Not all Plain Sailing

Three months in to national free travel and three pages on the state of free travel in England in Thursday’s routeONE trade mag in which the journal asked a cross section 13 operators their views. Some were in so-called honeypots, others not. It wasn’t all bad but most of it was. Here’s a snapshot from each of the 13 operators, usually from their respective MDs.

Abus, Bristol “It’s very difficult for small operators to appeal against… low reimbursement rates, as you need legal representation, and that will cost you at least as much as the amount you are appealing about”

Amos, Daventry “What would happen if the government told Tesco that for every £100 spent they could only charge £52?”

Metrocoastlines, Blackpool “There has been a 30 per cent switch of passengers from tram to the bus”

Brighton & Hove “It’s completely distorted the way bus travel is paid for and I fear the ramifications will continue to be felt for many years to come”

Central Buses, Birmingham “Everything is continuing as it was before. It’s not had any effect on us”

East Yorkshire, Hull “When the sun comes out we risk leaving people behind. Although it might be possible to find an extra bus, it’s a different matter when it comes to drivers”

Fishwick’s, Leyland “Encouraging people to use buses has to be beneficial to passengers and that has to be good”

Go North East, Gateshead “Our latest batch of Citaros should have replaced full size buses but we have now cascaded those instead and are now selling most of our Solos”

Nottingham City Transport “We have settled a deal… which while not fully meeting our aspirations… allows us to move forward”

Norfolk Green, King's Lynn “I have never experienced anything like it before and it is taking an inordinate amount of management time”

Preston Bus “[Scrapping free travel after 2300hrs] could cause some aggro on the buses after a night out as we do carry a reasonable number of over-60s in the evening”

Stagecoach West, Gloucester “The current… scheme… is the most unsatisfactory and time-consuming aspect of bus operation that I have seen or faced in 32 years in the job”

Trent Barton, Heanor “It runs contrary to everything we are trying to do to attract people out of cars”