Particularly heavy traffic today 16/11/15

[Fudbeer 12]

Yeah huge efforts include cutting bus services to the bone forcing people back into their cars!

[AndrewC 307]

How would you lot like Sheffield's transport system to look, in an ideal world?

 

Taking in to account the views and needs of all users, residents, financial restraints, permitted polution level restraints, and physically available space.

 

 

Personally, I think if you look at it realistically there's not much you could actually change about the infrastructure compared to how it is now. I think the recent bus changes have been detrimental though. Encourage/coerce as many people on to public transport as possible by all means, but make sure the public transport system works properly too.

[Andy C 86]

Hi Andy, thanks for explanation, good to have you on this forum. No spare tram hey? I didn't realise that's how they managed delays. I don't think there's been a particular issue in Hillsborough though, not at that time in the morning, with the tram gate in operation. When the tram has finally come along and set off back into town, we've gone through Hillsborough without any issues.

 

Things do seem to be better this week (in the mornings anyway).

 

The only way to get a tram back on time is generally to terminate it short of normal destination so it can pick up its next trip on time. Of course that means chucking off a load of passengers so only generally happens if there is another tram immediately behind!

 

I think traffic is worse than normal - previous years the trams only generally got delayed in traffic in the afternoon, about school run time and was generally around Hillsborough corner and Interchange (often behind traffic waiting to turn right up towards Walkley/Crookes). I haven't been down there recently and experienced the current traffic problems myself, so whether it is just more cars on the road or changes to the buses around the Interchange or traffic backing up from the Shalesmoor area because of the West Bar roadworks I'm not sure.

[ChrisT70 10]

How would you lot like Sheffield's transport system to look, in an ideal world?

 

Taking in to account the views and needs of all users, residents, financial restraints, permitted polution level restraints, and physically available space.

 

 

Personally, I think if you look at it realistically there's not much you could actually change about the infrastructure compared to how it is now. I think the recent bus changes have been detrimental though. Encourage/coerce as many people on to public transport as possible by all means, but make sure the public transport system works properly too.

 

just employ someone actually competent to look at traffic light placement and need, and get rid of the many we didnt need that work regardless of traffic, ie penistone road, meadowhall/attercliffe etc, often at red with no traffic around.

 

then get rid of the many stupid road closures that forced people onto rat runs. shut the silly bus priority gate at barnsley road to spital hill which stops all traffic including buses for two minutes at a time.

 

make the traffic wardens /cars sit at spital hill and other areas at peak times and repeatedly fine people who just stop to chat or park up blocking the road for genuine through traffic. open back up the crazy closures in the area to get traffic moving.

 

reduce the number of 52 buses on the route, and other similar routes, there is no need for 3 or 4 buses at peak times to be fighting for the same customers at the same stop, one every 6 mins is sufficient.

 

that would all help massively, we need to take the blinkers off sheffield council planners who think everyone will ditch cars for public transport, its not going to happen, deal with it.

[Eater Sundae 12]

just employ someone actually competent to look at traffic light placement and need, and get rid of the many we didnt need that work regardless of traffic, ie penistone road, meadowhall/attercliffe etc, often at red with no traffic around.

 

then get rid of the many stupid road closures that forced people onto rat runs. shut the silly bus priority gate at barnsley road to spital hill which stops all traffic including buses for two minutes at a time.

 

make the traffic wardens /cars sit at spital hill and other areas at peak times and repeatedly fine people who just stop to chat or park up blocking the road for genuine through traffic. open back up the crazy closures in the area to get traffic moving.

 

reduce the number of 52 buses on the route, and other similar routes, there is no need for 3 or 4 buses at peak times to be fighting for the same customers at the same stop, one every 6 mins is sufficient.

 

that would all help massively, we need to take the blinkers off sheffield council planners who think everyone will ditch cars for public transport, its not going to happen, deal with it.

 

Surely the road closures were often in order to stop rat runs, and to force drivers onto the main roads.

 

---------- Post added 27-11-2015 at 15:36 ----------

 

How would you lot like Sheffield's transport system to look, in an ideal world?

 

Taking in to account the views and needs of all users, residents, financial restraints, permitted polution level restraints, and physically available space.

 

 

Personally, I think if you look at it realistically there's not much you could actually change about the infrastructure compared to how it is now. I think the recent bus changes have been detrimental though. Encourage/coerce as many people on to public transport as possible by all means, but make sure the public transport system works properly too.

 

Some "things", like cars, are bought individually as each person wants them.

 

Other things, like roads or street lighting, are paid for centrally out of general taxation, for the good of society as a whole.

 

In my ideal world public transport, on a local commuting level, would be paid for centrally, for the good of society as a whole. If a lot of people can be enticed to switch to public transport when it is available, then the roads would run much more freely for both buses and cars.

 

The present system makes cars comparatively expensive to buy but cheap to run for an individual motorist in comparison with the cost of public transport, which has no upfront cost but expensive each time you use it. Once the motorist has bought his car, then he is likely to use it. So we enter a spiral of declining public transport use as more people aspire to and buy cars, which they then use, so less demand for public transport which falls further into decline, so more people decide to buy cars to meet their transport needs so more decline in public transport etc etc.

[Fudbeer 12]

How would you lot like Sheffield's transport system to look, in an ideal world?

 

Not that different from how it was before.

 

Buses turning up when they should.

 

Buses that are not so full that you can get on and off without having to fight your way through overcrowded standing areas.

 

Not having to wait an unreasonable time to get home in the early evening.

 

A tracker system that works (as it did most of the time before.

 

I am a realist and I understand that cuts were needed and in all honesty there were times when there was over supply but why not look at the current system and make cuts where services will be least missed then people would have a better idea whats happening but by doing what they have and totally overhauling it and implementing the cuts at the same time is has made it much worse.

 

If it was that bad before why did they leave it how it was for so long.

 

Sorry but I really don't think the "partnership" have done a good job for the people of Sheffield at all and why implement it at this time of year when it is so busy anyway why not do it in the quiet summer months when they have time to iron out the problems.

[AndrewC 307]

^^ I think I agree with you with regards to the recent bus changes. I've noticed many problems with the tracker system myself, but I've definitely noticed a slightly longer wait for buses and they are busier too. I travel just after peak times (I travel about 9am and 5:30pm on average), so before the changes I saw a lot of buses with perhaps just 10 or so people on. From that point of view you can kind of see where such services were unprofitable, however it sounds like peak travel has been badly effected, which is unforgivable.

 

 

With regards to some of the other recent posts;

 

Closing rat-runs; trouble with re-opening all those closed back roads etc is that it doesn't take in to account the negative effect on residents and workers on those said streets the rat-run traffic has. To the motorist it seems to be mere road space, and in their eyes it's just road space that has been taken away from them. That's not really fair on the other road and city users. And actually, redirecting traffic at major junctions instead of leaving it as a free-for-all can actually help manage overall traffic flow.

 

Better policing of cars blocking roads/junctions; You'd get a lot of support from me over this one; too many times buses just simply can't get through roads or junctions (indeed, spital hill is terrible for this) because of poor parking and slow moving vehicles. Buses too can do this sometimes of course; fairs fair! Though I often think people don't always bear in mind enough the fact that shifting a massive bus around a road is much more difficult than keeping a Clio from blocking a junction.

 

With regards to the roads themselves, I think a lot of people in Sheffield are quite childishly over-the-top about the one-way system and blocking of rat-runs etc; it's really not very different to most other UK cities and is really not that difficult negotiate. The way some people go on about it on here sometimes as if they got lost for 48 hours in the city centre without being able to get out...jeez. The resurfacing will make a gigantic difference to a lot of places. I think a lot of roads and junctions in Sheffield are adequately sized and designed, but traffic is simply slowed down by the ridiculously uneven surfaces.

[Cyclone 10]

How would you lot like Sheffield's transport system to look, in an ideal world?

 

Taking in to account the views and needs of all users, residents, financial restraints, permitted polution level restraints, and physically available space.

 

 

Personally, I think if you look at it realistically there's not much you could actually change about the infrastructure compared to how it is now. I think the recent bus changes have been detrimental though. Encourage/coerce as many people on to public transport as possible by all means, but make sure the public transport system works properly too.

 

I totally disagree with the policy of using a stick to stop people using cars. The public transport system is inadequate, so all that is actually achieved is greater and greater inconvenience for car drivers, which just results in more and more congestion.

[Dick 10]

Just come down Upper Hanover St. The traffic going up was solid and stationary all the way from the Ecclesall Rd roundabout all the way to Brook Hill.

Avoid it if you can.

[Guest]

Just come down Upper Hanover St. The traffic going up was solid and stationary all the way from the Ecclesall Rd roundabout all the way to Brook Hill.

Avoid it if you can.

 

Its truly pathetic the way people behave at Christmas.

 

If there was no mention of it on TV most wouldn't bother. The shopping I mean. It is mass hypnotism.

[MobileB 10]

Then how come I set off from Walkley at 8:10am, went to Bristol Street Motors on Attercliffe Road where my wife had dropped her car off for a service and drove her to work at Silverdale School at Bents Green - then went to my lads house on the Wybourn and loaded up my car with waste cardboard, took it to the dumpit site at Shirecliffe, went to Tesco's Infirmary Road for a paper and was sat at home with a cuppa just after 10am? Been home earlier if it wasn't for the usual queue at the dumpit site.

 

Think you either took a helicopter from the dump it site or your watch is still on British Summer Time - recycling centre at Shirecliffe don't open till 10 .

 

Would say your "just after 10" would have probably been 10.15 to 10.20 at best!

 

I am very fortunate that I don't have to leave most days until about 9 in the morning. My journey used to take about 45 minutes with about 25 minutes to get to J33 of M1 and then another 20 mins afterwards. Since beginning of November, this journey has taken a minimum of a hour - to the M1 is now taking 40 minute; the journey afterwards is the same.

[Cyclone 10]

Just come down Upper Hanover St. The traffic going up was solid and stationary all the way from the Ecclesall Rd roundabout all the way to Brook Hill.

Avoid it if you can.

 

Yeah, I hit it about the same time. No idea why it's so heavy on a Friday lunchtime.