A comment the other day asked about the 217 and 218 service. The tendor was due to be awarded this month and it was anticipated we would lose it completly. Instead an emergency tendor has been put into place i believevc jpt are going to run the service on a sundays and on bank holidays. Now i'm not a big fan of sharing routes. For the main reason it's bad on the punters. Why should someone who buys a megarider have to pay on the same route on a sunday. It's a little unfair. Will have to see what happens to it in january when the decision is made. On a split today, bit crap for the first day back. Just waiting to go do my 216 and 231. The 216s have got to overload again i believe due to more lights going up in droylsden. They have all been coming in 20 and 30 minutes late so i'm not lookin forward to this. Back in at 430am so coming on my bike so i can head out after work.
Sorry to be off topic but have you seen the letter from 'Mark Theapleton, MD stagecoach Manchester' on page 30 of the MEN today? Awesome piece defending the staff regarding the 'brestgate' scandal!!
ReplyDeleteTop marks to your boss for standing up to the media and letting people see the other side of the story!
also seen in Oldham Cron about speedwells new route S49 about the fares been low which is good they hope to get the full weekday service in in the new year
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly regarding companies sharing routes, but sadly as its taxpayers money the PTE has to go with the cheapest price which in this case is JPT.
ReplyDeleteIm not a huge fan of JPT. They run a service in the evenings in Stockport which is run by Stagecoach during the day, and accept Stagecoach Day/Mega riders, yet on the 169 which they do in the eveings, they dont and wont, how is that fare.
The letter in the MEN is great, i think the MD of Stagecoach has been pressing the editor of the MEN for an update on the story for some time but as we have said before they dont like publishing good news, so he wrote the letter instead, but still no appology for the driver.
I agree about it not being fair on the punters regarding different operators sharing routes.
ReplyDeleteI remember when Stagecoach used to share the 236s with Maynes on a sunday until (thankfully) Stagecoach ended up buying them out.
But why are some routes subject to tender and others not? Is it only the subsidised routes which are put out to tender, I've never fully understood how it works
Certain Daytime/evening and Sunday services are subsidised by the PTE as there not viable to run commercially, so bus companies are paid to run full services, part of services or just certain journeys.
ReplyDeleteAs its tax payers money which is used to pay for these services the PTE has strict rules to follow when awarding tenders. They must wherever possible award tenders to the cheapest quote.
I do agree with you about the 236, however Stagecoach still ran the 237 so at a push someone travelling to Glossop could still have used Stagecoach.
Sometimes no bus company wants a route , so puts a ridiculous high tender in, if its the only one the PTE get , they award it, trust me , i know these things :-)
ReplyDeleteThe 390 is a prime example of this.
ReplyDeleteIs this the 390 Glossop service [not the Stockport service]?
ReplyDeleteIkm surprised this service is still going given the cuts Derbyshire CC have been making recently in Glossop.
But in these 'hard' times it must be very unusual for a PTE to only get one tender. You only have to look at the 346 and the fact a company based in Rochdale is prepared to drive dead to Ashton to run a 4 hour service, then again drive back to Rochdale, and look at JPT going for tenders in Altrincham.
Regarding the 217/218 though, i have heard a rumour that First are likely to win the Daytime/evening service come January, but they want to make cut backs to the service, and change the route slightly.
I think route changes should be made to all services that route through market street droyslden,to circumnavigate it , ala 219s !
ReplyDeleteas you seem to have lost service 217 218 at weekends dose this mean more free time for bike rides ? or will they find you new duties to fill the ones gone
ReplyDeleteNothing is coming to replace the sunday work not until Princess road move to Sharston so im told.
ReplyDelete