Bus service changes

Thehooperman

Thehooperman

Well-Known Forumite
cj1 said:
A lot of the subsidies are only being removed for times when hardly anybody uses them I.e. Evening services where the busses are over 90% empty.
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Doesn't help me as a fare paying passenger though does it? I bought a yearly season ticket on the basis that I had a bus home if I went out for the evening or had to work late.

It would be better to move the current hourly service to a 90 minute or 2 hourly service. Even miss out the mid evening service but still run the later services.

I can't believe the 15 minute service during the day is a financial goer and this is where the savings should be made in my opinion.
 
kyoto49

kyoto49

Well-Known Forumite
cj1 said:
A lot of the subsidies are only being removed for times when hardly anybody uses them I.e. Evening services where the busses are over 90% empty.
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The roads are 90% empty then as well. Might as well close them too, make everyone stay at home or only travel in the day.

Buses should be there to provide transport to the benefit of society and community cohesion, not as a means of making a profit for shareholders.
 
proactive

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
I don't remember feeling much community cohesion the last time I had the misery of being on a bus.
 
Thehooperman

Thehooperman

Well-Known Forumite
Looks like the subsidy cuts are already happening!!! No sign of the 19.34 from outside Spoons tonight!!

Sorry did I say cuts? I missed the N out, sorry.
 
C

cj1

Well-Known Forumite
kyoto49 said:
The roads are 90% empty then as well. Might as well close them too,
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Now your just being silly busses are expensive to run. Roads cost maintenance one constructed. It would cost more to open and close everyday then to keep them open 24/7. Just because the subsidy is stopping doesn't mean the service will stop completely. It may still be profitable to keep a bus or 2 on in the evenings.
 
Thehooperman

Thehooperman

Well-Known Forumite
cj1 said:
Now your just being silly busses are expensive to run. Roads cost maintenance one constructed. It would cost more to open and close everyday then to keep them open 24/7. Just because the subsidy is stopping doesn't mean the service will stop completely. It may still be profitable to keep a bus or 2 on in the evenings.
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Just who are you trying to kid? The clue is in the word subsidy. There is no chance buses will run without being subsidised.

They always have been and it should be a public service to reduce the traffic on our roads. Unless of course you own a car park in the town centre.
 
Mikinton

Mikinton

Well-Known Forumite
Just out of interest, who among us actually uses the bus service?

I used to, to and from work, 5 days a week etc, unless a neighbour saw me stood at the bus stop and gave me a lift. (In the last few years before I retired, it wouldn't have mattered as I'd bought a season ticket.)

Now I just use it on the rare occasions I'm going for a drink in town, and even then I'm not averse to walking there or back, or sharing a taxi home.

But that's about it.

It's a shame as I used to do a lot of reading on the bus.
 
C

cj1

Well-Known Forumite
I don't agree 4 busses on a route in the evenings may need a subsidy to operate. but one bus on the same route may have enough fee-paying passengers to operate above the break-even point
 
Gramaisc

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Mikinton said:
Just out of interest, who among us actually uses the bus service?
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I used the 101 about 1995 to go to Hanley and bring a motorbike back - other than that, I haven't been on a bus in the UK since the 1970s, I suspect.

In other countries, with more of a "public service" ethos, I've used them quite a bit.
 
proactive

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
Mikinton said:
Just out of interest, who among us actually uses the bus service?
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Excluding airport-car park buses, last time I used a bus was from Wildwood to Town Centre in March 1983.

It was so awful I walked back and never bothered again.
 
Mikinton

Mikinton

Well-Known Forumite
proactive said:
Excluding airport-car park buses, last time I used a bus was from Wildwood to Town Centre in March 1983.

It was so awful I walked back and never bothered again.
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The standard of service does change over time.

I remember when they were running mini-buses fairly frequently up to Baswich (#1), Wildwood (#2?) and Walton (#3?), they were frequently packed, ...... and the number of times I watched 3 Wildwood buses go past with no sign of a Baswich bus .....

Unfortunately, while the standard of service goes up with there being more space on the bus, the fewer passengers mean the service makes even bigger losses.
 
The Hawk

The Hawk

Well-Known Forumite
I used to use the local services quite a bit, as much as 15/16 journeys per week (work, evenings in town, football etc.).

Now, as far as Stafford is concerned its probably once a week on average. Because we lost our evening services a couple of years ago, I stopped going out for evenings in the town centre, although I still get down to the Greyhound once or twice a week (and get a taxi home).

I travel around the country, by train quite a lot and, depending where I'm going at the other end, I often use other town's bus services (you can get a cheap bus add on to rail tickets, usually about £3, valid for a whole day). I have to say Staffordshire has one of the worst services I have come across, and many of the places I visit are smaller than Stafford.
 
Lucy

Lucy

Well-Known Forumite
My dad has no other means of transport. The bus has become his lifeline and he meets lots of people on it. He's just signed up to do a night course at the Wolverhampton Uni office in Staffordshire Place. He may now not be able to get home because of this. There are plenty of people who depend on buses. I agree, there needn't be more than one an hour, but not everyone is able to drive, even if they can afford to.
 
G

Gareth

Well-Known Forumite
Hardly a surprise, like many things now if we don't use it we lose it.

We are paying for it anyway.

Would rather my money went to more worthy frontline services than lining the pockets of an Arriva CEO
 
Tilly

Tilly

Well-Known Forumite
Gareth said:
Hardly a surprise, like many things now if we don't use it we lose it.

We are paying for it anyway.

Would rather my money went to more worthy frontline services than lining the pockets of an Arriva CEO
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I think the point is ...if local authorities are not legally obliged to pay for anything, they won't

So then who is it decides what is and is not a statutory service

As much as central government enjoy pushing the problems onto anyone else, it will always be they, the government, who decide how you or I or your nan will survive
 
Lucy

Lucy

Well-Known Forumite
There's a better way to do it than cut of people's lifelines completely. The number 8 doesn't need to run every 20 minutes in the week, as an example. Cut back on that and use the money to put services on on a Sunday and an evening.

Hopefully Select will start something up. They did last time this happened, and Arriva quickly changed their minds.
 
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