20:20 Vision

Last week, Apple launched the iPad. No, it isn’t some sort of hi-tech incontinence device and the tablet computer’s unlikely to be a bitter pill. We already know that life’s going to be very different at the end of the next decade. It may seem a long way off but there’ll be the full force of climate change, global business restructuring and Web 3.0 via iPad, all to come.

And there will be challenges for transport providers in what will undoubtedly become a more liberalised European transport market. We will see structural change on a scale as never before. Forget the rail & bus groupings of the 1930s, nationalisation of the 1940s, regionalisation of the 1960s, privatisation of the 1980s and emergence of the big five PLCs in the 1990s. Forget the wrangles about whether or not a municipal should or should not stay locally owned. The evolution that started with British Bus, GRT/Badgerline, Northern General, Stagecoach & National Express is set to become even more of an international revolution.

Since the UK has what amounts to the most significantly sized publicly quoted transport stock in Europe (and probably the world), matters could go either way. The UK could lose control to elsewhere, or it cold gain control from others.

We may therefore lament that control of our transport operators is wrested away from Aberdeen and Perth in Scotland, and Sunderland; or we may be celebrating that these cities are the centre of a new transport empire stretching across what was once wistfully called the Common Market, now much extended in size and scope. Arriva is already the major UK player in Europe, though not *yet* in France. By 2020, public transport in Europe will see the dominance of just a handful of super-groups. The Arriva/Keolis merger talks look likely to ensure that Arriva is one of them. But that’s in 2010. In our rat race of a world, who knows whether that will remain so by 2020. Early days. In the meantime, vive l’entente cordiale noveau.

Does anyone have a vision of what we might expect i n 2020?

Chapter 35

In Gavin Booth’s delightful book By Bus to School, 34 well-known professionals, writers, photographers & enthusiasts recount why the bus on which they travelled to school was so formative in their lives. So it was with me... and, in a rare moment of personal openness, here’s Chapter 35...

I met my future wife in a bus station. And, yes, it was love at first site (sic). This wasn’t awaiting a school bus but it was an education-related journey, as an undergraduate. See how important buses are?

But it was during my primary years that I began wondering about buses. Then, they were only part of my weekend. The two buses each way I later needed for the long journey to Grammar developed that interest. In spite of slowly realising that buses came in various shapes and sizes, it was the routes, destinations and people on them that interested me most. Why were people travelling? Why were only some routes double decked? Some more frequent? Some poorly patronised? Why did some run at what I later realised were the scheduler’s convenience? Why suddenly would a regular fare-paying adult simply disappear? The answer to the last question no doubt was that they had bought a car.

I remember at the age of about eight asking Mother why people ran buses. Her answer: because people needed to travel and were willing to pay. Though I struggled to understand the concept, it was an early lesson in bus economics. Shorty after I began using buses to school at 11, I recognised that it was scholars such as I keeping one of my bus journeys afloat. Thankfully, my commute also entailed healthier trips, full with mixed classes of passenger.

By 16, I had redesigned the area’s schedules according to new patterns of demand—growing suburbs & satellites versus declining villages. There was some satisfaction that much of what I predicted later came true—the good and the bad. This before my own involvement in the industry.

During that time, such was its importance as a social institution that I can still recall the regular faces on the “school” journeys (and some of the adult fare-payers) and can actually name many of the individuals. This was a place where different years mingled closely, with differing backgrounds, including the girls from their grammar. It became the most important part of the day, when we would unwind, tie other people’s coats & satchels to seat frames, write nonsense on condensed windows, help each other with homework. And later, mixing pleasures, came the courting in the now long-gone bus station: watching full buses depart, especially in summer, while holding hands.

People referred to the buses by their colour, not their company. Ours were Green. They surrounded the others, which seemed more regimented and standard, as they travelled shorter distances usually at higher frequencies. I was very young indeed when my father explained how trolleys worked. Used as I was to sluggish Gardner-engined Bristols, I couldn’t understand how a bus could run so swiftly, silently on electricity. Later, I became fond of those Bristols but how on occasion I wished the overhead wires stretched to school.

Bolt from the Blues

Hands up those of us who saw this one coming. There was speculation all last year about major structural change within the UK transport sector but aside from smaller UK player Transdev, little happened. And there was talk of foreign takeovers.

Here we are in 2010 and Arriva confirmed yesterday it was talking with the French SNCF, part owners of Keolis, regarding a merger or take-over of the Keolis business. Arriva said it was in “very preliminary discussions”. Whereas Arriva is the strongest UK transport operator in Europe, it has no presence in France. France is well and truly tied up by the French, usually through nationalised or part-nationalised industries. And don’t mention any anti-British sentiment.

There were reports before the summer that French transport giants Keolis and Veolia were possible suitors though, in the even, we now that the parallel reports of a Veolia and Transdev merger were confirmed.

There remains the potential to see the Big Five reduce in number. The City’s long been after reorganisation in the transport sector. Any deal has the potential to see some interesting tie-ups in UK transport. Will the OFT be amused? For example, Keolis is a minority shareholder in GoVia, the Go Ahead rail franchise operator along the south coast and London Midland. Keolis is a partner with First Group in Transpennine Express. Yes, I know, it's different on the railways.

Keolis left the UK bus market almost exactly a year ago upon the sale of Eastbourne Buses to Stagecoach. Keolis held a 20 per cent stake. Keolis sunk some £500K into that business and got little or no return for it. Probably wisely, Keolis decided against exercising its option to increase its Eastbourne Buses stake to 49 per cent.

Foot Shooting

We wonder whether renowned consultant Colin Buchanan & Partners has slit its own throat, so far as London’s concerned.

In order to promote the sort of cosy relationship that applies between any client and consultant, it’s usually in the consultant’s interest to tell you what you want to hear. Package it in an easily digestible format (called an executive summary) and provide a sound business model with quick wins that you can immediately transfer to the white heat of operations but never present an argument against the client’s best interests.

Of course, I refer to Buchanan’s response to a public consultation on London’s transport strategy and not a study commission. Some of what the consultant says about London bus operation will nonetheless be hard to digest. Buchanan favours:

• A reduction in the number of buses terminating in the central business districts. This implies unpopular transfer between bus and rail, or more walking.


• TfL should retain articulated buses, on busy and heavily trafficked routes. This rails against a clear mayoral electoral pledge.


• The development of a new bus for London (a Routemaster 2) squanders scarce resources. Ditto the election pledge.


• The operation of a NB4L would be expensive to crew. Ditto.


• You’d think a full-scale review of the bus network to include expresses and orbitals would get a tick. Yet, reductions in the network now seem inevitable but will come at a time when population and demand are both increasing.

So far as buses were concerned, Buchanan felt that the consultation was light. It also points out that the bus service is now in danger of becoming a Cinderella service, sacrificed at the altar of those higher gods, suburban and underground rail.

Does this mean the glut of ex-London artics will dry up? No. This leaves a problem especially for Arriva, who hasn’t leased but bought its bendies. Arriva needs to cascade them on. Liverpool’s already taking 23 and expect other subsidiaries—even the most unlikely—to find new homes for some. Or try to. Meanwhile, should Arriva’s consortium win the bid to operate in Malta, a number of Citaros will find their way to the Mediterranean.

The point Buchanan could’ve asked was, does London need a bespoke new bus design, anyway? Existing double (and single) decks have proved their worth in the capital, indicating that a special design isn’t strictly necessary. Whether it will ever get to articulate this viewpoint will depend upon whether or not there’s future work for Buchanan in the capital.

Electric Avenue

The electric bus revolution begins... in Durham and in Liverpool...

Arriva North West has lost its important C1-C5 Liverpool City Link services, following a Merseytravel retender. Arriva is reported as miffed to the point of a fruitless challenge. The services, which tour Liverpool city centre plus the Dingle, are from sometime this spring expected to see 11 all-electric Optare Solo SEVs. And the successful operator? Cumfybus.

Standing out from the usual Liverpool crowd, in yellow, are two conventional Cumfybus Solos on the City Link circulars

Cumfybus, a fast growing minnow from Southport that started with an accessible coach offering excursions, no longer relies solely on MPTE Merseylink dial-a-ride and poorly trafficked Urban Challenge-funded Job Link-type contracts. In the last five years, Cumfybus has expanded to a fleet of nearly 100-strong, scooping up not only MPTE contracts, but others in Blackpool and Preston, to the detriment of Stagecoach.

Interestingly, the rear of the C1-C5 timetables show a former Enoco hybrid Solo on one of the predecessor services, the Arriva S3

Cumfybus has now reached the point where it thinks it can handle technology such as the SEVs. Operated since 6 December 2009 by conventional yet highly visible yellow Solos, the project is a big step into the unknown and, to be honest, better suits operators such as Arriva. For example, there remains the issue of how and where such Solos will receive a mid-range fast recharge.

Arriva began the C1-C5’s predecessors in 2003. MPTE added the Glenvale 100/200s into the mix. At that time, the S-routes were new, connecting much of the redeveloped waterfront with the city centre (and just beyond). The intention was to operate Enoco converted hybrid Solos. These disastrous Solos quickly crumbled, spending most of their time in the garage. There followed an effort to resurrect them by re-engineering some with Wrightbus technology. All are now reported sold to Stagecoach for conversion to diesel operation. Hired Darts and then Arriva stock such as the shorter Neoplans or Marshall minibuses or MPDs found their way on the services at various times. At least diesel gave some operating certainty.

Never shy of trying new initiatives, the Enoco saga hasn’t put Merseytravel off. Now backed by Optare itself, the swift accelerating and silent Solos seem a better proposition than the troubled hybrids, though the range remains an issue. But industry watchers will look with scepticism at the erratic battery operated Tecnobuses especially the Gullivers of Birkenhead and reflect on past performance. Mind you, before these passed to Selwyn’s, some of that was said to be down to First.

Meanwhile, Jim Bell Coaches (“Give Jim a bell and go anywhere” as the radio advert to the tune of John Brown’s Body suggests) is to pip Merseytravel to the post as the first to introduce the SEV. Three examples will operate on a tourist route around the city centre, cathedral and world heritage sites and, unlike the Merseytravel examples, the route is well within the vehicle’s expected range. They will find themselves using the pedestrianised streets of Durham. This could be interesting, as the vehicles are near silent.

All buses are to come from the government’s green vehicle fund. This has provision for 55 all-electric battery vehicles. Expect Optare to do very well out of this, as the only manufacturer of a decent capacity battery minis. At about double the price of a conventional Solo, such an order could realise £11mil.

Additional information by and photos from Omnibuses’ Northern Correspondent

Utopia—not yet

Proponents of a regulated regime or franchising suggest things would be Utopian if we scrapped deregulation and the free market. They have short memories. During the 1970s and immediately before dereg, for example, there were issues in every single PTE. This even included the then People’s Republic of South Yorkshire.

In spite of criticism, there has been plenty of investment in Bristol, above and the picture below

As a report surfaced yesterday suggesting Bristol along with 11 other major city regions should consider an elected mayor, I was intrigued to re-read three of the comments about Bristol on Saturday’s post about the Most Admired.

Two were from Simon31, who kicked Bristol things off by suggesting that [many] local First subsidiaries get bad press. Citing the city, Simon31 felt that First was providing a good service and that problems were often outside First’s control. There followed an anonymous commenter, reminding us that the former NBC subsidiary Bristol Omnibus/Bristol Citybus/Cityline also suffered perception problems.

And indeed, they did. And some. It wasn’t just a matter of perception, either. Here’s the briefest of summaries from 1970s Bristol. There was a:

• Chronic shortage of crews, resulting in many cancellations.


• Tension between partners in the Joint Services agreement, the city council; and the newly created Avon county council.


• Conversion programme from deckers to OMO single deck that saw some drivers loading 44-seaters well beyond the legal capacity; and others sticking rigidly to the legal capacity. Result? Passengers didn’t know whether they were coming or going, and many went.


• Policy of putting up fares specifically to pay for new investment in these single deck OMO buses, something the public felt was highly illogical.


• Series of general fares rises well ahead of inflation, to compensate for mounting losses, with the inevitable & reinforced loss of ridership.

This left a high fares legacy, something for which First is as much criticised today as BOC was in the 1970s.

What this indicates to me is that no mater the regime, bus operation is never easy, never straightforward. There will always be issues to face and challenges to overcome. Not everyone will be happy.

Could an elected mayor overcome some of these issues? I’d be sceptical, without London-style powers and London-style resources. Yet, it’s dawning on London that the cost of its surface transport is excessive.

Even this moth, the Bristol city region’s recently been contemplating whether it should form an integrated transport authority. This will undoubtedly secure greater government funding and raise the transport profile of the CUBA authorities (Councils that Used to Be Avon). No doubt First would welcome dealing with one authority rather than four.

But it would have no more powers than at present to deal with the inevitable further fares increases and service cuts… unless someone was prepared to bankroll it significantly. Utopia seems as far away as ever.

Breaking New Ground

As hard-pressed operators grapple with the recessionary downturn in passengers, is the “Oxford Solution” (as we called it, in April) the first of many? Is it the end of deregulation or a new phase in local bus service provision? The threat of forcing operators to run a shuttle bus service between a new out-of-centre terminus and Oxford city centre appears to be the main stimulus for a ground breaking agreement in the city.

Welcomed by passengers and the county council, from the autumn, the Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach will run joint timetables along the four busiest competitive corridors into the city. This is likely to be a “new era” in which:

• Passengers will see network benefits. While awaiting their return bus, they will no longer feel frustration that the first arrival is the “wrong” one. Tickets will be co-ordinated and inter-available.


• Combined frequencies will improve, though fewer buses overall per hour will operate.


• Operators will make substantial savings while actually offering a better service. The overall fleet will reduce by about nine per cent. The Oxford Bus Company is said to replace 34 vehicles with 20 new ones; Stagecoach similarly will bring is 26 new vehicles to replace 35 buses.


• Operators avoid the stalemate where, in the face of rising costs, they cannot alone cut frequencies or increase fares for fear of losing market share.


• The county council will see a reduction in city centre bus traffic, something of an aspiration.


• Operators can and will use part of the associated savings to invest (£10mil in 46 new vehicles, no doubt assisted by the DfT’s green fund). Capacities per hour are nevertheless expected to rise.

How ground breaking is this? Very. It may be the first of many. This is not seen as a quality contract but is reported as a “qualifying agreement” under the terms of the Transport Act 2008. The OFT is said to smile upon the deal, though hasn’t yet done so formally.

Oxford has been held aloft as a paragon of deregulation, with two operators competing intensely and offering what amounts to a virtuous uplift in quality. It started in 1987 when Harry Blundred began competing against established City of Oxford under the Thames Transit brand, passing to Stagecoach 10 years later.

It’s a model not often replicated elsewhere. Too often, the market place cannot support such competition, quality or otherwise, and both parties invariably suffer. Not in Oxford, till now at any rate. Even here, the recession is taking its toll in terms of either reversing or flattening some of the growth over the last 10 years.

One reason why Oxford is different is the number of relatively affluent but mobile-poor students. Another is the county council’s policy of making access to Oxford city centre difficult for private motorists. This policy continues but the county council has hardened its approach towards buses. Last February, after threats that buses would be marginalised, saw the two bus operators making a similar proposal to now. Oxfordshire chose to ignore the operators’ pleas, closing some city stops. The council has nevertheless helped to negotiate the autumn solution. Plans to relegate eastbound services to a terminus well away from the heart of the city, providing passengers with a shuttle link, have now been squashed. Such a development would’ve been disastrous for passengers, profits and would reverse modal shift.

Photography—again

See also the Guide to Bus Photography

You may recall early in my illustrated mammoth autumnal journey around Birmingham’s 11C Outer Circle* that an angry bus driver confronted me at King’s Heath. Of the incident at the time, I simply said:

“What can I say about King’s Heath other than it was totally dominated by a threatening NXWM driver whose aggressiveness was shameful and whose understanding about photography pitiful”.

And this is actually what happened. The driver was upset that I took a picture of his bus, demanding that it be deleted. Several times I refused and he actually threatened to call the police. I stood my ground, as I was doing nothing illegal. The incident concluded with the driver closing his doors, me on the outside, trapping the camera lens in them. No damage but since it was strapped round my neck, it could’ve been serious or even fatal had he not responded to my frantic knocking on the door before he drove off.

No matter how careful you are, sometimes real people stray into your shot. Here’s an example of a woman coming into view at the wrong moment

Why drag this up, over two months later? Yesterday’s Trafalgar Square protests highlighted that street photography is not an unlawful pastime. There’ve been a number of high profile police issues in London, including the one of the Austrian tourist taking photos in a bus station. Yesterday’s protest was specifically about accusations of terrorism. But imputations go way, way further than that. And it goes further than London.

While it’s easy to blame digital photography and the internet’s proliferation of photos, it’s still a common law right to take street photography. Actions by drivers, the police or others now increasingly leave people intimidated. Gatherings such as at Trafalgar Square seek to remind us all that this particular pastime is under threat. Generations have recorded the history of buses and bus routes in this way (as they have our streetscape in general). Ironically, street photography may now become part of our history rather than a means of recording it.

I doubt whether Stephen Bailey can complain about his photograph when he’s on the rear of one of Cardiff Buses’ Scanias. A regular reader sent me the link. It may be Photoshopped but if it isn’t, all I can say is, it’s a little bizarre!

Just as bad as the incident itself, I received nothing from National Express West Midlands but an acknowledgement of my complaint.

“Thank you for your comments about our bus services. We really appreciate customer feedback and every comment is logged and fully investigated. We will write to you once our investigations have been concluded.”

Perhaps had I given specifics like time & fleet number I might’ve received something but I was more interested in the generalities and company policy. I guess NXWM just felt that I was some sort of crank, without realising what I was doing and why.

Its silence on the matter is rather disappointing.

*—11 November 2009. You will need to scroll down and start from the bottom

And the Most Admired is…

Ten days ago, we wondered who was the “Most Admired”. The post attracted 17 quality comments or QCs. We invited readers to take part in a survey to identify which of the Big Five bus operators they felt was Most Admired. There were more responses than I imagined and fewer than I hoped.

So, who is Most Admired?

Before starting, I should perhaps make mention of the drubbing given to First Group in yesterday’s Telegraph. To be fair, the comment “First Group... specialises in taking functioning transport services and reducing them to chaos” was aimed squarely at its rail businesses. Even so, few of the 70 or so Telegraph commenters were prepared to say anything good about First bus services. But, perhaps, you would expect the same for any operator. First is not a charity and it must return a decent profit for its shareholders and this, in spite of its difference of approach to Stagecoach, is at the heart of it.

What did Omnibuses readers feel?

The survey was interesting. Stagecoach emerged as the Most Admired, beating Go Ahead by a short head. Arriva and NatEx got no votes whatsoever, no doubt because we offered one choice only. First got a solitary vote which doesn’t register on the graph.

What was most illuminating was that about 25 per cent more enthusiasts admired Stagecoach than Go Ahead. I would’ve put this the other way round. Regarding industry professionals, double the number admired Go Ahead than Stagecoach.

Quality Comments (QCs)

Almost but not quite universally, commenters felt that Stagecoach should have the honour, citing all round delivery, innovations, professionalism, brand and growth development, investment and the ability to do well in a rural context.

Go Ahead came in second, with some linking it with Stagecoach as joint winners, others placing Go Ahead first and some reckoning that Go Ahead’s performance was actually patchy.

Arriving at no.3 was Arriva. Commenters used terms such as “plodding on” or unexciting. One felt Arriva was “surprisingly innovative” and yet another that Arriva “should not be under-estimated”. One commenter, however, felt Arriva was locally dire, one accused Arriva of not seeing innovations through but a third felt that Arriva had come on leaps and bounds since British Bus.

If our commenters are to be believed, there’s little clear water separating the next two, First and National Express. Of First, just like the Telegraph, several put it bottom. Some cited continual retrenchment, poorer investment, lack of local identity, impractical livery and a lack of managerial experience. The term “penny pinching” turned up several times. Balanced against this was talk of innovation (though in not necessarily following it through) and FTR. The brand was well known and the City loved First. One former employee felt First does well but could do better.

Of NatEx, commenters talked of a tarnished or confused brand, lost cause and too lean a management structure in the west midlands. Clearly, NatEx has suffered from rail problems. One put it as the runt of the litter.

Conclusion according to Omnibuses readers

1 Stagecoach; 2 Go Ahead; 3 Arriva; 4=First; 4=National Express.

Omnibuses Meets Alan Millar

Buses Magazine is just for enthusiasts, right? Well, not entirely. Professionals who ignore criticisms of their operations in Buses do so at their peril. Buses’ bedrock may be the enthusiast but that isn't the end of the story. Here, following Buses’ 60th anniversary, editor Alan Millar talks about professional readers, print versus internet, publishing, teenagers, tin boxes, the bus market, ridership growth, QCs, artics, the future… and biscuits.

OB: What are Buses Magazine’s strengths and its weaknesses? What would you say is its greatest threat?

AM: Buses’ greatest strength, I believe, is its ability to give a rounded view of the bus and coach scene. It is written for—and by—people with a passionate interest in buses & coaches and their operations. Although read primarily by enthusiasts, it also is read by transport professionals. However, it is not a propaganda organ for bus operators, transport authorities or any political party, but comments—I hope intelligently—about the scene as a whole, with the perspective of real fare-paying bus passengers helping it tell things as it believes they really are and not as maybe some vested interests would like us all to think how things are.

Another huge strength is its readership, both for the loyalty of the many who have been reading Buses and Buses Illustrated as it was for its first 19 years, and for the willingness of so many of them to contribute to our pages. I have the luxury of a vast number of quality, topical colour photographs to choose from each month, which means that we are generally able to publish different pictures from those used in other bus and coach publications. Similarly, our letters section benefits from often eloquent, frequently controversial opinions and observations by readers on a wide range of topics.

As a monthly magazine with a 60-year pedigree, it also is able to view current developments a little more analytically than is possible with more frequently produced publications. As a transport journalist who cut his teeth writing news for a weekly magazine, I am nonetheless keen that we are as topical and up-to-date as we can be in covering the biggest stories that we believe are of most interest to the breadth of our readership, but at the same time—with four or sometimes five weeks between each issue—there is time to draw breath and consider which stories actually are the biggest to include in each issue, and importantly to try and interpret the implications of some events. The 60-year pedigree helps put some of today’s stories into context, especially if something ‘new’ bears an uncanny resemblance to something that happened several decades ago.

Rather than weakness, I suggest that the challenge we face is in maintaining a product that interests younger generations as well as those who have been around for longer, and that does as much as it can to remain topical in an age when electronic communications makes information far more instantly available than it used to be.

OB: How proud are you of your role as editor of Buses?

AM: I am exceptionally proud to have had the opportunity of editing Buses for a little over 10 years now. It is a magazine I first read nearly 43 years ago. It has been part of my life since my early teenage years. I also consider myself to be exceptionally privileged to have the opportunity not only to build on the work of my five predecessors in the role, but to be able to make a decent living out of writing about and commenting upon a topic that has fascinated me for most of my life. I could not do it, however, without the support of the other Buses contributors or its readers.

OB: In the internet age, how do you see the role of Buses Magazine developing? Might you expand your web offering by giving up to date news, if only for subscribers?

AM: I suspect that the internet will play a bigger role in the future of Buses. The trick that all publishers have to master, and have had to master since the internet first became a reality for the masses, is how to make a commercial success of an internet presence. We are fortunate that the loyalty and longevity of our readership means that many have not only grown up with printed magazines, but like them. They like to be able to touch them, flick through them, see them. Remember we are talking of people who often like to collect things, and tangible magazines with well-printed photographs are among the things they enjoy collecting. A recent survey told us also that a surprisingly large minority of our readers has no internet access—by choice, I am sure, not geography. Those people are never likely to want an electronic magazine.

On the other hand, we recognise that this will not always be so. Some younger people have grown up only with the internet and may be less keen to collect magazines and books. The product may well have to evolve to capture those people, especially if paid for subscription publishing takes off. The current experiments by Johnston Press with paid for local newspaper sites and Rupert Murdoch’s stated aim of taking free national newspaper websites out of existence are worth watching to see if this is a way forward for publishers at large.

A subscription-plus on-line news service is certainly one thing to consider, offering something extra over and above the magazine.

OB: With sundry groups, boards and forums, why do you think there is still a strong fleet news section in Buses?

AM: Partly because we have adapted to the internet challenge by trying to make Fleet News as up-to-date as possible, while still striving for accuracy. Monthly publication helps, because we can stand back a little and try and explain the context of what is happening. And by presenting a national picture—even international if you include the Republic of Ireland—Fleet News gives an overview that still contains a great amount of detail, something like 17,000 words every month.

Maybe its greatest strength is that, although it has adapted to the great changes in the world of information, it has remained true to its founding principles. It is written in sentences with verbs and adjectives that hopefully explain things in a more interesting fashion than if it was simply a series of formulaic listings. At the same time, it is designed to be easy for the reader to navigate—helping them seek out information on fleets of most interest to individual readers, if they do not have the time or inclination to read it from end to end. And it is illustrated with a selection of topical photographs.

In a way, our relationship with the internet is a variation on our relationship with other sources of information that always have been available to enthusiasts seeking news on changes to bus fleets. Fleet News has always co-existed with regional newsletters, which provide more detail on fleets in their areas of interest, and with the likes of the PSV Circle news sheets, which continue to perform a fantastic function of striving to record all known details of all known buses, coaches and minibuses in the British Isles.

A happy by-product of our format is that it also is of use to bus industry professionals—and especially vehicles suppliers—about who is doing what out in the real world of bus and coach operation.

OB: What is it about buses and bus services that fascinate you?

AM: Everything, really. It is a bug that bit me in relatively early childhood and has fascinated me ever since. I also enjoy learning about new developments, which I guess helps explain my enthusiasm for bus magazine publishing.

OB: Do those who work in the bus industry take Buses Magazine seriously; and how can you improve on that view? How do you balance the needs of professionals and enthusiasts?

AM: Many professionals, I know, read the magazine. Some because they also are enthusiasts and others because they regard Buses as a useful source of information that they cannot obtain elsewhere. We are probably read more widely by bus professionals than their equivalents in the coach industry, and I guess that also is reflected in the bias of content towards buses (and coaches operated by bus companies) rather than classic coaches.

There is a balance to be struck in our coverage, and it must inevitably tilt more towards the enthusiast than the professional. That is one reason why, for example, picture captions will usually have a lot of identification details about the vehicles in them. More of our readers are enthusiasts rather than professionals. It means that you won’t find a lot of articles in Buses about brake parts, tachographs, wheelchair lifts or other products that tend to be hidden on a bus, or about employment legislation, for example.

What I hope we do achieve is to produce a magazine that appeals to the intelligent enthusiast, who wants to understand why things happen and not just what has happened—something another commentator describes as ‘the whys and wherefores’. That level of explanation also informs the professional readership, and the insight of thinking enthusiasts, in letters and articles, also helps inform professionals from a perspective they may not obtain by reading business to business publications.

OB: How do you rate industry trade journals and which is your favourite, and why?

AM: Each of the trade publications—the business to business titles—has its own strengths. The bus and coach market has a remarkably large number of them for such a relatively small industry. My favourite weekly is Bus & Coach Buyer, a no nonsense advertiser-funded publication founded and edited by Stuart Jones in 1989 and the longest established of the weeklies still trading by its original name. Stuart has been around the scene for a long time (he worked on and eventually edited Coachmart for most of the 1980s) and his knowledge and understanding of the industry, especially coaches and the global manufacturing scene, is unrivalled. Some of his profile articles on manufacturers especially are extremely incisive.

I also like Transit, though I still think I preferred its previous fortnightly news format to its new guise as a monthly magazine.

OB: What has been your greatest achievement while at Buses?

AM: While I’d prefer others to judge this for themselves, I guess that succeeding in increasing the size of the magazine is the achievement of which I am most proud so far. It had already been expanded from 48 to 64 pages and had just gone over to 100% colour pages when I took over in December 1999. Now it has at least 84 pages, including our varnished cover, and we have added supplements, which this year will be in five of our 12 issues. This enables us to provide a wider range of articles, more and larger photographs and, I hope, provide better value for money.

OB: My guess is that the Buses readership is middle aged or older. How can Buses appeal to a new generation of readers and extend the appeal of the subject—and hopefully more bus use—to and among younger people?

AM: Yes, I suspect you are right about the age profile, though there are younger readers. It delights me when I hear from today’s teenagers, who not only are tomorrow’s readership but also hopefully include some of our future contributors. The advent of digital photography has encouraged several younger enthusiasts to contribute to our pages on a regular basis. Reaching out to younger people must remain a key challenge for us, which can be done partly with a lively product and also by harnessing appropriate use of the internet. It also demands that we embrace and welcome some change and don’t write off modern buses as soulless tin boxes. Encouraging bus use is a bigger challenge, though I have more faith in younger people using buses than I do in encouraging older generations who have built their lives around the car.

OB: There’ve been various attempts to grow the bus market, some successful, others less so. The bus is still seen as of relatively marginal importance. What would it take for there to be a sea change and do you see this happening in your lifetime?

AM: This won’t come by compelling people to stop using their cars or by simply extolling them to use the bus. The bus will appeal where it perceptibly offers a better alternative to driving one’s own car. Think about some of the places where bus use has increased and where, for want of a better set of words, ‘nice middle class people’ use buses regularly and it is generally because the built environment won’t accommodate cars and car parking. London, Brighton, Oxford, Edinburgh and York all are places where car use is difficult. In London, car ownership has declined. Park-&-ride is another example. So are buses at airports. It is about a lot more than just laying on more buses, cutting fares or painting the buses in bright new colours. Each of those things may help, but the real success comes from land use—building towns and cities around public transport systems, and providing buses with unimpeded access to where people want to go. Fastrack in north Kent, for instance, serves a place where a quality bus rapid transit service has been built in parallel with (and even ahead of) new housing and other development. So much of the UK has been built around the car, and people have made decisions about where to live and where to work around that reality, that you cannot change that overnight. It would be undemocratic to do so. But if new development can be built in parallel with public transport, people will be encouraged, for the best of reasons, to use buses and whatever other systems are offered.

OB: How successful do you feel will be the Transport Act 2008 and will we ever see quality contracts? Are QCs the panacea the PTEs feel they could be?

AM: The first thing to say about the 2008 Act is that it only applies automatically in England beyond London. It has no impact in London, Scotland or Northern Ireland and its application in Wales is purely optional.

Not having a pro-operator axe to grind, Buses can try to take a more objective view of quality contracts and not simply write them off because the major operators don’t like them.

Will they happen? A lot depends on the outcome of the forthcoming general election. The Conservatives say they would repeal the clause permitting them and instead encourage closer partnerships between transport authorities and operators. Some Conservatives in PTE areas say they support QCs, so there could be a vigorous debate within the Conservative Party that might see their retention.

The unanswered question is how much they would cost to implement. West Yorkshire ITA is setting the ball in motion for a QC regime across the old Met county but hasn’t said what it thinks it might cost. There is a PTE message that they need not cost proportionately as much as the bus system costs in London, but any increased cost would likely have to be met out of falling overall public expenditure. No one knows what budget would need to be cut to pay for them. And given the level of regional dominance by individual operators, there could be real difficulties attracting a sufficient number of reasonably equally sized operators to compete for contracts.

The PTEs do, however, paint an appealing picture of a cohesive bus network in which cross-subsidy would protect more marginal routes from arbitrary cuts. Perhaps the only way to prove things one way or another would be to have a QC regime in at least one conurbation.

OB: How often do you travel by bus?

AM: Not as often as I would like. I live in a rural area with an hourly bus service, which as it happens I will be using later today. I do use buses when visiting towns and cities and find that riding by bus is an essential part of the job—helping see vehicles as real people use them, and not as they are presented by manufacturers’ representatives in business suits.

OB: The boom in artics has occurred under your stewardship of Buses Magazine. How do you think this is going to play itself out over the coming years in the UK?

AM: I don’t think their numbers will increase in the immediate future. That is largely because of the London experience. That said, my personal view is that artics were not the disaster that they have been portrayed in London. They were particularly well-suited to the Red Arrow peaked services from railway stations, but also offered fast loading, a quiet ride and fantastic low-floor access on other routes. Their drawbacks were the well publicised problems with fare evasion, though that could have been tackled by the style of enforcement found in continental Europe (lots of revenue checks, perhaps with plain clothes staff, so people knew there was a high risk of being caught without a ticket or valid proof of entitlement to travel), and their slower progress through junctions (two artics in convoy could slow everything down).

Because there are so many surplus buses coming out of London, they will find their way on to routes in other places that might not otherwise have them. Routes at and around airports are a case in point, so are routes for students in cities with large universities. Arriva is putting about 20 London artics on to a busy Liverpool route.

In a way, this is history repeating itself but on an ever larger scale. South Yorkshire PTE got two lots of artics in its bus operating days and both lots had short lives before being sold for service elsewhere. First Group thought they might be an alternative to double-deckers around 10 to 12 years ago and put them into various regional cities. Incompatibility with the built environment (e.g. speed humps in Southampton, pedestrian railings in Glasgow) limited their effectiveness, especially when operating practice meant that only their front doors were used. First has shunted a lot of them between fleets, mothballing several last year to save fuel.

I see them having a continuing role on rapid transit corridors (like First ‘ftr’), student services, park-&-ride and airport shuttles, but remain to be convinced that their numbers will increase or even stay where they are now.

OB: Buses says it’s the world’s biggest selling bus magazine. Why are you so confident about this and what is the competition, in the English-speaking world or elsewhere?

AM: We are confident because we know. Transport enthusiasm is perhaps a peculiarly British thing and it is that which gives us the circulation of the size that it is. There are business to business titles in the UK and rest of the world, including North America, but influential as those readerships are, they do not match the scale of the UK-based enthusiast community.

OB: 60 years of Buses is an enviable achievement. What will the next 60 years bring for Buses Magazine and the industry?

AM: If there is one thing that the magazine has learnt over its 60 years, and I have over a few years fewer, it is that the future is impossible to predict. We only base it on what we know now and the only sure prediction is that we will be surprised by the unexpected. That is what makes the bus world—and life in general—so interesting.

OB: What is your favourite biscuit?

AM: I try not to eat them and we rarely have them at home. Outside, I usually go for the ones with chocolate on them. Which is why we try not have them at home.

Lost & Found

31 28 25 artics to go in this batch. Someone appears to be buying them and one thing’s for sure, it won’t be for preservation.

So, here is a scan of an advert in today’s routeONE trade magazine. Perhaps optimistically, ilt says that bendies have “proven to be popular with passengers and operators in over a dozen cities across the UK”. Hmmm. Is that so, even with First, or would the Trades Descriptions Act have something to say about the statement? Or perhaps they *are* popular with everyone—except London’s motorists, even if there are fewer of that bread then 10 years ago.

More accurately, the ad refers to the artics’ manoeuvrability, something Londoners simply don’t seem to understand.

Meanwhile, in spite of protestations in 2003 that Arriva North West would never contemplate articulated buses, under a three-line whip, some 20 ex-London bendy Citaros are reported to be arriving to operate the 26/27 Liverpool-Shiel Road circulars. They are undergoing tests/familiarisation. The 26/27 totals 16 buses per hour (eight in each direction) and is affectionately known as The Belt, for obvious reasons. With artics, expect a thinning of the frequency owing to increased capacity and fuel consumption per bus.

The choice of The Belt is because the service uses Paradise Street rather than Queen Square bus station. Artics and Queen Square won’t mix. Indeed, The Belt is one of a decreasing number of services operated from the redeveloped though now slightly off-centre Paradise Street. Renaming it Liverpool ONE bus station doesn’t seem to have brought any further passengers or services its way (yet?), in spite of being adjacent to the ever-popular new shopping centre of the same name. Interestingly, whereas some daytime services have fled Liverpool ONE, Merseytravel evening services hang on.

When in 2003 Arriva last considered Citaros for the 82/86 Speke/Garston services, it concluded that there were too many revenue risks in operating buses with three passenger doors. It chose double decks instead, given that modern conventional single decks offered fewer seats than was necessary. It was a tough choice, as Arriva North West has progressively moved away from double decks, principally on anti-social behaviour grounds. Arriva apparently has now considered blocking up the central Citaro door but in spite of level access from each entrance, the central door is fundamental to wheelchair use.

There remains the prospect of Arriva using more artics on the 501, the shuttle from Liverpool airport to Liverpool South Parkway bus/rail interchange. This seems an ideal short-haul journey for high capacity vehicles of this type. Arriving continentals will feel at home travelling on them, even if currently there is usually plenty of space to accommodate both them and their luggage.

Meanwhile, Wilts & Dorset’s first and only ex-London Citaro bendy bus is from 11 January successfully operating the U1 Unilink from Bournemouth University (in Poole) to Cranborne House. It will manage peak loadings along the short section from Lansdowne to Talbot campus. To date, there appears no operating issue with it, in spite of the usual backlash from residents who seem to fear an open mass grave for cyclists. Not sure of the reaction from students.

Notice anything odd about the permanently displayed destination and route number? W&D has settled for the disability-friendly route number to the *right* of the destination, adopted virtually everywhere else. Even recently delivered W&D Scanias have the route number to the left rather than right, even though sister company Southern Vectis has them laid out in what is regarded as the “correct” way round.

Notice the similarity at the front with Transdev’s Blackburn Spot On livery, both designed by Stenning. The first of the new vehicles, a Scania/Wrightbus Solar, will next month be joined by six Scania/E400 double decks. The destination display of the 59-reg single deck Scania, also in the new livery, is configured with route number to the left!

Additional information from Omnibuses’ Northern Correspondent. W&D Citaro c/o its Facebook pages

Moir Lockhead’s Eyebrows

Taking the title of this post from one of 2009’s strangest search engine related arrivals, here’s our usual mid-January stock-take of 2009. Thanks go to contributors Northern Correspondent, A Cumbrian, Mystery Contributor, Pseudonymous, RC169 and Dorset Exile; to the four willing interviewees; to everyone who’s added a comment; to those offering advice; and to all our loyal readers. See also the mid-year 2009 review of Omnibuses. And our 19 January performance reviews of 2008 and 2007.

• In 2009, the work was shared by six contributors plus four interviewees, though this still meant 91 per cent of the writing was penned by myself, Busing.


• This must surely make me one of Britain’s most prolific transport writers and most productive serious writer on buses & bus services.


• A high proportion of visitors is loyal and they keep returning (thank you!).


• In 2009, we saw yet more encouraging, even phenomenal growth in 2009:


• In 2009, we published every single day. Not by post-dating a post or batch to make it look like we did, but literally every single morning, and all bar a handful before 0700 hrs. Oh, and we slipped up twice and published in the afternoon. At least I didn’t unintentionally post two in one day.


• We added 149,261 words in 2009—that’s slightly larger than the New Testament or equivalent to over two average-sized novels.


• Of the literally thousands of searchers arriving here, omnibuses (and Omnibuses Blog derivatives), Mercedes 608 and Straplines were still very important. Erica Roe had become prominent (pardon the pun) for reasons we postulated here. Posting the Christmas Trivia Quiz early ensured the world seemed to pick up on this term. Even after the surge, Fotopic problems remained a high search term phrase.


• The number of words published in 2009 increased by 35 per cent when compared to 2008 but the time writing them only increased by some 11 per cent.


• Thanks to this blog, in 2009 I didn’t catch a single episode of Corrie or Big Brother and only saw a handful of X Factors. Did I miss much?


• The longest day’s post, though split over several individual instalments, was the live and well-received 11 November blog from Britain’s longest urban bus route, Birmingham’s 11C. You will need to scroll down and note it appears in reverse order. I blogged 2,367 words that day. Many of you returned throughout the day to see progress.


• In 2009, the top 10 most popular posts in terms of comments received, in descending order, were Your Bus, Christmas Trivia Quiz, Omnibuses Meets Leon Daniels, Gone for a Burton, Vacuous, Bumpy Ride for the Monkey’s Hump, Backing Up, Benefits of Bendies, Minibus Futures and Fotopic Problems or Dead. We didn’t reach the heights of 2008 when 47 comments were received on this post.


• In 2009, direct traffic accounted for some 60 per cent of arrivals. 21 per cent arrived via a search engine (almost identical to 2008), nine per cent via other blogs and five per cent from discussion fora/boards, including Yahoo Groups.


• The number of blogs sending visitors was up 2008 but in proportion they were sending *fewer* visitors, again.


• In 2009, Google remained by far the most important search engine to send visitors here, though its dominance dropped 2½ per cent.


• Unusual search terms included:

مرسيدس, μερσεντες, фото автобу, second class return to Dottingham, 2Travel Gurkhas, a shoe for every fashionable foot, April fool Waitrose, several Artic turns, Asian shops in Handsworth, Barton bonfire night, being an individual, Ben dies, bendy hand, BLMC Harvest Gold paint, Hampshire Centre ASDA demolition, Bournemouth to Belgium, Bournemouth nostalgia, bus company Christmas party, Britain’s sexiest CCTV, British Leyland Routemaster, buy picture of Erica Roe, cannibalism, coach service Salisbury to Bath, contravision design on cars, county of Avon refuses to die, Cyril Smith Golden Acres park, Eastleigh tatty, pretentious? moi?, Fred Blundred, genealogy pictures of Christchurch, getting hit by the proverbial bus, greyhound habitats, GRP sheeting, infamous Erica Roe, our friends electric, is there a word called ‘bendy’, Jorge Cosmen’s hobby, Lancelot Cutforth Major General Sir, Leyland National rivets, Magabus (sic), Mercedes Atego fridge, Moir Lockheed’s eyebrows, monkey humping images, Morris J2 specifications, MOT scams, Nottingham refuse vehicles, paint pot Swanage, pending Chinese invasions [from an Indiana university], prancing pratt, quantum physics reduces to Newtonian physics, radio demographic in Duxford, reversing manoeuvre tragedies, Sasha Distelle picture, Shadow Factory Patchway, Shakeaway Eastleigh, Shakeaway Nottingham, snowfall in Charlbury, Spry Crisp 'n' Dry, staff motivation at ASDA supermarket, Stefan Baguette, top 10 websites for student papers, Transdev to take over EYMS, typing pool Apollo 11, Vectis to Deva, Velvet Revolution, Veolia Transport Dorset, VOSA motorway check points, wanting to restart my affair, Ward End Tesco, we grit we grut we grat, we have Southern Vectis, what was tennis like 1909-2009, where is Erica Roe, who sang “Our Friends are Electric” (sic), who is Claire Pendrous, why is the Metro newspaper free, Winson Green prison.

Plus hundreds based on the term “Strapline” (e.g. dating straplines, bus adverts straplines, cheesy straplines, clever straplines, famous straplines, paint straplines, wedding straplines, travel straplines, transforming your strapline, waste straplines… and many, many more).

10-year Plan 2000-2010

“They’re cramped, smelly and nearly always late”. Sweepingly, this was how Radio 1’s Newsbeat at the time dismissed buses in particular and the government’s 10 year transport plan in general, a plan designed to revolutionise transport to the extent that in 2010—now—there would be more people travelling on public than private transport.

Last night, BBC Radio 4 dissected the plan, asking what became of it. The answer was that it didn’t even get out of the starting pen.

In 1999, there was a real sense of a transport revolution. There was a “new realism” that road building wouldn’t solve problems. Ring-fenced revenue from congestion charging and work parking levies would foster integration and modal shift.

And, through the government’s Bus Summit, there were even discussions on how to “sex up” the bus and its infrastructure, to make the argument for catching a bus a compelling one.

In the face of a fuel price escalator, in 2000, fuel protesters forced a new agenda. In the event, money continued to pour into road building. No one took road space away from the private motorist, save in London where, according to the programme’s contributors, there was firm leadership. They argued it was lacking elsewhere. Had one town hall succeeded, the government expected a domino effect. Yet, after Manchester no one would ever think of road pricing again.

Today, the 10 year plan is almost forgotten. Rail growth is not yet 50 per cent of that envisaged—and what’s there results from economic growth. Just one new LRT scheme’s complete. Ironically, the bus is the only mode to have met the government’s targets, partly owing to free travel but mostly because of London, where investment, frequencies and road space have all converged to make buses a serious alternative.

Davids & Goliaths—Two Extremes

At the eastern extremity of Britain…

It’s actually not just in Plymouth where First is flexing its muscles. From the middle of last month, First Eastern Counties has reintroduced the X3 from Norwich to Watton via Dereham, the 23 Norwich city service to Eaton and has added the 55 between Norwich King’s Lynn and Terrington St Clement.

The most controversial of these seems to be the 23. It competes head-to-head with Anglian Bus 121, a route Anglian subsumed into its network six years ago, after First withdrew.

Following First’s re-commencement, there’s been a bit of a furore locally, with residents accusing First of trying to capitalise on Anglian’s goodwill. You know the usual thing: family-owned business providing a valued service; and words like “loyalty”, “unnecessary” and “boycott”.

But, let’s drill down a little. Though First operating at ..46 runs two minutes ahead of Anglian’s ..48, something that on its own might seem reprehensible, First is running at twice the frequency. Two buses an hour must be to the benefit of Eaton’s residents. This isn’t “me too” competition: it actually offers additionality, even if the bus fare is some 50p return more expensive.

I wonder what the reaction might’ve been had the reverse happened, with Anglian competing head on against First.

First’s X3 Norwich-Dereham-Watton competes with 2009 Oscar runner up winner Konectbus’ network of services, between Norwich and Dereham; and between Dereham and Watton. Here, Konect has recently upgraded its limited stop service 8 Dereham to Norwich. The Str8 launched in September and was upgraded to hourly from the end of November. The Dereham-Watton section of both Konect’s 11 and First’s 23 offer near enough a half-hourly service in one direction only and are nine minutes apart in the opposite direction, to First’s advantage.

In the reverse situation to the 23/121, First’s 55 operates hourly to Terrington, to fellow 2009 award winner Norfolk Green’s half hourly on the Inter-connect 505 to Spalding. First’s hourly service operates five minutes ahead of one of the 505s per hour. Notice the similarity in numbers.

… and at the opposite extremity

Meanwhile, from the extreme east via a straight line to the extreme west, Arriva Buses Wales is from this month operating a service against Mid Wales Motors, between Aberystwyth and the village on Penrhyncoch. Or, is it the other way round?

Here, Arriva lost its hourly contract with Cardiganshire council to Mid Wales—but decided to keep running anyway. Yet, even here, things are not what they seem. For one thing, the Mid Wales service 526 is subsidised, while Arriva’s is commercial. And although Arriva operates five minutes ahead of Mid Wales, Arriva has doubled its service, providing buses at half-hourly intervals.

This might seem curious when you consider the population of Penrhyncoch is said to be just over 1,000 souls. But Arriva’s timetable is efficient. To operate hourly would otherwise mean a bus and driver standing down for 31 minutes in every 60. Far better to keep the wheels turning. One of Arriva’s now serves a large Aberystwyth supermarket. Another case of additionality.

(Is anyone able to add any local knowledge? Please use Comments)

Wickham Wanderings

Former Wilts & Dorset man and new Go Ahead Plymouth Citybus managing director Andrew Wickham is making his presence felt. Changes announced on Friday at Citybus see 14 redundancies. This is not unexpected, of course; and neither was the swift and acrimonious reaction from those who fought hard to keep Citybus in public ownership.

Devastating though this is, the only positions Go Ahead guaranteed were driving jobs, and then for 12 months. The 14 are believed to be largely back office and supervisory staff and represent about a quarter of such posts at Citybus. They include a couple of posts currently vacant that sensibly will not be advertised.

Perhaps these are moves the previous management should’ve made. As for possible driver redundancies, expect Go Ahead to adopt a growth rather than cutting strategy. Tweaks, may be, but a development of the network rather than retrenchment. Nothing’s allowed for six months from D-day, in any case.

Meanwhile, First Devon & Cornwall seems to be moving in the opposite direction, with what seems likely to be cuts to its competitive city network frequencies.

That network, you will recall, is unique at First Group, for two reasons. Plymouth is the only area of considerable UK development; and is alone in enjoying its own sub-brand within First—Ugobus. Yet, even here, there seems a rearward shift. From 15th February, First is reducing frequencies on three competitive and one commercial route on Ugobus 11 (Honicknowle), 12 (Plympton), 15 (Estover) and the long standing 7 (Wolwell). Cuts to the 7 appear to follow abstraction by its own 15. There are also further revisions due elsewhere on its network.

Go Ahead is also making its mark in bringing initially four Optare Solos believed to be from Go North East, aimed to break the back of its step entrance Mercedes 709 minibus fleet, according to Plymothian Transit. Similar plans were considered under the previous management. The much-anticipated ex-London Mercedes Citaro bendy bus has yet to materialise, though, for what would’ve been a trial.

Women of Wheels

Among the many points of interest this week on that institution called BBC Radio 4 were these two.

To combat loss of land owing to global warming-related sea level rises, a spokeswoman for the Institute of Civil Engineers yesterday really did suggest that Kingston upon Hull should be building houses on stilts. While listening, I did muse as to whether East Yorkshire might need to consider the impact this would have on its business and quickly modify its business continuity plan—by investing in a fleet of ferries and water buses.

More seriously, the second was on Wednesday in response to the honouring of Sheffield’s World War Two ‘women of steel’. There came a flood of “me-too” examples of women’s war heroism, including this statement from a journal of a Londoner called up as a clippie, a sort of ‘woman of wheels’.

“… walking through the streets of London alone in rain, fog and snow, and the darkness of the blackout to get to the depot to take the first bus out at 0330. The buses just carried on their route while the bombs were falling all around…”

We tend to forget that, whether at war or at peace, 1940s and even 1950s crews tended to have no personal transport. Getting in for the first bus (not necessarily as early as 0330!) or leaving after the return of the last was a big daily issue. It was not unknown for crews to walk three miles or more at one end of their shift—or both if there was a double shift. It’s as well that this sort of Herculean effort is no longer necessary today, even though the staff buses of old are few and far between. On occasions such as these, we can actually be grateful for the motor car.

Solo Retrospective

Think you’ve already seen this post? We apologise that we took this down after it’s very brief appearance on 29th December, owing to the potential sale of Ipswich Buses...

Optare celebrates 25 years this month. Optare owes much to the Optare Solo. Some dislike it. In spite of its “big bus” feel, it’s still a minibus and more than anything else, it’s perhaps this inherent mistrust of anything other than a conventional bus that counts against the humble Solo. Some feel it’s sluggish, others externally noisy. Yet others throw opprobrium in its direction for its bulbous looks.

From both a passengers’ and operators’ perspective, Solo actually performs its duties well and is England’s best selling minibus. Though it comes in many flavours (widths & lengths), its one draw back in the free travel era is now its size.

Its success is in no small part due to the role the bus industry—and especially Wilts & Dorset—played in Solo’s development.

W&D was announced as late arrivals at the Minibus Ball, forced into action by competitors, especially Badger Vectis. Sidelining the slightly flawed though nonetheless phenomenally successful Transit & its ilk, W&D chose the MCW Metrorider purpose built vehicle. This became an Optare product and is something only in 2009 has faded from W&D’s fleet.

In the mid-1990s, W&D looked for a replacement but found nothing it liked. It set about dialogue with a reluctant Optare. W&D had already bought a significant order for Spectra double decks and its relationship at that time with Optare might be described as “close”. W&D, then, wanted a minibus that offered:

• Low floor easy access, a concept by then taken seriously within the industry but only for single and (almost, by then) double deck conventionals.


• A wide passenger entrance not dissimilar to conventional buses.


• A clear wheelchair/buggy & passenger reservoir space at and around the entrance and no intruding wheel arches, to maximise the accessible seating capacity


• A wider than accepted body, especially when compared to Gen1 minis.


• A destination display that would look like a conventional bus.

The transition in mindset from a conventional minibus conversion to a minibus that actually mimicked a conventional bus was perhaps even more daunting than from low frame buses to SLFs.

It’s interesting that the W&D vision wasn’t initially matched by Optare. Although W&D bought significant numbers, it soon abandoned the Solo (aside from the occasional recent purchase for specific reasons). Optare couldn’t’ve predicted this and neither did it quite predict the sales the Solo might generate. For in the years since first delivery at W&D’s Salisbury garage, Solo has been the most consistent seller of the Optare order book. Forgetting the recent hiccup with Solo+, there’s still nothing to challenge Solo in terms of practicality and appeal.

Maxed Out

Can Max Clifford do for Bankfoot Buses what he’s done for other controversial figures?

If you want a change of image, most people call in Ray Stenning. Not so in Perth, the heart of Stagecoach’s Scotland. Ahead of a final appeal next week, Bankfoot’s hired Clifford to salvage its business & reputation, following the Scottish deputy traffic commissioner’s indefinite licence revocation for multiple failures. The commissioner’s retraction moved the noted Stewart J Brown to comment, “If ever there was a case for having vehicle-specific O-licence discs, this is it.” Incidents were said to include passing off as Stagecoach and punctuality issues. Plus an alleged fraud of Scottish free travel.

Clifford is a somewhat controversial figure. Remember “Freedie Star ate my Hamster”? Clifford designed the story to create some instant publicity for Starr. To change Derek Hatton’s image, he apparently created an affair of the heart. He managed the aftermath of the Gerald Ratner jewellery scandal. Clifford’s unique, unfettered, boundless and imaginative style has become very popular with the famous and not-so-famous (e.g. Jade Goody).

If this works for Bankfoot, could we see a change of direction away from the likes of Stenning? Can you imagine Moir Lockhead or Brian Souter hiring Clifford to acquire a new racy image?

Meanwhile, Bankfoot itself is no stranger to publicity stunts. It laughed in the face of the traffic commissioner’s original decision. There was free mulled wine and mince pies at Christmas (obviously not last Christmas). But compared to what Clifford might do, Bankfoot’s mulled wine has been tamer than an edible hamster. I wonder whether director Stuart Ewing-Davis is a vegetarian.

Meanwhile, Wilts & Dorset found itself in the Echo over its uniform policy. Owing to the ambient temperatures, W&D was criticised publicly for not relaxing its policy on drivers wearing hats. As you’d expect, there were the usual fascicle comments from web readers, almost all anti-W&D. And in the article itself came one priceless statement from a driver’s partner, “Bearing in mind that approximately one-third of the fleet of buses have no heating, [wearing a hat] seemed a reasonable precaution to protect their health”.

Perhaps W&D needs Clifford, too. Or the smart uniform caps of old. Read the article here

Crumbs. Someone from the Competition Commission spent 3hrs 24 mins & 44 secs on Omnibuses yesterday, having searched for “comparison of urban bus systems OFT”...

Most Admired

Stagecoach is the most admired of the UK’s major five bus groups. So says Stagecoach and, indeed, so said Management Today. Do you agree?

And Caerphilly council in Wales was certainly patting the bus giant on the back, now that the Stagecoach deal to buy tiny Islwyn Borough Transport is closed. It’s been approved by the OFT and even by the auditors—no doubt much to Clayton Jones’ chagrin. Said the council, “They have a first class reputation as one of the best bus companies in Wales”. Hang on, only *one* of the best? We’re sure Stagecoach might’ve preferred a more ringing endorsement.

The sale is nevertheless good news for struggling IBT. Even if there’s been a little retrenchment elsewhere under Stagecoach Wales, Stagecoach will ensure it works its new investment hard.

Many admire the Stagecoach approach to revenue growth. Outside the UK, very little seems to go wrong. Even though it appears in the Management Today list ahead of the other Big Four, is this an opinion shared by readers of this blog? Each of the Big Five has its strengths:

First—containing costs
Stagecoach—growth strategies
Arriva—bit of an all-rounder
Go Ahead—marketing & local management
National Express—brand strength

(The survey relating to this post is now closed)

Quantitative Freezing Wearing Thin

At the foot of this post is an amazing summary of what happened a week ago on the Isle of Wight—an area of just 150 sq miles. Heroes, one and all.

Confess am still tired after last week’s Quantitative Freezing. In spite of the impressive stoicism by many of our passengers, there are still a few who’ve complained, and as bitterly as the outside temperatures. The immediate disruption is over (we think), so it’s therefore time for some to have a go.

The most difficult have been through the ranks and have surfaced with me. In probably all cases, I’m not really able to add anything to what’s already been said. But each issue takes, what, 15 minutes minimum and TBH, if I can’t pacify someone or convert the issue into something positive, I’d rather be doing something constructive. Confident we did all we could, if someone wants to sue (and one person does), well, they will just need to take their own advice and get on with it. Said one, “I couldn’t even get a taxi”. Never! Really? I wonder why that was.

That’s not to say we can’t learn lessons. We need to plan and train better for such eventualities, even if they come but once in every 20 years. A friend of mine who’s slightly “alternative” reckons sun spot activity will be low this time next year, too, and we should expect it all over again…

The residual complaints are along the lines of people who were “forced” to complete “long journeys” on foot, having been “thrown off” their bus; and passengers who saw buses out of service that failing to stop for them.

In the former case, most actually elected to leave, when they saw that their bus could go neither forwards nor backwards. Drivers attempted to complete journeys but they’re only human and they, too, were concerned for their own well being. Not every driver has the presence to search for an emergency shelter for passengers! Even if they existed.

In the case of the latter, I fully sympathise with freezing, damps passengers awaiting non-existent transport, seeing a bus coming towards them and being angry as it slides past. But, what is the driver expected to do? If he stops, perhaps he may not grip enough to start again. He may be over his hours. There may be a conflict among the passengers as to where they actually want to go. The driver may not be able to get wherever that is. He probably can’t calm the situation, only inflame it. He’s under instruction to get back to the garage. And he’s off service and to pick someone up is technically unlawful.

Whatever happened where you are, spare a thought for the Isle of Wight. Here’s a report from an Islander in the thick of it. For somewhere in the balmy south, it doesn’t get much worse than this:

• Island completely paralysed by snow—took half-hour blizzard to close every road on the island.


• Route 7 driver returned kids to Yarmouth from Newport—took three hours. Couldn't get any further. Parked up and walked 3½ hours home.


• Three route 7 drivers stuck for six hours between Shalfleet and Newport, with passengers on.


• Route 5 driver stuck for seven hours in Whippingham until rescued by managers.


• Five Route 9 drivers stuck between Ryde and Newport—gritters unable to reach them. Member of staff on route making teas for passengers and drivers—one driver forced to stay at her home, three took shelter in Flemming Arms.


• Three Route 1 drivers stuck in Cowes—last one injured when car collided with his stationary bus and put up in Cowes Hotel for two nights before he could make it back.


• Two managers stuck on road operating schools following earlier breakdown—stuck in Newport. Then, all three managers and three inspectors in Newport stuck all night and next day unable to get out. Managed 40 passengers stuck overnight, up to 14 hours, in travel centre, supplying food and drinks all night, and arranged return journeys once clear enough to try. Last bus left Newport 1805, first one out with stranded passengers was 0400 with volunteer to Ryde, picking way at a snail’s pace through abandoned lorries and cars to Ryde. Last passengers left at 0800 for Sandown.


• Numerous drivers stranded overnight at Ryde and Newport—all slept there for night.


• The 13 buses that made it back to Ryde stuck there—couldn't get to depot and had to run to Newport on Thursday morning for fuelling. Depot inaccessible for two days.


• 15 buses stuck on road. Last driver rescued from side of road at Quarr, at 0330hrs.


• Eight buses had to be recovered—6 overnight once traffic had dispersed by team of managers and drivers with shovels, salt and determination. Two recovered next day.