Why did SYT hate bus Deregulation?

[slimsid2000]

Back when bus deregulation firsdt came out SYT drivers and STY generally hated the idea of other bus companies running services in Sheffield? Why?

[little malc]

SYT was an integrated network of transport covering Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, and parts of Barnsley, it offered high quality buses on regular services at fare prices that made bus travel a good alternative to the private car. Bus dereg changed all this into a free for all, and because profit became the main crteria, fares went up.

After de-reg, a second hand Leyland National could be picked up with twelve monthes MOT for as little as £1000, the private operators who came onto the market only wanted to operate on the busy routes, to hell with any concept of "service"

It also became inpossible to obtain a concise timetable covering all routing, as operators would only issue tables for their own services, the passenger was often left with a dirty old smelly vehicle driven by a driver who had probably lost his job on SYT.

De-reg ultimately, did not offer it's intended better cheaper service through competition, it was in fact exactly the reverse, the current "green" thinking on vehicle use would probably never have allowed such a calamitous event to have taken place.

Today, we are left with a service that is almost as expensive to use as your own car, hardly a desirable thing.

[xenia]

I am a Conservative. BUT the deregulation of the transport system as it affected Sheffield was a bad move. Little Malc is right is was a calamity and should be reversed.

SYT was an integrated network of transport covering Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, and parts of Barnsley, it offered high quality buses on regular services at fare prices that made bus travel a good alternative to the private car. Bus dereg changed all this into a free for all, and because profit became the main crteria, fares went up.

After de-reg, a second hand Leyland National could be picked up with twelve monthes MOT for as little as £1000, the private operators who came onto the market only wanted to operate on the busy routes, to hell with any concept of "service"

It also became inpossible to obtain a concise timetable covering all routing, as operators would only issue tables for their own services, the passenger was often left with a dirty old smelly vehicle driven by a driver who had probably lost his job on SYT.

De-reg ultimately, did not offer it's intended better cheaper service through competition, it was in fact exactly the reverse, the current "green" thinking on vehicle use would probably never have allowed such a calamitous event to have taken place.

Today, we are left with a service that is almost as expensive to use as your own car, hardly a desirable thing.

[slimsid2000]

SYT was an integrated network of transport covering Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, and parts of Barnsley, it offered high quality buses on regular services at fare prices that made bus travel a good alternative to the private car. Bus dereg changed all this into a free for all, and because profit became the main crteria, fares went up.

After de-reg, a second hand Leyland National could be picked up with twelve monthes MOT for as little as £1000, the private operators who came onto the market only wanted to operate on the busy routes, to hell with any concept of "service"

It also became inpossible to obtain a concise timetable covering all routing, as operators would only issue tables for their own services, the passenger was often left with a dirty old smelly vehicle driven by a driver who had probably lost his job on SYT.

De-reg ultimately, did not offer it's intended better cheaper service through competition, it was in fact exactly the reverse, the current "green" thinking on vehicle use would probably never have allowed such a calamitous event to have taken place.

Today, we are left with a service that is almost as expensive to use as your own car, hardly a desirable thing.

 

Nothing to do with not liking competition in a unionised cushy industry then?

 

BTW Malc, thanks for the concise and well argued post. I don't necessarily agree with all you said but you clearly know what you are talking about.

[little malc]

You are right about the union aspect Syd, in the early days, if you did not join the union it was a case of no job, as a conservative myself, I hated it, but we have to earn our bread and butter! Regardless of politics, sheffield had a superb bus service which really did offer a service, it was very cost effective in many ways, also, because fares were cheap lots of people used it thus saving on traffic and excess pollution in the city.

People rightly say that in your own car you have a choice of temperature, music, company and travelling at exactly the time you want.

To entice people onto public transport, it must be regular, operate on the routes you want, and the most important aspect, it must be much cheaper than your car, making not using your car a cash saving alternative. The current transport policy is expensive, re fares, train travel is even worse costing an arm and a limb to travel.

Super tram is a fantastic vehicle, but fares once again are expensive, and the routing is very limited, not many people in Sheffield can make use of it, this country desperately needs a joined up transport policy to match those on the continent.

[redshadow]

this country desperately needs a joined up transport policy to match those on the continent.

 

Just for comparison, I live in the Parisian suburbs and each month for my season ticket I pay 108 euros, about ninety quid at a guess, and for that I can take any bus, train, tram or tube whenever I like, wherever I like in a region that covers approximately 12 000 square kilometers. Trains are regular, there's a tube every five minutes or so, the trams are modern & regular too. Only downside is that often the trains are packed, a victim of their own success and there are strikes every so often. If a strike lasts for more than a week, quite often there is a reduction in the cost of next months' season ticket to make up for the inconvenience.

From what I remember of Sheffield in the 80s, the buses were always cheap, frequent and well-filled... what a disaster to have effectively killed all that...

[daftlad]

Just for comparison, I live in the Parisian suburbs and each month for my season ticket I pay 108 euros, about ninety quid at a guess, and for that I can take any bus, train, tram or tube whenever I like, wherever I like in a region that covers approximately 12 000 square kilometers. Trains are regular, there's a tube every five minutes or so, the trams are modern & regular too. Only downside is that often the trains are packed, a victim of their own success and there are strikes every so often. If a strike lasts for more than a week, quite often there is a reduction in the cost of next months' season ticket to make up for the inconvenience.

From what I remember of Sheffield in the 80s, the buses were always cheap, frequent and well-filled... what a disaster to have effectively killed all that...

 

Another one of the tory brainwaves, privatise everything and fxxk the people that use them, we only care about the shareholders

[slimsid2000]

Just for comparison, I live in the Parisian suburbs and each month for my season ticket I pay 108 euros, about ninety quid at a guess, and for that I can take any bus, train, tram or tube whenever I like, wherever I like in a region that covers approximately 12 000 square kilometers. Trains are regular, there's a tube every five minutes or so, the trams are modern & regular too. Only downside is that often the trains are packed, a victim of their own success and there are strikes every so often. If a strike lasts for more than a week, quite often there is a reduction in the cost of next months' season ticket to make up for the inconvenience.

From what I remember of Sheffield in the 80s, the buses were always cheap, frequent and well-filled... what a disaster to have effectively killed all that...

 

I don't know what route you remember but in that period i lived on a route with 2 buses per hour peak time. After deregulation it became 8 buses per hour.

[slimsid2000]

wasn't all bad.

 

http://images1.fotopic.net/?iid=ykpabr&outx=600&noresize=1&original=1&nostamp=1

 

http://images5.fotopic.net/?iid=yfk8yg&outx=600&noresize=1&original=1&nostamp=1

[redshadow]

34/38/39, from Pond Street to Meersbrook Park area....