Telling Porky Pies

Melton Mowbray offers decent pork pies. And it offers a decent bus network too. Arriva Midlands provides a bus every 20 minutes to Leicester, the sum total of Arriva’s involvement. West End Travel operates comprehensive town services, while Veolia Paul James Coaches runs inter-urban services to a wide spread of destinations such as Loughborough, Nottingham & Grantham, usually at hourly intervals. All the above use accessible buses from two nearby streets in the town centre. Main provider Veolia’s publicity is attractive, even Stenning-esk, and it’s well packaged in a handy small booklet, perhaps only let down by the rather imprecise map.

So far, so good.

But take a look at the following images. Though we’ve come a long way with informative destination displays, there seemed a high proportion of buses in Melton that fail to inform. Attention to detail lacking? OK, it’s a pain having to reconfigure destination displays on short town services that keep spinning around housing estates. You could argue that a visitor need not know precisely where a town service bus goes so long as the locals do, but what of the motorist who’s decided to try the bus?

And then there are the longer distance services whose destination displays hark back to the 1970s and 1980s. Even Arriva Midlands gets in on the act with its “Contract Service R4” though to be charitable to Arriva it doesn’t appear top be a public service even though the dashboard slipboard states Stamford (no Arriva local buses serve Stamford, as far as I know).

The most intriguing was the display on a West End Travel bus reading “Town Centre Only”. What did that mean, I wonder, especially as it seemed unsure whether it was a 16 or a 17 (it could be the driver is making the change on the hoof).

Does this destination presentation situation happen often where you are?

OK, the last is a bit unfair but it does provide some levity. It was taken in Melton at the same time as the rest.

Thank you to those who commented about cars overtaking school buses and to those who voted. The poll result were near enough 60 per cent who felt motorists should stop & wait provided that there was clearer signage; and approx. 40 per cent who felt this impractical, as the public would be confused as to what is and is not a school bus. No one felt that an overtaking ban could be easily done; and no one voted for the “No, motorists may not stop and therefore increase the risk” category, though clearly this concern came through in the comments.

Pilgrims’ Progress

A Plymouth MP has entered the fray regarding the customer service offered by Plymouth City Bus and First Devon & Cornwall. This ahead of the forthcoming bus war in the city.

In a recent article on his website, Gary Streeter says, “I have long been baffled about why I get such a regular trickle of complaints about the bus service in Plymstock [from First] and virtually none about the service in Plympton [by Citybus].”

He goes on to say that they are similar suburbs in every way and welcomes the forthcoming arrival of Citybus in Plymstock. “I have a very simple challenge to all of you who have contacted me in recent months about the poor state of public transport east of the Plym. Once these new routes are in place: use it or lose it.”

With First Devon & Cornwall’s Plymouth combative strike now less than two weeks away, First is amassing the necessary vehicles for its Ugobus Phase 3. Incoming are Volvo B7RLE/Wrightbus Eclipse Urbans from subsidiaries including Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester & West Yorkshire. The newest is believed to be 07-reg.

It’s interesting that First’s savings enforced across its considerable operations are (a) taking relatively new stock out of service rather than withdrawing step entrance vehicles and (b) seeing a redeployment in Plymouth where arguably there is already a good service. But that’s competition for you.

For example, news reached the press yesterday of First’s reductions from 25 October 2009 in Sheffield & Rotherham.

As Streeter points out, Citybus is not sitting back. Unlike its neighbour, Citybus already has enough vehicles in the shape of ex-London SLF double decks. There must surely now be speculation as to whether the deckers bought from London will be used on front line services rather than simply on schools, as planned. If so, the purchase has shown considerable (and coincidental?) foresight. They are already marshalled on recently won Argyle football contract journeys, on no fewer than nine routes.

These highly specificated (sic) E200s are for the 5/5As, heading east to Plymstock

The Citybus response on the Plymstock corridor will, apparently, reintroduce a popular terminal loop on the 5/5A recently withdrawn by First. Here, Citybus will use its recent 08-reg Enviro 200s, all with leather seats and GPS next stop technology. The frequency is likely to be every 10 minutes along the common section. In a rather clever move, Citybus is prepared to operate commercially throughout the evening, meaning in Plymstock it can trump First, something that’s precipitated the council to withdraw its subsidised evening 6 service, operated by Target Travel.

It’s believed that Citybus will also up its daytime frequency on service 26 service that already competes with First in the Devonport, St Budeaux and Saltash area to every ten minutes (every 20 minutes to Saltash, up from every 30). Service 43 (City-Milehouse-St Budeaux-Ernesettle) will increase from every 10 minutes to every 7/8.

And then there’s fares. Though First will no doubt reduce its fares, for example, in Plymstock, Citybus’ tend to be significantly lower. Citybus is playing on its fares advantage: it equitably charges the same fare from the outer suburbs regardless of the market; First’s fares vary.

Meanwhile, back to that MP. He concludes by stating that Citybus is a well run & successful operator. “I have never understood why a local authority should own a bus company, rather than focusing on the delivery of essential services. If a new buyer for this business is found, there is no reason to suppose that its focus on customer satisfaction would change.”

That, surely, depends upon the buyer.

i Gary Streeter MP on Citybus & First
i Plymothian Transit with regular Plymouth updates

Overtaken by Events?

Does the framing of a law or regulation that prevents cars from overtaking stationary school buses have its difficulties? Whether the answer is yes or no, there’s no denying that alighting pupils are at their most vulnerable should they chose to cross while their school bus is still parked.

After a year, campaigners in Aberdeenshire, Scotland have again re-launched their battle to persuade the DfT to introduce an overtaking ban for stationary school buses. This follows the death five years ago of a 12-year-old girl in circumstances that could’ve been prevented had a speeding motorist not overtaken the girl’s bus. Stagecoach continues to back the campaign. That this has come to nought in five years indicates its complexity.

In favour of such an overtaking ban is:

• No matter how much you ‘educate’ pupils to behave rationally, they may still tend to cross immediately in front of or behind their bus, in spite of being better off waiting for the bus to move off completely.
  

Against such an enforced ban are:

• Problems identifying what is and is not a school bus. It would include closed school contracts, of course, but what about vehicles on 12- or 18-hour per day local bus services on which significant pupils happen to travel? Alternatively, what about vehicles that look like service buses used on school contracts?


• It might offer pupils a false sense of security—and raise the risks—given that motorists in the States seemingly regularly ignore what in many states is a mandatory stopping requirement; in the US, buses are easily identifiable as a school bus as part of their culture. Over here, stopping is against ours.

Perhaps the solution may yet be found with technology, that can easily, readily and only when appropriate identify a school bus far better than can a permanently-affixed and therefore devalued ‘Janet & John’ black-on-yellow sign. Or, why doesn’t the driver remind every pupil, every time when getting off that they should await the bus’ departure? Trouble here is that pupils would disregard the driver just as much as a motorist might ignore the no overtaking rule.

Our Winners Are…

On Wednesday we asked you to vote for the operators you felt should win at the forthcoming Bus Oscars™, the 2009 UK Bus Awards. We estimate that an equivalent of about 25 per cent of our regular readers took part, which makes it our best survey yet.
There emerged three clear winners in each of the three categories. Those who voted, though rational, would have taken a less scientific view than the panel of real industry judges, so it’s interesting to speculate why we see the winners we have. One reason might be that the winners’ brands & images, especially in the first two voting categories, are highly individual and visible. Compare this to Stagecoach who, for example, is doing really good things that might get subsumed under a corporate patina that actually obscures them. Perhaps, Stagecoach just doesn’t stand out like the others. Cue Stagecoach Gold.

Another might be that the blog simply has more readers in the south.

We also asked voters to add those operators they felt deserved shortlisting, giving a reason. Those marked thus * received more than one nomination. Interesting, again, that most nominations are businesses that have their own unique brands that stand them apart from the crowd. No mention of either First or Arriva, other than a First offering that is hardly recognised as such.

• Lothian Buses* (still one of the best & cheapest networks)
• Trent Barton* (innovation especially with comfort and branding)
• Go North East* (innovations in marketing)
• Brighton & Hove* (THE market innovator, links with local communities & businesses)
• Plymouth Citybus (to annoy First & the council)
• Anglian Bus (innovative, modern fleet, customer service)
• Warrington Borough Transport (for Network Warrington)
• Premiere Travel Nottingham (bringing choice & competition to Trent Barton)
• Stagecoach Yorkshire (for turning around Yorkshire Traction)
• Stagecoach Devon (no reason given)
• Stagecoach West (a strong Stagecoach subsidiary with impressive standards & growth)
• Wilts & Dorset (marketing Purbeck Breezers)
• Cardiff Bus (improved marketing in 2008/09, consistently good delivery)
• Thames Travel (small operator exploiting niche well)
• Southern Vectis (Christmas services)
• Greyhound UK (stirring up the express market)

Carrots & Sticks

Last week, the CPT, First Group & Stagecoach indicated that it was possible to remove one billion car trips from the UK’s roads in the next three years. This required a modest switch from car to bus of one journey in every 25. They rightly argued that the government risked missing its carbon reduction targets by ignoring the potential of the bus.

To do this, there were required some government sticks with which to beat the motorist. For example, increasing bus priority and the much-debated use of buses to reduce the school run. Old arguments indeed and they are, of course, outside an operator’s control.

No mention of the carrots that remain within an operator’s domain, though. Part of the solution surely lies in operator investment in quality. We could all learn from high profile initiatives like Stagecoach Gold that aim to extract yet further ridership, inlcuding from ABC1s, from corridors already blossoming thanks to prior investment (the next being Caterton-Witney-Oxford, BTW). Here are premium products that give added value and can command a decent fare.

Many bread-and-butter urban routes tread water and will probably never see Gold-like potential. Here, may be motorists need to take a little more responsibility themselves by taking a trip in every 25 by bus. That’s not even equivalent to one trip a fortnight.

The problem on these bread-and-butter routes, though, is increasing costs (at 6.2 per cent according to the CPT) and recession-led declining revenue force fares increases. In some areas, fares are now perceived to be at such a level that they are once again causing resentment from relatively short distance customers and a barrier to potential passengers, the very same occasional customers who might be persuaded to make one trip in 25 by bus. If would-be passengers are looking for an excuse for inaction, fares is it.

Rather than short-term fares increases, we are exalted to look at the longer-term. Yet, few operators in the recession can afford to jeopardise their businesses in the short-term without fares increases, today. Long-termism therefore isn’t easy. So, may be, we need those sticks after all. But is society ready for them?

Five Dead in Bus Crash

With yesterday's publication of Reported Road Casualties GB 2008, regular reader RC169 compares England & Germany… and following a serious crash on Tuesday finds English C & U regs might have something to offer our continental brothers...

In my posting on single versus dual doors almost a year ago, I referred to the fact that all buses and coaches in Germany, other than the smallest van-derived minibuses, had at least two doors on the nearside but no exit door on the offside. This applies to all vehicles regardless of use: local bus services, private hire, excursions and extended tours. I also mentioned that it was only then that I had recognised that the second door was, in fact, also a substitute for the emergency door that is usually located in the offside of British vehicles, as well as being used as a normal service door. This was despite my having travelled on buses in Germany on various occasions over the preceding 25 years; obviously I am not very safety-conscious. I did at that time, however, speculate that this might be a potential hazard.

Two doors it may have but they are both on the nearside with nothing on the offside or rear. Compare this to a UK small PSV of similar capacity (e.g. Mercedes Vario) with offside emergency exit. This Iveco Daily is operated in Germany by Taxi Meier

Subsequently there have been two serious accidents involving buses or coaches, which prompt me to ask the question whether the Germans have the right idea, or the UK. In the light of these tragic cases, it seems to me that it might be worthwhile for the German authorities to consider whether provision of an offside emergency door should be required in future.

On Tuesday 22 September 2009, a bus travelling downhill near to Radevormwald in North-Rhine-Westphalia apparently ran out of control after pulling away from a stop. It came away from the road on a left-hand bend. The bus fell approximately 65ft and came to rest on its nearside, partly in the River Wupper. All doors were blocked. The driver and four passengers died; six were seriously injured. Reports indicate that several passengers were trapped in the bus. Roof hatches appear to have been opened, although these are considerably smaller than an emergency door. However, in this case, arguably, they might have been easier to use even than an offside emergency exit. Despite comments in the news reports to the effect that the vehicle was a coach, it does in fact appear to be a modern Setra low-floor single deck bus, typically used on rural and interurban services, such as it was operating at the time of the accident. Additional news reports state that the vehicle was delivered in 2008, and the driver had been working for the business for at least ten years. The operator was a former private operator that has recently been sold to the Wuppertal municipal operation.

On 4 November 2008 a coach carrying 32 passengers (mostly pensioners) caught fire on the motorway A2 near Hannover. The fire is understood to have resulted from a technical defect in the lavatory, which was located adjacent to the rear door, and spread rapidly. The driver was able to bring the coach to a halt on the hard shoulder, adjacent to a wall, but 20 of the passengers were unable to escape in time, and perished in the flames. In this case, an offside emergency door would have given passengers an alternative escape route not adjacent to the source of the fire, but would have led to the possibility of passengers jumping out into the inside lane of the motorway, with fast moving traffic. However, one would hope that drivers of passing vehicles would have had the sense to give a wide berth to what must have been an obviously serious vehicle fire. A commentator to one of the internet news reports on this incident suggested that smoke detectors should be fitted in the lavatories of coaches, as there were, in his opinion a couple of potential fire hazards, including cables from the water heater, some of the materials used, and passengers smoking.

These two incidents have, alone, resulted in the deaths of 24 bus and coach passengers within a period of less than 12 months. I am not sure of current comparable figures for the UK but I know from yesterday's Reported Road Casualties GB 2008 there were six passengers (one of whom was involved in this crash) and zero drivers who died in 2008. Bear in mind that Germany makes relatively less use of buses and coaches (denser rail network, trams and underground railways in major cities, and no equivalent to National Express), and the industry is tightly regulated, the German figure seems disturbingly high for a modern, west European nation.

As a poignant footnote, the town Radevormwald is no stranger to transport accidents - in 1971 a major rail accident cost the lives of 46 people, many of them schoolchildren returning home from an excursion.

Indian Summer Bus

At least in the south, today should be sunny and warm. Lovely and balmy for our visitors and out they will come, by bus. The Lib Dems have been in town, hopefully using the area’s bus service but however they’ve been circulating (usually on foot or by taxi between hotel & BIC), they’ve been generally rushing around as experience suggests all political delegates tend to do.

The rest of the late season visitors take life at a slower pace. They enjoy what remains of the season and its bursts of sunshine, as they prepare to pack up till next spring. At least the weather makes up for a poor August.

Something’s changed since last season and certainly a few seasons back. Then, if you asked at hotel reception for suggested days out by bus or even a timetable, you met with mild derision. “Are you sure?” No longer, especially at this time of year when a majority of visitors are older ones. Using the bus on holiday is getting to be rather popular and we have national free travel to thank for that.

Free travel and a decent bus network. Plenty of double decks, too, from which to enjoy a day or half-day out (with the added bonus that some of them travel along remarkably rural roads). Here are a selection of prime examples from the Dorset tourist area:

• Frequent 1b/1c buses twixt Poole, Bournemouth & Christchurch by Transdev


• Half-hourly X3 Bournemouth-Ringwood-Salisbury by Wilts & Dorset


• Hourly 40 Poole-Swanage and its compatriot hourly 50 Bournemouth-Sandbanks-Swanage by W&D


• Occasional 387 Poole-Dorchester by Damory


• Two-hourly 183 Weymouth-Blandford & connecting 184 Blandford-Salisbury by W&D


• Hourly 31 Weymouth-Axminster via Bridport & Lyme Regis by First
  

1620 ex-Poole service X53, suitably branded, departs with a full load

And then there’s the daddy of them all, the award winning Jurassic Coast X53 a.k.a Coastlinx53 between Poole, Weymouth, Bridport, Lyme Regis, Seaton & Exeter. This appears to be enjoying a late boom, carrying vast numbers of Indian summer ‘twirlies’ on a service operating every two hours. At peak times and on nice days, it’s no exaggeration to say that there simply aren’t enough buses on this route any more. A victim of its own success, perhaps. How times change for the bus. All we now need is for a politician or two, no matter their colours, to rediscover the joy of the bus. And to consider proper free travel reimbursements, of course.

Bus Oscars 2009

Short lists for most of this year’s so-called Bus Oscars™ were announced yesterday. Ooops, we’re not allowed to call them Oscars any more, so may I rephrase: the UK Bus Awards 2009. In a sense, there are few surprises but you wouldn’t expect many as we’re looking at the best of the best. But there are some surprises.

One is that awards-shy Transdev Yellow Buses is at last at the party, up for no fewer than three awards in the categories of Young Manager of the Year; the Innovation section of the Technical Awards category; and Shire Operator of the Year.

In the last category are three Stagecoach subsidiaries (Bluebird, Fife, Warwickshire) and two further from Transdev (Coastline, Burnley & Pendle). Success here means TYB might get a chance at the prestigious Operator of the Year golden globe, the grand prix.

Stagecoach dominates this year’s lists. It’s shortlisted 14 times, twice as many as its nearest rivals, First Group (eight) and Arriva (seven). Aside from local authority-dominated ‘Infrastructure’, Stagecoach is having a punt at everything bar ‘Innovation’. It obviously can take no part in the Independent Bus Operator of the Year or the London categories.

Of the smaller operators, Reading Transport is up for three awards (People, Buses in the Countryside, Innovation); and Norfolk Green, Epsom Coaches and Nottingham City Transport, two each.

The various Bus Operators of the Year awards are obviously la crème de la crème of the Bus Oscars™ but the most significant category is the Technical Awards with its five sections. Here is the industry at the cutting edge, in applying marketing and innovation at winning new customers and carving out new business.

We’re not wishing any operator or local authority luck. Luck doesn’t form a part of it. Getting to the Bus Oscars™ requires sound business decisions, planning, forward thinking and determination. No, it’s not a question of non-existent luck. It’s a question of being the best.

Three years ago, the other Oscars pointed out to the UK Bus Awards that they should no longer use the protected term “Bus Oscars”™. But for many years, that’s what these awards have been known as.

i Bus Oscars™ UK Bus Awards 2009 Shortlist

(The Omnibuses poll associated with this post is now closed)

Futurology

Forget the interesting though possibly diversionary National Express Bling my Coach competition. What about one that allows you to design a coach of the future rather than a livery for an existing one? There’s something Gerry Anderson & TV Century 21 about the soon-to-close Future of the Coach competition. Remember those 1960s projections of travel in the 21st century? There was the sky ramp launched XL5 patrol rocket, the impossible but anything-but-toylike Thunderbird 2, and Captain Blue’s SPV, driven 'backwards' by videoscreen.

The Future of the Coach competition lays before an international audience 12 UK undergraduate designs as to how coaching might develop in years to come. Some are wacky, some ingenious, some meritorious. The site allows multiple voting by awarding each of the designs between one and five stars.

Aside from the votes you and I may cast, judges will also assess the value and excellence of each. Though some may look impractical, there will no doubt be elements of each that the industry might find worth pursuing. And isn’t that the real value of competitions such as these?


It’s certainly not just about appearances. As well as the popular vote, judges will consider safety, economy, comfort, entertainment and more.


Leaving aside the XL5 and SPV, 40 years ago futurology was busily presenting us with images of a new era in mobility via personal helicopters. It’s as well the personal whirlybird has yet to materialise. They also predicted computers that would 'talk' to each other to access information at a touch of a button and large, flat TVs that would be installed at home on a wall.

Who knows where the future of PSV design might take us. After all, we do have ftr and the Optare Rapta. Not to mention the possibilities of the new Routemaster.

i The Future of the Coach webiste ~ Bling my Coach

2009: Year of Change

Routemasters are to London what Bedfords are to Malta. Or something like that. Or perhaps rather than Bedford it’s the ex-Yorkshire Traction Volvo B6, one of the recent models imported from England.

But, like London, the Maltese government wants reform, spearheaded under both EU procurement change and a liberalising, reformist agenda. Out, then, will go the slightly quaint, slightly odd system under which buses operate—and with it presumably the remainder of the older, colourful, decorated Maltese vehicles, as much a tourist attraction as a public service. Parallels here with London, again. Perhaps there’ll be Maltese heritage routes for tourists.

No surprises to see British-owned or British associated groups peppered among the recently announced eight consortia expressing an interest, including a Transdev-led consortium; an Arriva consortium; Go Ahead; and Spanish NEX Continental Holdings (associated with National Express). At least half of the existing operators are represented in the consortia, especially within the Arriva bid.

Malta has a native population of 500,000. This may be infinitesimally small on the world stage but it’s also about three times the size of Bournemouth. Bournemouth has more than a half-decent bus network and since its own reforms in 2006, has seen an increase in ridership of over 40 per cent. Why not in Malta? You don’t (regularly!) see 30-year old Fleetlines in service, not in Bournemouth (nor single deck-only Malta), though Transdev Yellow Buses did buy second hand during its phase 1 network changes. But these were all accessible and certainly weren’t Dashes and B6s.

In place of what the Maltese government calls the “sorry reality existing today”, Malta intends letting a single agreement, something that’s the subject of some friction between the government and existing public transport owners. Malta nevertheless wants:

• Cleaner and more modern buses, with uniformed drivers and even air-con. It’s imported new from China and Turkey but the mainstay is still second hand purchases from the UK. Modern buses will increase reliability.


• A more efficient & co-ordinated service. It’s said that the system under which operators and own-account drivers are scheduled, with routes allocated daily to ensure both popular and unpopular routes operate, leads to in-built inefficiency. The public transport association believes a new agreement will lead to more drivers—around three times as many, in fact.


• Buses that unite other settlements rather than simply serving the traditional Valletta hub.


• Express bus services between key locations.


• New park & rides.


• Higher frequencies and later operations.


• Social inclusively and an increase in the bus service’s modal share.
  

Expect invitations to tender next month. In the meantime, those with a fondness for the current operation might like to plan one last visit to the islands to see the old order slip away, like the Routemaster in London. We can’t see the Maltese government sponsoring a new-style Bedford like Mayor Johnson has with his RM.

The Bill

Speculation continues that son-of-Wake’s Services, South West Coaches of Yeovil & Wincanton, might take over Portland’s Sureline on or about 5th October 2009—but why?

In spite of the former National Bus Company management pedigree behind it, it seems that Sureline has been operating on a financial shoestring for some time. Some seven years ago, Sureline went into a headlong battle against First on the Weymouth-Portlands, something that followed failed competition from other operators. Sureline’s service on this section has now almost faded into obscurity, with the X10 and X20 seemingly little more than garage workings for the irregular Dorchester-Maiden Newton-Cattistock-Yeovil route (which lately only runs during school terms in any case, provided by Nordcat at other times).

It seems that South West Coaches’ successful application for an O licence allocation increase may at last conclude what may have been longstanding negotiations.

This leaves industry watchers to speculate as to why South West Coaches wants to buy Sureline. A base on the south coast, perhaps? The ability to enter Dorset council’s tender cycle, due to start in about a year, expected to impact upon smaller, less robust operators? To operate the commercial but hardly remunerative Dorchester-Yeovil service from the opposite end?

Or is it to have another go at First between Weymouth & Portland? To this end, three accessible Volvos might just be dispatched in Portland’s direction. First currently operates eight buses an hour and has seen off competition before. Could the newcomer ever hope even to dent such an operation, especially given that it’s arguable that such competition did Sureline no favours.

Meanwhile, over the summer, there was the usual flutter of activity in terms of season Sureline workings, some of which did not accept free travel passes, a decision taken by Weymouth & Portland council in the light of new DfT guidance on seasonal services.

i For more on either Wake's Services or Sureline, visit the redoubtable countrybus.co.uk now celebrating its 10th anniverary, where there is plenty on the twists & turns in south Dorset

Suits You!

Welcome to the new online Omnibuses2.0 shop! Just like the blog, the Omnibuses2.0 shop is designed specifically for the bus industry.

Have you ever noticed how the yellow hi-vis jacket has become de rigueur for the bus professional about town? It’s no longer the stately preserve of drivers and fitters. No, directors and managers have to lead by hi-visibility example and don a yellow vest whenever they manage or direct down at the garage. Any garage.

We felt this offered a gap in the market. Whereas you can still wear yesterday’s slightly naff-looking hi-vis jacket or graduate to a bright-yellow-with-reflective-strips fleece, whatever you chose tends to spoil the co-ordination of a well tailored dark blue or dark charcoal three-piece.

Following a successful deal with Dragons’ Den, we can exclusively offer the world’s first bus garage-ready, co-ordinated hi-visibility clothing. In M, L & XL, we give you the world’s first yellow hi-vis lounge suit.

This ideal hard wearing and versatile workwear comprises matching jacket and trousers in yellow, with an optional waistcoat, made from high wool & polyester content woven fabric. It incorporates a deep, wide retro-reflective pinstripe to ensure you stand out from the crowd wherever you are—near the pits, on the garage apron, in the bus station, at an important meeting, attending interview, at your daughter’s wedding, wherever.

From £59.95 plus the VAT this introductory offer is exclusively available to Omnibuses2.0 readers.

From supervisor to manager to managing director, never feel under-dressed at the depot again!

Important notice: only place this garment in your automatic washing machine if it’s slightly too large for you.

All You Need to Know about Liveries

What makes a good coach livery? The grand finale yesterday of the routeONE livery competition has sparked some though. I’ve stated before that I feel the colourful pageant may have some flaws and may be subjective. But it does crystallise ideas as to what’s good and less good.

Entries up 16 per cent in its second year. This time, you can vote in three categories

For example, there’s still plenty of ‘me too’ coach liveries and a high proportion is based on or has an obvious amount of dealer white (some 40 per cent).

So, what should a coach livery achieve?

• Stand out from the crowd. Know your market, the competition in it and around you. Livery is one aspect that sets you apart. For a livery, adjectives like exciting and eye-catching spring to mind. But also clear and distinctive, plus even simplicity. The livery might also advertise the operator’s specific, unique or particular service, if that is specialised, depending upon the sector of the market in which the operator works.



• Attuned the livery to the vehicle. This does *not* mean horizontal bands like in the 1960s or 1970s. The advent of trim-free continental coaches 30 years ago and similar bodies adopted in the UK with the arrival of the mindset-changing Paramount make design & application easier. A coach or bus can be something of a blank canvas compared to the fussiness of the 1960s and 1970s. In other words, a modern vehicle helps creativity rather than hinders it.


• Be individual. A livery should not be formulaic. Copycat liveries or designs look very much like imitations.


• Work with recognised branding, logos or identities. These facets are highly prized, if you have one. They can be used in a new way but may be best left as a recognised trademark.


• Don’t necessarily cast out tradition. Especially for the sake of a few stripes or stars. Often, older-style applications, if refreshed a little, are more effective than rumbustious designs or tiresome copies. Adjectives like traditional, consistent and solid seem appropriate. How useful this is will depend upon your market.


• Avoid too many minor or major variations. There may be good reasons why a proportion of your coach fleet is liveried differently but in general, most should look very much the same. The livery is your advertisement and mixed messages aren’t generally good.


• Consider the add-ons. Drivers’ uniforms should relate to the livery or at least not be a million miles out. Webistes, brochures and letterheads should bear the brand.

Update at 1859. Am grateful for the addition comments to add credibility to the original post. Though I had small family-run enterprises in mind when I wrote the original copy (because these overwhelmingly make up entrants in the routeONE *livery* competition and because they don’t have the resources to hire a brand consultant), please don’t forget I have written quite a lot on brands in the past... mentioned in over 200 posts, in fact.

Internet. Another word for Fickle

March 2010: Fotopic problems here

September is the anniversary of the time when this blog went near enough full time (way back in 2005). Hence, I normally reserve one September post for a sort of state-of-play report (see 2006’s and 2007’s). Not this year, because I did so in June.

But there’s still some interesting Omnibuses facts desirous of mention and note. For example, we delivered our 1,400th post on 30 August 2009. You probably didn’t notice the marking of the occasion with an updating of the top left ‘random posts’ link.

Also, August’s visitors astounded me. There’s usually a downward blip in Omnibuses visits during August, related to the readership’s and my own annual holidays. Yet, August 2009 saw a 5.5 per cent *increase* over a strong July 2009 and, for the record, there were over 25 per cent more visitors than in August 2008. The difference this year is that during my own two August holidays I continued to blog, such is technology, and I bet no one even noticed I was away…

Another point of interest is that I can instantly tell when Fotopic is causing problems. I suddenly find a raft of people arriving via a search term such as “Fotopic problems”—where Omnibuses continues to rank first & second on Google. Given that well over half of all Fotopic uploads relate to transport (and especially buses—just check the “just arrived” bit and nine out of 10 will be transport related), I blogged on the acute Fotopic issues of January 2009 and that post has kinda stuck. Some sort of problem resurfaced every subsequent month especially in June, July and August, even last week.

Fotopic’s now removed its previously revealing statistics link but here’s a screenshot I prepared earlier (on 13 August, ready for this very post). Look how uploads have fallen away considerably since the January 2009 hiatus. An incredible voting of feet that just shows how fickle the internet can be.

And talking of fickle, blogging is changing. Time was when a proper blog linked to a network of fellow bloggers. Though my first posts were dated at a time when this was still apparent, I didn’t really get going till the time when blogs were more selfish. Sorry, but I have ignored many of the blogs linking here. And I have ignored those with whom I should exchange links.

Blogging these days is about corporatism. It’s about feed readers that allow you to filter quickly what you want to read. Unless you have a magazine or a newspaper or are famous or have some other way of publicising your blog, new bloggers may as well not bother. You simply get lost in the welter of blog babble and backwash.

Blogging will no doubt be overtaken sometime by Twitter. It’s now all about a one second soundbite. Sometimes, it’s difficult to develop an argument in 100 words let alone 100 characters. I started a long-forgotten Omnibuses tweet in 2007! Yes, well before Stephen Fry. Reaction back then was poor so I stopped. I wonder what might’ve happened had I continued...

The future of blogging looks bleak, then. And it's fickle. As for Omnibuses2.0, so long as visitor numbers continue upwards, I'll be blogging. If, like free travel sometime in the near future, they stabilise, I wonder how easily it will be to maintain the momentum...

Mapping out London’s Future

Forget the recent media and blogosphere furore over the updated London underground system map. After all, it’s only a *map*. Around the corner are difficult decisions for London’s buses. Given that re-regulationists point to the capital as an exemplar, expect London to be subject to exactly the same sort of pressures faced by the rest of us, as we approach the famine years (under whichever government). This in spite of every mayor, before and since direct elections, recognising the importance of London’s surface transport.

There’s little point arguing that the current policy of bendy replacements is off-beam when Londoners in general (as perhaps opposed to London General) aren’t keen on them, even if the £3mil rigid replacements on two of the three downgraded routes allow central boarding, somewhat defeating the argument about fare-dodgers. Nine routes to go.

And TfL has high funding ambitions: There’s Underground upgrades and Crossrail. The capital required for the purchase of the new hybrid Routemaster, given its limited market, well be high, as will the additional revenue to run them (remembering London’s bus wages are rising faster than other costs).

Milking the motorist to strengthen cash flow is unlikely. TfL already promises to withdraw the congestion charge western extension. Any central area increase will be politically unpopular.

Which leaves service cuts, fares increases or tender market adjustments. Competition for tenders is strong, even with a declining number of players (and few new entrants).

Which leaves cuts or fares. London’s fares already need to part-fund and maintain admirable frequency and vehicle upgrades. The network is said to be 40 per cent larger than ten years ago. Many under 18s enjoy free or concessionary travel and everyone over 60 is immune, greatly swelling demand without raising base revenue.

Which leaves cuts. No matter which way you look at it, there’s only two ways to finance a bus service: subsidy or fares. The equation’s simple, even in complex London. If one drops and the other doesn’t compensate, thinning becomes inevitable. TfL is studying its review of bus services and charting out the future direction, one map that may truly cause a greater stir even than the Underground’s.

Hairy Happenings

On 1 September, we predicted hairy times in Worcester following wholesale changes to operators & services—and we weren’t far wrong. Truth be told, whenever you see a major change of this nature you can guarantee some form of backlash, teething trouble or whatever you wish to call it.

Red buses return to Worcester on commercial and contract services

Yet, it never takes long for equilibrium to return, for peace to break out so, along with the forecasts we made at the beginning of the month, we would now like to predict that everything will have settled in a week’s time. That’s how it usually works. And that includes righting some of the soaring Worcester contract fares rises, thanks to the council stepping in.

How many times around the country has it been like this? You could argue that it shouldn’t happen and on paper it probably wouldn’t but for the fact that we’re dealing with human beings, passengers, drivers, supervisors, managers. Stories of Worcester drivers getting lost en route will soon become apocryphal.

Slightly dubious pun on the back of Red Diamond's branded 31. A similar dippy female appears on the 30 with the phrase "From Dine's Green to Disco Queen"

One issue that is probably less easy to solve is any congestion related to commercial competition between Red Diamond & First. But even here, matters will stabilise as all parties—drivers and passengers—become increasingly familiar with the new set up.

I speak from experience when I say, quite candidly, that all in Worcester simply need to hold their nerve just a little longer. Even, like me, if you’ve found your name negatively in the local paper, remember it will become tomorrow’s fish & chip wrapper, after which you can get on with running a bus service by keeping your hair on rather than tearing it out.

Differential Running Times

For its 10-minute Stagecoach Gold 94 Cheltenham-Gloucesters, overall it’s a Good Thing that Stagecoach West operates two whole Monday to Friday timetables, one for term time and the other for school holidays. There are, however, two potential problems with this.

The first is intermediate times. No matter the time of year, though departures are constant from both Cheltenham and Gloucester, intermediate times vary. This could cause confusion. As might the need to get an earlier bus during term times to arrive at work at exactly the same time. Though this is no different for a motorist who might have to get his car out 10 minutes earlier when schools are in, motorists have the sort of flexibility passengers have not.

The Stagecoach Gold livery really does cut a dash on these Scania/ADL deckers. Photo coutesy of 'Dowty Rotol'

The second is trying to define when school holidays start and finish. This might be easier if a passenger has a young family. Otherwise, there will be an element of guesswork involved. Often, school holidays start mid-week and although it may be unwise of an operator to make the change other than on a Monday, will passengers know this? Often, schools in an area, county or even town will have marginally different dates and this is almost inevitable between two large settlements such as Cheltenham & Gloucester. And what about those floating teacher training days often tagged onto holidays? I see no calendar on the Stagecoach Gold timetable defining when schools are in and out.

This means an intermediate passenger might just miss a slightly quicker bus during school holidays. Careful examination of the Stagecoach Gold 94 timetable reveals that although Monday to Friday buses depart every 10 minutes from 0610 ex-Cheltenham, term time differential running times mean the gap between buses is actually every seven, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 minutes for the same intermediate timing point in the same direction. We’ve often wondered why a 10-minute bus service such as the 94 needs real time bus stop information—now we know! Always supposing the system also knows when it’s a school holiday, in case it needs to revert to scheduled times.

Quote of the Week

Well, last week, really. Overheard talking of insects on BBC Radio 4’s the Today Programme was singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock. “They’ve been here a lot longer than we have and it’s quite possible they’ll be here a lot longer after we’ve gone. So they might just look back on us as we look back on the Spice Girls or the trolleybus, you know, some whim of history...”

Cost of Congestion

The fourth Goldline service from Stagecoach launches later today, in Cheltenham. Stagecoach likes to innovate and it's perhaps surprising that it has taken so long for it to extend the Goldline pilot, the most previous being in February this year with the original two in 2007. In fact, the whole Goldline concept’s now been rebranded Stagecoach Gold. The addition sees double decks for the first time where otherwise there are single decks and Solo minibuses.

Spot the difference: before, there was Goldline...

The new timetable is living proof that congestion costs bus operators dearly. Stagecoach West as taken the unusual step of providing two separate Monday to Friday timetables for the 10-minute Gold 94 service from Cheltenham to Gloucester. One’s for term time and the other for school holidays. The latter saves two peak vehicles while the former sees peak journey times between the two towns increase by up to 10 minutes, lengthening the amount of time passengers will be indulging themselves in Golden on-board leather by about a quarter. Apart from the revenue costs associated with a higher than necessary peak vehicle requirement, there’s the capital cost in excess of £300,000, for two extra Scania/ADLs that could otherwise be saved.

... and afterwards, Stagecoach Gold, complete with help from the airbrush

The longer journey times are probably not such a good advertisement for a top-flight bus service but at least Stagecoach is being honest about something well outside its control. Frequency is maintained and departures from the termini are constant but running time between the two timetables is differential, which may lead to a little confusion.

At the Forefront

This weekend Southampton, indeed Hampshire, is at the very forefront of what might just become a revolution in the jaded express coaching market. First’s Greyhound London services launch on Monday while the improved National Express London offer hurriedly launches today. And fares are tumbling, too.

Megabus might’ve injected some excitement but it’s aimed at a particular market segment. Meanwhile, NatEx coaches continue to tread water and serve a mature & static market. What could Greyhound offer?

NatEx is the known market brand leader but iconic Greyhound’s portrayal in US popular culture has spilled over into England, including via recent intense press interest, which means Greyhound may soon catch NatEx up (if it goes national). Greyhound’s Hampshire offer is consistent and uncomplicated. NatEx’s is muddled—some departures direct, others stopping en route. Whatever else it is, Greyhound’s new service is as significant—more so—than British Coachways in the early 1980s.

Today is an odd day for a launch but it does mean NatEx arrives before its competition. From today, then, NatEx will operate new direct journeys from Southampton (and Portsmouth) by coach to London, where up till yesterday the service was a stopper. Who said NatEx was out of condition?

Under two hours achievable only in rare circumstances

Yesterday, there were 16 return NatEx departures, all bar the direct 2025 operating via Heathrow and either Winchester or Basingstoke. The mean journey time was 2hr 47 and the mode (largest number of occurrences) 2hr 50.

Today, we have a total of 24 return NatEx departures, seven up coaches being new non-stop and these will have wi-fi from Monday. All bar two of are scheduled for 2hr 15 (the 0605 is 2hr 35, the 2100 1 hr 50). The mean and median both reduce to 2hr 37.

Southampton to London in 135 minutes? That’s only about 15 minutes longer that an uninterrupted (ha ha) car journey.

NatEx eulogises about how coach travel reduces your carbon footprint. Using NatEx’s own calculations, we reckon the introduction of these services now adds an extra 17 Imperial tons of atmospheric CO2 per annum, equivalent to boiling over 315,000 kettles. (If motorists are attracted by quicker journeys in large number, we all save more than this amount).

These days, I prefer the train but I am no stranger to the south coast to London by coach. And the trouble with the train today, in spite of souring ridership, is the fare. Here, at least, the new competition is likely to have an impact. £1 per seat plus booking fee suddenly seems rather attractive.

SOUTHAMPTON-LONDON	Last Week	Next Week
National Express	16 departures each way	24 departures each way including six new non-stops at 2hr 15
Greyhound	No service	Eight departures each way. Journey time advertised as "under two hours" but in reality 2hr 19
Megabus	One departure only (but need to change at Winchester P & R)	No difference—for the moment!

Wish I’d Thought of That

Here’s a rather quaint, eccentric, arcane and absolutely *English* idea, an artist in residence not at a zoo or a theatre or a brothel or a war zone—but on a bus. I’m fairly certain that’s not been tried before. And I’m also certain that although perhaps not designed as a marketing tool, it has potential.

The artist in question is Simon Warner. He’s spending two months of his life meeting people atop Harrogate & District’s 36 (Harrogate-Leeds-Ripon, every 20 minutes), one of Transdev Blazefield’s killer routes that within the lifetime of this blog has seen a considerable upgrade. Before you have visions of Yorkshire potholes sending Warner’s easel and paint pots tipping all over the service 36’s leather seats, he’s a photographer. We hope he won't be heckled like some enthusiasts. One of his aims is to peer from the upper deck, perhaps even voyeuristically, over the hedges and fences behind which ordinary people either don’t or can’t see. He wants to break through the ordinariness.

He’s also out to capture and collect something of the community of the bus, where people rub shoulder to shoulder with who knows who. Warner feels that we tend to become insular in our communities (though he’s wrong there) but that everything changes when on a bus. He’s right in that it’s a very democratic community—all ages, many social classes and backgrounds, locals, visitors, from country-folk to townies, especially on the 36. The bus brings us all together. If he can engage with us, he can draw out our stories, experiences and even the history of the bus service. He can encourage a sharing between passengers that would otherwise be difficult or impossible.

Defining the social landscape of a bus journey is something rather noble. If it creates community & commonality, if it fosters belonging, this can and will no doubt be an experiment in cementing ridership in a subliminal way. Will anyone be monitoring this aspect? We hope so.

It wouldn’t apply to any old bus service but we could I’m sure all nominate one. I’d propose the X3 Bournemouth-Salisbury or the X8 Blandford-Poole, the 40 Swanage-Poole or even, given its history, the shorter and very much urban Monkey's Hump & Heavenly Bottom Express.

i Try Simon Warner’s blog that currently majors on the 36

The project also reminds me of the observations made by Geoff on his award-winning, now defunct but still highly entertaining The 43 blog.

P.S. Was joking about there being an artist in residence in a brothel, though the thought's an interesting one.

ETMs

T Mobile and Orange to merge? What will the competition authorities say? Holland & Barratt and Julian Greaves already merged? Competition authorities quiet (in spite of allegations that Holland has put countless indie health stores out of business). And then there’s the bus industry...

Is Wayfarer to buses what Hoovering is to vacuum cleaning?

How content are we with what might appear as Parkeon Wayfarer’s monopoly of bus ticket machine equipment? It’s a small market overall but one dominated by a single supplier. Wayfarer used to trumpet it had over three-quarters of all sales but it now seems to have dropped that claim, perhaps judiciously. Or perhaps it isn’t true (though we feel it is).

We have to acknowledge that the Wayfarer TGX200 range is an incredible piece of kit. Fares look up goes without saying (though this arrived relatively late at Wayfarer). There’s wireless transfer, smart card validation, and potentially all sorts of interfaces.

Yet, some in the industry still feel uncomfortable with Wayfarer. Full ITSO compliance, for example, seems slow (then again, anything to do with ITSO seems terribly complex). Some argue that unless reference fares and increases are simple and uniform, updates are easier with third party software than with Wayfafer’s own, Waycon. It certainly would seem it is impossible to import direct from Excel (unless someone knows different), something that would be very useful. Others wonder whether the basic reports and information might be better.

Against this, we need to weigh up the competition. Is it any better? Or, like capitalism, is the Wayfarer flawed but other systems more so? In other words, best to trust the market leader?

Who feels qualified to comment upon whether Wayfarer, Almex or ERG is the best or are there different problems with each? And what of the perils of taking your business from one supplier to another?

Exercising

Update at 2000 hrs

With apologies and thanks to those who have pointed this out, it now transpires that the articulated Citaro has been testing Unilinx routes…

The recent arrival at Poole garage of a red London articulated Mercedes Benz Citaro is exercising some industry watchers’ minds. It’s of a type well known to Wilts & Dorset (albeit in rigid form) and its livery isn’t so far off. So, is it a test-bed, a demonstrator, so that Go Ahead can reassign the leases on surplus London bendies to Dorset? Will it turn up, for example, on W&D's Unilinx contracts, as some speculate?

Though a trial cannot be ruled out, the probable answer is less exciting. Its presence at Poole is *likely* to be for familiarisation on the part of W&D’s trainer to assist in London. Mayor Johnson may have it in for the hapless artics but, till they vanish, life goes on.

And as for Unilinx, the Bournemouth university contracts, W&D has recently been successful in retaining them and it is believed that W&D will as a result be ordering a quantity of new double decks. The formerly unbranded Unilinx contracts passed from Yellow Buses in 2004 and was part of a number of pincer moves aimed at outflanking the slightly-troubled former municipal, some of which was more successful than others.

Barry, Eat your Heart Out

Here, I take on the mantle of Bournemouth resident Barry Doe by reviewing several different approaches to printed timetable publicity in one corner of England—Norfolk—as seen from a visitor’s perspective.

First Eastern Counties

Available are three A5 and one third-of-A4 timetable booklets for various areas plus a dedicated fifth for the X1 Peterborough-Lowestofts. Norwich itself has two (Norwich & County, Norwich City). Each feels typically First and the fronts are heavy on pink. But, hurrah for booklets rather than leaflets.

Pretty girl, pink pooch and pallid partition wall showing sings of damp

There is absolutely nothing amiss about First’s clear offerings except perhaps that they are a little unexciting. You get the impression they are functional rather than forceful, coy rather than cheeky and certainty not exuberant. The general text, though offering good practice, relies on astringent & stale text such as “We are constantly looking at ways to improve…” and the Bus Appeals Body and Bus Users UK contacts.

Whereas all are laid out similarly and have schematic maps, only King’s Lynn’s has an index of places served, arguably the one network that doesn’t need it. The two Norwich booklets helpfully give other operators’ timetables where these fill gaps.

Visitor’s Perception: can’t argue. No frills but no failures either.

Norfolk Green

Now, here’s another kettle of fish. Boo to leaflets but hurrah for the individuality that Norfolk Green’s Best Impressions-like agency Big Black Cat brings. If a 50-vehicle operator can get to grips with modern revenue enhancing marketing, why not other, larger operators?

In addition to the days of the week, service numbers and key destinations, each leaflet cover details any connections and any changes since last time. They even state an approximate frequency though I have to disagree with the X29 when it says “up to every hour” when there are departures from Fakenham at 0630, 0700, 0735, 0905, 1005, 1105, 1305, 1610 and 1710. There’s sadly no reference to the other operator on Sunday X29.

Where space permits, there’s a schematic map. There are also people-rich Stenning-esk adverts dotted about featuring Duo or group travel (discounts for two adults or more travelling together) and Act your Age (the brilliant no quibble, no pass, 20 per cent off for 16-19s).

There’s also no stiffness about getting in touch or how to complain. Just “If you’d like to know more about us, if we’ve made your day or if there’s something we could do better, talk to us!”. Simple, effective and forward thinking. *Very* Norfolk Green, in fact.

The only leaflet that I felt was poor was for the King’s Lynn town services which, in mixing traditional matrices with a summary, took a little unravelling. To be fair, this isn’t on a visitor’s usual agenda.

Visitor’s Perception: all I need to get going in a clear, understandable and exciting way. But have I leaflets for the whole network?

Sanders Coaches

An interesting offering from this small north Norfolk operator providing a string of regular, semi-regular and market day services on Norfolk council’s behalf. Hurrah for the single timetable, which is unusually large, at A4, and has 28 pages, a clear geographically correct map if lacking in a little detail. There’s no index of places served.

In spite of its A4 size, the font size varies between timetables and some matrices are laid out landscape, others portrait. Most, though strangely not all journeys before 1000 omit the leading ‘0’ (i.e. 659 instead of 0659). Services don’t always follow in chronological order. The half-hourly 43/4 from Sheringham is oddly advertised in reverse order as 44/43 but without the main header route details. This means where in the main body of the timetable it says “Castle Meadow Stop C” [capital ‘S’ for Stop] and “St Stephens stop E” [small ‘s’ for stop], you have to know this means Norwich. Why not say so?

Too many inconsistencies mar an otherwise potentially excellent product. And there’s no mention on Sander’s X29 of the aforesaid weekday operator.

Visitor’s Perception: the buses ran well but the timetable was a little ailing. Not a bad effort.

Anglian Bus

Small operator publicity has come on leaps in the 20 years of deregulation. Back to leaflets with Anglian, I’m afraid, but they are as colourful and attractive as the Anglian Buses themselves and feature the strong combination of yellow and blue. Each service number is colour coded as are the timetable matrices within. Alternate rows are shaded to ease reading. Font sizes on some (e.g. A47) are woefully inadequate. There are normally two routes per leaflet, grouped logically, and back to back so that there appears to be two leaflet fronts. This meant I generally picked up twice as many pieces of paper as I needed.

Visitor’s Perception: colourful if difficult to distinguish services from the fronts (or backs!) and without the fervour of Norfolk Green.

Konectbus

Sadly, I could find no printed publicity for Konectbus at all. Odd, given that like Norfolk Green, this is an award winner and an operator employing the Big Black Cat. Ah well.

Visitor’s Perception: who are they, where do they go and do I need to catch one?

70 Years Ago

Let's remember those within the bus industry who either lost their lives or were injured during the course of their duties, or in fighting for their country.

• Almost within days of going to war in 1939, the country’s traffic commissioners had seized control on England’s bus services in the national interest and were dictating rationalisations.


• There began a significant reduction in bus service mileage in all parts of the country. Even those areas where the war effort meant services were required saw some reductions.


• Evacuation of children and adults resulted in bigger cities (especially London) having a surplus of buses to donate elsewhere. This was important given that fewer new buses were built.


• By the end of the war, fitters had been coaxing life-expired buses into service every day.


• In many areas, a proportion of buses was commandeered for military use.


• Where there were factories engaged in helping the war effort, service cuts were generally less severe.


• There were often unpublished workers’ ghost buses running up to curfew in areas where there were factories engaged in the war effort.


• Evacuees placed a burden on already overcrowded buses in more rural areas or those towns deemed appropriate to receive them. The fewer services operating were already stretched.


• Seats on single deck buses were often rearranged around the perimeter to create a standing reservoir.


• Short distance passengers were often discouraged from making trips, especially at peak times.


• As platform staff were called up, there was a national shortage of staff. Women stepped in as clippies and these were often the first women employees on operational bus duties since the General Strike of 1926. This time, many women stayed on after the war.


• Early petrol rationing for private use and eventually no civilian petrol at all resulted in many more passengers than before the war.


• New builds were in short supply, as many factories turned their hands to the war effort. There were eventually new chassis and bodies produced, to utilitarian designs, from about 1942/3.


• Evening services were sharply curtailed and in many cases in the early years, buses ceased after 1900. This was relaxed as the war continued.


• A number of garages throughout the country were directly hit by enemy action though where possible operators would scatter their out of service buses around their towns.


• Darkened conditions on buses at night meant that it proved difficult for clippies to undertake their duties. In these darkened conditions, there were a number of collisions between buses and pedestrians.


• Seasonal and leisure traffic stopped abruptly as tourists melted away. Often, unneeded seasonal bus staff found their way into factories.


• Double shifts were common owing to staff shortages.


• For a while, gas powered buses became if not relatively common then certainly prevalent enough to notice.


• Bright liveries were often toned down as greys became common and coloured roofs were treated. Operating names that might give a clue to arriving enemy parachutists were sometimes removed.


• Under the traffic commissioners, there was often a state of heightened co-operation between operators, helping each other out, informally or formally.


• General coaching activities stopped altogether.