We read many threads on the issue of bus services... poor company 'x' ....late running.... missing buses...constant changes etc.
So for pass couple of hours i have been a 'sad' person and tried to devise a way of changing this. I admit it may not be 100% possible however feel it would be a big improvement.
What I have come up with is loosely based on current system with a mix of the London model plus a bit of how the railways work.

I have added a poll to see if readers would welcome a bus service operating to something along these lines ....

My wish list for a better bus service provision:

The PTE and or local council to plan a network of bus routes for their area instead of the current 'open free for all by operators'. The licence for the route would be awarded by the PTE / council and operate under VOSA practice.

In is place I would put some minor control – however the 'commercial risk element ' would remain with the operator(s)

The network would be graded into one of 3 gradings Gold/Silver/Bronze each with a minimum standard.

Gold rated services ( min. standard)
Bus no older than 5 years old
Provide a 7 days a week service
Service to operate 0500 to 2400hours
Min. timetable during core day 0600 to 1800 every 10 minutes Monday to Saturday and outside these core hours a basic 20 minute service level would apply.On All Bank holidays a Sunday service would operate.
A joint service bid from operators ( max of 4 providers) would be acceptable on the understanding that each operator is providing an equal contribution to the service. A minimum requirement of 15 years operation would be required with no more than 2 timetable changes a year. No charge would be made for the route licence however fines (£10k plus) would be imposed for any failed/poor operation of service.

Silver rated services (min standard)
Bus no older than 10 years years old
Provide a 7 days a week service
Service to operate 0500 to 2400hrs
Min timetable every 20 minutes. On All Bank Holidays a normal service would be operated.
A joint service bid from operators (max of 3 providers) would be acceptable on the understanding that each operator is provding an equal contibution to the service. A minimum requirement of 10 years operation would be required with no more than 2 timetable changes a year.No charge for route licence however fines ( £5k) would be imposed for any failed/poor operation of service

Bronze rated services ( min standard)
Bus no older than 15 years old
Provide a Monday to Saturday service to operate 0600 to 1800hrs every 30 mins
Provide a Sunday service every hour between 0700 to 1800
A minimum requirement of 5 years operation would be required with with no more than 2 timetable changes a year. No charge for route licence however fines of £1K would apply for failed/poor operation of service.

The PTE/council would publish a list of routes for its area and invite the operators to put in a bid for each route. Each operator would then be invited to say what commercial commitment it would like to put against each route either Gold/Silver/Bronze.The PTE would grant it to the best bidder.

The PTE/ Council would also be able to buy (public funded) an enhancement to the minimum standards (known as Plus)

The PTE/Council would state on its timetables which grade the service was operating under for example Route 'xx' is operated to 'Bronze Plus' standard provision:

over to you....

Most bus routes already fit into one of your categories anyway, and your 'solution' fails to address the fundamental problem - unreliability. In the main, buses have to share the road with all other vehicles and so get caught in all the congestion, both predictable and unpredictable. Unless buses get their own 'track' through congested areas (like Supertram does) they will continue to be unreliable and so unpopular.

It would never work, even London has buses over 5 years old!

Maybe a different approach is needed, but why do people think if the council/pte run the buses things would suddenly change?!

Look at London, each resident has to folk out over £300 each just to keep the buses in London running, where as in South Yorkshire, the only time you pay for the buses is when you catch them!

Yes i know most current services fit around my idea... however at present a service can be withdrawn with just 42 days notice and no guarantee that the PTE will public fund any replacement.What the public want is a stable network and a reliable service then you may attract some new customers.

The PTE would not operate the service, it would only plan the network, monitor performance and fund any extra provision to services not provided on a commercial basis.

True, but it is 56 days, and has being for the past year or so now Silverknight.

I can see where you are coming from, but i sadly can not see it working :(

No bus service fits into the gold or silver category - to meet either standard a Sunday service would have to operate on All Bank Holidays - including Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day - three Bank Holidays when buses run NO services, for which on the latter two IMO there can be no excuses any more.

And no Stagecoach local bus route fits into any category as to do so there would have to be at least one bus an hour.

Re-regulation is the way forward - a public service for public people, with no monopolising profit hungry companies making huge fat piles of cash and providing crap serivce:mad:

Regulated services cost the taxpayer too much money and were draining the public finances which is the reason they were privatised. Privitasation was not about a better service it was about a service that was self sustaining and required no subsidary except on routes deemed to be of social value.

The answer (or at least my answer) is simple.

Exempt the bus companies from the competition comission but put inplace new regulations that favour the customer. Allow the companies to talk to each other so routes and timetables and even tickets can be co-ordinated. For instance you could have an operator ticket that would let passengers buy a ticket for use on only the 75/76/88/83/265/29 corridor with the revenue being divided up. Network tickets would still be available but services could then connect up and be co-ordinated with out a tax subsidary.

Also force the councils to put bus detection on traffic lights and install bus lanes etc.

Currently operators legally cannot talk to each other.

This would also allow companies to change a route like now fairly quickly should passenger demand dictate it. Note London is notoriously bad at this.

Actually the industry is now pretty well bedded down and stabalised now. If the politicians would have the guts to free it from the stupid red tape and let the companies do what they do best which is run busses then you would have one of the best services in Europe.

Do you really think politicians local or not know how to run a bus operation any more than they know how to specify a rail network or run the NHS etc? I know I don't.

Yes i know most current services fit around my idea... however at present a service can be withdrawn with just 42 days notice and no guarantee that the PTE will public fund any replacement.What the public want is a stable network and a reliable service then you may attract some new customers.

The PTE would not operate the service, it would only plan the network, monitor performance and fund any extra provision to services not provided on a commercial basis.

The network is pretty stable now.

The PTE cannot enforce the contracts they have now let alone any more.

The 77A Fisrt and 265 Stagecoach routes spring to mind. A year of complaining along with a lot more people doing the same, local meetings and yet still they do nothing.