bus, as they arrive at the bus stop just after one has gone Personally bus companies should cater for both types of people It’s the same with maps, some like maps, some proudly announce that they can’t read maps The lack of timetables also lets the operators change the times quietly. We’ve all seen on the railways how journeys disappear from timetables from one change to the next, and as nobody has a printed timetable anymore, they get away with it. I probably agree with this in the main although it's those people who plan their lives, and I do count myself in that category, who get most irritated when a bus does not arrive within a reasonable timeframe of when it is timetabled. This is a stress of modern life which I have now found the way to circumnavigate. Sure I may miss the odd physical vehicle which for whatever reason is running but not tracking, but I don't get irked about that as I don't see it and don't know it passed me by. The stealth removal of services is something which the local transport authorities, who I've never actually said shouldn't have a background timetable, should hopefully be on top of and not allow without being provided with good reasons. I take the point though that the public can't lobby the authorities if they can't see a journey has been removed from the timetable.
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Post by sharksmith on May 13, 2024 9:50:56 GMT 1
This is a good read on the topic of small operators being squeezed out by franchising: “A basic way of starting to settle the SME conundrum is mandating that small contracts cannot run from a depot that hosts a large contract. Such an approach has been mooted in West Yorkshire. “That is trying to put small operators on a level playing field with a large business on operating costs,” Frank suggests, although he believes that it could be pushing procurement rules to their limit.” www.route-one.net/features/how-can-bus-franchising-be-made-to-work-better-for-smes/Yes it is very interesting. The only thing I would say is that although it is important to have these small to medium sized operators within the system, it is also important to provide value for money for the taxpayer. If a large group can provide a lower bid simply because they can avoid duplicate costs by running from a single base, should this be disregarded simply to prop up the businesses of smaller companies? In general I am very much against large companies swallowing up all competition, just look at what the supermarkets have done to variety on the high street, but I'm sure one of the major selling points of franchising is that this will provide better value for money. Not so if a potentially much lower bid cannot be accepted due to this kind of condition being enforced. I don't really know another solution to the problem which would protect our small businesses but anything put in place which artificially protects them would appear to come at some cost.
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Post by sharksmith on May 12, 2024 22:41:22 GMT 1
If I'm going for a bus that's every 20 or 30 minutes, I want to look at a timetable to know when on the hour they're due. Simple as. I don't want to be messing around looking for live times on an app. If a bus route is a turn-up-and-go frequency, then, no, I wouldn't typically look at a timetable, but the frequency would have to be every 7/8 minutes or better. My local bus route is every 20 minutes, and I know I can walk down to the bus stop for either :05, :25, or :45, and that they get me into town 35 minutes later, so I know which bus/ train connections I can make, or even just say what time I'll be in town if meeting a friend. If the journeys were randomly spaced apart, and I had to look at apps to figure out my next journey then that would very much aggravate me. I think we live on the same route although I may be wrong. I'm not sure of the times from my stop, some of them change by a minute or two from hour to hour. I just open the map on bustimes to see where the next one is and then leave the house when it's a mile away. If it's ten minutes late, happy days, I've saved myself ten minutes waiting at the stop, especially in winter. If a journey is cancelled I save myself an even longer cold/wet wait. If you've got a paper timetable I'm assuming it's Transdev. I wouldn't know where to get a timetable for my First route with Bradford Travel Centre currently closed. If I'm looking for a timetable online it would take me longer to find it so happier to use the map. I agree the apps are a real problem, very un-customer friendly and do as much to discourage travel as they do to encourage it. Does nobody have late running/cancelled buses in West Yorkshire? I'm starting to think it's just me. I've had some horrendous experiences over the last couple of years
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Post by sharksmith on May 12, 2024 22:29:13 GMT 1
Sorry, why the need to be so aggressive, why can't we have a debate without getting personal. 🤔 I'm starting to feel you have a problem with me personally. We don't seem to agree on a couple of things, but I don't see why we can't have a friendly debate. I have my opinion and you have yours and just like franchising the ideal is probably in the middle. I'd maybe concede that timetables should still be available but we have to do better at providing other forms of information for all groups. No point carrying on if it's just going to dissolve into a squabble. I wasn't trying to be aggressive. If I misrepresent your views, please do correct me. I'm a big fan of providing as much information to passengers by whatever means possible. Timetables on stops, leaflets, on line, trackable buses. Apps and displays that predict when the bus will arrive and can confirm where it is now. Lists of cancelled buses (not ideal they exist, but when they do...), not just on a random website somewhere but highlighted when you look at the route. We're coming at the same problem from different directions. This whole thread was started by the constant grumbles about AI timetabling. Clearly there are problems, but it's new and at least companies are not sitting on their hands and are trying to improve the reliability of their services, it's all about communication. I personally have moved on from timetables and use technology rather than paper, rather forced to by Metro I would say. My ideal would be something at each stop showing some basic route & timetabling information but less than traditionally done. Then also, next 3-5 buses due in xx minutes, but also a little interactive local map so you can see where your bus is. Technology is moving on in leaps and bounds, it surely won't be long before this is simple to do? Basically all this information is available on bustimes so it clearly isn't that hard to provide. Metro and the bus companies need to do better to put this kind of thing together on their websites/apps for those who can use them.
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Post by sharksmith on May 12, 2024 22:08:56 GMT 1
Dublin Bus are one example, unless you count having departure times from terminus & an estimated journey time to key stops as a timetable? It's an outline timetable and means you're still expecting every bus on that list to run, so unlikely to please sharksmith. Sorry, why the need to be so aggressive, why can't we have a debate without getting personal. 🤔 I'm starting to feel you have a problem with me personally. We don't seem to agree on a couple of things, but I don't see why we can't have a friendly debate. I have my opinion and you have yours and just like franchising the ideal is probably in the middle. I'd maybe concede that timetables should still be available but we have to do better at providing other forms of information for all groups. No point carrying on if it's just going to dissolve into a squabble.
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Post by sharksmith on May 12, 2024 20:14:03 GMT 1
Sorry, I'm not tech savvy enough to answer your replies in such a good way. 🙂
I should really do this on the computer rather than the phone.
I find it hard to believe you can catch a particular Shuttle service during peak hours as I generally see them trundling through Saltaire in pairs.
Please don't take offence but it does sound you like to plan things quite meticulously. Believe it or not I'm a bit the same but I find plans like this regularly have to change which is why I find technology a wonderful assistant when plans go awry.
The Carlisle issue was very much that the bus didn't run, with which a paper timetable couldn't help. An interactive solution would have been much more helpful. Fortunately I had that solution/information in my phone. How do we get that to the person at the stop.
I looked for a Metrolink timetable once, for exactly the reason you suggested, to check the time between stops and more out of curiosity, I don't generally miss it.
My in-laws lived near Kilmeny so it was the Bracken Bank service they would use so this would fall into the category I'm talking about.
OK, I'll change that to Times are changing.. 😅
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Post by sharksmith on May 12, 2024 20:02:03 GMT 1
I would also say as a keen bus enthusiast, passenger & former driver I made sure my children could read a bus timetable.
Neither of them use them though now in adult life. The eldest uses Google journey planner much to my dismay and the youngest just waits blindly at the bus stop.
Times have changed and as much as I love collecting brightly coloured leaflets wherever I travel, Cornwall's timetable book is a work of art, as well as fiction, I think the world is moving on and demands more than having to decipher a list of times on paper.
You are very lucky in that Transdev still believe in the custom, although for how long now that AH has moved along?
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Post by sharksmith on May 12, 2024 19:53:17 GMT 1
I think public timetables are unnecessary mainly because they can't be kept to with any consistency and secondly because there are better ways to now provide the information of when a bus will arrive without making promises which can't be kept. You keep saying that, but ignore those of who say that on many routes they can be kept to. Your suggestions mean that, except where frequencies are extremely high, no-one could plan in advance to make a journey, to, for example, work - especially if they had to catch more than one bus. If you're trying to put people off catching buses, this would certainly work for a section of users. Even places like London have underlying timetables and enough people want to actually see them that people create websites to make them available. I'll try to answer each of your points, let me know if I miss any. I've never said there shouldn't be an underlying timetable. That really would be silly. Bus companies need them to run services and journey planners need them too. Anything at an hourly, maybe 45 minute frequency or less, then yes I probably agree a timetable should be produced. For anything less than this though I would suggest, service frequency and first & last bus times are probably good enough. Then a live departures system, at a minimum what we have now but obviously my preference is a map based approach. Visually a bus moving on a map has got to be better than a list of numbers and better than a 'minutes to' approach where the number of minutes go up and down if the bus gets stuck in traffic or as in my Carlisle example is removed from service. There is precedent for this, TFL don't produce bus timetables on their website in the format we're used to in favour of first & last times and general frequency at a particular stop, with more specific timings for lower frequency services but again only on a stop by stop basis. Many people have held Metrolink up as a shining example of public transport excellence, for those lucky enough to live close enough to a stop and able enough to stand on a swaying tram for 30 minutes or more. The full tram timetables are a very hard to find resource. I did find one once but have never managed again. First and last trams and frequencies are the norm. Then you have the journey planner and live departures pages but no public facing timetables. My in-laws lived in Ingrow and I have a less than rosy history of Keighley bus reliability but I bow to your local knowledge. I can assure you that in my local area traffic density, accidents, police incidents, roadworks,makes running services to time impossible, not the bus companies fault at all I would say, and the Bee Network data does back up my experience.
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Post by sharksmith on May 12, 2024 18:07:18 GMT 1
I think it’s an overreaction to suggest every bus in West Yorkshire is running nowhere near its planned schedule, and therefore there is no point having timetables I guess the vast majority are running on time I in no way suggested anything of the sort, but it's very naive to suggest the majority are running to time at every stop along the route. Many leave on time and then lose time along the way. I actually suggested maybe 60% are on time, maybe slightly low but I don't reckon it's much better. Bee network's published figures for last week was between 71.77% and 77.60% on time but that's only buses leaving on time, from start of journey..?, and doesn't count them as late until they're 5 minutes late. I know it's an unpopular opinion but sometimes every well established way of doing things has to be re-evaluated and I just don't think timetables for the general public are the best way of providing information in today's society. In fact at worst, they're a stick with which to beat the buses companies with. If timetables were the most efficient way of providing this information, why was real time information introduced? If timetables didn't exist, ghost buses wouldn't exist as only stuff actually tracking would show on screens. The technology needs to be improved so that all buses do actually track but that's technological evolution. I think public timetables are unnecessary mainly because they can't be kept to with any consistency and secondly because there are better ways to now provide the information of when a bus will arrive without making promises which can't be kept.
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Post by sharksmith on May 12, 2024 15:54:39 GMT 1
That's the whole point of E paper, the bus stop tells them how far away their bus is, they only have to read. What's the point of a timetable when the bus doesn't arrive at the publicised time? That's the point at which people start to complain, it's unnecessary So they have to get to the timetable to find out when the bus is going to come? Rolling out epaper at many stops sounds like an expensive project (I used to work in a department that trialled exactly that. There's still just a single digit number of stops in that project). We're talking about a dwindling amount of people who can't use tech and for those folks, where are they picking up a printed timetable in Bradford? The method of providing bus information aside, a timetable is only as good as it's accuracy. The world is changing fast. What I'm saying is that the days of the timetable, sad as it is, are numbered. I was in Carlisle last week. I knew that the last bus to the village I was staying in was at 2.15 on a Friday afternoon, it's not just First who refuse to provide a complete local bus service all day. This is a village about 3 miles from the centre with hundreds of new built houses in the local area. Thanks partly to my local knowledge and partly the map function on bustimes I knew another bus stopped around a 20 minute walk from my destination so I went to catch it. Despite standing at at a bus stop with a timetable in the holder I could only work out what was happening thanks to bustimes. Firstly, the first bus I went to catch was running ten minutes late. I watched it approach Carlisle Market two stops away, and then watched it go and park up in Carlisle bus station where it sat not in service for the next 30 minutes as I waited. I assume there either wasn't a driver available to continue the second half of the route, or maybe there was an issue with the bus. The other people waiting at the stop didn't know this as the timetable stared back at them unhelpfully. The next bus was running 15 minutes late and I had little option but to wait for it to arrive, but at least I could see it slowly making it's way through North Carlisle and into the centre before it arrived. The paper timetable at the bus stop didn't help and I've honestly yet to find paper timetables available anywhere for Carlisle local services. My point is, the timetable in the bus stop told me about three scheduled services which either didn't run or were very late. A paper timetable in my hand would have been just as little use. There has to be a better way to do things because ignorance of the reasons behind these missing advertised departures is what brings complaints and dissatisfaction. I only collect timetables these days, never refer to them to check the time of my bus. I just look at the map.
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Post by sharksmith on May 12, 2024 15:53:16 GMT 1
That's the whole point of E paper, the bus stop tells them how far away their bus is, they only have to read. What's the point of a timetable when the bus doesn't arrive at the publicised time? That's the point at which people start to complain, it's unnecessary So they have to get to the timetable to find out when the bus is going to come? Rolling out epaper at many stops sounds like an expensive project (I used to work in a department that trialled exactly that. There's still just a single digit number of stops in that project). We're talking about a dwindling amount of people who can't use tech and for those folks, where are they picking up a printed timetable in Bradford? The method of providing bus information aside, a timetable is only as good as it's accuracy. I was in Carlisle last week. I knew that the last bus to the village I was staying in was at 2.15 on a Friday afternoon, it's not just First who refuse to provide a complete local bus service all day. This is a village about 3 miles from the centre with hundreds of new built houses in the local area. Thanks partly to my local knowledge and partly the map function on bustimes I knew another bus stopped around a 20 minute walk from my destination so I went to catch it. Despite standing at at a bus stop with a timetable in the holder I could only work out what was happening thanks to bustimes. Firstly, the first bus I went to catch was running ten minutes late. I watched it approach Carlisle Market two stops away, and then watched it go and park up in Carlisle bus station where it sat not in service for the next 30 minutes as I waited. I assume there either wasn't a driver available to continue the second half of the route, or maybe there was an issue with the bus. The other people waiting at the stop didn't know this as the timetable stared back at them unhelpfully. The next bus was running 15 minutes late but I had little option but to wait for it to arrive, but at least I could see it slowly making it's way through North Carlisle and into the centre before it arrived. The paper timetable at the bus stop didn't help and I've honestly yet to find paper timetables available anywhere for Carlisle local services. My point is, the timetable in the bus stop told me about three scheduled services which either didn't run or were very late. A paper timetable in my hand would have been just as little use. There has to be a better way because ignorance of the reasons behind these missing advertised departures is what brings complaints and dissatisfaction. ****I've duplicated this post in the thread I previously created on the topic in the canteen section. May be as well to continue the discussion there rather taking this one off track. ****
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Post by sharksmith on May 11, 2024 18:42:10 GMT 1
Thank you!! You've just confirmed what I'm saying. A timetable is impossible to stick to in this car biased world we live in. Much better to have a little map on e-paper at the bus stop so you can see where the bus actually is. What about vandalism, if Metro can't regularly update normal paper for when they get stolen, then how do you expect them to put up a new E-Paper board at the bus stop and E-Paper is pretty much useless when you get them ghost buses that don't seem to track. So if you accept that timetabled services regularly don't run to time, what's the point of continuing to suggest it does. Why not use AI to suggest a time more in line with reality. Ghost buses I will give you although personal experience suggests there are more buses turning up unannounced than missing. Vandalism affects paper timetables exactly the same as an E-Paper timetable so that's not really an argument.
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Post by sharksmith on May 11, 2024 16:18:15 GMT 1
Thank you!! You've just confirmed what I'm saying. A timetable is impossible to stick to in this car biased world we live in. Much better to have a little map on e-paper at the bus stop so you can see where the bus actually is. To be fair. when I used to work in Pontefract and had about 4 options to take me home, thanks to bus tracking, I'd be able to pick the best option that day, otherwise i'd have took a gamble, the tracking was much more useful to me than the times of the bus. Thanks to the tracking, I managed to get a 411 all myself once from Pontefract to Castleford! I think we agree then. 😀
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Post by sharksmith on May 11, 2024 16:05:17 GMT 1
That's the whole point of E paper, the bus stop tells them how far away their bus is, they only have to read. What's the point of a timetable when the bus doesn't arrive at the publicised time? That's the point at which people start to complain, it's unnecessary People will complain either way no matter how much time you put in a timetable. Think Arriva had added extra time in the timetable for the 202/203/229 but I think they still get complaints Thank you!! You've just confirmed what I'm saying. A timetable is impossible to stick to in this car biased world we live in. Much better to have a little map on e-paper at the bus stop so you can see where the bus actually is.
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Post by sharksmith on May 11, 2024 15:42:41 GMT 1
How about the elderly? I doubt they will know about bus tracking, they would much prefer a schedule, than just waiting for a bus to turn up, they don't know about bus tracking, elderly people I know are scared to use any computer or phone, I couldn't imagine they would know how or want to track a bus. That's the whole point of E paper, the bus stop tells them how far away their bus is, they only have to read. What's the point of a timetable when the bus doesn't arrive at the publicised time? That's the point at which people start to complain, it's unnecessary
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Post by sharksmith on May 11, 2024 14:54:40 GMT 1
I've raised this in a different thread before discussing whether timetables are any use in the modern world. There's absolutely no point having nice neat clockface timetables if they are a work of fiction due to modern traffic conditions. /quote] They shouldn't need to be on the X6. My local buses seem able to keep to their times almost all the time. You are very lucky then, my buses regularly run in pairs during the day First & Transdev. I'm not sure about the X6 either having to deal with Leeds & Bradford city centre traffic
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Post by sharksmith on May 11, 2024 13:37:49 GMT 1
Every 14 minutes won't make it easy for passengers to remember either unlike every 15 mins where 00,15,30,45 as an example. The times if it was every 15 mins would be the same every hour whereas if it's every 14 mins the times would be different for every hour for example hour 1, would have 14,28,42,56 and then hour 2, 10,24,38,52 and then hour 3 would be 06,20,34,48. It just makes things more difficult for the passengers. It's what happens when timetabling and schedules are all automated. And if it was 15, 30, 45, 00 and if, and if, passengers remember that, how often does the bus depart at those times during the day. Not often I would venture to guess, maybe 60% of the time? I also reject the idea that most passengers remember their bus routes regular timing patterns even when there is one. I've raised this in a different thread before discussing whether timetables are any use in the modern world. There's absolutely no point having nice neat clockface timetables if they are a work of fiction due to modern traffic conditions. I really think public facing timetables should be consigned to history for any frequencies below hourly. We have much better alternatives with bus tracking software. The use of E paper, such as in Manchester, should consign pieces of actual paper with timetables, that the majority of people can't read, to history. I walked out of the house this afternoon with no intention of catching a bus and just missed one at my local stop. I checked bustimes, saw a bus half a mile away and decided to wait for it. I use buses regularly but have no idea what minutes past the hour they leave my stops as I just check where a bus is tracking. As an illustrative point, my wife has never been able to read a timetable, always asks me when a bus is coming, even rings me up to ask! This morning she called to say how rubbish the new Transdev app because she couldn't see her bus on the map. I'd already told her what time it was due, she wanted tracking rather than a timetable.
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Post by sharksmith on May 10, 2024 16:03:50 GMT 1
Reading the Facebook comments on a Doncaster Free Press article about the new Stagecoach Yutongs. Makes me feel all happy inside that it's not just West Yorkshire folk who put their fingers into action without engaging brain cells.
The amount of comments about electric buses catching fire in a week where two diesel buses have gone up in flames in the surrounding areas is mind boggling.
Hey everyone, here's some new buses for you. Response...moan, moan, Chinese, moan, whinge, electric buses, moan, moan, First bus are rubbish...jeez give me a break, may be time to turn social media off methinks.
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Post by sharksmith on May 1, 2024 12:27:48 GMT 1
And Tracy wants our votes on Thursday. She is absolutely useless and needs voting out with a new Mayor who might actually get things sorted. 1/ Bradford Interchange closed, 2/Halifax Bus station still not completed and 3/ the ongoing fiasco with the Whiterose Train station where the builders have walked off the site is enough fir me Unfortunately I don't see any chance of a change of mayor this week. People who actually bother to vote seem to come in a few different types. 1 The ones who have always voted for one party and always will. Quite often a generational thing passed down through families. 2. The ones who vote in all elections based on National Politics rather than on the issues the candidates can actually affect. Not going to get those voters voting Tory at the moment. 3. The small clued up proportion who actually know which positions they are voting people into. Category 3 are unfortunately a very small minority, and apart from in the most marginal of areas cannot affect the outcomes. Even in this small cross section of well informed voters, many will have their own personal priorities of which transport may not be one. I expect a large win for the current mayor with probably an increased share of the vote. ☹️
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Post by sharksmith on Apr 26, 2024 11:19:33 GMT 1
And there is now a photo of it, 35263, on the FirstBus Enthusiasts Facebook page repainted into the base colours of what had previously been assumed was the new electric bus livery but apparently not as it's now on a diesel bus. Heard that's now the new corporate livery for First. Previous corporate liveries were Barbie and Olympia, with very few buses around UK still in Barbie livery and majority of buses that haven't repainted into their local liveries still in Olympia such as Halifax which they still paint them in that livery. Yes Andy Metcalfe has all but confirmed that on the same Facebook group. It seems a strange time to be rolling out a new corporate livery with the spectre of franchising hanging over so many of their operations. I wonder if we'll see any more Bradford buses repainted now or whether they'll just soldier on without until the West Yorkshire franchised livery is released.
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Post by sharksmith on Apr 26, 2024 7:30:57 GMT 1
Is this really a good use of tax payers money? The whole area along Wedderburn Road etc is less than half a mile away from Knaresborough or Wetherby Road and they've managed to do without a bus for 6 years so surely this money would have been better spent elsewhere. "The service is funded solely by Connexions, the spokesperson said."
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sharksmith
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Post by sharksmith on Apr 25, 2024 14:24:03 GMT 1
35263 was the first to transfer down along with 35273 around two months ago. It could have been 35268 (SL67 VWU) - assuming it had a green front wedge? And there is now a photo of it, 35263, on the FirstBus Enthusiasts Facebook page repainted into the base colours of what had previously been assumed was the new electric bus livery but apparently not as it's now on a diesel bus.
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Post by sharksmith on Apr 22, 2024 12:00:22 GMT 1
I'm pretty sure that the combined authority is funded through other sources, even if part of this is collected via our Council Tax. I don't think it will matter if the councils do go bankrupt as the combined authority will still be solvent. Also if a contract is in place this will be a legal contact so I'm sure the combined authority will have to have funds set aside for the length of the contract to make sure any necessary payments which become due over that period can be paid.
What happens after the first round of franchises become due for renewal is then anyone's guess as this is the bit that I've never seen any pro-franchiser answer. If government funding has been reduced or even ceased completely, what happens if the combined authority does not have sufficient funds to pay for even the cheapist bid received for a particular franchise. I'm not saying that will happen as I don't have a crystal ball, I'd just like someone to explain to me what the contingency plans for that would be, there surely has to be a plan B? I know Andy Burnham has been asked this a few times and not answered the question.
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