South Yorkshire Bus Service Needs Improvement

[Bilge]

On 21/05/2023 at 09:09, Annie Bynnol said:

 Lydgate Lane in Crosspool was served hourly during the day by the highly unreliable outer circle 2/59 the residents rarely used preferring the 52 at the bottom or 51 at the top

Lydgate Lane would be pretty hard for a regular bus route due to the parked cars which narrow the road to one lane most of the time at the Crookes end. 2 cars can squeeze past each other but anything wider and you have to wait at the bottom or top.

[Irene Swaine]

12 hours ago, Bilge said:

Lydgate Lane would be pretty hard for a regular bus route due to the parked cars which narrow the road to one lane most of the time at the Crookes end. 2 cars can squeeze past each other but anything wider and you have to wait at the bottom or top.

There used to be full sized buses, including double deckers up and down there in the 90s. It was a very useful link, it used to run to Hillsborough, Meadowhall and the Interchange. A lot of elderly people relied on it. If the Sandstone Estate in Wincobank can manage a bus service and parked cars, I don't see why Lydgate Lane can't.  The area has also grown in population with the development at the former Hallamshire Hotel and also the flats opposite being knocked down and expanded.

 

TSY and the bus operating companies seem to have a disliking for the entire West of Sheffield. Loxley has an attrocious service, Totley has an unreliable service, Stocksbridge has only one irregular bus service in to the city centre, Ringinglow has no service. 

 

Compare it to the buses that cover every corner of every estate in Firth Park, Shiregreen, Handsworth, Arbourthorne, Gleadless and the endless buses to Lowedges and Ecclesfield. 

[HeHasRisen]

Bit odd this has been dragged up 2 years since the event. 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-65699929

[Irene Swaine]

3 hours ago, HeHasRisen said:

Bit odd this has been dragged up 2 years since the event. 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-65699929

No mention of what bus company. It is a great shame the way this was handled. The advice for bus drivers always used to be to stay safe and stay in the can during any conflict, perhaps this has changed.

 

Even if the man was drunk, as long as he wasn't being aggressive or violent or urinating/vomitting and thus soiling the bus, it's no issue with him riding the bus. We are far too prudish when it comes to alcohol in this country.  Spain has a more relaxed attitude and seems to do just fine.

 

This man has my sympathies, it must be difficult enough living with his disability, without all of this added in. I hope he sues for discrimination.

[Resident]

32 minutes ago, Irene Swaine said:

No mention of what bus company. It is a great shame the way this was handled. The advice for bus drivers always used to be to stay safe and stay in the can during any conflict, perhaps this has changed.

 

Even if the man was drunk, as long as he wasn't being aggressive or violent or urinating/vomitting and thus soiling the bus, it's no issue with him riding the bus. We are far too prudish when it comes to alcohol in this country.  Spain has a more relaxed attitude and seems to do just fine.

 

This man has my sympathies, it must be difficult enough living with his disability, without all of this added in. I hope he sues for discrimination.

If he appeared intoxicated and was not responding to anyone around him then there is an issue. In the event of an emergency an unresponsive passenger becomes the issue. 

 

On what grounds are you basing discrimination? As far as the story goes there was no evidence that the driver knew the passenger was disabled. 

 

13 hours ago, Irene Swaine said:

There used to be full sized buses, including double deckers up and down there in the 90s. It was a very useful link, it used to run to Hillsborough, Meadowhall and the Interchange. A lot of elderly people relied on it. If the Sandstone Estate in Wincobank can manage a bus service and parked cars, I don't see why Lydgate Lane can't.  The area has also grown in population with the development at the former Hallamshire Hotel and also the flats opposite being knocked down and expanded.

 

TSY and the bus operating companies seem to have a disliking for the entire West of Sheffield. Loxley has an attrocious service, Totley has an unreliable service, Stocksbridge has only one irregular bus service in to the city centre, Ringinglow has no service. 

 

Compare it to the buses that cover every corner of every estate in Firth Park, Shiregreen, Handsworth, Arbourthorne, Gleadless and the endless buses to Lowedges and Ecclesfield. 

Answered your own question here. In the 90s there were fewer cars and fewer residential homes. More people in a given area plus the increase in car ownership means higher congestion of streets, particularly in an area where on-street parking is the only option.

Additionally "full sized buses" in 1990 are classed as mid-size by today's standards. A Dennis Dart (popular single deck) had a capacity of around 45 whereas a current Enviro200/StreetLite/B7TL can carry upwards of 77. Double deck buses have had similar size increases .

 

The old saying "Use it or lose it" is applicable here. Without seeing the exact figures I can, with confidence, state the passenger numbers were not sufficient to sustain operational costs. 

 

Now no doubt you'll come at me now spouting that companies don't care because they're not making a profit. In actual fact most services in SY are just about breaking even. Some routes do make a profit and the companies are prohibited by regulations from using that to prop up loss-making routes. Yes, I agree it's a stupid regulation but it is what it is. 

 

Here's the thing. You and the rest of SY crib and cry about companies making a profit. Here's the thing, making things better needs investment. You need money to make those investments. If all your income is tied up in operational costs to the point that you're only breaking even then there is no money for investment.

The people of South Yorkshire need to learn that profit is not a dirty word.

I can wait for the moaning come November when the £2 fare goes up to £2.50.....

Edited May 25, 2023 by Resident
Additional info

[Irene Swaine]

18 minutes ago, Resident said:

On what grounds are you basing discrimination? As far as the story goes there was no evidence that the driver knew the passenger was disabled

He was refused travel because of his disability.

 

19 minutes ago, Resident said:

Answered your own question here. In the 90s there were fewer cars and fewer residential homes.

I never mentioned car ownership. In fact McNamara House has a large car park, off the main road. 

 

20 minutes ago, Resident said:

More people in a given area plus the increase in car ownership means higher congestion 

The number of generation Z taking driving tests is lower than previous generations.

 

21 minutes ago, Resident said:

no doubt you'll come at me now spouting that companies don't care because they're not making a profit.

No, businesses need to make a profit, that is the purpose. The way bus services work is some are run as purely commercial and others are known as tendered, this is where SYPTE (government) provide funding for services that are not commercially sustainable. If we can have a city centre bus carting fresh air between the closed down John Lewis and the closed down Debemham's, I am sure there is scope to provide tendering for services in under-served areas. The market on the former number 2/12 route has not been tested since 2006, and as I said, Lydgate Lane has seen some major changes since then.

 

26 minutes ago, Resident said:

Here's the thing. You and the rest of SY crib and cry about companies making a profit.

I have no problem with companies making a profit, we all want to make a handsome income.

 

27 minutes ago, Resident said:

your income is tied up in operational costs to the point that you're only breaking even then there is no money for investment.

They need to scrap these expensive apps and card payment readers, go back to the simple cream coloured tills with cash boxes and paper tickets. The removal of transaction fees on every payment means First will see 100% of the profit (minus operating costs and taxes) for every £2 fare. They need to stop painting buses in different colours every five minutes, stop replacing buses after 10 years or so and stop the pointless things like USB charging points (no one has time to get a decent charge on a 10 minute journey). Oh and if they made sure the windows close properly , they may not need to use as much heating. They put wooden stops to keep them open during the CONvid  scamdemic. Stupidity.

[HeHasRisen]

2 minutes ago, Irene Swaine said:

 

 

They need to scrap these expensive apps and card payment readers, go back to the simple cream coloured tills with cash boxes and paper tickets. The removal of transaction fees on every payment means First will see 100% of the profit (minus operating costs and taxes) for every £2 fare. They need to stop painting buses in different colours every five minutes, stop replacing buses after 10 years or so and stop the pointless things like USB charging points (no one has time to get a decent charge on a 10 minute journey). Oh and if they made sure the windows close properly , they may not need to use as much heating. They put wooden stops to keep them open during the CONvid  scamdemic. Stupidity.

I mean, this is bonkers. Its now the year 2023. People DEMAND cashless payments whether you like it or not. They also DEMAND charging facilities whether you like it or not.

[Irene Swaine]

37 minutes ago, HeHasRisen said:

I mean, this is bonkers. Its now the year 2023. People DEMAND cashless payments whether you like it or not. They also DEMAND charging facilities whether you like it or not.

I have never seen anyone using charging facilities on buses. Many people would rather pay with cash, the queues in Tesco for the one till where you can still pay with cash show this. People are being coerced in to using card payments as part of Agenda 30, this is not the public's choice. Many small businesses are waking up and proudly going cash only. The Christmas markets on The Peace gardens were all cash only, which was great.

[HeHasRisen]

6 minutes ago, Irene Swaine said:

I have never seen anyone using charging facilities on buses. Many people would rather pay with cash, the queues in Tesco for the one till where you can still pay with cash show this. People are being coerced in to using card payments as part of Agenda 30, this is not the public's choice. Many small businesses are waking up and proudly going cash only. The Christmas markets on The Peace gardens were all cash only, which was great.

Well, no they werent, I went into the Sleigh Bar thing on Xmas Eve and used my card. Three times.

 

Leave your tin foil agendas out of this thread, please.

[Irene Swaine]

20 minutes ago, HeHasRisen said:

Well, no they werent, I went into the Sleigh Bar thing on Xmas Eve and used my card. Three times.

 

Leave your tin foil agendas out of this thread, please.

That's the bar, the market stalls were all cash only. I have never seen anyone demanding to pay with card as you so said.