Omnibuses2.0’s Blogwatch

Blogrolls may be passé. Far fewer people use them to navigate between sites as they did five years ago. Even so, I try to maintain as relevant a blogroll as possible. What’s been happening on other bus-related blogs? The last time I looked at this it was about 14 months ago. To start, here are the top five blogs that currently send most visitors to Omnibuses2.0.

Top Five Blog Sources

The single-most important blog sending custom to Omnibuses2.0 is longer-standing-than-me Plymothian Transit. It usually updates itself about every 4½ days in 5. It was in the right place to follow the convolutions of the Plymouth bus scene and it does so from very much an enthusiast’s point of view.

Leon Daniels’s blog is the second most important. Daniels occupies several very senior roles at First, has an excellent reputation, and is a fluid writer. His rather popular blog reflects his experience, his passion for service, and his own devotion to passengers (customers) & the industry. It shows that you don’t need to publish every day to win readers. On average, Daniels posts once or twice a week, or thereabouts. I do so very need to learn from this.

We’re starting to slim down a bit, now. Nevertheless, next it’s good to see newcomer and the occasional Dorset Bus in third place. I plan on saying no more, as it’s an Omnibuses2.0 production.

Incredibly, Manchester Buses archive is fourth. This in spite of its demise in December 2009. Fortunately for Manchester readers, the author has collaborated with Britain by Bus to publish Manchester Transport. MT is a readable and entertaining example. The Manchester Buses archive still sends six times the visitors. Early days for the new MT but a proper link to Omnibuses2.0 might help : ) Guys?

The expressive Another Day on the Buses comes in fifth. Eclectic is how best to describe it. Rather nicely, it would appear that the title picture changes after each refresh. There are links to four passengers from hell we would all do well to avoid. I could add a few more… And we get the impression that the Stagecoach driver prefers Way3s to ERGs!

Other Favourites

Here are two other favourites, both very different. One is Busworld Photography, updated almost daily and sometimes more often. Here is a chance to relive the bus industry as it used to be, through the lens of a longstanding bus—and people ; )—photographer. Enthusiasts tend to like a clean “record” shot without people, obstacles, cars or lamp columns. Busworld Photography is refreshingly just the opposite and it shows a *living* industry as part of the streetscape.

One of Busworld Photography’s latest is this lively Blackpool shot of a Srathclyde Alexander-bodied coach. Of as much interest to me is the adjacent all chrome & angular Duple Viceroy

And then there’s the rather occasional TAS Transport Briefing that has a more academic feel to it. Be warned, its latest post on buses is over 1,800 words long and it *could* be arguing for an end to market freedoms, in a backhanded sort of way…

New Blogs

Content and writing quality endear a couple of new starts. Trentside Traveller is one of them. Over the last month, he’s updated the Nottinghamshire scene between one and two days a week.

One in the genre of humorous bus drivers is The Accidental Bus Driver, sure to raise a smile and an eyebrow—if ever you’ve driven buses.

Whatever Happened To…

Two promising sites, the Velvet Bus Blog and Southern Vectis’ From the Driver’s Seat have both stalled. The latter’s not been substantively with us since May and the former seems to have petered out finally, in April. Shame, as both offered insights into the inner workings of the bus industry.

Bus Driver Jimmy’s blog has well bitten the dust and the only thing that keeps him in the blogroll is the occasional link from him to me. His last post was over a year ago.

And Finally…

Spare a thought for the longstanding author of the humorous Busdriving as he struggles with life in recessionary England.

Top Five Most Visited UK Bus Blogs (and transport blogs with bus content):

1. Omnibuses2.0; 2. Leon Daniels; 3. Leytr; 4. Busworld Photography; 5. Plymothian Transit E&OE

Geeky Things to do with Bus Data

This is a guest post by Kirsty Pitkin, late of First’s @bathcsc experiment. She looks at how people outside the industry might use bus data to help passengers and she will end with a plea. She has a tribute site to the former Manvers Street bus station that is now replaced by a brand new terminus

In my geekier web browsing, I recently came across an article which discussed how information from various sources in the USA might be combined to calculate a commutability “transit score” to an area. This included information about public transport and walking. The article argued that the “Transit score is a great example of why government agencies should open their data. Citizens can make better decisions when they have the data.”

Back home, we have the data openly available here, at NPTG that could offer commuters this type of service when investigating where to live. However, even where data are available, the article notes the need for regional developers to be involved, as this data was often “...very messy, out-of-date and error-ridden”. I don't know how true that would be here, but I do believe that local developers can be an extremely valuable and inspirational asset for bus companies that want to use technology to inform their passengers better and encourage bus use.

Ideas from the Geeks

Whilst I was running @bathcsc, I obviously attracted a lot of attention from Bath's not inconsiderable and highly creative IT community, many of whom were keen to share their ideas about what they could do if more bus data were to be made openly available for analysis and re-use.

Here are some of their suggestions...

“Where's My Bus?” Mobile Application

I was often asked whether the company could make available local GPS or tracking data so that local developers could combine this with timetable information, open maps etc to create mobile applications that provide real time information about delays to their choice of bus service. I can feel the intake of breath now! Of course, there may be very good commercial reasons not to make such data publicly available. However, in an idea world, I believe that allowing genuine bus users to develop their own applications would not only provide a useful range tools without great financial outlay from the individual bus companies, but would also help to increase trust in reliability and punctuality figures. It’s kinda already happening with public data in London and in Manchester.

I know that there are lots of projects underway to provide this type of information at bus stops, and even some projects like NextBus Bristol which are starting to make a move in this direction. How these are fairing in this age of austerity, I don't know. However, I would like to note that I did not receive a single request for RTPI at bus stops whilst running the @bathcsc experiment. Finding out that your bus is delayed when you reach the bus stop is just too late in the age of the mobile web.

To be concluded...

Innovations from the East

Were this to operate in England, the extended roofline of this Japanese Ryobi would no doubt provide an opportunity for increased advertising revenue as a “superside” single deck. But that would defeat the object of the world’s first solar cell equipped bus.

This currently powers the bus’ interior lights, saving the fuel otherwise required to do so. No one has yet commented whether the photovoltaic panels come with a weight penalty that negates their energy saving effect.

Being Japanese, the Solarve comes with air scrubbers that, like Domestos, apparently kill 99 per cent of (airborn) germs, dead. In time, this too will be driven by solar energy. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before vehicles such as the Solo EV come with top up panels, too, though since a couple of domestic panels on your house roof will power nothing more than your hot water, it may be some time before we see the end of diesel or hybrid technology or the use of catenary-less trolleybuses.

I first came across this in at least one trade mag and wondered whether April 1st had come early. Apparently, the Chinese are serious and the Shenzhen Huashi 3D Fast ‘Strangling’ Bus might yet solve some of the roadspace problems associated with Chinese leaps in car ownership. Such congestion inevitably results from an economy whose GDP is growing at nearly 10 per cent per annum. Whatever happened to the pushbike?

The straddling bus is actually a trolleybus that also uses solar power for some it its energy. Here we have the perfect answer to those in urban Britain who complain that articulated buses take up too much roadspace. Not sure about easy disabled access, though, with seemingly huge lifts to ground level. And, like First’s FTR, the driver might truly be designated a ‘pilot’ as he flies above the traffic.

Check out the video on You Tube. Interestingly, the presentation features Lara Croft European-looking simulated models including a slightly risqué short-short skirted woman ascending the vehicle’s stairs.

A whole new meaning to the term ‘double decker’, perhaps.

Getting with It

The sight of women breastfeeding on buses isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Indeed, this year there have been a number of unnecessarily high profile media reports of drivers who’ve apparently boobed in requesting such mothers to leave. This after passengers have complained.

The resultant furore will see more and more operators signing up to the Natural Childbirth Trust’s “freedom to feed” campaign. Expect a rush in the months ahead, as operators are seen to get with it. Once an operator joins, it expects drivers to support the suckling infant rather than any complaining passenger.

As usual, neither the operator nor the driver can win. There *are* those who are intolerant towards public breastfeeding and it’s not just older people (who make up a high volume of customers).

The combination of (a) low floor access for buggies and (b) operators signing the pledge will see more breastfeeding on buses. But we need to ask whether it’s really safe for new borns to be on board, other than in their buggy. It’s quite another thing when on their mum’s lap. Breastfeeding on a moving vehicle is somewhat different to doing so in the park or café. You would not expect to find an infant out of a car seat while the car is moving, for instance. Are operators therefore simply storing up trouble for later?

That said, we need to remember that nursing is a perfectly natural thing.

Opponents might argue that having sex is also natural but, please, not in public on the back seat. Tastes change and allowing women to get this issue off their chest is one thing, but they haven’t yet got *that* far.

Welcome to the Big Four

I may be way off but I seem to think that today’s the day all impediments should be cleared for England to welcome the new order, at least on paper. For today, if I have my facts right, in three hours and one minute, Arriva shares are suspended on the stock exchange and Deutsche Bahn takes over, at least on paper. This will conclude with DB UK Holding Ltd having acquired all Arriva shares.

New Arriva livery complete with interesting roofline

We’ve said before that we can expect no major change to UK bus operations, at least on paper. In spite of soothing noises from Berlin, Omnibuses confidently predicts that this won’t be the case forever, or for long. Expect management reshuffles. And not just on paper.

One area in which we may see changes is in corporate thinking. Yesterday, Arriva was in the top three of the Big Five which, today, really becomes the Big Four, on paper. Arriva has always tried to collaborate with the communities it serves but has nevertheless always trumpeted the free market. It has already indicated that in today’s perilous financial climate it would even consider sacrificing Aqua for a local livery, if the partnership deal was right.

Passing to the State (though not ours), will Arriva go further and begin to lean towards calls for a replication of a London-style operation in other larger urban areas by being the first operator to trumpet franchise agreements?

After all, this is a model with which parent DB is most familiar, and definitely not just on paper.

Bargain Hunting

It’s not unprecedented but it’s certainly unusual. Close a bus garage in a large organisation and what do you do with the buses? Unless the closure’s associated with major cuts, you spread the vehicles around other garages to cover the work. After that, you usually cascade the best around existing locations, the second best to other subsidiaries within the group concerned, and then sell the remainder.

The auction publicity featured a stretched "Optair Solo Solo"

But when it comes to National Express West Midlands, there may be plenty of alternative garages but there’s no appreciable group left outside the midlands, in terms of bus subsidiaries. And we already know by its own admission that NXWM carries a higher than average spares ratio, higher than is necessary, probably unacceptably higher. This NatEx group management wants and needs to address.

So, following July’s closure of Birmingham’s Lea Hall garage, having moved vehicles into Lea Hall, NXWM offered over 60 surplus buses at auction, most of which came directly off service. Aside from the last of the redundant Metrobuses, there were far more modern stock, most of which were SLFs: Volvo B6LEs, B10Bs, Scania N113s, examples of its replacement model the N94, and Opatre Solos. Post auction, there are but a handful of vehicles left for sale. You can now make the auctioneer an offer.

Let’s take a look at the Optare Solos. Within the auction, there were 18 available, from its fleet of about 45, or about 40 per cent of its Solo fleet. Perhaps vehicles of this size have a limited post-free travel appeal in an urban environment. As far as I know, Lea Hall wasn’t known for its Solos.

The auctioneer sold 14 of the 18. Like the other vehicles, the split in terms of takers was operators and dealers, both in search of bargains. Interestingly, a number of them had recently been re-engined. But although the Solos were S- and T-reg and therefore 12 years old or more, their body style and design hasn’t changed one bit. A fresh lick of paint, a private plate and with their new engines, an operator can easily pass this evergreen vehicle off quite happily as more up to date than they might seem. Given that the Solos (and all other buses) are likely to have been well maintained, we suspect that they were bargains indeed.

Cutting out the Middle Men and Women

It’s unclear whether Surrey council’s call to abolish an “unnecessary quango” refers to the (once critical) traffic commissioners themselves or the administrative role of VOSA. Perhaps Surrey means both. And what about local bus registrations? Should they, too, pass to local authorities?

Surrey is asking the government to pass the responsibility for bus and freight vehicle licensing to local authorities. This may actually fit within the coalition government’s pledges to abandon regional structures in favour of more local ones. Many regional organisations have already been swept aside.

At one level, it seems perfectly reasonable for local transport authorities to deal with *registrations*. They already receive copies, often get advanced notice (and under the terms of the Local Transport Act 2008 will get an extra 10 days) and have staff available to analyse them as part of what must be their normal socially necessary gap analyses. Although electronic bus service registrations leave a lot to be desired, EBSR could so easily speed matters up for local authorities.

What does VOSA do with bus service registrations, anyway? They can’t refuse them. They can’t alter them (unless the *LTA * applies for a traffic regulation order).

It’s arguable that Surrey is indeed right, that VOSA does add an additional layer of bureaucracy that could be avoided. VOSA and the traffic commissioners merely act as librarians, without power. And where there’s a partnership or franchise agreement in place, surely there’s even less of a need for Leeds VOSA staff.

Another great strength in passing registrations down to authorities is that in the main they are democratically accountable. Passengers know how to approach and contact local authorities. It’s rare that passengers have heard of a traffic commissioner or, who? VOSA?

To counter, operators may feel that:

• Local transport authorities would get a little too much power. They might fear the LTA could act as judge & jury, that they might be less favourable to one operator compared with another.
• There might be accusations of political interference.
• The costs of registrations and variations might increase (or perhaps they might even decrease). The proposal would require specific safeguards over costs and standards.
• There might be vested interests in place, as the LTA is responsible for socially necessary bus services and home to school transport.
• The LTA might start or vary some services ahead of the 56 days’ notice, especially if they were contracts.

As for Surrey’s main point about vehicle licensing, this is something quite different and it needs clear thought. Currently, VOSA takes a strong *national* benchmarked position regarding quality. This national intelligence enables a thorough red-amber-green risk assessment.

Hackney carriage & private hire vehicle licensing is already a function undertaken at the lowest sensible local government level, by districts and unitaries (including large ones like Cornwall). We stated in 2005 that there were 375 variations (though this has changed with the spread of unitaries). What’s resulted are accusations from the trade that one authority places more barriers than a neighbour; and a plethora of seemingly local minor rules that might actually best be sorted out by regionalising. After all, one reason for the Road Traffic Act 1930 was to lift bus services from the complex and variable rules at very local level.

Pariah & Presentation

Ever since white lines to segregate traffic appeared in the most hazardous locations in the 1920s, an early road safety measure in fact, motorists have complained about state interference...

They said speeding motorists were going to be the new pariah, just like those who 20 years ago were drink driving. They said attitudes towards inappropriate speed would harden. They said it would be anti-social to speed.

But that was before they said speed camera fines were just another revenue-raising tactic. To the Middle Classes, speed became an issue of motorists’ rights rather than road safety. In doing their safety-related job, so what if cameras raised a pound or too, anyway. If you’re caught burgling a house, you expect society to exact some sort of price from you...

So it is with the workplace parking levy that managed to get itself at the top of the news, yesterday. The same Middle Class motorists will see this as a poll tax on wheels. It was designed to help fund public transport (and to help reduce congestion & emissions) but has now been hijacked as another form of “extortion”. Paying towards public transport while you *park* your car? You’re having a laugh, surely.

Those who benefit from free parking forget that the space in which they park already costs someone, somewhere. It isn’t free. Even if you pay in a local authority car park, the chances are you’re being subsidised.

£250 per annum to park at work (equivalent to about £5 a week) is the sum Nottingham already charges. It’s probably not a great deal if you can afford to fund, insure and run a car but it will significantly contribute to the tram extension.

But it may also be the tipping point that propels someone already discontented with commuting, from car to bus. For those who already see a fine balance between these modes, the levy may be the proverbial back-breaking straw. Anything that helps level the skewed pitch between bus and car must surely be welcomed. And that’s in addition to any improvements the levy might bring. Or rather, without the levy, there might only be bus service cuts.

The problem remains a matter of presentation. Can councils overcome Middle Class fears? They did it in Nottingham. Can they also do it elsewhere, even in Bournemouth, a town also looking at the levy... Or is it too much of an uphill struggle?

In the Soup

As comments on yesterday’s post took ensured it took an unexpected turn, it goes to show that you can’t beat the established media. Yesterday, Trent Barton found itself (unjustifiably?) under the spotlight. Today we look a little further north & east.

Last week, Arriva North East found itself in the soup following concerns in Darlington that advertisements on the sides or rears of its buses were promoting York. It was picked up by a local newspaper.

When I took this photo, the vehicle and route was just about to pass to Arriva. The bus remains within the Arriva North East fleet and based at Darlington. It is, of course, now in turquoise livery. Dorset readers note the destination displayed!

In recessionary times, such concern can easily emerge. Throughout the network subsidy years from the 1970s, also in recession, it was not been unknown for a county authority to threaten support for services that were seen to take people outside its boundary. They tended to forget that motorists, without a second thought, could easily make those same journeys. Why shouldn’t bus passengers (as they were called back then)?

I’m not aware of any direct bus service from Darlington to York and it’s unlikely that Darlington residents will regularly make the 110 mile round trip by car and certainly not to undertake their daily shopping.

York is nevertheless within reach (by car or direct train) as an occasional visitor attraction. I suspect that the York bus adverts are probably trying to position York ahead of other competition within the same mileage radius. People are gong to visit somewhere so, in York’s eyes, its better than Whitby, Newcastle upon Tyne or Blackpool.

What’s interesting is that the local media have branded national Arriva as disloyal to Darlington. Might this get worse once they realise the international Deutsche Bahn link? We suspect that the local media periodically print adverts for Tesco or for Debenhams rather than local shops and stores. Does this make the Northern Echo equally disloyal?

When I went to the Northern Echo website, next to local Raby Castle, the banner advert was for buy direct online insurance from transnational giant Aviva. No mention of any town centre-based broker. Such ads are sent by remote servers over which the Northern Echo has no control. Is the Northern Echo therefore equally disloyal?

Arriva sells advertising space on its buses via a contractor. Arriva has no direct control on what results. This may seem a rather lame excuse on the part of Arriva but it’s no different to the Darlington roadside or rail station billboard displays. It does, of course, raise the issue of whether buses should carry advertising at all for other than its own services.

As for Arriva’s loyalty to Darlington or not, Arriva is the one national group that tends to get on with the job without due fanfare. Often, its local management is locked into the organisations & structures that represent their towns. To think that Arriva is disinterested in its Darlington market suggests that Arriva wishes to commit commercial suicide, the more so in Darlington’s case, after it bought Stagecoach’s operation in the area in 2007.

The average Arriva vehicle age in Darlington is about eight years. True, there are vehicles towards the bottom age range but significantly a post-Stagecoach investment in some 40 new vehicles, mainly Solos. A rather nice commitment, perhaps.

i The Northern Echo piece

On Low Floors & Wheelchairs—Part 4

Post Manchester buses incident over the failure to accommodate a wheelchair passenger, which resulted in a You Tube video and the sacking of the driver concerned, RC169 concludes regarding complaints and the media…

Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3

Reporting the Incident

The other aspect of the Manchester story that seems to have generated almost as much reaction as the incident itself, is the manner of its reporting.

Technology has developed to the point that it is probably just as easy for somebody to use their mobile phone to make a short video clip, as it is to write down the details of the bus number, route number, time, date, details of what happened, etc, in a notebook. Several years ago, I noticed that trainspotters had taken to recording the numbers of locos seen using cassette recorders instead of notebooks and pencils, so arguably, this is just an extension of that approach.

Of course, the internet, and sites like You Tube in particular, provide the video maker with an opportunity for self-promotion, but I think the involvement of the local newspaper was crucial in bringing this story to such a wide audience. I doubt that many people scan the thousands of videos uploaded to You Tube regularly to see if there is a newsworthy item of interest to themselves, so I suspect that, without the local media help, on You Tube alone the incident would possibly have remained undetected for some time.

The media have long presented themselves as champions of consumers, and other people who may have grievances of some form. They can sometimes be effective, and sometimes the organisations being complained about are unresponsive to individual complaints.

To be fair, my (unscientific) analysis and experience suggests that this is not generally the case with bus operators in the UK. The only operator I have had reason to complain to in recent years is, in fact, First, from whom I received a prompt and satisfactory reply which indicated that they had taken my complain seriously.

Unfortunately, there have been a few exceptions—going a few years further back, I complained to an independent operator in the Sheffield area about a journey that did not run, and received a reply to the effect that they didn't really know what happened once the bus had left the depot, and couldn't do much about it if the driver didn't operate according to the schedule.

Or, a complaint to the Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) about one of their trains is likely to bring a response explaining that they are one of the biggest transport operators in Europe, and run over 30,000 trains a day, and implying that one should not be too surprised if a few of those don't run punctually. It becomes quite clear that it has no intention of investigating the specific incident that the complainant has referred to.

This sort of attitude frustrates customers, and it is not surprising that they seek other avenues for making their complaints. Disaffected customers may, understandably, not want to miss an opportunity to embarrass the organisations that are the object of their frustration/anger/concern. For the media, there is, of course, a certain risk—in that the organisation being complained about may be a valued advertising customer, whom it may be politic not to upset.

I'm not quite sure what this says about freedom of speech or the independence of the press. However, for a bus operator, it suggests that the best course of action is to cultivate a good relationship with the media, and at least try to ensure that they are made aware of such complaints at the earliest possible moment, so as to be able to give a quick response. To hope that this method of complaint will go away is unrealistic, but a responsive complaint handling process may keep it to a minimum.

And, as Alex Hornby, late of Bluestar and now director of Trent Barton said on this very blog, complaints are valuable method of understanding your customers’ concerns. There is no better feedback.

When a passport won’t do, today on the Dorset Bus Blog.

Subsidy—a vulgar word

The need to improve rail capacity and increasing motorway maintenance may have snatched the headlines in the Chartered Institute of (Logistics &) Transport’s recent survey, but there was something else hidden in the results.

The duty fell to the institute’s president, Sir Moir Lockhead, to reveal that there should be a rebalancing away from subsidy—direct and indirect—towards higher user contributions. This means fares increases. It also means the CILT survey favoured changes to free travel (something the government has said it won’t countenance) and an end to rural bus subsidies.

No doubt he felt uncomfortable. That Lockheed said such things is somewhat akin to Joe Greenwell, the president of the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders and vice-president of Ford of Europe, arguing for national road pricing to reduce the subsidy lavished on motorists. As on commenter points out, the survey could be accused of bias.

As a famous permanent secretary (i.e. top civil servant) once said, “Subsidy is for art, for culture. It is not to be given for what people want. It is for what people don’t want and ought to have. If they want something, they’ll pay for it themselves.” (Permanent secretary to the Department of Administrative Affairs, December 1982).

Attitudes

The national press has latched on to Worcester’s Bromyard Road bus lane. At £3.2mil, the 110 yards of Worcester bus lane might be the most expensive in England. Or it might not be. For the media have concentrated on just one element. In with the price comes junction improvements, traffic signals, diversion of utilities, street lights, pedestrian crossings and improvements for cyclists—all along more than the 110 yards in question. And the media have failed to mention that the original £3.2mil scheme has been cut back.

No, what’s at issue here is attitudes. Bromyard Road serves as an illustration of many people’s thinking.

When it comes down to it, people (motorists) will use any argument to rail against the installation of a bus lane (even if, as in this case, the council has withdrawn the most beneficial-to-buses part of the scheme owing to complaints about congestion). They jib against anything that potentially offers what they see as an inferior mode an advantage over their own, private transport. And I bet elsewhere such people will declare their pro-environment and pro-carbon reduction credentials. They may even have changed their car from petrol to diesel as a result.

What’s at play here is the difference between cognitive systems that govern our higher level beliefs and the implicit systems that govern our every day behaviour. They believe they are green when their actions say grey. They rationalise everyday actions to fit their beliefs. In other words, they say one thing but do another. This is an actual known fact, because it was on Radio 4 yesterday (Material World, available on iPlayer).

And then there’s the usual “not in my back yard” syndrome. People will support measures to thwart climate change and agree with bus service enhancements for everyone’s benefit but please don’t install a bus lane on my commuting route or where I need to park to get a paper or where I need to pull over to visit the cash machine.

As part of the £3.2mil scheme, the council wanted to facilitate parking off the busy Bromyard Road onto side streets but this, too, was unpopular and withdrawn.

Let’s assume congestion on Bromyard Road is such that it’s adding significantly to operators’ cost. Cuts in service and or fares increases will inevitably result. Then you hear the counter argument, “Why are you discouraging people from using the bus? Isn’t the government actually trying to *encourage* greater use?”

Mind you, £3.2mil *is* rather a lot, enough to buy over 25 brand new buses, something that would have a positive impact on readership and even modal shift.

In Bristol Fashion

It’s a bit chancy, throwing all your subsidy eggs into one basket but that’s what Bristol council intends. Rather than tendering systematically, it’s offering its entire subsidised services stock in one go, in a handful of agglomerated packages.

By batching up routes, Bristol feels that it can attract potential new entrants. Will this work? Three years ago or more, the likes of Veolia might’ve had a crack at this sort of thing. After all, the total package is worth over £4mil and there would’ve been the prospect of some commercial add-ons. Now, though, Veolia is much weaker in the UK and commercial operations are a bit of a risk during a static market. Rotala might also have a go, like Redditch. But hang on, Rotala’s already in the Bristol market anyway, thanks to Wessex Connect/South Gloucestershire.

If I were a betting man, I’d say that the chances of brand new competition were slim but not out of the question. It’s probably not enough to entice Stagecoach into the ring, for example, like in North Devon.

At least Bristol sees some competition. Apart from less than a handful of routes operated by Buglar’s, the current split is almost exactly 50:50 Rotala Wessex Connect:First. With or without any new entrant, retendering may force prices down, tempting Rotala to jostle with First. The question is, will First also be able to sharpen its pencil? Or will the council see an increase?

Batching up tenders will tend to favour larger operators. Is Bristol therefore shunning smaller suppliers or is this a pragmatic move that recognises the reality of bus service operations, over twenty years since deregulation? Bulgar’s has been in the local bus market in Bristol since 1986, starting with subsidised fare paying school services. In those days, there were battles royal between the then Badgerline and Bristol Omnibus t/a Cityline, with a remarkable affect on prices. Badgerline, for example, won the half-hourly 525 cross-city double deck route, sparking a fares war with almost-though-not-quite side-by-side Cityline. Both are, of course, now part of First.

One reason for Bristol’s stance is that it is trying to bring down what are viewed as First’s high fares. Any tender losses by First may actually have the opposite effect.

As for lower fares on subsidised services, it’s quite conceivable that the council might be able achieve this goal but:

1. These are a minority of routes
2. By their nature they will only serve relatively smaller passenger numbers
3. A number of them will be evening add-ons where surely the daytime commercial fare would apply and
4. The balance between fares charged and subsidy paid would have to re-balance; lower fares equals higher subsidy.

Pay & Rewards

Regular blog readers will know that I am something of BBC Home Service (Radio 4) aficionado. Right now, you can navigate to a R4 webpage to take a guess at how much 10 professions earn. Better yet, you can then estimate how much you think they *should* earn. Leaving aside how the BBC chooses to avoid stereotypes (by portraying a FTSE 100 managing director, train driver and hospital porter as female while picking the opposite for a personal assistant and retailer cashier), the results are interesting.

For most of the professions, most people, most of the time got their estimates right. It’s interesting that they were significantly out for the FTSE 100 managing director and footballer, probably because each’s pay is beyond people’s comprehension.

The other salary that people felt was significantly too high was that of a train driver. One third of those who voted thought this was between £25-£35K; another third got it right at between £35-£45K, for its actually on average about £40K (with drivers on the likes of the east & west coast main rail lines earning more. The minimum in the UK is about £35K).

Results of the BBC web survey as they stood at 0600 this morning. 43 per cent of respondents felt that train drivers should be paid not in the £35-50K bracket but £25-35K. Three quarters of respondents indicated they felt train drivers were over-paid

When asked what people thought the train driving profession *should* be paid, most plumped for £25-35K—or less.

The BBC decided not to add bus driver to its list, which is a pity. Depending upon region, length of service, overtime and guarantees, bus & coach drivers earn about half that of train drivers. Is this fair? While I am inclined to say “good for the train drivers”, it does demonstrate a gross inequity, something with which the BBC website readers perhaps tend to agree, by marking train drivers down.

It’s all about what the market will bear, of course, and train drivers may be “safety critical” but they don’t have the significant burden of dealing with passengers. And much of the train driver’s environment is controlled for them by signals and guards/conductors.

i BBC R4 Pay Feature

Green Lines

Look hard at London’s five bus map guides and you’ll see green lines and numbers, especially towards the periphery. A green designation indicates a service that doesn’t form part of the TfL network. These are services upon which passengers probably cannot use the full range of Oysters, Travelcards or TfL bus passes. They operate by London service permit and they originate outside greater London. Except one.

May I stick my neck out and say that London’s 812 (Hoxton/Clerkenwell) is the only non-TfL route operating wholly within the mayoral boundary. Unless, of course, you know differently*.

812 is otherwise known as PlusBus (not to be confused with PlusBus). In March 2007, it gained the number 812, opened up to fare paying passengers (where previously it was closed for community transport users only) and lost its 100 per cent TfL funding. Thereafter, 812 operated with support from both TfL and Islington council, in the vain hope of persuading TfL of the service’s worth. TfL was unconvinced and the responsibility soon fell solely to Islington. The five-day-a-week service continued at half-hourly intervals and then became thrice an hour, between 0930 and 1600 NSSu.

Until this year, 812 operated with Optare Aleros. Operator Hackney Community Transport’s CT Plus has just invested in three 16-seat Bluebird Tucana replacements. The 20-minute frequency continues.

The 812 is rather an atypical London service, because:

• It isn’t TfL’s responsibility.


• It serves both recognises bus stops and runs hail-and-ride.


• Buses are yellow, to distinguish them from TfL franchises contracts.


• TfL publicise details but other than the freedom pass, no other TfL cards are permitted or travel. 812 accepts only cash fares and free travel cards.


• It’s numbered in the classification reserved for regional coach services. The only other 8nn service is the one-return peak journey 895 serving Southall industrial estate.


• It is the only route in the UK designed by its users (so it’s said).

We’d challenge the last statement. Any tendered service is designed by the people it serves, albeit indirectly via the representative local transport authority. And with more and more industry consultation, the same may be said for other services, though we take Islington’s point if it were true that its users were the direct planners. My guess is that Islington had to lay down some parameters to prevent the 812 becoming hijacked by competing users’ needs, views and interests. And there would probably have been vociferous users involved at the expense of passive ones.

And we’d add that commercial services are tentatively designed by their users, because they operate at times and on routes where people actually want to *go*. Otherwsie, why would they operate?

* In making this over-generalisation, I am discounting school & works services, LU replacements, park & rides, and specific contracted (e.g. for Mecca Bingo). If I’m wrong, I apologise, and need to correct myself by saying the 812 must be one of only a tiny few of non-TfL routes wholly within London.

Responding to the post entitled 1,400 Complaints, a commenter said, “Please get Busing to make an article from the more amusing complaints one day!”. Well, to a degree, I already did, in 2004. It was some passenger comments during my enforced and also voluntary time in the enquiry office. Feel free to add any of your own. And then here were those X-rated home “Polaroids” found on the bus and handed in to the enquiry office, together with the owner’s name & address...

The Lighter Heavyweight

You’ll find a solitary example in Bradford, under evaluation by First. One-offs are fine but outwardly identical buses invariably differ in the way they drive. The better trial is therefore Arriva North East’s, where alongside Arriva-approved VDL SB200s is a batch of 21 complete strangers—Temsa Avenue LF 42-seaters.

Arriva aims to see whether a more fuel efficient, one ton lighter bus can last the course when up against its now traditional 44-seat VDL SB200/Wrightbus Cadet combination. All this takes place at Redcar. For those unfamiliar with the seaside resort, it’s like Bournemouth only (a) smaller, (b) up north & east and therefore cooler, and (c) with mothballed industry.

First Avenue arrival was 4700, in November 2009, preceding the other 20 by some four months. The use of Cotswold at the front lends itself well to the otherwise upright, almost Citaro-esk frontal bodywork. Note the offside position of the Arriva name when compared to the other Temsas

Of late, Redcar garage has enjoyed something of a re-tooling, with no fewer than 12 59- or 10-plate SB200s and 21 similarly aged Temsas. Both use the same engine, though the Temsas’ are more powerful. The results of the comparisons will not only determine future Arriva policy, they will stimulate all manufacturers into shedding unnecessary weight. It’s early days regarding the trial. The question nevertheless is, are the lighter heavyweights passenger-friendly?

The Arriva X3 and X4 offer a superb service from Redcar to Middlesborough, seen here, with for buses an hour and a 25-minute journey time

To find out, Omnibuses Northern Correspondent recently undertook four journeys on the 25-minute X3/X4 inter-urban limited stop service between Redcar and Middlesborough. OK, perhaps these aren’t the best routes for such a sample but they do mix urban traffic with inter-urban speed.

A number of seats were on seemingly awkward plinths, including on the front nearside. Here, there was no full barrier ahead. Excellent as a driver trainer, the seat nevertheless blocked forward views from within. Otherwise, the deep windows ensured passengers had excellent side vision

NC found each bus outwardly smart and inwardly acceptable. With a wide entrance and a continuous low floor, access should be no problem. A compromise with total low floor does, however, mean a number of seats are on awkward plinths. Indeed, passengers might get the feeling that Temsa has squeezed seating into any & every available space. Ten of the 42 seats faced rearward and a further three were side-facing tip-ups. At least one older passenger had difficulty in climbing from a higher rear seat to the floor. An abundance of plinth scuff marks on the copious grey plastic indicated that passengers may find such seating a challenge.

With its roof-mounted exhaust, the engine is shoe-horned next to the three-seat rear bench and the rear can be claustrophobic, a little noisier and a little warm. Noise elsewhere was acceptable though slightly higher than the SB200/Cadet. Road noise tended to reverberate around, a little. There were on a few occasion some notchiness when down changing.

Performance	¬¬¬¬¬
Ride	¬¬¬
Passenger Vision	¬¬¬¬
Seating	¬
Drive Train Noise	¬¬¬
Rattle/vibration	¬¬¬
Overall	¬¬¬

There were a few low-level rattles, too, and though almost indistinct, might escalate as the mileage increases. One had an irritating squeak coming from the amidships located emergency exit that sent NC’s teeth on edge!

It’s unlikely that passengers will notice the power, acceleration and speed of the Temsas, evident when leaving junctions and along the dual carriageways linking Redcar with its sub-regional centre. Power was smooth and the ride here good, though drivers needed to avoid consequential harsh braking. Drivers will no doubt appreciate the on-tap available power, even if the well laid out cab did look a bit cramped for them. There was a slight fussiness on poorer quality roads but overall, the ride was more than acceptable.

The main concern was that nature of the seat “squabs” and backs. Minimal padding will be an issue for those travelling from the further terminus of Easington to Middlesborough, a journey of up to 76 minutes. Seat pitches were nonetheless generous.

An Avenue, reposing at Redcar bus station, is joined by incoming 4701, numerically the first of the 20 later arrivals. Redcar bus station is unique. It comprises a bus shelter, one stand and parking for some three buses. No doubt things were different in pre-health & safety days. Neither the stop within nor those on the adjacent road indicated that they were served by the X3 or X4

There were reports of significant amounts of road dust entering the vehicle via the chassis. By now, Arriva may have resolved that problem. There was no obvious evidence of dust on the buses recently used.

The initial view here, at last, was a Turkish service bus fit for purpose. Performance was excellent, ride good, if seats too hard. The oldest of the main batch is barely six months old and time will tell whether these lighter, cheaper single decks will last the course. Meanwhile, the results of Arriva’s full operational comparisons are awaited.

Rapacious?

When an area faces cuts in service or where fares increase, some local “expert” will have trawled the internet to find the global profit of the group whose subsidiary is making revisions. The profit level will have several zeros after it and the inference is that the blood-sucking, rapacious, private sector cares more about shareholders than stakeholders.

Of course, the operator must care about both. The better measure of profitability is not the global figure but the local profit margin. The public doesn’t understand the measure and it never finds its way into print. This is a pity, as a low profit margin indicates a risk that future profits could easily erode. It says that the business is unable to control costs.

Cost control has proven difficult for the industry as a whole. Labour, insurance and fuel costs are all volatile. Revenues show static growth. Profit margins therefore are in a parlous state.

Annually, TAS examines profit margins throughout the UK bus industry. Its monitor paints a fairly downbeat assessment. It has compared actual margins with those it feels will result in a strong, sustainable and healthy industry. Profits and turnover have both increased but its analysis indicates that margins are insufficient and slipping. The conclusion can only be one of medium turn concern. Something, perhaps for the Competition Commission and its market investigation to consider.

Above and Beyond?

It started out with a majority in favour of the “yes” camp. This was not to last long. By the end of the day, fortunes had reversed and “not necessarily” was well in the ascendancy. Later, this majority increased sharply.

We asked the question, “Should all scheduled express services have destinations above the windscreen?”. Just over a fifth of you said “yes”, for consistency, clarity and conformity. Just over ¾ of those who responded felt this was not necessarily necessary.

Thank you top all who took part in the survey. I was a little surprised at result. This survey attracted nearly twice the number who voted as to whether the term for “passenger” should indeed be “passenger” or “customer”.

45 per cent of respondents stated that they worked (or have worked) in the bus industry, a quarter of whom felt destinations should be above rather than below the windscreen.

Say Cheese

It’s hard cheese for Optare in Tuesday’s bumper, though predictable, Stagecoach vehicle order announcement. 338 buses or £65mil and Stagecoach has been consistent with its orders over the past four years, recession or none. Operators need to turn their fleet over but the Stagecoach approach tends to adopt a strong renewal policy to generate growth. First does likewise to a degree, though it has a different overall approach between the two.

209 of the 338 buses will be wholly built by Souter Investements’ part-owned Alexander Dennis Ltd. You will recall Brian Souter’s 2006 £90mil deal saved ADL from bankruptcy. It’s as well. Britain needs a choice of manufacturer. At least Stagecoach is reaping the rewards.

A further 117 chassis—Volvos and Scanias—will receive an ADL body. That leaves 12 for other manufacturers. As you might expect, arguably Britain’s best bodybuilder, Wrightbus, sees no orders. And it’s Optare that is the beneficiary of just 12, comprising three Versas and nine Solos. Better than a poke in the eye, though.

The Solo was once a popular Stagecoach choice but, like last year’s order, it’s rather been by-passed.

Indeed, the squeeze is on the Solo. There’s little difference, if any, in price between the Enviro 200 and the Solo. The new Wrightbus Streetlite comes in at the same level, too, and this could see Solo sandwiched between the two.

The market for minibuses is still not insubstantial. Stagecoach will receive 76 E200s, over a fifth of the order. The E200 chassis is basically a Dart, the Ford Cortina of the bus industry if you like. The body looks good, even like a “big bus” (though its larger E300 sibling isn’t so cute, especially towards the rear) but the E200 tends to suffer a little from body rattle (as befits a Dart?). This, perhaps, is where the Streetlite might score.

On Low Floors & Wheelchairs—Part 3

Post Manchester bus incident, RC169 continues on the subject of wheelchairs. See part 1 here and part 2, including comments from chair users, here

The Human Element (2)

A third problem related to the carriage of wheelchairs on buses is the potential clash of interests with pushchairs and buggies, and other passengers occupying the space reserved for wheelchairs, as has already been discussed on this blog.

It’s understandable that bus operators have chosen to market the low floor vehicles as being ‘buggy-friendly’. Parents with children outnumber wheelchair users, and many would have been existing bus users, in contrast to wheelchair users. Any revenue from wheelchair users would probably only be concessionary fares reimbursement, so that the loss of at least four seats for a wheelchair space would not appear commercially viable.

Conversely the low floor would enable operators to offer parents with children a 'step change' in the quality of service provided, so it is no surprise that operators have chosen to market the facility in this way.

The difficulty arises because politicians believe that people with disabilities should be given priority in the use of these spaces, but they don't have to organise and enforce these rules on the street. A triumph of hope over experience, perhaps? First Group (purely by way of an example) says on some of its regional websites:

“If the wheelchair space is occupied by a non-wheelchair user the driver will make every effort to ask them to move to allow you to board. Unfortunately, if a fellow passenger refuses to move you will need to wait for the next bus.”

This may seem like a reasonable compromise, but I suspect that a wheelchair user could, in certain circumstances, argue that they had been discriminated against.

I suspect that all of these issues will deter some wheelchair users from using buses, particularly for longer journeys and on less frequent services, so that some other solution may need to be found.

To be concluded...

1,400 Complaints

“Bus passengers make 1,400 complaints about services in six months”. So read the headline in the Manchester Evening News.

At first it sounds horrific. But is it simply sensationalist? 1,400 in six months equates to 53 a week, or about the capacity of just one single deck bus trip. I agree that 53 is 53 too many but we need to get this into context. I also agree that for every complaint, there are likely to be several similarly dissatisfied people. But, recent research by Passenger Focus paints a different picture.

Continues the MEN, “Figures show the bus was responsible for by far the most complaints by the region’s public transport passengers in the period January-July this year.” Well, perhaps the bus carries by far the greater number of passengers (customers). Unlike rail or tram, buses have no track upon which to operate. They suffer at the vagaries of traffic congestion and diversions. There’s more contact with unsupervised staffing aboard buses—the driver. A bus stops far more often than the other public transport modes. These alone will occasionally result in conflict because of the very nature of human beings. Is it therefore surprising that buses take the lion’s share of the complaints?

What we don’t know is whether this is improving or not. GMPTE stated that the number was “constant” but we don’t know trends over what period. And, what are the targets? As numbers rise with free travel, complaints don’t seem to have. Also, how many complaints relate to operational matters against service withdrawals, for example?

It would also be nice to learn what operators are doing to drive complaints down. Or the positive steps operators have in place to remedy problems as reported. No mention of that. And, does GMPTE have any idea of the number of malicious, false or unsubstantiated claims? These, surely, are omissions from the Manchester Evening News press report.

A more balanced view, therefore, comes from Passenger Focus who in July published research undertaken in Greater Manchester. It interviewed nearly 2,000 passengers. Satisfaction with operators ranged from 84 to 86 per cent. Indeed, overall satisfaction levels against the main attributes were: getting a seat—86%; length of time the journey took—76%; journey‘s smoothness and freedom from jolting—74%; length of time spent waiting for the bus—68%; and punctuality—67%. Some of these areas are outside the control of operators.

Value for money and frequency were the main problems reported in the survey, at 28 per cent each.

If you follow developments in Greater Manchester, you will be delighted to learn of the return this month of the defunct Manchester Buses blog, reborn as the Manchester Transport

Heads and Tails

Its heads you win, tails you win in Chester, later this month. Ahead of the Oxford partnership comes one between First and Arriva, on Chester’s killer route, the Blacon circulars.

After a false start, this is due to start on 30th August 2010. It ends a highly combative situation. Marketed as the Blacon Pointer, this does not refer to Pointer Darts on the service but is a play on words on Blacon Point Road, one of the thoroughfares at the heart of the suburb. The services involved are the Chester-Blacons (1/1A) and Chester-Saughalls via Blacon (15/15A). Blacon Point Road is at right angles to Morton Road, so named in after the MD of Arriva Buses Wales, the subsidiary running Arriva’s part of the partnership, in gratitude.

Successor Cheshire West & Chester council’s publicity for the Blacon Pointer. Note the larger silhouette of the dog looks similar to First’s Greyhound and that Blacon and Saughall are actually to the west of the city centre rather than to the east! The DB6 is an evening contract operated by GHA Coaches of Wrexham, Wales, with leather seated Solos usually operating rural daytime “Dee Bee” branded services

Currently, Arriva operates every 10 minutes on each of the 1 and1A and every 10 on the 15/15A. First operates at 10-minute intervals on each of its 1 and 1A but has withdrawn from the 15/15A. This current situation equates to 30 departures an hour, from Chester towards Blacon. Of these, 18 are Arriva and 12 First.

The new pattern sees a combined service at every 10 minutes on each of the 1 and 1As. The 15/15As reduces to four per hour. The total towards Blacon is therefore a more realistic 16 per hour. Because of return ticket interavailability and mutual season ticket recognition, Blacon passengers will notice no discernible difference, unless they benefit from free travel and currently catch the first bus that comes along. Everyone wins.

It may take drivers a little while to get used to the change of culture. Whereas, for three years, there’s been antipathy between them, they’ll soon be colleagues working for each other’s benefit.

The new pattern’s PVR is now 10, reduced from some 17. Again, everyone wins and both save face in a battle that in all honesty currently provides far more journeys than the Blacon market can bear. This is evident in loadings.

Flashback to June 2007

Here’s a summary of the Blacon high drama:

• In 2006, Chester council put its troubled arms length Chesterbus on the market.


• Arriva North Wales & Wales (as was) offered stability in running all services commercially, leaving the council with valuable depot land adjacent to the rail station.


• The council rejected Arriva’s offer.


• Arriva nevertheless over-registered the network but soon pulled back to key routes only.


• The council took Arriva to court. Arriva necessarily delayed implementation.


• In June 2007, the council lost though it wasn’t entirely painless for Arriva.


• The council immediately sold to First, officially from 2 July 2007.


• 11 days after the court case, in late June 2007, Arriva wasted no time in starting its services under the Chester Citybus sub-brand, to Blacon (1/1A) and Saughall via Blacon (15/15A). It used brand new SLF Cadets against First’s step Darts & Olympians.


• First gradually replaced its older stock with cascaded SLF single decks.


• Though in September 2007 Arriva flirted with a service to Piper’s Ash, First made a number of changes, upping and reducing frequency, before alighting on every 10 minutes on each of their 1s and 1As, and eventually withdrawing from Saughall.


• Arriva’s Blacon and Saughall journeys have offered remarkable stability.
  

Photo and additional information from Omnibuses Northern Correspondent

Applause

“It’s a fantastic day for Oxford… we can’t give Stagecoach enough applause”. Such raw emotion is somewhat rare these days and probably hasn’t been heard since the coming of the provincial Motor Omnibus at the turn of the 20th century, writes & photographs Omnibuses Northern Correspondent.

Yet, these are the reported words of an Oxfordshire councillor upon the launch of the first of Stagecoach in Oxford’s 26 Green Bus funded electric hybrid ADL Enviro400Hs, last month. Initially used on the Cowley Road service (1, Oxford-Blackbird Leys), others are now filtering on the 7A/B Oxford-Kidlington. Oxford’s single hybrid bus-for-bus investment is the biggest in England, even ahead of London’s.

The delivery has somewhat eclipsed the arrival from June of The Oxford Bus Company’s 20 conventional Scania N230UD/ADL Enviro 400s, also used on the Cowley Road (5, Oxford-Blackbird Leys) and the 2s to Kidlington.

OBC’s is almost an equally impressive roll-out, and it’s designed ahead of this autumn’s ground-braking quality partnership with Stagecoach on these and two other key corridors. Part of the deal involves increasing capacities on the 1, 2, 5 & 7A/B from single to double deck, capacity that will, of course, need to be filled.

Apart from the Stenning green exteriors and revised Stagecoach green moquette within; and the reds throughout of the OBC’s, will Passengers/Users/Customers notice the hybrid difference?

No. Upstairs, certainly not, (and here they suffer equally from the very occasional drum of low trees, by the way). Downstairs, Stagecoach’s hybrids appear a little noisier—though it would take a tuned ear to notice. And that’s not just the marginally louder though smaller engine (which sounds similar to an E200). As the generator, motor and engine all strike up together, you get sounds at three pitch levels.

Oxford’s E400Hs use regenerative braking, thus avoiding lengthy battery charges. Stagecoach claims a 30 per cent reduction in fuel & emissions. Presumably, this is over a standard double deck rather than the singles the E400H replaced. Whatever the comparison, Stagecoach needs to consider the London experience, where economies don’t quite match expectations. BAe Systems, who manufacture the established American technology, ahead of the UK game, are nevertheless upbeat.

As for future ebullience and excitement on the part of the people of Oxfordshire, may be more will come when the QBP starts in earnest, later this year. This promises co-ordinated frequencies, fares and ticketing along the four corridors. The Oxford Bus Co is already advising it’s The Key smartcard Passengers/Users/Customers to log in to prepare for the change.

The Oxford Bus Company has for some time trumpeted the strides it’s made in terms of air quality, including an on-bus star-rating system. Overnight, Stagecoach has eclipsed that. With a fifth of Stagecoach’s city fleet to become hybrid, perhaps it’s Stagecoach rather than the OBC who can claim to be “best in Britain”

In today’s substantive post below, we refer to celebrating diversity. Here’s the opposite. If you haven’t yet noticed the so-called “Peckham Terminator”, here’s the video link. I lost count of the truly disgusting expletives. It says much about the society we’ve managed to create for ourselves. If you can stand it, you’ll need to watch to the end for a surprise, almost a spoof. You will need to be over 18.

Elitism

Much has now been said about Plaxton’s new high-end coach, the Élite, some of it good, some average. I’m sure that Omnibuses was the first to blog about them, way back in 2008.

One of five conventional two-axle Volvo B9Rs with Plaxton Élite bodywork for Stagecoach in Oxford, for the Oxford-Stanstead service

The Élite, though still comparatively rare, has started to appear in some sort of numbers on English highways and, interestingly and in spite of National Express recently reaffirming the Lavente as its choice, the Plaxton is finding its way onto NatEx services. It’s also Stagecoach’s choice for the upmarket rebrand of Citylink’s top-flight direct expresses.

Something I don’t think any blog’s yet mentioned is the Élite’s destination display, which reintroduces the concept of Passenger/User/Customer (PUC) information below the windscreen. For all the Élite’s elegant design, this strikes me as something of a flaw, perhaps even an afterthought. Did designers feel that Élite would appeal to jam-and-cream extended holiday tours rather than bread-and-butter expresses? On the Élite, such equipment cannot, of course, be easily housed in its now traditional location, above the windscreen.

Compare single deck buses and coaches. It’s essential that a bus has destination equipment across the dome. In traffic, this makes distinguishing you service easier. You can spot your bus from a distance. It’s less important as regards coaching. Most coaches neither need nor have any destination equipment, anyway. While NatEx and Citylink might get away with waist-high destinations, is this ideal? There’s still a requirement for expresses to be seen from the street but they tend to pull in at specific stops irrespective of whether there’s someone waiting, or not.

The paraphernalia and clutter these days associated with nose-in bus stations would suggest it’s best to have your display as high as possible. Added to which, this is where people look. We live in an age that celebrates diversity and there will be people, partially sighted or disabled, who may find the shift confusing. Is the vehicle in service, for example?

In the days of half-cabs, when coach destinations moved from slip boards to window apertures, displays went above the windscreen level. They had to. With the introduction of underfloor engines, destinations migrated to below the windscreen. Witness the original Panorama Elite, one of Britain’s finest coach bodies. This position typically remained ill New Bus Grant and operators could buy coach specified vehicles for dual purpose work. Hence, by the time of the Plaxton Panorama Elite II, it was the norm to place destination equipment above the windscreen and there it’s been, ever since, though this was an option. As late as 1980, Bournemouth Corporation’s Plaxton Supremes inconveniently had their displays at waist level, though they operated excursions, tours and private hires.

Perhaps things will change when Plaxton designs its Élite II.

Be in No Doubt

There was absolutely no doubt about this one. Earlier this week, we asked whether readers felt that people who use buses are either “passengers” or “customers”. The extent of the result surprised even me. Just 13 per cent of those who responded felt that someone who uses a bus was a “customer”.

Just under 40 per cent of respondents said they worked in the bus industry. There was a much higher inclination among these respondents to refer to their bread and butter as “customers”.

There were a number of comments following the post. I agree to a point that a customer isn’t always a passenger (e.g. the local transport authority may be a customer, though I see them as the dreaded word “stakeholder”) but I do get niggled when people talk of “internal customers”. This might describe the relationship between the Traffic/Operations/Commercial & Engineering, for example.

Someone felt that those who travel on buses are “users”. After all, there’s Bus Users UK (the National Federation of Bus Users, as was). Fair point. For me, a user is quite crude. And it’s interesting to consider the name chosen by the body that represents bus and coach operators: the Confederation of Passenger Transport. It’s also telling that Passenger Focus isn’t Transport Customer Focus or Transport User Focus.

I rather liked Cirdan05’s comment: “A customer is a punter in the queue at the supermarket checkout or buying books on amazon.com . He is interchangeable, he is served in an automated and mechanical manner and his opinion is of no interest. A passenger has a grander ring in my ears.”

Reading Between the Lines

As the single decks on Wilts & Dorset’s More M1 and M2 cross-conurbation services are progressively repainted and deep-cleaned, it’s exceedingly gratifying to hear that these services have achieved a 100 per cent ridership increase since the new services were launched in December 2004. And this (apparently) does not include More M5 & M6 (Poole-Canford Heath).

Mind you, the W&D press release which, unusually, has dropped the claim to be the region’s premier operator, does state that More services extend to Christchurch. Erm, no, not any longer. Since May 2009, the accolade for the comprehensive cross-conurbation operator falls to the other premier operator, Transdev Yellow Buses’ 1B/C (Poole-Bournemouth-Boscombe-Christchurch-Somerford). W&D More M2 buses now terminate at Boscombe (and Castlepoint).

TYB, too, has seen growth on its 1B/C. It cannot, of course, compete with W&D between Poole-Bournemouth at every 3½ minutes, though it does better between Bournemouth & Boscombe. TYB’s USP is the double deck, able to swallow those unpredictable English as a Foreign Language students who tend to buy Glo Cards to access the whole of the Bournemouth network. A clot of EFLs might be around the next corner and it can take only two stops to wipe out a W&D single deck.

W&D goes on to say that it’s generated 60 per cent extra passengers across its entire operating area. You can’t put all that down to free travel, not 60 per cent. So, this is yet more good news. It eclipses TYB’s at-its-peak increase of 40 per cent but TYB’s achieved that by consistently improving its total product. W&D’s been selective.

Further, in spite of the growth, W&D’s made a number of cuts in recent years, not least on its More network beyond Boscombe to Christchurch and Burton. W&D’s left Burton to a TYB hourly replacement. This enabled W&D to concentrate solely on Poole-Boscombe and Poole-Castlepoint. The quarter hourly X12, bifurcating at Christchurch to either Lymington or Burton’s been halved, to Lymington only. In June 2008, W&D adjusted its Poole area urban services, seeing a reduction in mileage of about nine per cent. And it’s withdrawn or curtailed all its longer distance routes, perhaps jumping the EU hours gun, perhaps getting out while it could.

What we do have on strategic routes is Oxford-style quality competition. This is attributable in raising each other’s game and growing the market. That it doesn’t work everywhere perhaps says more about Poole & Bournemouth than it does other places.

Yet, in what might be a strong hint of things to come, managing director Alex Carter also said for the press, “We will continue to update and enhance the services so that our limited resources in terms of buses and drivers are placed where there is the most demand and potential for bus travel.”

It doesn’t take much reading between the lines to conclude what that statement means. To think that some people have had the temerity to suggest W&D is interested in nothing other than the likes of More, Pulseline (sorry, Red1), the Wimborne Flyer and a handful of others...