New Sheffield Bus Network- good or bad for the public?

[bus man 10]

Not true, it's being put forward by SYPTE / SCC / First / Stagecoach / TM Travel / Sheffield Community Transport.

 

Here's the reasons why this is being brought in:

 

 

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Secondly, there is a significant financial risk - if under Quality Contracts, the service packages are put out to tender and the prices come back significantly higher than expected, SYPTE and the South Yorkshire Local Autorities (because they fund the PTE) will need to find the additional money. No-one else has introduced Quality Contracts so there is not much of an evidence base to draw on for contract prices etc, so it will be very dificult to estimate costs and there is a very real budget risk.

 

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But most of these are on routes that are comercial so therefore the pte doesnt pay for them

[Planner1 442]

You're contradicting yourself. If the operators don't want Quality Contracts imposed, why would they want something which achieves all the characteristics of a Quality Contract? It's far more believable that they are only "supporting" this because they think its their best chance of avoiding a QC whether they want one or not.

Dont think so, operators are supporting it, I believe because:

a) it avoids Quality Contracts

b)they can make efficiency savings

c) there will be joint marketing and promotion, aimed at growing patronage, which will increase their earnings

 

In a Quality Contract, all aspects of a service will be specified by the PTE, including fares, so if partonage grows, the income comes to the PTE. Under the voluntary arrangement, if patronage grows, the opeators make more money.

[altus 540]

You're contradicting yourself. If the operators don't want Quality Contracts imposed, why would they want something which achieves all the characteristics of a Quality Contract? It's far more believable that they are only "supporting" this because they think its their best chance of avoiding a QC whether they want one or not.

To be fair, Planner1 said the scheme delivers many of the features of quality contracts, not all of them, so no real contradiction.

 

I agree that they are only supporting this scheme in the hope of avoiding QCs.

 

The fact that SYPTE are continuing developing QCs shows they don't really think this scheme will work but the government and the bus companies are making them take baby steps towards them.

[altus 540]

The biggest problem with the travel master ticket range is that they currently cover something like 75 different tickets that share the same validity but look completely different to each other. A booklet is produced by the PTE for platform staff every 3 months detailing the myriad of changessince the last issue. The whole range needs stripping back to basics and simplifying so staff do not have to try to remember this vast list and recognise them whilst being quickly flashed by passengers as they hurry past. The selling of weekly travelmasters on buses will only add to this range to remember. Try looking at a rail-bought SY daytripper and then imagine trying to check a) what it is, b) the date, as someone walks past assuming you are equiped with a bar code reader in place of eyes, then you start to get the idea. Then you get railmasters that people try to use on buses. Same problem. Print too small to be read. (the last driver accepted it) A lot of the time tickets are wrongly accepted as the passengers are too quick getting on or the driver legitimately mistakes it for another. A smaller range of legible tickets is the way forward. Will it happen? Under this PTE? NEVER

There's nothing stopping the companies involved coming up with a proposal to sort this out and getting the PTE to rubber stamp it if they need to.

[Planner1 442]

But most of these are on routes that are comercial so therefore the pte doesnt pay for them

Under Quality Contract, a number of routes (perhaps some that are currently comercial and some that are tendered) would be packaged together and a contract to operate them would be put to the market.

 

It might work out that if the operator thinks they make money from the overall package, they might offer to pay to run it. If they think it will lose money overall, they will tell the PTE how much they would want to be paid to operate the service package.

 

The problem is that no-one knows what the tendered prices would come back at and as no-one else in the country outside London has done this, there isn't much evidence to base budget estimates on. It's therefore a significant financial risk.

[Planner1 442]

The fact that SYPTE are continuing developing QCs shows they don't really think this scheme will work

Not correct really, the PTE need to keep the pressure on the operators to co-operate, the threat of QC's does that.

 

QC's take years to put in place, so they need to keep developing them as plan B anyway as, although the signs form the pilots are encouraging, no-one knows for sure whether the partnership will deliver on a city-wide basis.

[Bilge 34]

Can we paint the buses all the same colour while we're at it and get shut of all the crappy adverts all over the outsides.

 

It might seem a small thing but it would make it clear to potential passengers ('customers') that there is actually a network that is connected together, not just a set of competing operators with services that don't complement each other.

[adamf 10]

Can we paint the buses all the same colour while we're at it and get shut of all the crappy adverts all over the outsides.

 

I favour banning nearly all outdoor advertising (São Paulo did this) but I don't think a council could do that here.

[Dwayne Pipe 10]

On the subject of differing passes, can't we just everyone with a mobility pass? Oh, i forgot, the PTE are already doing that!

[Jim Graham 10]

I live on a bus route and I've lost the will to live trying to keep up with all the changes over the last couple of years. We were on a straight route, then they changed the numbers because we were on a circle route, then the number of the route was different going into town than the route out of town, then they cut down to half hour service then they changed numbers again, then Stagecoach had a bus and then they didn't and now they do again. It's absolutely ............... ridiculous. Why is a penny of tax payers money given to these clowns at all?

[Mr Bates 10]

Jim you will no doubt be pleased to know that the sypte 'director of customer experience' is on approximately £100k a year.....

[Guest busdriver1]

Can we paint the buses all the same colour while we're at it and get shut of all the crappy adverts all over the outsides.

 

It might seem a small thing but it would make it clear to potential passengers ('customers') that there is actually a network that is connected together, not just a set of competing operators with services that don't complement each other.

 

There are 2 competing networks and they do not compliment each other. To do so would be illegal under current legislation.