South Yorkshire Bus Service Needs Improvement

[Annie Bynnol]

As the contract that Stagecoach have to run the trams ends soon, perhaps we are into a phase of posturing.

Turner & Townsend  have been appointed to oversee the future development of Supertram and write the documentation for the next operator of Supertram.

[BigAl1]

1 hour ago, Chekhov said:

Did I hear that it was actually illegal for them to cooperate. Something about anti competitive practice or something ?  Which is to totally misunderstand what public transport is all about.....

Never heard such utter nonsensical suggestion on this forum for ages. They are not competing they are or should be complementing each other. Just how would the tram people telling the bus people the tram is expected at Middlewood at xx.yy and asking if the bus can wait for the incoming tram anti competitive. Just how is is competing if when there are no trams to Middlewood that the link bus continues to where passengers can either link to the tram or at best other buses to town.

 

come back Love Potion you contributions are missed

2 minutes ago, Annie Bynnol said:

As the contract that Stagecoach have to run the trams ends soon, perhaps we are into a phase of posturing.

Turner & Townsend  have been appointed to oversee the future development of Supertram and write the documentation for the next operator of Supertram.

Who are Turner & Townsend? Should make interesting reading if it is available to the public 

[Chekhov]

3 hours ago, HeHasRisen said:

Ive requested the threads to be merged. 

With which thread, busses or trams ?

 

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Chekhov said:
Did I hear that it was actually illegal for them to cooperate. Something about anti competitive practice or something ?  Which is to totally misunderstand what public transport is all about.....

1 hour ago, BigAl1 said:

Never heard such utter nonsensical suggestion on this forum for ages. They are not competing, they are, or should be, complementing each other. Just how would the tram people telling the bus people the tram is expected at Middlewood at xx.yy and asking if the bus can wait for the incoming tram anti competitive. Just how is is competing if when there are no trams to Middlewood that the link bus continues to where passengers can either link to the tram or at best other buses to town.

I agree it's ludicrous but I am just repeating what one of the staff told me.

Just to clarify I think the employee meant the tram company and the bus company could not, apparently, work together on the time table because it would make it harder for any competitor to enter the market (in competition with the link bus). The fact there is no competitor wanting to enter the market or that them working together means a better service for the traveller, is, apparently (again), irrelevant.

The free market might be the most efficient driver of the economy, but public transport is rarely a "free market" in the conventional sense.

Edited September 19, 2022 by Chekhov

[Andy C]

There are changes to the whole bus network from 2 October as the current level of Covid support funding reduces from this date and is withdrawn entirely from March, changes are generally to reflect how many tickets are actually being sold following changes in demand after Covid as the buses must now once again be financially sustainable and cover the cost of operating them.

 

Additionally many of the contracts for tendered services (which includes evening services to Oughtibridge and Stocksbridge) have come up for renewal. 

 

The government only announced that funding wasn't being entirely cut from 2 October a few weeks ago, the cash provided goes to the South Yorkshire Mayor and is added to the pot to subsidise tendered services and the SYMCA is still finalising contracts to fill gaps in the commercial network hence the changes haven't been announced yet. The information will be published at https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/en-gb/newsupdates/service-changes

 

It is expected the changes will include the withdrawal of the current SL1, SL1a and 57 to be replaced by a new 57/57a running all the way through from Sheffield City Centre to Stocksbridge all day every day,  half hourly in the daytime and hourly in the evening.

 

There are changes to tram timetables from 9 October, primarily in the evening.

Edited September 19, 2022 by Andy C

[Andy C]

Changes to the bus network from 2 October once confirmed will be published at https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/en-gb/newsupdates/service-changes

[Chekhov]

My wife has just been told (by the driver) that the SL1 is definitely going in early October.

 

9 hours ago, Andy C said:

It is expected the changes will include the withdrawal of the current SL1, SL1a and 57 to be replaced by a new 57/57a running all the way through from Sheffield City Centre to Stocksbridge all day every day,  half hourly in the daytime and hourly in the evening.

When you say all day, what time will they stop running ? I mean for those going out for an evening.

 

One cannot get away from the fact that busses will drop from 4 to 2 per hour, and more to the point it must have a significant negative effect on passengers for the Supertram.

 

Basically the whole Supertram link bus was never done right. From the start it should have genuinely connected with every tram (particularly in the late evening), even if it was using minibuses to keep the costs down.

Edited September 20, 2022 by Chekhov

[RollingJ]

23 minutes ago, Chekhov said:

My wife has just been told (by the driver) that the SL1 is definitely going in early October.

 

When you say all day, what time will they stop running ? I mean for those going out for an evening.

 

One cannot get away from the fact that busses will drop from 4 to 2 per hour, and more to the point it must have a significant negative effect on passengers for the Supertram.

 

Basically the whole Supertram link bus was never done right. From the start it should have genuinely connected with every tram (particularly in the late evening), even if it was using minibuses to keep the costs down.

Don't think Stagecoach have mini-buses.

[Chekhov]

1 hour ago, RollingJ said:

Don't think Stagecoach have mini-buses.

Surely they must have some somewhere in that vast company, and if they haven't they could lease them in and, if it worked well, then buy some ?

I'm just trying t think outside of the box, how to ensure a bus connected with every tram but at the minimum cost and with the minimum number of empty seats being transported about !

[RollingJ]

3 minutes ago, Chekhov said:

Surely they must have some somewhere in that vast company, and if they haven't they could lease them in and, if it worked well, then buy some ?

I'm just trying t think outside of the box, how to ensure a bus connected with every tram but at the minimum cost and with the minimum number of empty seats being transported about !

They may have some somewhere, although without a lot of searching I can't confirm my suspicions that any they do have will already be committed. How many would they need, and would they be viable?

 

As I don't use the tram, I admit to not knowing how many they would need - what is the tram frequency? - and how many people would actually use them?

[HeHasRisen]

Aye if the service was a viable proposition currently then it wouldn't be getting cut. Its like people moaning about the local pub closing despite only using it once a year at Xmas.