Sheffield Congestion Charge From Feb 27th 2023

[Resident]

5 minutes ago, Planner1 said:

There are always going to be the odd faults on traffic signals that take a while to fix for one reason or another.  Same in any major city.

They were first asked to fix this in 2018. It's now 2023. A little long to be considered "a while". 

It's not just this gate though there are many around the city that need changing. 

 

[HeHasRisen]

10 minutes ago, Resident said:

They were first asked to fix this in 2018. It's now 2023. A little long to be considered "a while". 

It's not just this gate though there are many around the city that need changing. 

 

I reported the wrong sign at the end of London Road two weeks ago, that says the CAZ starts in 3 miles when its actually about 300 yards.

Far as I know, its still there and they have about 3 weeks to correct it.

[RollingJ]

27 minutes ago, Planner1 said:

I get your point about rose tinted memories, but can you be clearer about who actually ran the buses.

 

From 74 to 86 the busses were under the control of SYPTE. 
 

The PTE are not the council. They are a separate body. You refer to buses being maintained ( badly) by the council.

And from memory, even though the PTE bought some new buses, the  maintenance of them was still akin to the low standards operated by Sheffield City Council when they ran them directly.

[Guest busdriver1]

23 minutes ago, RollingJ said:

And from memory, even though the PTE bought some new buses, the  maintenance of them was still akin to the low standards operated by Sheffield City Council when they ran them directly.

Correct, BOTH had short termism built in and preferred to replace rather than repair or even just maintain. Both had visits from the traffic commissioners where hundreds of buses were put off the road due to their shocking state. 

THIS was quoted as the reason that deregulation and privatisation was brought in, not as some will have it to rob the city of its buses. It was a move to protect the bus users from the dangers the council then the PTE were putting them in on a daily basis.

 

SYPTE were not the only PTE guilty of this, Tyne & Wear also did it but not to the same degree.

47 minutes ago, Resident said:

They were first asked to fix this in 2018. It's now 2023. A little long to be considered "a while". 

It's not just this gate though there are many around the city that need changing. 

 

EVERY bus priority on the supposed BRT route was and sadly still is now deficient in its operation. This dates back to their installation and despite being reported by the bus companies has yet to be addressed. Its not like they have tried and failed. They just have not done anything at all.

1 hour ago, Planner1 said:

I get your point about rose tinted memories, but can you be clearer about who actually ran the buses.

 

From 74 to 86 the busses were under the control of SYPTE. 
 

The PTE are not the council. They are a separate body. You refer to buses being maintained ( badly) by the council.

Please try and tell me there was no interaction between the 2. PLEEEEEEEAAAAAASSSSSE

[*_ash_*]

2 hours ago, Planner1 said:

The old trams got phased out across the country because buses became quicker and cheaper to run.

 

Back in the 70’s there were about a third of the cars on the road as there are now. That’s why bus services are not able to keep to timetable on many routes ( which generally run from one side of a city to the other through the centre).

 

London can afford a better level of service because there are circa 10 million people living there where there’s three quarters of a million here. But they have the same traffic problems we do.

 

What is it you think should be “done” about bus services here to make them run to timetable?

 

The council has been working with the PTE and the operators for decades making what improvements they can to speed up services. Buses get priority wherever it can be given. What else do you think could be done?

The main thing that slows buses down IMO, is bus stops... here me out.

 

They stop for sometimes 5 minutes if there is a queue. Even one person, it takes a minute because someone is obviously paying in 1ps.

 

When I last went to London, regardless of how many people were at the stop, it stopped for no more than about 20 seconds. 3 sets of doors, people pour off and pour in, and we're off!

Edited February 5, 2023 by *_ash_*

[*_ash_*]

2 hours ago, Resident said:

One thing people forget or probably don't know is that the SYPT vehicles were pretty much all scrapped when private companies took over because they were so ill-maintained by the council that most were dangerous and had no place being on the roads. Yet they passed MOT every year, which was done by the council themselves. They were dirty, smelly etc

People need to stop romanticising public owned buses.

Yes prices were a tenth of what they are today but so were the costsl. Drivers earned around 200 for a 50hr week in 1985, fuel was ridiculously cheap as the only real users of diesel were farmers, HGVs and buses.  Fuel companies sold it so cheap because it's mostly biproduct of petrol refinement. 
Also I was a young un at the time but I don't remember many, if at all, routes that left main roads to go into estates like they do today.  There were certainly no cross-city/county routes.  If you wanted to say, go from Walkley to Northern General, one bus to the interchange, another the NG and same in reverse. These days. 1 bus, the 95/95a.

One for the bus geeks!

 

My goodness this sound is so familiar, I wonder if it's just me that remembers the sound of all of the different buses

Just watch the smoke when it pulls away, I know this is an extreme example, but I remember them being a bit like this!

 

 

[blackydog]

2 hours ago, Planner1 said:

I get your point about rose tinted memories, but can you be clearer about who actually ran the buses.

 

From 74 to 86 the busses were under the control of SYPTE. 
 

The PTE are not the council. They are a separate body. You refer to buses being maintained ( badly) by the council.

Buses were not maintained badly in the earlier years of that period. Every 7 years they were subject to a "recert". They were virtually rebuilt with parts being replaced whether they needed it or not a lot of the time. I got bollocked more than once for eating my lunch on a "recert" bus waiting for inspection.

Maintenance at the garages on an ongoing basis was more hit and miss. I spent some time at East Bank garage on loan and that was an eye opener.

I also did loan time (from Queens Rd) at Greenland road on the test lane doing any last minute fettling prior to MoT.

[Guest busdriver1]

22 minutes ago, blackydog said:

Buses were not maintained badly in the earlier years of that period. Every 7 years they were subject to a "recert". They were virtually rebuilt with parts being replaced whether they needed it or not a lot of the time. I got bollocked more than once for eating my lunch on a "recert" bus waiting for inspection.

Maintenance at the garages on an ongoing basis was more hit and miss. I spent some time at East Bank garage on loan and that was an eye opener.

I also did loan time (from Queens Rd) at Greenland road on the test lane doing any last minute fettling prior to MoT.

From my personal experience of SYPTE buses during that period they WERE badly maintained. Yes they went through Recert and no doubt got the treatment then but on a daily basis were far from acceptable. I recall seeing a 2 year old vehicle at one of the many companies that were drafted in to help and to be honest it was in worse condition than 20 year old buses that company was selling for scrap as life expired. It takes a special degree of neglect to allow a 2 year old bus to get into that state.

1 hour ago, *_ash_* said:

One for the bus geeks!

 

My goodness this sound is so familiar, I wonder if it's just me that remembers the sound of all of the different buses

Just watch the smoke when it pulls away, I know this is an extreme example, but I remember them being a bit like this!

 

 

to be fair, a Leyland National (like this) did not need to smoke like that. Preventative maintenance cured most of it. the air throttle was the villain though as it only had 2 positions. - everything or nothing.

[Planner1]

5 hours ago, busdriver1 said:

Please try and tell me there was no interaction between the 2. PLEEEEEEEAAAAAASSSSSE

Of course they work together in partnership. That’s the only way they can function.
 

Councillors from each of the South Yorkshire  councils are on the decision making bodies, but SCC are not the majority and decisions don’t always go the way SCC would want.

 

All of the local councils have similar frustrations with the PTE because it’s a separate organisation and none of the partner councils calls the shots. 

 

People on here often imply that the PTE is essentially run by SCC. It is not.

[Planner1]

5 hours ago, busdriver1 said:

Correct, BOTH had short termism built in and preferred to replace rather than repair or even just maintain. Both had visits from the traffic commissioners where hundreds of buses were put off the road due to their shocking state. 

THIS was quoted as the reason that deregulation and privatisation was brought in, not as some will have it to rob the city of its buses. It was a move to protect the bus users from the dangers the council then the PTE were putting them in on a daily basis.

Deregulation of the buses as far as I recall was more about the Thatcher government’s philosophy that services were better delivered by “the market”.

 

It isn’t unknown for private companies to fall foul of the traffic commissioners.

 

One was shut down permanently in Manchester a few years ago as on a snap inspection, most of their vehicles were in an unroadworthy condition.