Why Don't People Use The Sheffield Connect Bus?

[SheffieldForum]

“I decide that I really need to find what the Sheffield Connect is like myself, so I jump on one at Moorfoot. Only one other passenger is getting on at the same time (an elderly lady with a stick), and the rest of the minibus is empty. As I sit down I notice the seats are pristine and the bus is spotless. Normally, this would be a positive but the upholstery is almost suspiciously unblemished — it makes me think that it’s probably a lack of bums on seats rather than good maintenance.” - Dan Hayes

Full article from The Tribune here.

[RollingJ]

Probably for the reason I, and others, mentioned when this vanity project was launched - because it merely duplicates other services, and is not well publicised.

[HeHasRisen]

Its very odd because when the original free city centre loop bus was withdrawn, there was untold levels of crying on here about it.

[SheffieldForum]

3 minutes ago, HeHasRisen said:

Its very odd because when the original free city centre loop bus was withdrawn, there was untold levels of crying on here about it.

Thats my recollection too - there was a huge level of dissatisfaction when it was withdrawn.

 

Maybe its a case of it being gone for so long in between times that the appeal just isn’t there any more?

 

The lady in the article is difficult and self-defeating to an extent though. She doesn’t want to get the Connect bus because it’s a “faff”, yet complains she can’t get to her destination (which is served by the Connect bus fairly closely!).

 

I’m not defending the woeful public transport in the city, but sometimes you might have to get a connecting bus depending on your destination! 
 

My personal issue with the Connect bus is that I’ve no idea where it stops. I’ve never consciously seen one running and not noticed any signs for stops or anything, so I’d have to do a bit of research as to where it actually is and where it goes.

[RollingJ]

15 minutes ago, SheffieldForum said:

Thats my recollection too - there was a huge level of dissatisfaction when it was withdrawn.

 

Maybe its a case of it being gone for so long in between times that the appeal just isn’t there any more?

 

The lady in the article is difficult and self-defeating to an extent though. She doesn’t want to get the Connect bus because it’s a “faff”, yet complains she can’t get to her destination (which is served by the Connect bus fairly closely!).

 

I’m not defending the woeful public transport in the city, but sometimes you might have to get a connecting bus depending on your destination! 
 

My personal issue with the Connect bus is that I’ve no idea where it stops. I’ve never consciously seen one running and not noticed any signs for stops or anything, so I’d have to do a bit of research as to where it actually is and where it goes.

As I said before, this service merely duplicates others. Route map is available on TSY - can't add it to the post as it is a  .pdf file.

[Zinger549]

1 hour ago, HeHasRisen said:

Its very odd because when the original free city centre loop bus was withdrawn, there was untold levels of crying on here about it.

Well that was free some people have to pay for this one

[HeHasRisen]

4 minutes ago, Zinger549 said:

Well that was free some people have to pay for this one

I would wager a huge chunk of the clientele who used the old one would still get on the new one for free anyway.

[ECCOnoob]

To me, the biggest problem is it's lack of branding and awareness. I feel they have missed an opportunity.

 

For one thing, the buses they are using has very little in the way of distinguishing features or even eye catching branding. To a casual observer, they just look like a mobility bus and not something regular people could get on use. 

 

IMO they would have been better using a bigger style bus, with distinctive brightly coloured livery to make it stand out along with copying such branding across promos, route maps and on the relevant bus stops so it's very clear to passer by where it operates, what its route is and what frequency it has.  

 

They could have even gone further on board  doing some additional marketing opportunities, advertising for local businesses along the route, even a rolling commentary playback as it goes around telling passengers what the next stop is and what (obviously paid sponsor) businesses are located nearby which would contribute to running costs.  Have seen that sort of thing happened in other cities, particularly in America. 

 

I read a while ago that the current operator is intending bringing in new generation of bigger electric power buses so maybe that might get a bit of improvement on the service. But I still think that needs to be more pushing of it's availability and better branding.

 

Its one thing the previous version of the service had better.  A very unique, visible presence which was easily identifiable with clear signage posted on each route stop.  

[RollingJ]

SYCMA, who are funding this waste of space with our money, will be introducing, I think three, electric (painted green) single deck buses at some point - they already have them in storage somewhere - but for some strange reason they seem reluctant to let them see the light of day.

[hackey lad]

No one knows about it . If it wasn’t for this forum , I wouldn’t.