Changes to buses 17/35/36/37/38 due to poor passenger numbers

[Maddy 15]

I can barely walk, I do have a disabled bus pass and my point was that with no flexibility about when I travel I will end up having to get places early and wait around. Just waiting around uses up energy I don't have spare. Among other things I collapse when I'm tired. Or when my brain stops sending the correct message to my legs and feet.

 

Still I really should know by now that being disabled means being viewed by many on SF as entitled, spoilt and not to mention rolling in lots of lovely free cash. If anyone wants to trade with me I have more than enough to share. But even if I was still a fit and healthy person I would expect a better service than 1 bus an hour. The buses are always busy, especially during rush hours so I am surprised they aren't being used enough. Still I guess we will all be packed on like sardines once we have just the 1 bus.

 

Anyway, lets hope I don't collapse on your bus at least busdriver1, that would be a real inconvenience.

[haddy 10]

Not heard of taxis

[Guest busdriver1]

I can barely walk, I do have a disabled bus pass and my point was that with no flexibility about when I travel I will end up having to get places early and wait around. Just waiting around uses up energy I don't have spare. Among other things I collapse when I'm tired. Or when my brain stops sending the correct message to my legs and feet.

 

Still I really should know by now that being disabled means being viewed by many on SF as entitled, spoilt and not to mention rolling in lots of lovely free cash. If anyone wants to trade with me I have more than enough to share. But even if I was still a fit and healthy person I would expect a better service than 1 bus an hour. The buses are always busy, especially during rush hours so I am surprised they aren't being used enough. Still I guess we will all be packed on like sardines once we have just the 1 bus.

 

Anyway, lets hope I don't collapse on your bus at least busdriver1, that would be a real inconvenience.

 

First like any other company is a business, as such it has responsibilities to its shareholders, stakeholders and other partners. They tried at their own cost to stimulate growth in this area. It did not work. This then becomes the responsibility of SYPTE who have a remit to provide services to areas that need them but are not financially viable.

First have done nothing wrong, and have actually done more than they needed by trying an increased service.

No sensible business will continue with a loss making venture.

I know now we will get a chorus of "back in the day" "20p to the end of the world" etc. The facts are that those days have gone, we voted for them when maggie bribed us with tax cuts to vote for her.

I can assure you that you will never collapse on my bus as I do not drive buses.

 

SYPTE are in financial difficulties because of cuts from central government and tried to scale back the extras they had given over and above the standard conditions of the ENCTS. People power got this overturned but the PTE have not had any more money given to them so other budgets will have to be scaled back to balance the books.

 

I have no real opinion on the rights and wrongs of this, just pointing out the facts.

 

Putting extra buses on in the rush hour is never going to happen as that is when demand for vehicles is at its greatest. With new buses now costing upwards of £250,000 each they can not afford to have them sitting around all day to run for 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon.

 

To break even. a bus needs to be out for 7-8 hours, then it starts making a profit.

 

I have a great deal of sympathy for your situation, despite any preconceived notions you may have. Unfortunately there is not an easy answer. Everybody's hands are tied at this time. Think yourself lucky First actually tried an improved service, its a shame it did not work, at least they tried.

[Astonblade 10]

Theres still far too many busses on Sheffields roads. Most of them look empty, except for a short period in the morning and afternoon.

 

I bet you could halve the number of busses outside that period and no-one would notice.

 

Makes you wonder how the bus company can make it pay. Unless of course they are getting some sort of recompense from sheffield council......

[No User Name 10]

Theres still far too many busses on Sheffields roads. Most of them look empty, except for a short period in the morning and afternoon.

 

I bet you could halve the number of busses outside that period and no-one would notice.

 

Makes you wonder how the bus company can make it pay. Unless of course they are getting some sort of recompense from sheffield council......

 

What on earth have the Council got to do with the buses??

[haddy 10]

To be honest it's the people who live in your local area that is at fault. Had they used the bus more than it would not have been cut

[annbaker 10]

What on earth have the Council got to do with the buses??

 

Think this explains

 

http://www.sypte.co.uk/corporate.aspx?id=510

[No User Name 10]

Think this explains

 

http://www.sypte.co.uk/corporate.aspx?id=510

 

So not much then, as I thought. Tendered bus services are paid for by SYPTE and not SCC, RMBC etc...

[annbaker 10]

There has to be an element of use it or lose it because the bus companies do have to make money to keep running. However my experience when the No 4 was in danger of being lost was that it often just didn't turn up. Once or twice fair enough but it was a daily occurence (at different times).

 

So the service becomes unreliable you start looking at alternatives and using them instead. As a result when it does actually turn up there's no-one on it because they've started using another route because they can't be sure it will appear which if rely on it to get to work or an appointment you can't take that risk.

 

So whilst First may well have been running a more frequent service in the area, how reliable was it? If it was reliable then people who want to use it and then don't I'd suggest have no room to complain. However if it is a case of they'd love to have used it but it wasn't turning up (as happened in our case in Sharrow) different ball game.

[dieselbabe 10]

Every time i used the new service of 35 36 when the 17 got took off we was promised a bus service that was on time.

 

We had buses missing every time of the time table, loads of people used this bus service when i was on the bus and it was hardly empty in the week days from meadowhall to say eccelsfield end of parson cross, then it got full again around foxhill to hillsbrough.

 

But the missing buses or lateness put this service down.

Now we are having the 17 service back, but it's only running every hour ??. This is not on at all has the bus will be packed, like it does at meadowhall-firthpark. It will be faster for me to walk the 10 mins to catch the 75 to firthpark or get the 97-98 outside my house into town then the tram to meadowhall. It's the poor service of the buses been late or missing that ruined this service and not who did or did not use it, people only chose to use a different bus when the 35-36 bus was missing and it was faster to get another bus.

[annbaker 10]

Every time i used the new service of 35 36 when the 17 got took off we was promised a bus service that was on time.

 

We had buses missing every time of the time table, loads of people used this bus service when i was on the bus and it was hardly empty in the week days from meadowhall to say eccelsfield end of parson cross, then it got full again around foxhill to hillsbrough.

 

But the missing buses or lateness put this service down.

Now we are having the 17 service back, but it's only running every hour ??. This is not on at all has the bus will be packed, like it does at meadowhall-firthpark. It will be faster for me to walk the 10 mins to catch the 75 to firthpark or get the 97-98 outside my house into town then the tram to meadowhall. It's the poor service of the buses been late or missing that ruined this service and not who did or did not use it, people only chose to use a different bus when the 35-36 bus was missing and it was faster to get another bus.

 

So same ploy used here with the No 4. Don't turn up and people will walk farther to find another route. Happens enough, people don't use it when it does turn up and then they claim not enough passengers to make it viable. Exactly what they did to us! It's important that you put all this on the website above. Get the MP on board and go for it!

[dieselbabe 10]

So same ploy used here with the No 4. Don't turn up and people will walk farther to find another route. Happens enough, people don't use it when it does turn up and then they claim not enough passengers to make it viable. Exactly what they did to us! It's important that you put all this on the website above. Get the MP on board and go for it!

 

Thing is annbaker we had the 17 service before they put the 35-36 and the later in the day the 37 bus service.

The 17 bus service was also shocking for been late or not turning up this is the reason for the new service. The new bus service had a new route to the 17 it changed half way from the 17 route but it was not a bad route, but again time keeping was shocking.

 

I have complained loads of times when buses have not turned up when they should have and making me late. I got told that the buses that was on the time table should not have been on the time table that did not turn up, yet other buses had kept to that time for the time the other bus was missing. So the bus company know its not the people, its how the bus is ran. I will now have to re arrange with how i will get to work using this bus service now the times will change, or i will have use more buses just to get to and from work.