Bus Timetable Changes 3 September 2023

[RollingJ]

2 minutes ago, HeHasRisen said:

Probably people thinking it was still open 🤣

From what I saw - mostly ramblers.

[Resident]

4 hours ago, HeHasRisen said:

Probably people thinking it was still open 🤣

Did those people have business diplomas thinking that the odd rambling group was sufficient footfall? 

[Guest busdriver1]

5 hours ago, Irene Swaine said:

Airports do have demand...it's just that 2 hours+ on a bus with no toilet, no food and drink facilities and the possibility of getting delayed in traffic didn't strike up enough demand to sustain feasability. You're up in Newcastle, aren't you? I live close to the route that this bus took. I have seen with my own eyes how it worked.

How on earth do you come to that decision? I have not lived there for 40 years. I have a very good working knowledge of passengers loadings in that area and stand by my informed statement that there has never been demand for the service. This is supported by the numerous attempts that have all failed.

[Guest busdriver1]

13 minutes ago, Resident said:

Did those people have business diplomas thinking that the odd rambling group was sufficient footfall? 

Running costs for a bus these days is circa £50 per hour, granted Hulleys get away with paying minimum wage because they are less rigorous with their checks on drivers history's. So lets say their costs are £47 per hour. Pensioners are paid at approximately £1.20 per trip. So a group of 30 aged ramblers get on and make the 1 hour journey Hulleys get £36  the bus then makes the return journey taking another hour and carries nobody because there is nobody living out in the wilds who wants to come to Sheffield. several more journies are made carrying sparse loads then the ramblers come home for the most lucrative trip of the day. Get the picture? Even half a dozen business diploma holders paying full fare don't even begin to make a dent in the losses.

Edited August 24, 2023 by busdriver1

[Irene Swaine]

14 minutes ago, busdriver1 said:

How on earth do you come to that decision? I have not lived there for 40 years. I have a very good working knowledge of passengers loadings in that area and stand by my informed statement that there has never been demand for the service. This is supported by the numerous attempts that have all failed.

There was someone that claimed to be a bus driver that retired to the Newcastle area, my mistake.

2 minutes ago, busdriver1 said:

Running costs for a bus these days is circa £50 per hour, granted Hulleys get away with paying minimum wage because they are less rigorous with their checks on drivers historys. So lets ay their costs are £47 per hour. Pensioners are paid at approximately £1.20 per trip. So a group of 30 aged ramblers get on and make the 1 hour journey Hulleys get £36  the bus then makes the return journey taking another hour and carries nobody because there is nobody living out in the wilds who wants to come to Sheffield. several more journies are made carrying sparse loads then the ramblers come home for the most lucrative trip of the day. Get the picture? Even half a dozen business diploma holders paying full fare dont even begin to make a dent in the losses

I don't doubt that Hulley's made a loss on the Manchester services. 

 

With regards to the Glossop services, we don't know what Derbyshire Council are paying Hulley's to run it. It's part of a £4.1 million bus improvement package from Derbyshire Council. 

[Resident]

4 minutes ago, busdriver1 said:

Running costs for a bus these days is circa £50 per hour, granted Hulleys get away with paying minimum wage because they are less rigorous with their checks on drivers history's. So lets say their costs are £47 per hour. Pensioners are paid at approximately £1.20 per trip. So a group of 30 aged ramblers get on and make the 1 hour journey Hulleys get £36  the bus then makes the return journey taking another hour and carries nobody because there is nobody living out in the wilds who wants to come to Sheffield. several more journies are made carrying sparse loads then the ramblers come home for the most lucrative trip of the day. Get the picture? Even half a dozen business diploma holders paying full fare don't even begin to make a dent in the losses.

See people I know at a Sheffield bus company have told me that the hourly operating costs are higher than you've stated. 

I'm well aware that bus companies aren't taking enough to cover their base costs which is why services are withdrawn. I actually know how to & have run a business (well large department acting as it's own entity within the umbrella of multi-national corporation)

It's why tendered contracts, paid for by the local authority are important.  PTE/SYMCA, whatever they wanna be called, gets funding from government, local taxes and ironically income from interchanges etc that they charge a service fee for the operators to use.

The issue is that the authorities don't want to spend that funding on services. They certainly don't spend it on facilities so where is it being spent is the key question. 

[Guest busdriver1]

20 minutes ago, Resident said:

See people I know at a Sheffield bus company have told me that the hourly operating costs are higher than you've stated. 

I'm well aware that bus companies aren't taking enough to cover their base costs which is why services are withdrawn. 

My figures are a little out of date ( 5 - 6 years) so I am sure they will have risen and no doubt substantially

[Resident]

2 hours ago, busdriver1 said:

My figures are a little out of date ( 5 - 6 years) so I am sure they will have risen and no doubt substantially

I was told closer to £90/hr

[Irene Swaine]

1 minute ago, Resident said:

I was told closer to £90/hr

Say the current flat fare is £2. A bus would need to have 45 passengers to break even.....

[RollingJ]

2 hours ago, Irene Swaine said:

Say the current flat fare is £2. A bus would need to have 45 passengers to break even.....

Have a gold star - you know your 2x tables.