South Yorkshire Bus Service Needs Improvement

[Andy C]

14 hours ago, Planner1 said:

Isn't the Carver St closure basically down to the Police wanting it closed because of safety concerns?

Do you think the Council decide where bus timing points are located?

Pre Covid Carver Street was closed at night in the run up to Christmas and some weekends to facilitate a safe and pleasant nightlife in the area, however back then it only impacted taxis and cars. Buses did West Street - Leopold Street - Pinstone Street. Now with Leopold Street/Pinstone Street closed Carver Street is the "temporary" alternative and now that is also closed it has left buses with nowhere to go, meaning they have to bypass half the City Centre. The Carver Street nightlife closure is nothing new, so council planners making decisions about Pinstone Street/Leopold Street should have been taking this into account.

 

The main timing point in the City Centre for most bus routes is Arundel Gate around the Crucible/Castle Square where the road layout was designed to buses were in a layby out the way, there was a bus lane for other buses to pass then another lane for all other traffic.  This area is officially designated by SYPTE as "Arundel Gate bus Interchange". The council have now built boarding islands over the top of the layby so now if buses wait time there they are blocking traffic and therefore have to wait time a stop or two earlier if they arrive early, much to the frustration of the passengers. This is a change initiated by council planners so yes, in that respect they have decided where bus timing points are located - unless now social distancing is no longer required the bus stops are going to be restored to their previous condition.

 

All these little initiatives in isolation are being done for the right reasons but council planners just don't seem to have the mentality to see the bigger picture and include measures to ensure knock on effects are not negative as part of the same project and timescales, this approach is proving very disruptive and damaging to the quality of the City Centre's public transport offering.

 

There are proposals that have been out to consultation this year to remodel both Arundel Gate and Rockingham Street that will include bus facilities that replace the closed ones on Pinstone Street and Leopold Street. They aren't likely to see reality for a year or so yet, perhaps Pinstone Street and Leopold Street should be reopened to buses until the alternative is ready?

 

Meanwhile other related changes such as reversing the one way direction of Westfield Terrace so traffic is leaving rather than entering by West Street tram stop which is downright dangerous, council planners seem deaf to any criticism on such things, as long as their individual little objective has been achieved.

Edited September 14, 2021 by Andy C

[BigAl1]

1 hour ago, RollingJ said:

I agree that it should be a co-ordinated approach, but as the two statutory bodies (Council/PTE) can't even get their  approach synchronised, do you really think the operators have got a look-in? I certainly don't.

 

I'll have to revisit that 'report' although when I first read it, I didn't think much of it.

that's where a strong guiding mind/leader comes in absolutely essential .

 

I thought there were some good points in the report but the Mayor has proved just how useless he is - easy to commission reports but then to take action is another thing altogether. No doubt he will soon ask for another committee and report to be drawn up

[RollingJ]

4 minutes ago, BigAl1 said:

that's where a strong guiding mind/leader comes in absolutely essential .

 

I thought there were some good points in the report but the Mayor has proved just how useless he is - easy to commission reports but then to take action is another thing altogether. No doubt he will soon ask for another committee and report to be drawn up

Agreed - but the 'mayor'/leader is never appointed on their abilities, just on who they know - or other dubious criteria.

 

I'll re-read the report when I have a bit more time to cut through all the flannel.

Edited September 14, 2021 by RollingJ

[BigAl1]

mayor Not appointed

 

voted for and only criteria is what party he is from not if he is qualified or his abilities or his vision. In my mind it is criminal that he sees this as a part time job

[RollingJ]

1 minute ago, BigAl1 said:

mayor Not appointed

 

voted for and only criteria is what party he is from not if he is qualified or his abilities or his vision. In my mind it is criminal that he sees this as a part time job

In other words - a 'non-job' for the boys. I agree with your second sentence totally.

[Mr Bloke]

49 minutes ago, Andy C said:

Pre Covid Carver Street was closed at night in the run up to Christmas and some weekends to facilitate a safe and pleasant nightlife in the area, however back then it only impacted taxis and cars. Buses did West Street - Leopold Street - Pinstone Street. Now with Leopold Street/Pinstone Street closed Carver Street is the "temporary" alternative and now that is also closed it has left buses with nowhere to go, meaning they have to bypass half the City Centre. The Carver Street nightlife closure is nothing new, so council planners making decisions about Pinstone Street/Leopold Street should have been taking this into account.

 

The main timing point in the City Centre for most bus routes is Arundel Gate around the Crucible/Castle Square where the road layout was designed to buses were in a layby out the way, there was a bus lane for other buses to pass then another lane for all other traffic.  This area is officially designated by SYPTE as "Arundel Gate bus Interchange". The council have now built boarding islands over the top of the layby so now if buses wait time there they are blocking traffic and therefore have to wait time a stop or two earlier if they arrive early, much to the frustration of the passengers. This is a change initiated by council planners so yes, in that respect they have decided where bus timing points are located - unless now social distancing is no longer required the bus stops are going to be restored to their previous condition.

 

All these little initiatives in isolation are being done for the right reasons but council planners just don't seem to have the mentality to see the bigger picture and include measures to ensure knock on effects are not negative as part of the same project and timescales, this approach is proving very disruptive and damaging to the quality of the City Centre's public transport offering.

 

There are proposals that have been out to consultation this year to remodel both Arundel Gate and Rockingham Street that will include bus facilities that replace the closed ones on Pinstone Street and Leopold Street. They aren't likely to see reality for a year or so yet, perhaps Pinstone Street and Leopold Street should be reopened to buses until the alternative is ready?

 

Meanwhile other related changes such as reversing the one way direction of Westfield Terrace so traffic is leaving rather than entering by West Street tram stop which is downright dangerous, council planners seem deaf to any criticism on such things, as long as their individual little objective has been achieved.

Hmmm...

Another very interesting post Mr Andy!

 

It's refreshing to read something on here that's written by someone who obviously knows what they're talking about and who takes the trouble to explain in detail to the less-informed of us what's really going on.

 

Thanks for that!

[BigAl1]

3 minutes ago, RollingJ said:

In other words - a 'non-job' for the boys. I agree with your second sentence totally.

Indeed

 

In the real world he might be challenged as to what actions he has taken after commissioning this report (at taxpayers expense) but of course he will not.

 

This report (bus)  had far more substance to it than his mayoral transport vision which was just a load of hot air

[Resident]

5 hours ago, Andy C said:

The main timing point in the City Centre for most bus routes is Arundel Gate around the Crucible/Castle Square where the road layout was designed to buses were in a layby out the way, there was a bus lane for other buses to pass then another lane for all other traffic.  This area is officially designated by SYPTE as "Arundel Gate bus Interchange". The council have now built boarding islands over the top of the layby so now if buses wait time there they are blocking traffic and therefore have to wait time a stop or two earlier if they arrive early, much to the frustration of the passengers. This is a change initiated by council planners so yes, in that respect they have decided where bus timing points are located - unless now social distancing is no longer required the bus stops are going to be restored to their previous condition.

 

I can confirm that those islands have now been removed.

The problem of too many services needing to use existing stands at "Arundel Gate Interchange" heading towards Castle Square still exists. At times there are 3-4 buses "tripping over each other" which leads to a risk for passengers as buses are having to stop in the bus lane to board/alight rather than the bays because it's already occupied. 

On the opposite side, heading towards Furnival Gate there are additional stop put in place by council/PTE. Again causing unnecessary risk as there can be 3-4 in a line, stopped in a live lane which pushes other traffic into the oncoming lane or backing traffic up if there's no room for them to safely overtake the static buses. 

[Jeffrey Shaw]

Andy C deserves SF's thanks. For some years, he's been more reliable and up-to-date on public transport information than SCC/SYPTE/any of the operators.

[RollingJ]

3 hours ago, Jeffrey Shaw said:

Andy C deserves SF's thanks. For some years, he's been more reliable and up-to-date on public transport information than SCC/SYPTE/any of the operators.

I agree, @Jeffrey Shaw- and he knows what he is talking about, unlike the odd one or two in this topic.