SYPTE consultation on bus route changes

[Parapou 10]

There are other cuts to frequency and timings which aren't obvious in the consultation leaflet. Even the 52 and 120 are being reduced with one in five journeys axed.

[Andy C 85]

There are other cuts to frequency and timings which aren't obvious in the consultation leaflet. Even the 52 and 120 are being reduced with one in five journeys axed.

 

Yes, the 52 and 120 is proposed to run every 5 minutes Mon-Fri daytime, every 6 minutes Sat daytime and every 10-15 minutes evenings and Sundays, so an extra minutes wait between daytime buses!

[JFKvsNixon 11]

Yes, the 52 and 120 is proposed to run every 5 minutes Mon-Fri daytime, every 6 minutes Sat daytime and every 10-15 minutes evenings and Sundays, so an extra minutes wait between daytime buses!

 

In reality the proposed cuts to the 52 and 120 means that you'll be waiting 20 minutes, then three will come along at once instead of four.

[nanoffive 10]

Perhaps someone who lives in the area may wish to feed the suggestion in via the consultation survey form......

 

http://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/sbp

 

 

Done it! Can't say we didn't try, even though everyone is saying that the consultation is a sham and the changes are cut and dried. Even some staff in Hillsborough Interchange have implied this.

[vincentb 10]

Does anybody remember a similar consultation like this before - and if any of the original proposals were changed at all as a result of the consultation?

[Andy C 85]

Done it! Can't say we didn't try, even though everyone is saying that the consultation is a sham and the changes are cut and dried. Even some staff in Hillsborough Interchange have implied this.

 

I'm not sure customer service staff in Hillsborough Interchange are involved enough to be able to know whether that is true or not!

 

They are certainly working to tight timescales - any changes to bus services have to be registered with VOSA 56 days in advance, so to be implemented at the end of October the registration needs to be in at the end of August.

 

There also of course has to be a recognition of what everyone wants and what is realistic isn't always the same. In this time of austerity there is a shrinking pot of public money to subsidise bus services, so we have to have a network where the majority is provided on a commercial basis by the operators. Added to this people not only want to keep fares cheap but also have multi-operator/multi-modal tickets cheap and on smart cards, bus operators in Sheffield are currently turning very little profit because the fares are too cheap (£12.50 a week - that's less than First was charging several years ago despite inflation!) so the network has to be more efficient with empty seats cut out if there are no signs of patronage growing.

 

However if someone in consultation points out that cutting/changing a service would lose a lot of passengers and suggest a good alternative, then in genuine consultation that really should be considered.

 

At the moment the proposal is a network map drawn up by SYPTE's consultants on behalf of the bus partnership using ticket machine data as a guide to demand, the next step is to allocate routes to operators. At that point the commercial reality will start to get applied by the bus businesses and maybe thats when last minute changes, some suggested by the public, will get applied...

 

In the meantime once again - I encourage all to check the consultation website out, look at the maps and service list and fill in the survey form with comments and suggestions.

[1978 14]

Of course a real consultation with the public would have been held before the consultants got fully down to work, not after it's virtually cut and dried. They'd examine the existing network, see where the public felt improvements were needed, then sit down to crunch the numbers to get to the best conclusion.

 

Who knows, they might have discovered things they may not have been aware of, and which they now have so little time to incorporate into the plan they intend to implement. As it is the changes may well deter 10% of passenger journeys due to confusion.

 

I'm sure some cosmetic and minor changes will have to be made, but it's too late for any major changes. Of course deferring the changes for 3 or 6 months isn't, apparently, an option.

 

It should be a wake up call for all Sheffield folk. If we see any future consultation being announced, about anything, we need to get stuck in and spread the word about the implications before it all happens by stealth. If we don't, and possibly even if we do, the changes will go ahead and they'll say we had our opportunity to be involved at the consultation level.

 

I think I missed one recently. Apparently the master plan for the city includes making Pinstone Street a pedestrian precinct, and probably other streets too. That will have another major effect on all our buses.......

[HandsworthX 10]

From reading the document about South Sheffield. There is nothing to make the Service 52 any reliable. How about splitting the route in two. Extending it to Wisewood (or linking to the 53 Wisewood to Hillsborough) will just make it worse. It is supposed to be every 8 minutes. Sorry its not. They run in 2's and 3's with big gaps. As most people only go as far as town, why send it across town. I live on the 52 route where we don't get Stagecoach, so the service is poor.

 

However I think there minds are made up, the changes will go through what ever people say, and the fares will go in time

[Andy C 85]

From reading the document about South Sheffield. There is nothing to make the Service 52 any reliable. How about splitting the route in two. Extending it to Wisewood (or linking to the 53 Wisewood to Hillsborough) will just make it worse. It is supposed to be every 8 minutes. Sorry its not. They run in 2's and 3's with big gaps. As most people only go as far as town, why send it across town. I live on the 52 route where we don't get Stagecoach, so the service is poor.

 

However I think there minds are made up, the changes will go through what ever people say, and the fares will go in time

 

If the 52 was split in town I think there would be a lot of complaints about losing a direct link to the University and hospitals.

 

I don't think you will ever get perfect performance with high volumes of both passengers and traffic unless you put a bit more slack in the timetable by extending the journey time.

 

The only change to the 52 I can see is a reduction in daytime frequency (Every 5-6 minutes instead of every 4-5 minutes).

 

Other changes in the Woodhouse area is the 25/25A to Bradway is replaced by the 4A; the 22 to Nether Edge is replaced by the 4 to Low Edges and the 123 Crystal Peaks-City becomes the 83 and runs through to Fulwood via Ecclesall Road.

 

I cannot see any change to the 30/30A.

Edited July 27, 2015 by Andy C

[ormester101 10]

I'm not sure customer service staff in Hillsborough Interchange are involved enough to be able to know whether that is true or not!

 

They are certainly working to tight timescales - any changes to bus services have to be registered with VOSA 56 days in advance, so to be implemented at the end of October the registration needs to be in at the end of August.

 

There also of course has to be a recognition of what everyone wants and what is realistic isn't always the same. In this time of austerity there is a shrinking pot of public money to subsidise bus services, so we have to have a network where the majority is provided on a commercial basis by the operators. Added to this people not only want to keep fares cheap but also have multi-operator/multi-modal tickets cheap and on smart cards, bus operators in Sheffield are currently turning very little profit because the fares are too cheap (£12.50 a week - that's less than First was charging several years ago despite inflation!) so the network has to be more efficient with empty seats cut out if there are no signs of patronage growing.

 

However if someone in consultation points out that cutting/changing a service would lose a lot of passengers and suggest a good alternative, then in genuine consultation that really should be considered.

 

At the moment the proposal is a network map drawn up by SYPTE's consultants on behalf of the bus partnership using ticket machine data as a guide to demand, the next step is to allocate routes to operators. At that point the commercial reality will start to get applied by the bus businesses and maybe thats when last minute changes, some suggested by the public, will get applied...

 

In the meantime once again - I encourage all to check the consultation website out, look at the maps and service list and fill in the survey form with comments and suggestions.

 

its about time the bus companies listened to people which they arent this will cause chaos not having sunday buses on some routes is going back to the old days and after all there providing a services utterly disgusted the consultations have been rushed through and people still dont even know about the changes it should immediatley postponed .

 

---------- Post added 27-07-2015 at 01:31 ----------

 

Of course a real consultation with the public would have been held before the consultants got fully down to work, not after it's virtually cut and dried. They'd examine the existing network, see where the public felt improvements were needed, then sit down to crunch the numbers to get to the best conclusion.

 

Who knows, they might have discovered things they may not have been aware of, and which they now have so little time to incorporate into the plan they intend to implement. As it is the changes may well deter 10% of passenger journeys due to confusion.

 

I'm sure some cosmetic and minor changes will have to be made, but it's too late for any major changes. Of course deferring the changes for 3 or 6 months isn't, apparently, an option.

 

It should be a wake up call for all Sheffield folk. If we see any future consultation being announced, about anything, we need to get stuck in and spread the word about the implications before it all happens by stealth. If we don't, and possibly even if we do, the changes will go ahead and they'll say we had our opportunity to be involved at the consultation level.

 

I think I missed one recently. Apparently the master plan for the city includes making Pinstone Street a pedestrian precinct, and probably other streets too. That will have another major effect on all our buses.......

 

why should sheffield be third calss city but thats what the changes will do

[Guest busdriver1]

This has very little to do with the bus companies providing a better service. It is all about how many buses they can get off the road to balance the books due to the PTE keeping all the B.S.O.G. money for themselves instead of giving it pro rata to the bus companies like they are supposed to.

[Andy C 85]

Consultation ends on the 31st July (4 days time). If you haven't already do check out the information at http://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/sbp and fill in the survey.