Good news from East Lancs and Edinburgh

Transdev's bog standard route 152 between Preston and Burnley via Blackburn has been upgraded and rebranded as part of The Lancashire Way. Bigger buses than were used on that route before have been refurbished and fitted with wifi. Unlike other operators, who would use such an upgrade as an excuse to screw the farepayer, Transdev have kept the price of a Silver day ticket at £6 for an adult. If the riding experience is anything like what Transdev deliver on the 36 between Harrogate and Leeds, then passengers on the 152 are in for a treat. Trés bon!

More good news from Edinburgh, where STV reports that passenger numbers at Lothian Buses are up significantly to their highest levels for 25 years. I think this might have something to do with the fact that Lothian run a stable network that doesn't suffer from major changes several times a year and that they tell you up front and clearly how much any journey with them will cost. It seems so simple: be upfront with your passengers about all aspects of their trip and you will attract more of them!

Sneak a peak at Somerset

What's happening in Somerset? First have rebranded their network centred on Taunton as The Buses Of Somerset. There's a new green livery and a website with a network map that uses the same styling as the Go Ahead group.

It doesn't look like part of First, so is it being sold?

A look at the fares page, shows a network day ticket of £10...

Before, passengers on this network could use a FirstDay South West at just £7...

... not only cheaper, but valid across a much, much wider area.

This will mean fewer tourists from surrounding areas connecting with these routes to visit central Somerset. Of course, anyone 'lucky' enough to be on this new network is now cut off from the wider First network unless they pay again at the new boundary, be that in Weston-super-Mare, Yeovil or Wells.

After the chaos of competition following deregulation, we've had the benefits of consolidation on wide networks and those wide networks are now seemingly being dismantled (by First at least) from within to make sure that they are of use to as tight a demographic as possible. Whatever happened to buses working in the interests of the wider economy, for all?

First forays into Fallowfield following Finglands' finale

First's takeover of Finglands in South Manchester has been cleared by the Office of Fair Trading and will be finalised on 9th February, reports the Manchester Evening News. This sees commercial competition on the Oxford Road/Wilmslow Road corridor, often reputed to be the busiest bus route in Europe, whittled down to just Stagecoach (including in their Magic Bus guise) and First. When I used those routes regularly in 2001/2, I remember having a choice of at least 4 companies. The rule of thumb that has been proven here is that it is nigh on impossible for small independent operators (or small groups, such as EYMS, who currently own Finglands) to compete commercially against the big groups. Their future appears consigned to niche markets such as council contract work that is too inconvenient for the big boys. JPT are left as the last independent serving Central Manchester, but for how much longer?

The Omnibuses blog is back up and running. It was one of the inspirations for the Bugle, so it's great to see it back. Hopefully it will soon resume the in-depth analysis for which we here just don't have the time nor the resources. You can see dynamic links to Omnibuses and many other interesting bus blogs in the panel on the right. Do contact us if you know of one we don't already link to.

Council check: Plymouth City Council

Each Sunday we rate a council for their provision of bus information. This week: Plymouth City Council.

Where do the buses go?

First signs are good: there is a citywide travel map, but who in Devon designed it? It shows roads but no bus route information. Are they serious? Here's an extract:

How are we meant to make head or tail of this?

Good intentions, but a useless end product. More useful is this list of all bus routes in the city together with links to the individual route maps over at Traveline South West. It could have been so much more than just 2 out of 5.

Timetables

Nice and easy. This page lists all routes in the city with a link to the timetable on Traveline. Can't ask for more than that. 5 out of 5.

Fares

No information on single fares, nor on single-operator tickets valid for a day or longer - you need to see the operators' websites for that. There is a day ticket that is valid on any operator: the Skipper. There is also a Plymouth Plusbus ticket, but the council forgot to mention that. Just 2 out of 5 in this category.

Summary

So we have an utterly useless map, but Traveline saves the day with maps and timetables. There is an any bus day ticket, but if you need any other ticket, it's up to you to trawl the operators' sites. Plymouth City Council scores a total of 9 out of 15.

No go in No Yo? / Bradford bargain?

Last night, North Yorkshire County Council voted for huge cuts in the subsidies it pays out for uneconomic bus routes. BBC News says this will save the council £2million. It comes however at the expense of isolated communities in Britain's biggest county. One wonders how many of the bus routes to be cut might become economic to run if pensioners paid towards the cost of transporting them around. It looks like large parts of North Yorkshire are about to become a no-go zone for those of us without a car.

Staying in Yorkshire, new tickets have been launched by Arriva in Bradford, reports the Telegraph & Argus. The new local tickets bring the cost of local travel in Bradford down to £4 a day and £14 a week. Previously, the cheapest Arriva-only tickets covering the area were the West Yorkshire DaySaver at £4.50 or the weekly ticket at £17.50. As a comparison, First, who have a more comprehensive route network in Bradford charge £3.90 for a FirstDay Bradford and £14 for a FirstWeek Bradford. Looks like Arriva have realised that they were charging well over the odds for local travel there.

McGill's makes a move on Malta / Fungus on First

Now Arriva have pulled out of Malta, McGill's, who bought Arriva's Scottish business, are considering bidding for the Mediterranean nation's bus franchise. More details at BBC News.

Mushrooms have been found growing on a First bus in service in Cornwall, reports This Is Cornwall. First are quoted as saying that the bus in question will be thoroughly checked. But how can a company of their calibre allow a bus to deteriorate into a state where mushrooms can grow on it in the first place?

Council check: Blackpool Council

Let's take a look at how well Blackpool Council informs residents and visitors alike about public transport in its area.

Which bus goes where?

No map or even route list from the council. There's a link to council-owned Blackpool Transport, who provide excellent maps of their own routes, but to the exclusion of those routes that are served by anyone else, which leaves quite a few gaps. The appalling Traveline North West, which Blackpool don't link to anyway, makes it impossible to see a list of all bus routes serving Blackpool.

Shockingly bad. 0 out of 5.

Timetables

None are provided by the council. They can be found on the operators' websites, but if you don't know who runs the route you need, you have no way of finding out.

Appalling. 0 out of 5.

Fares

After their performance in the last two categories, you didn't really expect Blackpool to have any information on how much it costs to use public transport, did you? Blackpool Transport is one of the few operators to publish all of their single fares, but the council doesn't bother telling you that. They don't mention Blackpool Plusbus either. There is no ticket available that is valid on all operators' buses.

Woeful. 0 out of 5.

Summary

They really haven't bothered at all. Congratulations Blackpool, you're the first in our survey to hit rock bottom! 0 out of 15.