tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.comments2023-08-09T11:15:54.621+01:00BRITISH BUS BUGLESotonBushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14300971557135804834noreply@blogger.comBlogger366125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-59076947563198760942015-02-16T15:35:53.883+00:002015-02-16T15:35:53.883+00:00There is already a charge for concessionary passes...There is already a charge for concessionary passes. It's called "income tax" and I paid it for over 40 years before I got mine.Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14502754753792780008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-21152708455008873662015-02-15T10:49:26.690+00:002015-02-15T10:49:26.690+00:00Some changes are occurring in Herts. The 242 Sunda...Some changes are occurring in Herts. The 242 Sunday service goes to Trusty Bus. The 700 goes to Centre Bus. The St Albans S8& S9 to Metroline. The commercial Greenline Service operated by Arriva is now going to be taken over by University bus but only between Hatfield & London and only on Mondays to Fridays <br /><br />It seems likely that more Greenline services may face being axed when new pollution levels are put in place in LondonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-35391945403493511312015-02-15T10:37:31.559+00:002015-02-15T10:37:31.559+00:00Outside of London and a few major cities the bus s...Outside of London and a few major cities the bus services are so poor they are not a viable option for most people as you point out even in Bristol which is a city with a population close on 500,000 the services are very poor and when you get to smaller towns the services are at best an inadequate joke<br /><br />Councils have not had a good track record with bus services so giving them to much control may not be a good idea in particular as can be seen with current council subsidised services ids that they look at their patch only so you can end up with buses not going to where people want to go. They also tend to look at what is the absolute minimum they can get away with which is frequently a 2 hourly services which is of no use to anyone<br /><br />It may be better to give actual bus users an input. Currently they are all bar excluded<br /><br />Certainly looking at bus routes as a network is sensible but more money is needed to support bus services if only to kick start them as they have been cut back so much pretty much the only users are those that have no choice<br /><br />One thing I think should seriously be looked at is making an annual charge for bus passes. The money raised to be used to actually improve local buses services and not empire building by the local council<br />Lets assume the nominal value of the pass is £250 a year. It could then be made a taxable benefit, Doing it this way matches the charge to affordability rather than having a flat charge so Non Taxpayers would get the pass for Free. Basic rate tax payers would pay up to £50 a year extra tax and 40% tax payers up to £80 a year and 45% taxpayers would pay up £90 a year. This would also defuse the current attack on pensioners benefits. There may be a need for an alternative scheme in very rural areas where there may only be a bus once a week<br /><br />Given the number of concessionary passes it would raise quite a lot to improve the local services but not the longer distance routes but those are normally pretty much commercially viable<br /><br />There is probably good possibilities as well of raising funding for buses from Sponsorship perhaps in return for free or cheap advertising on the buses Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-11024977123078614682015-01-30T08:39:41.497+00:002015-01-30T08:39:41.497+00:00Is this blog still 'live'?Is this blog still 'live'?Clive Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02059026405966912480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-34146531365097337292015-01-20T12:25:14.565+00:002015-01-20T12:25:14.565+00:00Strange goings on with Arriva who have cancelled t...Strange goings on with Arriva who have cancelled the registrations of the services in Colchester & Harlow & Stansted (Currently under TGM subsidiary) and have re registered some with Kent & Thameside maybe more to be re registered. I suspect most if not all the Stansted service will be axed or retendered as they have closed their Stansted baseAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-88716999647402025222015-01-19T09:13:59.102+00:002015-01-19T09:13:59.102+00:00As stated fuel costs only make up about 20% of bus...As stated fuel costs only make up about 20% of bus operator costs, the largest is wages which I think accounts for over 50% of costs and that is going up at many operators along with many other costs like insurance (not to mention the cost of buying vehicles in the first place thanks to the added complexity of euro VI which many operators can't defer due to the looming DDA deadlines). On top of that income is being squeezed by local authority cuts to funding (concessionary fares reimbursement is being cut each year and reductions in supported services mean the overheads have to be covered by less routes) and looking to the future most of the industry is assuming that BSOG (the last remnants of the Fuel Duty Rebate) will be cut or removed after the election. Whilst people appear to expect operators to immediately cut fares when fuel prices drop they are less accepting of it happening when fuel prices go up so most operators have been trying to hold prices as much as possible so the fares didn't go up anywhere near as much as they should have as the fuel prices shot up, the wholesale price that operators pay - i.e: before the duty rebate is factored in - had doubled over the last 8 years which hasn't been reflected in most operators fare increases (and that doesn't include the huge cut in the rebate resulting in a huge increase in the duty paid) so most operators are still trying to catch up with this. The recent TAS report into the bus industry finances still finds most operators are making insufficient profit to be able to properly fund on-going operations so most operators aren't yet in a position to offer cuts at this time.dwarfer1979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-23080844461266062772015-01-18T20:47:23.210+00:002015-01-18T20:47:23.210+00:00Will never happen. Best we can hope for are fare f...Will never happen. Best we can hope for are fare freezes IMHO. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-38390677923149082472015-01-18T10:10:54.283+00:002015-01-18T10:10:54.283+00:00With fuel prices falling, wages static and overal...With fuel prices falling, wages static and overall inflation at 0.5% it will be interesting to see what excuses bus companies come up with for this year's gates increases. The Man on the Lancaster Omnibushttp://www.lancsbus.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-28303651644321462502015-01-17T10:45:27.528+00:002015-01-17T10:45:27.528+00:00It has been stated elsewhere that fuel is 15% of r...It has been stated elsewhere that fuel is 15% of running costs, so these cuts only relate to 1 or 2% overall which doesn't leave much margin for what some are suggesting. <br /><br />Also there is rarely any mention of the 20% cut in fuel tax rebate that operators were required to 'swallow' a couple of years ago. <br /><br />At the same time local authorities are pressing for contract prices/costs to be reduced (to rates less than they were five years ago), and reimbursement rates for bus passes and school travel passes are being squeezed for ever downwards. <br /><br />This gives me great concern for those smaller operators on the urban margins, in small towns and rural areas. A number have already given up the struggle against the odds.Clive Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02059026405966912480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-75560074879289836572014-12-14T16:26:56.906+00:002014-12-14T16:26:56.906+00:00Worcestershire County Council has long had an appa...Worcestershire County Council has long had an appalling attitude to bus travel. It is impossible to make the council understand that many bus users find printed timetables far more helpful than online timetables. Not everyone has a smartphone for online access when out and about. Besides, it is far easier to check out all the options when you can flick through a timetable book. Until 1994, when the former Hereford and Worcester County Council was still in place, it produced first-class timetable booklets covering every route in the two counties. When the divorce came in 1994 Worcs County Council stopped producing timetables, though Herefordshire Council continues to do so, and its booklet is a model of its kind. I believe one reason for the low usage of many rural services in Worcs is the lack of easily available information. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-15110069893630661682014-12-11T08:32:20.327+00:002014-12-11T08:32:20.327+00:00Indeed you're right. Plymothian Transit has th...Indeed you're right. Plymothian Transit has the story: http://www.plymothiantransit.com/2014/12/western-greyhound-sale-part-2.htmlSotonBushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14300971557135804834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-84662314262901891982014-12-10T20:25:44.473+00:002014-12-10T20:25:44.473+00:00According to the Cornish Guardian the remainder of...According to the Cornish Guardian the remainder of the company has been sold - to I think the same person who purchased Black Velvet?Clive Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02059026405966912480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-37858639808480834892014-12-09T10:30:57.810+00:002014-12-09T10:30:57.810+00:00Let's hope he has to repay the ridiculously hi...Let's hope he has to repay the ridiculously high amount of compensation back. He'll get disability living allowance regardless of other income he has; isn't that enough for him?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-3975409097111033372014-12-08T22:15:40.779+00:002014-12-08T22:15:40.779+00:00Ask anyone in the council areas which make up Sest...Ask anyone in the council areas which make up Sestran, and most will look clueless at you. Most local people have never heard of it either. Also the One ticket is a hidden gem which really needs to be promoted. <br /><br />A few projects which are being carried out:<br /><br />* Bus tracker system, http://bustrackersestran.co.uk/<br />this has been years in the planning and went live in the summer. Non Lothian buses details are only now being added to trackers around Edinburgh. <br /><br />* Park n rides around Edinburgh: mainly due to the fact its users are different council areas.<br /><br />* Southern orbital bus route <br />http://www.sestran.gov.uk/files/STAG%20Part%202%20Report%20-%203%20June%202009.pdf<br />Six years and still waiting! <br /><br /><br /> Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11180662399362760267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-89318386695525162012014-12-08T21:55:43.698+00:002014-12-08T21:55:43.698+00:00Thanks for the correction. The score stands though...Thanks for the correction. The score stands though as a tourist or a local who is not familiar with public transport can't be expected to know which organisation does what. SESTran doesn't exactly make it clear what they are for and where their responsibility ends and the councils' starts. Also the map that you say is out of date is on the SESTran website, so yet another reason for their poor score to stand.<br /><br />The whole point of this series is to show such public bodies where they are doing well and where they are doing not so well in making it easy for people to use public transport. People who don't necessarily know their way around complicated local government structures.SotonBushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14300971557135804834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-68899221622888662582014-12-08T20:00:42.023+00:002014-12-08T20:00:42.023+00:00I agree that it's a sensible decision, but sad...I agree that it's a sensible decision, but sadly not everyone agrees, and I understand that Mr. Paulley intends to appeal to the supreme court.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-25185454117651049822014-12-08T19:55:24.679+00:002014-12-08T19:55:24.679+00:00Actully that map is out of date by three years, so...Actully that map is out of date by three years, soon to be four!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11180662399362760267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-39289451346237879612014-12-08T18:41:25.261+00:002014-12-08T18:41:25.261+00:00SESTRAN is NOT a local authority, SESTRAN does not...SESTRAN is NOT a local authority, SESTRAN does not take care of transport in the authorities in South-East Scotland. Each council has FULL control over its all aspects of transport. SPT is a different kettle of fish and is the only one in Scotland like this, the rest have no real say. <br /><br />SESTran, deals with helping provide cross council projects and thats it. It does not deal with timetables, council routes, bus stops, school buses nothing just overseing BIG projects. Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11180662399362760267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-4859474628213004952014-12-08T10:48:28.041+00:002014-12-08T10:48:28.041+00:00The court case has now been decided and has come t...The court case has now been decided and has come to the only sensible decision and that is no one has priority it is basically first come first served<br />The driver can ask people to move but there is no requirement for them to do soAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-11272201370266086142014-12-01T19:49:50.871+00:002014-12-01T19:49:50.871+00:00In the latest edition of the Omnibus Magazine the ...In the latest edition of the Omnibus Magazine the section on Cumbria says the following;-<br />' Ramifications of the County Council's decision to entirely cease funding local bus services - other than its statutory provision for home to school transport for under 16's and its reimbursement to operators for accepting the ENCTS pass - are the main topic of discussion. All contracts were to have ceased by early November and whilst some have been, at least in part, replaced by commercial operations, there have been notable losses.'<br /><br />Clive Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02059026405966912480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-52368681329445728482014-11-30T10:08:05.175+00:002014-11-30T10:08:05.175+00:00I have also seen a helpful printed booklet for the...I have also seen a helpful printed booklet for the main services.<br /><br />But what about its major reduction in funding for supported services which according to reports is isolating communities?<br /><br /><br />Clive Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02059026405966912480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-76920924874469731192014-11-24T22:52:45.578+00:002014-11-24T22:52:45.578+00:00It would lift the score if they would even acknowl...It would lift the score if they would even acknowledge the existence of the commercial bus network, which provides the majority of services on their patch. For a tourist looking to visit the region, providing details about only the subsidised routes is simply not good enough.SotonBushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14300971557135804834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-61504543982124441772014-11-24T13:19:19.902+00:002014-11-24T13:19:19.902+00:00Actually, SPT provides more information on single ...Actually, SPT provides more information on single fares than almost anyone else reviewed so far. <br /><br />Each timetable PDF includes a full adult single fare table. That really ought to lift the score a bit.Man of Kentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-71439559916753115662014-11-23T14:54:19.556+00:002014-11-23T14:54:19.556+00:00I forgot to say a number of councils have even pub...I forgot to say a number of councils have even public bad mouthed SPT and have warned there would leave. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959568514332521602.post-29139190023381818792014-11-23T14:52:48.383+00:002014-11-23T14:52:48.383+00:00SPT have been bad for years! Its been getting wors...SPT have been bad for years! Its been getting worse, at least 4 travel shops have closed down, trying to found timetables are not easy, and when you do found some, in the SPT travel centres its not a great section. Most of the time you a directed to Traveline Scotland. SPT don't really care about buses. Just look at the many bus stops it looks after, out of date information going back years. <br /><br />You should have put "SPT scandals" in to Google or Yahoo, it brings up plenty!!!<br /><br />SPT is the poorest of all the transport Authorities, and its show...<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com