Double Speak?

Here’s an interesting statement from Connex (Veolia), a week into the trial of a double deck on an island not having seen them for some 40 years. Jersey’s trial on service 15 aims to provide more seats on the busy route between St Helier and the airport, without the expense of duplicates or a higher frequency single deck solution.

“The double decker… uses the latest technology to achieve low carbon emissions and a high fuel efficiency”

The problem with the statement is that today’s engines on today’s heavier buses burn more fuel. Comparing miles per gallon twenty years ago with today’s Euro V engines, fuel consumption is down by as much as 35-40 per cent. This is a cost we saw passed on to UK passengers from late Spring 2008, as oil prices rose dramatically. On top of which, we shouldn’t forget that Euro V engines can be anything up to four times the price of those badged as Euro IV.

That’s not to suggest Connex is spinning a line. There is a higher fuel efficiency per passenger journey on a double deck provided it is usually loaded ahead of a single. There are lower emissions with a double deck when compared to the single deck option of duplicates or increased frequency. The central question remains: how can the industry reduce its fuel bill at a time of further rising oil prices as we are seeing right now.

And there was a second interesting statement from Connex on the bus that will undertake the two-week trial.

“A passenger survey will be conducted throughout the trial to monitor passenger feedback and understand how well the double decker meets the needs of the Jersey bus service.”

That’s something you don’t hear too often: passenger views ahead of a major change in investment policy. One wonders what might’ve happened in London had former Mayor Livingstone adopted this principle before dropping the Routemaster ahead of the Mercedes Citaro bendy bus. OK, there are some rather sharp differences between Jersey and London. Current Mayor Johnson did consult about a RM replacement, though. The eventual Wrightbus probably will be somewhat different to the competition winner.

Such Jersey passenger feedback should be interesting. The idea behind the trial is to cater for crush loadings on the 15. Such loadings result from airport arrivals. Visitors are probably unlikely to use the service with anything like the regularity to judge whether a decker’s better than a 41 seater (the present maximum vehicle size). And quite possibly, they won’t be regular bus users in the first place.

The trial vehicle is an ADL Enviro400 demonstrator, with 67 seats in a burgundy and yellow livery not dissimilar to that adopted by Lothian Buses for its service 3. Jersey’s bus station has a headroom of 10'5" and clearly wasn’t built with double decks in mind.

In the Eye of the Beholder

20 days ago, we stated that the West Midlands Travel converted Daimler Fleetline single deck was the ugliest bus in England. With its awkward-looking roofline and bulbous destination dome, here’s a side shot that shows it off at its very “best”.

That and a comment from RC169 set us thinking. Just what are the contenders here?

This post is therefore a useful counterpoint to 13th April’s post on liveries (10 comments, worth seeing). It might seem odd but when you think hard, there are quite a few monsters out there. It strikes me that the more angular the design, the uglier and unforgiving the product. This is because it tends to look more box-like, lacking imagination. Conversely and in general terms, the more rounded the design, the more curved the appearance, the more attractive the bus.

Do passengers actually mind whether their bus looks better from the back than the front? Do they notice? Yes, I’m sure they do but shrug the thought off. But those manufacturers who produce a poor looking product have tended to see smaller orders. That at least tells me that operators recognise the value of a good looker and that operators recognise that passengers respond better to something that looks half-decent to something that looks half-cocked.

This Wright Handybus is more brick-like than a Mini Pointer Dart. The shallow roofline and totally flat front add nothing to an otherwise lacklustre appearance. Here, the sombre livery doesn’t help. Mind you, this is an improvement on the two-piece windscreen versions, with the driver’s side raked back rather like the Leyland Lynx

So, here are my contenders for the ugliest in Britain (aside from the TWM conversion). Plus the best-looking buses. You’ll notice one fits into both categories. This is not an error.

AWKWARDLY UGLY Alexander Dash Alexander P-type BMMO S22/3 single decks Daimler DMS Fleetline East Lancs Mylennium ECW-bodied Bristol SU Marshall Camair Walsall Northern Counties Fleetlines Much by Pennine Plaxton Pointer-bodied Dart Marshall-bodied Bristol LH Optare Vecta Optare Versa Wearsider (Northern General) Wrightbus Handybus

CURVY & BEAUTIFUL Alexander J/AL types Alexander Y-type East Lancs deckers late 70s/early 80s ECW-bodied Bristol RE (BET front) ECW-bodied Bristol VR Various tin-fronted Leyland PD2/3s MCW/Optare Metrorider Metro-Scanias Optare Delta Optare Spectra Optare Versa Park Royal/AEC Regent V Scania Omnicity/Omnilink Willowbrook/Plaxton BET saloons Wrightbus Eclipse etc

Checking Traveline

Traveline South East has sought the help of a group of enthusiasts to ensure its database is accurate. It’s actually approached the Omnibus Society for help.

On one level, this is a responsible move, one that could reap considerable rewards. We all know that Traveline is not 100 per cent accurate. We also know that enthusiasts are as good at spotting timetable errors as they are at spotting fleet inconsistencies. Indeed, an enthusiast is likely to know more about an operator’s fleet, its whereabouts and allocations than the chief engineer and traffic manager combined. Harness the enthusiast in this fashion and you prevent the sort of negative criticism you might find if they complain individually. To quote that awful in word, this is being proactive rather than reactive.

On another level, it’s rather sad that Traveline should even think of employing the OS in this fashion. There should already be sufficient checks in the system.

• Traveline should be self-monitoring, removing inaccuracies and improving its information. In Traveline’s defence, sometimes it’s garbage in, garbage out: they may not receive the correct information in the first place. This should change, though, with the widespread adoption of electronic bus service registrations.



• If an operator is not prepared to check his data on Traveline, who else is there to do so? Information is key to using the bus and to an operator’s business. Traveline is a primary source, using operator-supplied information. An operator who doesn’t check is very foolish indeed.



• And what role for the integrated transport authority? Looking after 20 per cent or less of the network is not inconsiderable. Plus they, too, have a strong motive for ensuring that data are live and accurate—modal shift and congestion targets. More than any other body, they can check all operators, large and small, as independent and honest brokers.

Fact is, while much data are accurate, there remains some that are not. Could Traveline SE have stumbled upon a useful validating service and should t extend elsewhere?

Time was when traffic commissioners were male, ex-army, upper middle class types. I even recall one turning up at Bristol’s The Gaunt’s House, then the HQ of the western traffic area, in a Rolls. With her new mischievous hairstyle, whitened teeth and red lippy, today’s western traffic commissioner couldn’t be further from the former stereotype. Does anyone else agree red jacket-wearing Sarah Bell looks a little like Sue Lawley in her ‘Nationwide’ days? Follow this link to routeONE and turn to pp30-1.

FTR Update

First wants to move its Leeds FTRs to York. This makes some sense, for it centralises all its Yorkshire Streetcars under one roof. This will have technical, driver and engineering benefits. First intends using the incoming FTRs on sundry park & rides, transferring out the existing articulated buses to Leeds. This hints that FTRs will have a future in York long after the five-year agreement for their use on service 4 (Acomb-City-University), due to end next year. Remember, though, that York FTR vehicles now come off the road after dark.

In Swansea, the customer host is so much more than a conductor...

When FTR first arrived in York, there was bitter opposition. There were also early problems, and not just regarding the Streetcar’s sheer size: ticket technology failed and First hurriedly employed ‘customer hosts’ or conductors, still with us today and in an expanded role, in Swansea. Many York residents are still very uncomfortable with FTR. At the time of arrival in 2006, they felt the FTR was best suited to straighter, direct P&R-type services rather than the current 4. It would appear that residents of York may now get their way, though there is no suggestion whatsoever that First intends withdrawing FTRs from the current 4.

York P&R routes already substantially use artics. Will York change its mind on FTR? My guess is that residents will see York as something of a FTR dumping ground.

Back in 2006, the Omnibuses Blog was generally supportive of First’s courageous decision to run FTRs in York. In York and in Leeds, First has no doubt learnt much that has become incorporated into Swansea’s successful scheme. The question on industry watchers’ lips must nevertheless be: If FTRs are so good at encouraging bus use, why move them from Leeds? Have the FTRs actually been unsuccessful? First initially felt after York it would be inundated with requests...

First’s commitment to FTR in York hasn’t wavered though they do come off the road after dark, making way for conventional SLFs requiring a cost-saving driver only

It strikes me that using FTRs on P&R duties does not maximise their impact and benefits. P&R is generally something of a captive market that doesn’t need the fillip of a superbus, though some motorists may use try P&R out of curiosity.

The idea behind FTR was to see if it would transform an ordinary, urban bus route. First has always stated that FTRs have been a success in both York & Leeds, though figures in a deregulated market are always hard to find or prove. Swansea’s FTR has grown the market by 10 per cent since 2009 and this is a superlative achievement against the backdrop of static growth and a reduction in frequency from every 10 to every 12 minutes. What we will never know in Swansea is the extent of ridership increase had First used ‘ordinary’ buses along the Swansea council busway investment.

P&R routes cannot in any circumstances be classed as ordinary. They don’t encourage modal shift. True, fewer cars arrive in the sensitive centre of York but P&R only saves the tail end of the car trip and not the whole journey.

One apparent advantage of FTR on P&R is that First will no longer require conductors. And FTRs have proven difficult in Leeds. Planned changes to Pudsey bus station will enable through FTRs to enter without grounding but this will add journey time onto an already congested route that requires PVR+1 just to maintain a 10-minute headway.

Sir Moir Lockhead has always pipped second place Mr Brian Souter in the Transit Power 50. But where was Lockhead in yesterday’s Sunday Times Top 1,000 Rich List? Nowhere. Yet, Souter and sister Ann rose from 110th to 99th, with a combined wealth of £610mil, up £137mil. Ah well. At least Lockhead has his own hair ; )

Veolia: a sad retrospective?

We welcome contributor Trentside Traveller

Looking back, things had so much promise. In July 2006, Veolia (the new name for the former Dunn-Line business) was the successful winners of a large number of contracts in the north east Nottinghamshire area, mainly centred around the town of Retford, and the village of Tuxford, where Dunn-Line had maintained a small depot for some years prior to the Veolia take-over. Initially, the new operator was treated with some hostility, both by passengers and the local press, who saw a French multi-national company (more commonly associated with refuse collection services in Notts) taking established services away from the Lincolnshire Road Car (by then, part of the Stagecoach Group) and a number of other independent operators.

As with any large-scale contract win, there were some initial teething problems at the beginning of Veolia’s services. This was not helped by the county council’s desire to enact many route and timetable changes to long established routes, but things settled down quickly, and the public benefited from the arrival of several new vehicles in the shape of four brand-new Optare Tempos and one Optare Solo, which were shared between Veolia’s Tuxford and Lincoln depots for exclusive use of the new contract services. These vehicles offered a dramatic improvement on the MCW Metrobuses and Optare Deltas that Road Car had favoured.

During the summer of 2008, Veolia suffered the loss of the 54/55 routes between Newark and Bingham. These services had been acquired by Dunn-Line from MASS Transit, and were in-turn acquired by Veolia, who continued to operate them from their Lincoln base. Rumours began to circulate about the future of Lincoln depot, and in February 2009 the announcement was made that the depot would be closed, and all north east Nottinghamshire based work would pass to Tuxford, along with a small number of vehicles and drivers. It was only two months before it was announced that Hull depot would also close, with the assets passing to East Yorkshire.

A further casualty in 2009 was the 37 service between Newark and Retford (via Tuxford) which was registered commercially by local independent, Marshall’s of Sutton on Trent. As a result, the Veolia contract was terminated. Then, this month, a subtle announcement was placed on the county council website indicating that Veolia was surrendering all its contracts in north east Nottinghamshire from June 2010, presumably meaning the closure of Tuxford depot. A sad ending, for a company which started off showing so much promise.

Social Commentary

Taking photographs like this one of the 1950s could become a thing of the past. That’s a shame, as images such as this make splendid social commentaries. Indeed, for all the right reasons, it’s no longer acceptable doing something like this where there are children present.

Points to note are, first, the headwear. These days, if anyone wears a hat, it’s a baseball cap, hoodie or beanie. And the clothes here are smart, not sloppy.

I cannot make up my mind whether this is a weekday before school or on a Saturday.

If it’s a weekday, then notice the mix of pupils and adult passengers. It seems unlikely that parents would be waiting with their children for a school journey. That tended not to happen as pupils were much more independent, then, even at primary age. There appears to be a family group to the left of the column and, further left still, a father is holding a child’s hand. This suggests it may be a Saturday, as a mixed queue waits for a service. Well-heeled fathers especially wouldn’t accompany their children to a bus stop before school. These days, it would be rare to see such middle aged assumedly businessmen at a bus stop in the peak.

Note that the queue is very orderly. There are no huddles like today. Few people are moving around.

There appears just one older person in the queue. These days, the highest proportion of passengers would be older people—perhaps even those children we see here, now in their later free travel years, sampling the bus service over 50 years later, perhaps in 2010 for the first time since this picture was taken. To see a family travelling on a bus nowadays seems odd and unusual. Imagine, too, this many passengers queuing at each suburban bus stop. Your average 40 seat SLF 12m single deck would be full after half a mile so, no doubt, that’s why most urban journeys were double decked back then.

The image is on display at the transport museum at Wythall, Worcestershre.

The driver seemingly at the heart of the Loonat Coaches photography scandal, Gareth also known as Shrek, has in the early hours posted two comments on an Omnibuses blog post that dates back to 2008. Loonat Coaches displayed a notice warning of prosecution in the event of an enthusiast photo taken of its bus & driver. This generated some blog comments and we are now happy to point regular readers back to the May 2008 post, were they can read the driver’s view.

The Road to Nationalisation

Our Northern Correspondent reflects on the relationship between Sunderland and its new Twin Town, the new destination for £mils of rail subsidy, Berlin

Emails were flying around the Arriva network yesterday, with reassurances. Reassurances that new owners Deutsche Bahn is to retain the Arriva name & brand. Reassurances that we may even see the brand expand to cover existing non-German DB interests. Reassurances that existing directors’ and managers’ jobs are safe. In other words, reassurances that nothing’s gonna change. Managing directors of the Arriva Bus UK were in a telephone conference yesterday, hearing supportive messages first hand.

The cynic in me says we’ve heard it all before. Take-overs bring promises but there’s inevitably change at some point. DB investing £1.59 billion and siting on its collective hands? I don’t think so.

"We have the chance to participate in entering this market in Europe, or we can sit back and continue to shrink. There's no doubt about it: DBs share in the German local transport market is likely to shrink in coming years". DB will take over and then have to sell Germany's second largest rail operator, to whom it has lost ground: Arriva

Meanwhile, I hate to criticise our blog owner too much but he was wrong when he sated that the DB/Arriva deal was not as contentious as Kraft/Cadbury’s. There’s now a reaction that fears a foreign government (in the shape of a German nationalised industry) is seizing control of strategic British assets.

A noble thought but we took the view regarding buses from 1986 and in franchising trains ten years later that such assets were better in private hands. Once there, we must expect the inevitable. And with predictions of just a handful of continental super-groups emerging alongside a liberalised EU transport market over the next 10 years, we will see more like this.

The DB website: a thoroughly modern rail operator

What are these strategic assets that Arriva owns? Important as they are, as the UK’s third largest bus group by revenue, can you call its buses “strategic”? As for the railway, Arriva owns no trains. These are held by leasing companies. One of the three ROSCOs is owned by a consortium of three banks, one British, one French and… Deutsche Bank, that happens to be German (obviously).

Arriva owns, controls or maintains neither track, signalling nor paths. That’s in quasi-national hands under Network Rail. Arriva owns no rail stations. The freehold to any stations Arriva leases is in Network Rail’s name. Arriva rail has no secure future. Unless extended, it’s Cross-Country franchise expires in 2016 and its Welsh one in 2018.

Meanwhile, since no one yet knows the real implications of the DB deal, Arriva’s managers yesterday were in humorous mood, punctuated with much nervous laughter. Would it be true that future orders would feature Neoplans, MANs and Mercedes, all painted orangey-red with minimalist logos? And in left hand drive configuration, too? Arriva already has a fair few spare Mercedes Citaros going begging, though these are likely heading for Malta, should the DB/Arriva tender prove successful.

Will German ownership now mean the trains run on time?

One manager quipped, “This is the road to nationalisation and the deal makes me a civil servant, employed by the German government”. In fact, Arriva employees are no more civil servants than Transdev Yellow Buses drivers or those who worked for the former English state owned National Bus Company.

Spy in the Cab

On Wednesday, a short video clip of an elbow-steering, book page-turning National Express West Midlands bus driver soon spread around the internet. As astonishing as it was, as likely to attract disciplinary action as it will, we mustn’t forget that most of the time most bus industry staff drive safely.

Avoidable transgressions such as these nevertheless have a serious affect on the perception of the bus industry, undoing much of the good we see in training, marketing and PR. Outside the jostling of the board room, people will know that the use of elbows aren’t normal behaviour (or why would this video perpetuate around the world so quickly), yet it will result in tuts, shakings of heads and in everyone dredging their memory for the last time a driver pulled out from a stop without indicating.

My own pet hate is the employee who drives with one hand on the wheel, with the other resting carelessly over the ticket equipment or limply out of the cab window (no, not the same hand). Modern buses have enjoyed power assistance and auto boxes for some years and although this might make matters easier, it hardly excuses a safety flaw so fundamental that it might cost the driver valuable seconds to react properly when faced with a significant hazard. And steering by elbow may be the extreme but there’s also driving while counting cash, using a mobile, concentrating on upstaging the ETM and so on. Not to mention wives/husbands/girl/boyfriends on the platform, or other drivers.

Driven to distraction...

The fact is, though, that for all classes of licence holder other than perhaps in driving buses, our driving habits are rarely assessed or righted. Taxi drivers pay for their licence, CRB check and medical and are deemed fit to drive without much further ado. Some perform the most heinous traffic crimes and drive considerable hours.

What about wagons? How often have you seen bunching on the motorway, with little thinking/braking distance? This evening, while returning from a long distance meeting, a dumper truck pulled out on me, something I could only just predict by the indicative small plume of exhaust from the stack that others might’ve missed in the gloom. It took a while but the wagon managed to get to above 55 mph, considerably over the 40 mph limit for such vehicles.

But there I go, making judgements about other classes of driver, but it does demonstrate the sort of reaction we have no doubt seen regarding our elbow-driving friend. Often, the most vociferous complaints come from motorists who themselves are nothing other than slapdash. They invariably have no hard evidence and then complain of no action taken. Though possibly inadmissible in court, it’s difficult in a disciplinary to argue against video evidence. I have supported a manager who took a tough line when presented with such a video nasty tht, fortunately, never appeared on You Tube. That driver is no longer with us though he’s working for a small operator.

In an age where public photography is on the brink of being banned yet we have more CCTV pointing at us than anywhere else, the mobile phone empowers British subjects to record infractions more than at any other time. You just don’t know who’s watching. Including of course the supervisor, if the cab has an eco-driving system.

i You Tube bus driver video

Not Insignificant

There are still take-overs to come in the bus industry, municipal arms length businesses to buy, established former nationalised operators to grab, independents to absorb and possibly even large internal UK mergers to witness.

But if the £1.5bil Deutsche Bahn take-over of Arriva goes as expected, it will be the most significant structural change in the UK bus industry since BET sold to the State in 1968. That sale pre-empted the formation of the National Bus Company.

The DB take-over now seems a forgone conclusion and we can expect DB to unveil its pans before the press, today.

Back in March, we perhaps said pretty much all there was to say about the proposed DB take-over of Arriva. Or perhaps not, judging by the comments received.

Arriva owns an array of former independents, municipals, PTE operations and state owned bus companies. The paths along which these operators have moved are complex. Simplifying matters, state owned companies generally started as entrepreneurs, agglomerated, expanded ruthlessly in the boom years, saw a stake by the railways, bought out local independents, were part nationalised when rail interest passed to the government, some bus operators passing to direct British Transport Commission/Transport Holding Company control before the formation of the National Bus Company.

A quick privatisation in the mid-1980s followed saw some pass to their management and others to the likes of the Drawlane Group, becoming British Bus. Cowie first acquired Grey-Green and then British Bus, forming Arriva two years later. There followed subsequent acquisitions.

Within the original stable were British Bus’ part of Alder Valley, Bee Line Buzz Co (former Manchester operator), London Country South West (once part of London Transport, of course, years before), Midland Fox and Midland Red North (formerly part of Midland ‘Red’), and North Western (part of Ribble, soon acquiring part of Crosville under Drawlane ownership).

And the final chapter could now be emerging, under DB.

Handybus 2

This official picture from Wrightbus gives little away concerning its new midi/minibus, available from the late summer. What can we glean from the photo and what else do we know?

Well, it’s obviously a forward control-type vehicle, with the driver positioned over the front axle, Solo-like. There’s no front overhang. This is at once a blessing and a problem, as it makes the vehicle more manoeuvrable in some situations but not others. Such an arrangement will nevertheless give some of the benefits associated with the Solo. The rear overhang’s thought to be long.

The vehicle is expected to seat around 30. As yet, there’s no announcement about lengths and widths, though the vehicle looks slimmer than the usual 2.55m or 2.5m, and this would back up the rumours suggesting it will be offered in a narrower form as a competitor to Optare’s slim Solos.

It’s also reported that it may have some sort of mid-body waistline step, with the lower window line rising towards the vehicle’s rear. We will need to wait and see whether this is effective, or not. For me, it will probably add nothing but fussiness to the side elevation. There are rumours, too, that the front will be bowed outwards, rather like a Solo and the imagine above may support this contention. We’ll also need to await formal announcement of the chassis and running gear.

What is most surprising is the upright frontal style. Unlike the ubiquitous larger Wrightbus 2 products upon which the front is clearly modelled, this design seems slightly ungainly. May be that’s because it could be slimmer than its higher capacity siblings or may be the colour white does it no favours. The squared-off rather than usual slightly rounded roofline adds severity and the higher light cluster is less attractive than on other “2s”, emphasising the numberplate area. There appears to be slightly wider side pillars either side of the windscreen and these look as if they bow left and right, as well as forward.

That said, this is a development that we should welcome. More choice, along with Wrightbus’s legendary build quality. It signals that the British manufacturing sector isn’t quite yet on its knees and that it’s willing to develop products that can bring flair and innovation. It will be a serious contender and will threaten sales of both the ADL Enviro200 and dominant Solo. Solo customers may look for something that’s more reliable, though the Solo remains, in my view, a good workhorse and sound investment, with class leading accessibility.

It’s also a brave move into a market that’s dominated by Solo. In recent times, Solo sales have been other than steady. Higher capacities owing in particular to free travel means that some operators question the Solo’s ability to cope, even though Solo’s available in more formats than a Ford car.

An original Handybus 1

That just leaves a name for the product. Wrightbus favours celestial objects. Since it heralds the reintroduction of the minibus/midibus into the Wrightbus range, perhaps Wright should now divert from the astronomical. Perhaps it could be labelled “2” after a previous, similar sized bus, perhaps the Handybus 2, though the original Handybus wasn’t renowned for its stunning looks.

Taking the Strain

Iceland is having yet another affect on the British economy. Though matters are worse for the air industry, at least the planet has saved 1.3mil 1.6mil tons of carbon emmissions during the past four five days. But the coach-air express services that have burgeoned alongside the increase in flights are temporarily all but empty—but keep on running. 

That’s bad in itself but expect a flood of passengers in an incredible peak as air services get going again. Coach capacity will then be an issue, requiring duplicates and triplicates… or long passenger waits. Coach tickets will be out of date and take time to process. Further, tired and desperate passengers will arrive in sub-optimal locations requiring onward travel. And that might include passengers arriving by naval vessels who require ferrying onwards.

Meanwhile, stranded passengers travelling across Europe may decide that enough is enough and try the transcontinental coach. Eurolines promises increased capacity where it’s needed, though there were still seats available on nearly all departures, with additional capacity added as needed. This bonanza looks set to end fairly soon.

No doubt the coach industry will rise to the challenge. It invariably does. It will generate welcome additional revenue to offset and current dismal loadings on air-link services.

First is using the disruption as an opportunity, including pushing its fleet of coaches to get staff and customers moving anywhere in the UK. Doesn’t the addition of blue on its coaches work well?

But what of the longer term? Will those using the coach be tempted to stick with it, in the future? My experience is only drawn from major rail strikes. I can’t now remember the year but it would’ve been in the late 1970s or early 1980s when National Bus Company subsidiaries were asked to put on thousands of extra seats during prolonged rail disruption. In addition to what were white then state-owned National Express coaches, usually Leopards with Plaxton bodywork, there came a flotilla of other vehicles, ranging from high frame dual purpose RELHs in “local coaching” livery to similarly-liveried low frame dual purpose Leyland Nationals to double deck service buses, all called upon for express duties.

Far from raising the profile of the coach, in some cases, it did the opposite. There was inevitably some chaos as passengers faced often fluid change. Those unused to coach expresses took time to sort themselves out. Regulars were faced with bewildering numbers of passengers and unfamiliar duplicates, some missing stops, others stopping short. Crowded vehicles took longer to load and depart. Inappropriate vehicles brought with them complaints of lack of luggage space, cramped conditions and uncomfortable seating.

Just like for buses during February’s snow, air websites are buckling, even for the smaller airports such as Hurn (Bournemouth), with a temporary home page

I recall one supervisor who had “volunteered” to drive an express duplicate one Saturday to Cheltenham (in the days of the daily mass arrivals and departures). Traffic chaos was so acute in and around St Margaret’s coach station that a traffic warden’s job was specifically to send each arriving coach once round the block. Only when the warden recognised the driver on a second approach would he let the driver enter. Not a particularly positive experience for hot, tired, frustrated first time travellers who were desperate to stretch their legs rather than keep them crossed, if you see what I mean.

Things were managed differently now. We trust.

Before we start today, must mention... if you partook of the recent survey regarding Dorset posts on Omnibuses, the results are here.

One year on, Jimmy Mac’s posted a final article on his Britain by Bus adventure. (He also wrote on Omnibuses a guide for operators who use social media.)

Network Enhancements

I hope Transdev Yellow Buses knows what it’s doing. This morning sees the launch of TYB’s hourly (gulp) service 29, between Bournemouth, Winton, Ferndown and West Moors. This is an incursion into what might once have been considered Wilts & Dorset territory. That West Moors near Ferndown has seen no regular service to Bournemouth for over two years must surely carry with it an element of risk for TYB—little demand. Double that risk, since the 29 has a peak vehicle requirement of two. Other than succeeding in upsetting the region’s other premier operator, what’s the point of this particular unilateral dream?

The 29 fills a modest gap left in January 2008 upon changes made by W&D. This saw the carving up of the mammoth indirect X36 Bournemouth-Ringwood-West Moors-Ferndown-Poole. It left West Moors without a regular, direct weekday bus to Bournemouth. Along with virtually all W&D’s long distance services, the X36 fell under the axe of EU hours, for it was a route that was some six miles over the 31 mile EU hours threshold, adding significantly to the costs of operation. The industry eventually found itself a domestic hours workaround, of course, but the X36 was never reinstated.

West Moors is near enough the only substantially unique element of the 29. The remainder trips over existing W&D Bournemouth-focused service 13 Bournemouth-Ferndown-Wimborne. With the 13, W&D has Ferndown to Bournemouth sown up, offering a nine minute quicker journey on buses that tend to be modern Citaros. Where TYB might score is on fares: W&D’s are high and it seems that TYB will offer its £3.70 day ticket on the 29, saving £1.30 alone.

And then there’s the 20 Poole-Lilliput-Penn Hill-Westbourne-Bournemouth-Castlepoint, launched from 4th May. This is a far safer proposition. It combines W&D’s 53 (Poole-Lilliput-Penn Hill-Bournemouth) with Shamrock’s 42 (Bournemouth-Castlepoint) in a clever tender put out jointly by Poole & Bournemouth councils. Clever, because an hourly 53 on its own is inefficient, at 33 minutes each way.

It extends travel opportunities across Bournemouth and gives an hourly service west of Bournemouth where currently W&D offers but a two-hourly 53. So, that now means the substantial return along Penn Hill of an hourly TYB service, something bound to upset W&D as much as the loss of the 53. Locals may recall the 101 saga, a 2005 pre-Yellow Buses retaliatory service put on when W&D cut out the half-hourly 101 via Penn Hill. Penn Hill was once on a longstanding and busy direct Poole-Bournemouth Hants & Dorset route, at its prime with four buses an hour, with the accolade of being service no. 1.

From Hants to Dorset

Dorset is no longer a dirty word on Omnibuses, following our recent attitude survey. The overwhelming majority of those who responded—over 99 per cent—were content with once-in-a-while Dorset posts

The most surprising thing about the Echo’s brief interview with Greyhound’s Alex Warner was the reporter’s northern accent. I somehow expected a soft Dorset burr to introduce Greyhound’s westward migration out of Hampshire to Bournemouth, commencing 1st May. Time was when a local journo would grow up in and with her own area. That was once the local medium’s strength. Instead, she sounded like Liz White of Life on Mars.

The second thing was how very good-natured the interview was and not at all probing. Because there was nothing controversial? A new Greyhound London service may catch the imagination but given existing coach & rail, why was it needed? Was extra legroom and a free newspaper enough to differentiate Greyhound? Rhetorical question, but why were fares so close to National Express’ and Megatrain’s? And, was the proposed service sustainable given the admission that about ¼ of all seats would sell for £1.50?

The third interesting thing was that the hesitant reporter chose to start by asking, “Why was Bournemouth chosen as the next destination to extend the Greyhound coach service?” This implies others. Did she make an assumption? Was she prompted? Did she overhear something? Does the reporter know something we don’t? You don’t invest in a managing director like Alex Warner without expecting more. More, that is, than the current Hampshire to Londons, and now Dorset.

NatEx already operates some 22 departures a day twixt Bournemouth and London. Greyhound promises two. The average NatEx journey time is 2hrs 53 mins, though if you take out the indirect services, this reduces to 2 hrs 40 mins on average, on the 16 direct 035 journeys, usually operated by contractor Transdev Yellow Buses. Will Greyhound get under the 2 hrs 30 min barrier? NatEx invariably stops at Ringwood, above, seeing quite an impressive service for its size. NatEx reacted to Greyhound UK’s Portsmouth and Southampton services, offering more direct routes and lower fares (could they get much lower?). How will it react in Bournemouth? By reducing Ringwood?

Unlike NatEx, as well as the travel exchange, Greyhound chooses to stop in Bournemouth town centre, by the pier. For those who don’t know, the travel exchange is by the rail station and slightly off-centre, though it’s easier for onward bus travel for many suburbs, avoiding the town itself. NatEx calls it the coach & rail station, placing “coach” first.

Greyhound may be part of the iconic brand that you have seen for almost a hundred years in film and fiction, as Warner put it (though it dates from 1926), but in England at least the operation has proven slicker, quicker, and attractive to a wider range of people than you might find Stateside.

Rail to London is around two hours and costs £84.20 standard return, reducing to £41.20 off-peak. Megatrain has four off-peak departures, with yield managed fares of between £5 and £16 single.

i Fiona Pendlebury of the Bournemouth Echo on Greyhound

Also from 1st May comes a kind of Greyhound ‘plusbus’ where you can add Southern Vectis and Hovertravel to your Greyhound Portsmouth-London ticket. A bargain from £8.50 to get to Pompey. That’s bus, hovercraft and coach from the Wight Island to London.

If I’m Spared

When I retire, if I’m spared, I should like to become a non-executive director. Could someone please bear me I mind?

We learnt this week that Stagecoach has appointed former National Express Group chief executive Phil White as a non-exec. White’s retirement brought in Richard Bowker which, in turn, almost lead to NEG’s collapse. As for White, it adds to his chairmanship of three PLCs: Looker’s, Kier Group and Unite Group.

Non-execs are important. They aren’t corporate officers or employees, so they can therefore scrutinise, challenge, assist with strategic development from an outside perspective and tackle corporate governance.

There are obviously non-execs and non-execs. The interesting thing is that they spend, what, two days a week working but can be paid per annum up to the same amount as a bus driver. This on top of a pension and possible other non-exec positions.

Nice work if you can get it. Please, may I have some? But not just yet.

A Battle Lost

We’ve already lost the regulatory battle for the hearts and minds of our passengers, actual & potential. No amount of customer satisfaction survey results will turn the tide. The passenger appetite is for re-regulation. That’s my conclusion, especially in urban areas.

This week, a Guardian newspaper blog for Leeds ran a piece entitled “Why public control over buses is long overdue”. It was in response to the West Yorkshire integrated transport authority’s aspirations for quality contracts. That blog response, though somewhat ill informed, is typical of the urban mindset. The author talked of a loss of confidence and change being overdue.

No argument will persuade passengers otherwise. Forget the flaws of the former regulated environment and the successes of deregulation:

• The regulated regime of the 1970s and 1980s was increasingly costing considerable sums in subsidy


• At least 80 per cent of deregulated mileage operates commercially, without subsidy


• Regulated networks failed to invest sufficiently in busy, strategic routes, the ones that make a difference in terms of modal shift


• Suitable deregulated markets see marketing and operational investment


• The regulated regime failed to stem a significant decline in patronage, especially in urban areas

The Guardian author felt that deregulation had failed to get people out of their cars. This isn’t wholly the bus service’s fault. Aside from the fact that his statement isn’t true (remember free travel?), where are the sticks? Roadspace is the prime example. And there are all sorts of structural reasons why people use their car rather than bus. Try out of town shopping, out of town health care and out of town employment, for example, transport to which cannot easily be solved by a change of regime.

The industry knows this issue isn’t black & white but if the public has fixed views, so will their locally elected representatives and civil servants. There’s already political unanimity on WYITA and the results may well be inevitable. Writing in Transit, Ben Colson said, “Let bus users drive policy, not unelected officials”. If he’s right, passengers *are* doing so but in ways the industry may not so easily approve.

i Guardian Leeds Blog post

Welcome Back to the 1970s

Reading Transport must be so happy to see some good news for a change. For, in recent months, all does not seem well at what was once one of England’s more progressive arm-length municipals.

One of England's most unusual: Reading's MAN 18.240/East Lancs (sic) Kinetic+

The good news is care of the government’s Green Bus Fund. As expected, Reading Buses is to order six hybrid ADL Enviro400s, to an unusual 11.4m length. There are plans to follow with a further 14.

Reading Buses needs this fillip. In October came some bad publicity over its bio-ethanol buses—that turned out to be less environmentally friendly than first hoped.

Reading has a particularly impressive fleet of new buses and a modern approach to marketing its business. It has a half-decent inter-urban service and some commercial rural mileage, too. In terms of its success, Reading Buses will point to good management. Others may feel that it’s been in the right place at the right time, following a decade or more where Reading’s position on the M4 corridor’s been well situated to crest the economic wave. Whichever is correct, add these ingredients together and you have a recipe for considerable achievement.

Latterly, though, Reading Buses has become a metaphor for the declining fortunes of the industry. Things can change swiftly when recession grinds otherwise high levels of economic growth to a halt:

• Hints of turbulent times came in November 2008, with a fares rise and promises that action was required to place Reading Buses back on course in one year.


• December 2008 saw service shake-up plans.


• A further fares rise followed, five months later.


• At that time, Reading Buses perhaps went rather too public on a staff suggestion scheme that some residents felt was a sign of desperation.


• There followed some frequency reductions, in July 2009.


• Also in July was the closure of Newbury Buses’ office (though services there were spared).

It all sounded a little too 1970s and shows the vulnerability of operators who cannot depend upon the support and scale of large groups. There were even rumours of a possible sale, though these were denied.

And now, this month, we see further and extensive fares revisions, some of which offer significant deals for the larger area network tickets. Within Reading itself, Reading Buses has, however, effectively put up the standard, non-promotional weekly ticket price from £11 to £13. Some argue that the way it’s done so as been by slight of hand. Its publicity clearly indicates the amount by which some seasons come down but not the amount of any effective increases. But the previous zonal weekly system was more complicated and the new ticket is Reading-wide. And remember that £13 is not unreasonable for a week’s travel. It’s certainly £2 cheaper, for example, than in Bournemouth.

Two years ago and the Reading day ticket was 80p cheaper than today. Today, £3.80 is still good value, even if 25 per cent more expensive

It may be worth making a comparison in terms of the increase made by fuel companies, also up by 18 per cent at the pumps, between May 2009 and April 2010 (with a little help from the Budget!)

Single fares within Reading remain static but it has effectively put up rural fares quite dramatically, owing to the way it’s changed the fares structure. Out go rural zoned fares. We’d hazard a guess that there are a significant proportion of older people on this part of the network whose resistance to a fares hike would be minimal.

Kissing Babies

So, here it is, then. An election, and the launch yesterday of a couple of manifesti—being my tongue-in-cheek plural of the word manifesto (you know, as in panino/panini, seeing as “manifesto” originates from Italian).

Anyway, like all other general elections, no one’s going to get particularly worked up about transport, unless perhaps it’s car-related. Unlike the London mayoral election, public transport’s not going to be the deciding factor that will tip the balance in favour of one party or another—and certainly not the humble bus. No, the election looks set to be decided upon by the performance of three politicians on three television debates where public transport will get nothing but a passing mention.

But we can fantasise. Let’s assume that politicians of all colours began to realise the true potential afforded by the bus in tackling key policy objectives of reducing congestion, making urban areas habitable again, creating & maintaining employment and in improving mobility and social inclusion. How would a new government create the right environment for our industry? The choice seems to be between:

• Scrapping deregulation, giving full control to local transport authorities to integrate bus-bus and bus-rail, controlling bus fares, frequencies and in London-style franchising.


• Freeing the market still further by promoting partnerships (including operator-operator) and in removing the perceived threat of quality contracts (aka franchising). 


• Somewhere in between.

It isn’t difficult to stick a coloured label on each of these choices.

What do readers think? If the bus was suddenly elevated to the No. 1 national concern, what would readers tell a parliamentary candidate who knocked on their door trying to kiss the baby (metaphorically speaking)?

(And then there’s the third runway at Heathrow, national and or local road pricing, the possibilities (or not) of trams, longer rail franchises and high speed rail. And you could mention the Competition Commission).

Will anyone place their cross against a candidate on the basis of their party’s public transport policies? Or will education, health, care for older people, crime and economic recovery come first?

More on Liveries

In stringent times, can or should operators spend scarce resources in changing their liveries? Is this money well spent? And do passengers care about the colour of their bus, anyways?

These are some of the comments arising from the recent post of Lothian Buses’ return to its traditional burgundy & white, something that rather bucks recent trends.

My experience suggests that passengers care more about punctuality, reliability, fares and frequency. Since the majority of passengers are making a so-called “distress purchase” (one over which they have little choice), for them, livery is no more than a distinguishing feature that marks their bus out among general traffic. In many (most?) parts of England, there’s no choice of operator, in any case.

These days, though, significant numbers are making “discretionary” not “distress” purchases. They may have other modes of transport at their disposal but have chosen the bus for at least some of their journeys. This is intelligent choice. Or they may choose one operator over another. This is for a variety of reasons: punctuality, reliability, fares, frequency certainly… and also brand image.

Aside from creating the right environment in which even distress purchase passengers can feel they can return, it’s here (with discretionaries) that a brand becomes so important. Livery plays a vital part in the creation and maintenance of a brand. Why else would some operators go to such lengths to create, nurture and protect their brand; and design innovative liveries? As Spaceman commented on Meet the MD, operators strive to present a product not just a service.

During many of the bus industry’s phases, livery has been viewed as important:

• During the 1930s, London Transport created a brand that still endures today. Its livery may be staid but it still evokes something, no matter where in the world you come from.


• During the heyday of buses in the early 1950s, even in monopolistic times, buses were immaculately and lovingly turned out in rich, hand finished glory.


• During the 1960s and beyond, liveries expressed local pride.


• During the 1970s, livery was but one method of creating a national identity for the National Bus Company. Whether this succeeded on buses is debatable but it certainly did so on the express network.


• During the mid-1980s, newly privatised or arms-length operators all rushed to show everyone that they were locally managed.


• During the 1990s, the new groups rushed to show everyone that they were building up nationally recognised brands.


• Today, livery is seen as but one element in a brand strategy that permeates an entire business. Livery thrusts the brand presence beyond traditional, “distress purchase” markets.

A brand isn’t solely about a livery but, these days, a livery is much more than a means of adding protection to a vehicle’s exterior. The value of brand is no longer lost on operators. If all other things are equal between two operators—fares, frequency, capacity, journey times, driving standards, punctuality—brand is the differentiating factor that will lead a passenger to chose X over Y (or X over the car).

You’ve got to paint your buses somehow. Why not make it count?

Aberdeen Anger

First is in the news, in Aberdeen, Scotland, where the traffic commissioner is reported at a public inquiry to have said, “Something has got to be done to make buses better in Aberdeen, as they are not good—they are pretty dire actually.”

This in First’s very own heartland. It appears that Aberdeen sees some of the least punctual buses in the UK. According to the local Press & Journal, between October & December 2009, 77 per cent of buses left on time, dropping from 83 per cent exactly one year earlier. By comparison, 95 per cent of buses in east of Scotland generally departed on time in the same period. This latter figure is reassuringly within the traffic commissioners’ window.

Some of this is outwith First’s control. First’s local managing director defended his corner in the usual way, by blaming traffic congestion associated with the a new shopping centre and by stating that 21st March 2010 revisions were designed to straighten things out. Time will tell but March seem the earliest that First could’ve assessed the situation, reacted and put matters right. New shopping developments such as these tend never to take into account the impact of traffic on bus routes. Union Square opened in October 2009 and while it no doubt has affected punctuality, First would be struggling to use it for the 2008 83 per cent result.

First’s timetable changes aren’t particularly significant though do see some reductions in frequency on services 12, 17, 21, 25 and 27, no doubt to in order to improve punctuality within existing resources.

The MD also blamed new concessionary card smart card technology that was causing “unexpected delays for people boarding” and resulted in “significant and detrimental affects on journey times”. That’s interesting. Taking cash was even more time consuming and I wonder how First managed before free travel.

My experience nevertheless is that smartcards do, indeed, slow passenger boarding. There’s an irritating delay as the passenger places their card over the reader while the ETM looks for and verifies the details within the onboard chip. This has major benefits it terms of fraud but is nowhere near as fast as loading with a flash pass. Mind you, in terms of what I witness on Transdev Yellow Buses, the delay’s no longer than the old Wayfarer Yellow Card system where passengers once had to slot their card into the reader and wait for it to be spat out. Up to this year, Yellow Buses persisted with that older system where others got rid.

The commissioner is due to make a written decision on First in the fullness of time. We all trust there will be no undue delays lest she be accused of being less than punctual. If she is not persuaded by First’s management about external factors and something has to be done, what might she do? She obviously cannot enforce change though she can impose a fine.

Fares—from different perspectives

Like many no doubt, I’m now struggling under the weight of information requested by the Competition Commission’s inquiry

Those leading the Competition Commission inquiry into the bus industry may have noticed that passengers’ no. 1 concern is not fares but punctuality. This is according to research by Passenger Focus, an organisation officially the statutory bus passengers’ watchdog for the past 46 days. Could it therefore be that the Competition Commission is focusing on the wrong area? Ah, but punctuality is not within the CC’s gift.

Passenger Focus concludes that operators are meeting passenger expectations across the board. Not in a marginal way but whelmingly. Of Focus’ 18 tested passenger journey attributes, 16 were positive. The CC will nevertheless no doubt take comfort from “value for money” being the only other negative.

Click to enlarge. 16 of the 18 Passenger Focus journey attributes are positive. But notice the error on this graphic taken directly from the Focus report: there are 18 red bars but only 17 explanations...

Unsurprisingly, those who travel free felt that VFM was less of an issue. Indeed, what was surprising was that free travellers didn’t rate this attribute the highest. Looking at Focus’ results, it’s a fact that those who benefit from statutory free travel have minimised the overall fares attribute result. On this, there’s some disparity between concessionaires and fare-payers.

Punctuality is an issue across all classes of passenger. Fares is not.

But the overall conclusion that gives a low negative weighing to fares is fair, because at least 40 per cent of travellers—those going free—are content with the fare they don’t need to pay. This percentage can be as high as 60 per cent or more in some areas or some routes, including honeypots.

Add to this the number who buy multi-journey tickets and who therefore travel at lower fares per journey, and you have a significant proportion who will be content with what they do or don’t pay.

Compare what concessionaires (red) thought with fare-payers (blue) for the same 18 attributes

But there’s the rub. All too often, free travel since 2006/2008 has begun to determine some operators’ fares policies. While this is understandable as a means of maximising free travel reimbursement—given that many operators feel that local formulæ are imperfect—it’s beginning to brass off ordinary, fare-paying customers who see their walk-on fares rising well ahead of inflation.

i Passenger Focus full report

» Dorset Bus Trial

This is probably a mistake (in terms of my own time management) and it’s certainly only by way of a trial. If I know anything from the Omnibuses’ February survey, there are some who enjoy occasional Dorset posts and others who do not. Since that survey, I’ve tried to address any allegations of Dorset leanings by:

1. Offering fewer Dorset stories. In fact, the closest I’ve recently got was Salisbury (which, for those unsure, is in Wiltshire!)


2. Extending the range to cover areas as far from Dorset as possible. The furthest was one from as far afield as Las Vegas, Sacramento and New York.


3. Trying—and failing—to recruit occasional contributions from across the country.

I’ve received two emails in almost as many days requesting Dorset updates. Since there remain those who miss Dorset-based postings, I’ve decided to trial a Dorset bus blog. It’s continuation will be wholly dependent upon three things: visitor reaction, visitor numbers and the availability of my time. Don’t expect too regular postings.

» Dorset Bus Trial

Always a Reason

Update 10 April: Thanks for the comments on this post & I have updated it accordingly. It's worth taking a look at those comments

There are many reasons why someone might be nostalgic about the buses of yesteryear.

• An enthusiast may like an old bus for its own sake or may have a fondness for the type when in service.
• A driver may have special memories behind the cab.
• An engineer may recall a particular type’s foibles and eccentricities.

I hope I’m not being smug when I say that I tend to look behind the façade, trying to figure out a vehicle’s importance in the scheme of things. A bus isn’t just built. There are always reasons behind it, for ordering it and always external factors that bring about its genesis. A bus is a living embodiment of the transport times in which it was built... or in this case, converted.

Passengers would’ve sensed something odd about this vehicle. The shallow saloon windows, narrow windscreen and the resultant high roofline lend it an ungainly appearance and, for those in the know, gives the vehicle away as a former MCW bodied Leyland Fleetline double deck
Here’s a really good example I saw while travelling home this Eastertide, passing through the transport museum at Wythall, Worcestershire, not far from the M40. Even by the standards of the former BMMO-built Midland ‘Red’ buses therein, this is probably Britain’s ugliest bus. It nevertheless has an interesting raison d’être.

For this is auto-body and social engineering in one. Here was the only one of what was to be a handful of standard West Midlands PTE Leyland Fleetline/MCWs awkwardly converted to single deck. Perhaps I haven’t looked in the right places online for there appears nothing to corroborate my memory of the reasons behind the conversion, which was a management decision to operate buses with fewer than 40 seats.

Successor West Midlands Travel and the union had agreed that lower capacity buses—under 40 seats—needed no (or fewer?) wage enhancements, at the time a common industry practice. WMT converted a handful of Fleetlines to gauge conversion and operating costs versus lower wages. They managed this sole conversion because soon after, management and the union agreed a consolidated wage rate, rendering the planned further conversions of a couple of dozen vehicles redundant and unnecessary. The 1970s and much of the 1980s were different times, indeed, with unions negotiating add-on enhancements for such things as one man operation (usually at a higher rate for double decks when compared to singles) and for Saturdays (and sometime Sundays).

Chunky orange DIPTAC features, rubberised anti-slip flooring, removal of the front central grab pole and a crude tip up seat mark this out as an early DIPTAC-spec vehicle

I don’t now the precise date of conversion but a commenter suggests 1994 and the the heavy use within of early DIPTAC corroborates this. And, here again, we have an example of external requirements shaping the bus. Inside, at the point where the stairwell would have been, was an incredibly heavily sprung double tip up seat, probably for use by disabled passengers with walking frames. It could equally have been an early buggy receptacle: no central stanchion at the service entrance plus just one step was a useful feature that might’ve made boarding with a buggy that much easier than usual.

Meet the MD—Today

Comments on a recent post entitled Dilly Dally about the length of time a driver has to prepare before departure made me feel just a little uncomfortable. Much of the inconsistency passengers see was, it appears, down to poor management and training. This in spite of most operators investing considerably in training. As at least one commenter mentioned, there needs to be a balance between passengers’ and the driver’s needs. This balance is, in fact, a fine one.

A commenter suggested,

“Force senior staff to spend a day a month on the front-line”.

Many companies already do this, or something like it. I myself go out and about, though I found it difficult to recall exactly when I’d last driven. I remember the turn but not exactly when. Shame on me.

My last duty behind the wheel was on an evening shift, deliberately chosen at the end of the week when it would be busy. And it was. On at least two occasions, my bus was at capacity. No trouble, though, no passenger nonsense. I was obviously unused to driving in service as I began operating slightly late, never a good advert. Yes, late enough for VOSA to express an interest but not so late that passengers gave up or even moaned. It wasn’t helped by a couple of passengers on different journeys who had *extreme* difficulty in boarding even an almost new, modern, accessible vehicle. The question is, did I break out of the cab and help?

I did wonder whether we give drivers sufficient time to do what they need to do. Aside from a meal break, give or take, they have a collection of five-minute breaks, sometimes longer. Constant driving in urban traffic can be tiring. I’m not convinced we should go so far in redressing the balance as Unite suggests: its March 2010 Busworkers' Charter campaign aims to shave off an hour’s driving per shift. On a positive side, though I struggled with timekeeping, generally drivers find that the slacker schedules—trying to account for congestion—at least make their life a little more tolerable.

The only way to test this sort of thing is to go out and try. That’s exactly what First Devon & Cornwall’s managing director Marc Reddy and others in his management team are doing today. They’ve invited the press along in something like the BBC2 programme “Back to the Floor”.

This is more than good PR. To be useful, it needs repeating (regularly) and this Reddy may find difficult if he’s in two places at once. For today, though, Reddy’s chosen an unpopular split with 9hrs 24m paid time over 10hrs 43m.

Things can change on the road at any time but if you’re in the Plymouth area and want to have a word, try the following times (assuming Reddy keeps to time and can spare some of his breaks and layovers to speak!):

0905 ser 84 Plymouth-Tavistock, returning as ser 83 at 1010
1120 ser 86 Plymouth-Tavistock, ret at 1225
1500, 1600, 1700 and 1800 ser 3 Royal Parade-Barne Barton, ret 24 min later, on each. E&OE.

More on this from Plymothian Transit

Where Next?

It’s emerged that only 12 per cent of Trawscambria passengers travel between principal centres in Wales. 60 per cent travel from a major settlement’s hinterland into town and the remainder perform more local movements. Rather than see this as disappointing, this is about par for longer-distance inter-urban bus services. Linking services together gives an added end-end fillip to otherwise more solid middle-end or middle-middle revenue.

Trawscambria—soon to morph into a rebranded Trawscymru—is a bit of a compromise. In order to ensure that it doesn’t wipe out existing local bus services, at its 2005 rebirth it sensibly built on what was already there. An overlay might abstract from and weaken local services. The compromise is deliberately designed to serve both the more local and the longer distance markets in one hit. As with all compromises, it cannot reasonably be expected to succeed in tackling everything. But then again, since the services are heavily rural in nature, is either market strong enough to support something standalone?

I am one of those passengers who have been persuaded out of my car onto TC for principal town-town journeys. I cannot, of course, claim to be a regular, but the TC product is now sufficiently developed that during the most recent of my traditional summer holidays in rural Powys, there’s now a viable alternative to the car. But alas! I shan’t be in Powys this year but when I first camped there so many years ago buses were not an option. Latterly, I’ve used them to travel from rural Powys easily to Cardiff and Swansea.

What now for Trawscymru? It needs to consider:

• Whether it’s long distance or local or both. If the former, its driver must be rail connections. If long distance, should it reinvent a through Bangor-Cardiff coach (not bus by connection)?


• Through rail-bus ticketing. Expect something on this, next month.


• Whether to lift itself into a more solid brand. Currently, the Stagecoach 704 Newtown-Brecon looks different to the Richards Brothers X50 looks different to the Arriva X32/X40/X94 looked different to the former First operation on the X40. None can claim to stand out from local bus services in the area they serve.


• Current peripheral services that could form part of the brand: Veolia X63 Brecon-Swansea (originally designed as TC) and Sixty-Sixty X43 Abergavenny-Cardiff.


• Current standalone longer-distance services having seen investment, linking settlements off the rail network with railheads: GHA X50/2 Rhyl-Wrexham and Tanat Valley X75 Shrewsbury-Llanidloes.


• The vehicles used. This is the $64,000 question. As good as they may be, are Wrightbus Commanders the correct vehicle? Should there be accessible coaches? What effect will this have on shorter distance passengers who currently benefit from low floor access? What about lavatories, either within or without (at key settlements & interchanges, open at all times when TC calls)?

Perhaps the Welsh Assembly might even consider quality contracts. It has the power.

Madder than a Hatter?

There’s nothing more guaranteed to elevate blood pressures than a change of bus livery.

Within months of the departure of former chief executive Neil Renilson, Lothian Buses is moving away from the “harlequin” scheme many associate with the operator’s change of fortune. The Edinburgh, Scotland, operator introduced harlequin to differentiate its low floor buses. Now the fleet is 100 per cent SLF, it’s moving back to a version of its traditional white and maroon livery, a colour described as madder.

In a move that bucks recent trends elsewhere, Scotland's favourite operator* Lothian Buses is adopting a more traditional livery style. It works best on single decks

Pre-harlequin Lothian was sedate rather than thrusting. Harlequin seemed to symbolise all that Lothian Buses has achieved in the last 10 years—a 40 per cent ridership increase, simplified network, modern vehicles and quality at reasonable fares. All this is reflected in the awards it won. A profits scare on the back of fuel rises and tram works disruption has somewhat tainted things recently, though. And it managed to survive a damaging PR disaster regarding buggies.

Harlequin wasn’t to everyone’s liking. And neither will the return to a more traditional livery be. Lothian Buses is officially trying to capitalise on two things: the cultural splendour of Edinburgh; and a link with its past. Burgundy and white survived the transition in 1974 from Edinburgh City Transport to Lothian Regional Transport which, in turn, passed till recently to the arms length operator. Says its website, “We have designed a new bus livery to reflect the tradition, culture and elegance of our city.” Oh, and by repainting now, Lothian Buses can influence the tram livery rather than the other way round.

A fairly regal approach somewhat disrupted on double decks by the advertising frame. The swoop tends to focus the eye on the front wheel arch

Before the arrival of the large groups, liveries have always changed but there tended to be a clear pathway from one variant to the next. Lothian Buses’ new style would seem to be a continuation of that trend, save that there was something modern in between. Detractors would argue that this portrays the operator as backward looking rather than forward thinking. If Lothian is the progressive operator gaining peer recognition through awards, is this still reflected in its most public of faces, the livery? Or is it trying to play on the municipal pride of old, generating goodwill in the process?

These are very subjective questions, particularly as modern liveries like harlequin tend to date quite quickly. And they divide opinion.

Developed not by some marketing guru or pricey agency but in-house, route-specific sub-branding continues, though passengers may find it difficult to see this from the front. Opinions are at their sharpest as to whether gold and maroon works together

Lothian Buses is asking people to vote on the new livery. This, too, is somewhat chancy. What happens if the overall result is not in favour? Lothian Buses will no doubt have done its homework and management must believe that there’s more than a chance Edinburgh’s subjects will be in favour.

And there will be no denying that in an era when municipal operations are increasingly being privatised, a traditional livery will do no harm in raising the local profile of Lothian Buses.

*—according to the BBC