Bus Services Bill

652

28 Oct 2018, 9:06 pm #161

(26 Oct 2018, 8:43 pm)Tamesider I think you slightly misunderstood; I said it was the only route run by either of the two city depots (Hyde Road or Sharston) that has single-deckers specifically allocated. HE is a 100% 'decker. Yes, if only due to congestion issues (and poor service levels on weekend mornings), most services need to be 'decker operated. The one "city" exception is the 38 (Little Hulton-Piccadilly) which would easily get away with 14 seater Mercedes 516s from what I've seen (and heard). Many Stockport and Ashton services are run with single-deckers although again, this can cause problems - albeit less so than in the past as so many people in the districts have deserted buses due to the high fares, declining service levels and more unpredictable delays (compared to inner city roads).

I understood. I wasn't picking examples at random, I lived in Dukinfield for a little bit so had an insight into the area's network. I thought the 168 was a good example of an A-B-C-D route as I don't believe anybody would spend 90 minutes going from Ashton to Chorlton, particularly given this obscure link could easily be made more quickly going via the city centre.

I had a quick look through the current timetables for the areas I used to live in in GM. Generally most routes had a first service around 07:00 at weekends, much earlier during the week. I'm open to correction, but haven't the Ashton and Stockport locals historically been operated by smaller & single deck buses? Currently E200s; previously B10Ms, Solos, Darts, Nationals and even Mercedes 709Ds all the way back to GM Buses? Regarding fares, I'd point out a Stoke-on-Trent multi operator weekly bus ticket comes in at £19.50 (covering a relatively tiny area), the equivalent in West Yorkshire is £23 and in the West Midlands £31.50(!!). A TFGM bus only system one is just £18. TFGM also provides free town centre circulars in Stockport & Bolton, as well a the revamped 'Free Bus' in the city centre - which I think has been marketed bang on the money as it happens. This is all alongside the Metrolink expansions, which though clearly have impacted corresponding bus corridors, overall wherever Metrolink had been introduced there are now more public transport seats per hour.

My point is here, though I feel we've moved away from ENCTS, is that PTE areas are generally fairing much better than non PTE area - and I would add that GM is doing particularly fine. Yes, there have been cuts, but only the most minor when compared to similar areas in terms of car ownership and incomes. Relating this back to the Bus Services Bill, I believe this point illustrates the importance of only introducing re-regulation/QCS under the supervision of at PTE - as asking an individual Tory* council to look after your bus services is rather like asking Bernard Mathews to look look after your turkey.

* - I use Tory as an example as they hold control in Stoke, where I currently live. I've previously lived in Hartlepool, forever controlled by Labour, who were proved even more incompetent as being among the first two councils to remove 100% of bus support way back in 2010. I think the individual leaders of the councils is more relevant than their party alliance when it comes to such matters.

James101