South Yorkshire Bus Service Needs Improvement

[fools]

10 minutes ago, Resident said:

1. Some bus stops, not all, have only a small 'platform'.

2. Educate yourself on light-waves which affect sleep https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/emres/longhourstraining/color.html

3. The only one here misunderstanding the word 'coach' is you. 

4. You're comparing an US$80,000,000 1.8kg drone to an 11,000+kg US$350,000 (approx based on current exchange rate) bus. What a crackpot!

Seriously dude, can you pass the laptop to your carer so they can log you out.

1. Pavement.

 

2. What has sleep got to do with anything.

 

3 and 4) There's a succession of people here either not understanding English or pretending to for effect.

 

4 and 5) Run out of road there haven't you. Straight to the insults.

 

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by fools

[driver151]

@fools https://isw.changeworknow.co.uk/stagecoach_bus/vms/e/stagecoach_bus/search/new / https://www.firstgroupcareers.com/vacancy/find/results/

 

Mate here you go apply and see for yourself the issue from within, been driving them for many years and it puts a different light on things from the "i catch buses every day" attitude thinking they know everything trust me when i was younger not working for them i was in that club, and i was shocked in my first years on the buses that its not that easy and people are that nasty

My advice to anyone else DONT join any of these bus companies it not worth it, I was told last night to find a ditch a die due to the bus in front been missing cuz some kids smashed a window and that's the norm unfortualy, also told i was scum for putting the prices up of the travel master tickets He was shocked to find out that i was just a driver and that i don't make the fares up,

@foolssome of the stuff you have said isn't wrong and some is way off, But the main thing at the moment in time is that they are running a small profit for Sheffield depots which is not as normal as you may think this is with 75% service and another reduction possibly round the corner its to the companies and shear holders advantage to keep it the same at this moment in time as the cost are lower due to less drivers buses ect and make the most of the lower passenger count, the last head count we was given in house that at the end January we are running 68% of pre pandemic numbers for passengers (and pre pandemic was not great regarding running at a profit) and that has flat lined for about 4-5 months and the ones higher are more worried it will go down

 

When i mention profit this is regarding Sheffield, Not Fisrt Group UK or Stagecoach Group UK as a whole,

Edited February 3, 2022 by driver151

[AlexAtkin]

21 hours ago, fools said:

Dog muck? What has that got to do with interior bus lighting.

 

In terms of visibility of other road users, cyclists, and pedestrians, the current streetlighting is far inferior to what was there before.

I can tell you first hand from cycling at night that the old lighting I couldn't see obstructions in the road until it was too late to avoid them, and my bike lights are powerful as they're built-in as its an e-bike.  The difference was immediately obvious, I can see every little detail of the tarmac into the distance with the new lighting.

There are the odd few expections of course, where the more directional light doesn't work because of poor location of the light on a steep road causing patches of shadow, but overall its a huge improvement.  People often think its worse because the contrast between well lit and darker areas is so extreme, but that's proof its better lit as almost everywhere was equally dull before.

Back to the buses, its also immediately obvious as from a distance you can see every detail in the bus (assuming the windows are clean) whereas before you couldn't.  Also important note, we have cool white all through the house (well, my room is adjustable) as I have fatigue issues and my mum can't see with warm white.  It improves safety for people with sight issues dramatically.

Going back to the topic of council and PTE not communicating.  I reported that the gritting routes had not been amended as my section of the road had recently been made part of a bus route (plus the PTE haven't changed the route on their online map), this is the response:

Quote

As your constituent has suggested, the service maps have yet to be updated online to reflect a change to the 1A bus routing, and the Council was not made aware of this temporary routing change, so thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Having investigated the matter, our understanding is that this change to utilising the bottom section of Raeburn Road between Constable Road and Norton Avenue is a temporary one, prompted by the withdrawal of the 11 service to the area due to staffing shortages.

I have discussed the matter with bus operators this morning, and made arrangements for the gritting routes in the area to be temporarily amended.

The Passenger Transport Executive and bus operators have assured me that this is anticipated to be a very short term change and should be resolved before April 2022 when we are advised that the number 11 service will be reinstated and the bus routes in the area will all revert to how they historically were.

As a bus route, in accordance with the Council's published policy (https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/home/roads-pavements/winter-road-pavement-issues), this stretch of road will (temporarily) meet our published criteria to be incorporated into the Priority 2 precautionary treatment routes, meaning it will be gritted prior to any forecasted cold, icy or snowy weather.

As Sheffield already operates the largest percentage precautionary gritting network of any UK Local Authority, we are not looking to expand our network further at this time, so it is important to be clear that this inclusion will initially be on a temporary basis for the remainder of this current winter whilst the buses are temporarily using it.

I have also requested that SYPTE write to me to confirm that their staffing issue on this route has been resolved, and will also include this section of road and its overall use to be evaluated in our annual route review which will take place in May 2022 for how it will be maintained in the future.”

Edited February 3, 2022 by AlexAtkin

[fools]

On 03/02/2022 at 19:01, AlexAtkin said:

I can tell you first hand from cycling at night that the old lighting I couldn't see obstructions in the road until it was too late to avoid them,

Then you're going too fast.

 

You must be going on different roads to me, all I see is occasional pools of light followed by endless gloomy shadowy darkness. Great for astronomy and energy saving, not so great for spotting cyclists, or people/animals about to walk into the path of a car.

 

The bus lights I'm complaining about are the interior lights, maybe you get on with them, most people prefer warm white. The idea that they are used to keep passengers awake so they don't miss their stop is a very amusing take.

[BigAl1]

Now our buses may not be perfect or the best in the world but for me it is not the bus that is the issue it is the service or lack of

 

I have traveled extensively and used buses /vans/jeepnies or what ever in many so called third world countries and I am more than happy with the buses we have if it turns up and the driver is friendly

[AlexAtkin]

Problem is its a chicken and egg situation.

People don't want to use buses because they are unreliable, so they use cars causing congestion and obstructions when parking inconsiderately, which makes buses less reliable.  Plus the horrific rise in kids vandalising buses and drivers getting sick of the abuse and quitting.

[AlexAtkin]

On 05/02/2022 at 01:45, fools said:

Then you're going too fast.

So we've got the usual group who complain cyclists go too slow, then when we try to maintain the speed limit someone comes along and complains were going too fast?  LOL

I think you're grossly underestimating how small a defect can be an absolute tragedy for a bike.  I once broke my axle on a join between two sections of tarmac because it had eroded slightly.  The braking distance on bicycles is HUGE, you need to see things from much further away even when only doing 20KM/h and especially on a downward hill.

[fools]

1 hour ago, AlexAtkin said:

So we've got the usual group who complain cyclists go too slow, then when we try to maintain the speed limit someone comes along and complains were going too fast?  LOL

I think you're grossly underestimating how small a defect can be an absolute tragedy for a bike.  I once broke my axle on a join between two sections of tarmac because it had eroded slightly.  The braking distance on bicycles is HUGE, you need to see things from much further away even when only doing 20KM/h and especially on a downward hill.

No we haven't

 

We do have someone blaming brakes, roads, lighting, for not being able to stop in time to avoid a hazard. If you can't stop in time, it's your fault.

 

Most people learn to ride bikes as a kid, you learn how to brake to avoid danger within the first 5 minutes. It's not an oil tanker.

 

Never had a problem riding at night under sodium lighting, stopping in time, or falling off.

 

All nothing to do with interior bus lighting.

[AlexAtkin]

I can't agree, but then I'm at the Herdings end and mostly travel to the Train Station.

Its a LOT more hassle using the bus as its a walk at the other end and buses have pathetic luggage space.

I do agree it terminating at Herdings is kinda dumb though, but then there just isn't the space to run it up the dual carriageway to Meadowhead, even though we all wanted it to as public transport to there has been crap forever from here.

Edited February 9, 2022 by AlexAtkin

[BigAl1]

3 hours ago, LovePotion said:

The Supertram scheme really doesn't serve many areas of the city well. I don't feel it's worth the efforts used to provide the infrastructure. If I am going from the city to Hillsborough, I will take the bus, as it is quicker. The diversion the tram takes is pointless, as the buses better serve the University and western Sheffield in general. The council have been trying to move the city centre businesses and patrons towards The Moor for the past 8 years or so now, for example the relocation of the markets and shops such as Primark and River Island moving away from High Street. So, the trams don't even go to where most people going to the city centre would want to go, especially now the cinema complex is on The Moor.

 

I think the bus services are generally OK. The 97/98 has always been a bad service at the Totley end. That could be improved. 

 

The Lydgate Lane area is underserved for such a populous area with bus services being a fair walk up/down hill either way. Perhaps they could re-route one of the 95/95a to run to Benty Lane instead of Walkley, considering that Walkley is served by four bus routes.

 

It's funny how there seems to be about 70 buses an hour (seems like) to Firth Park, Ecclesfield, Shiregreen etc when Dore village suffers such an infrequent service, as does the Carterknowle estate. The bus network is definitely biased towards the north of Sheffield. 

 

While we are talking about buses, can we please get rid of those stupid and un-comfortable steel pole seats at bus stops and replace them with proper seats? I doubt it would cost the PTE any extra to maintain them and people can actually sit on them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hard to believe the bus is faster than tram from city to Hillsborough but perhaps depends on where in the city. What ever faults the tram may have in general it is far more frequent than the bus, yes there are several buses but not much use if they all leave from different bus stops.