Why do buses have Timetables if they aren't going to stick to them?

[Guest busdriver1]

I did. You questioned why on earth anyone with feet would want to use a taxi!

 

Surely if they're cheaper, cleaner, and easier to use than a bus, the answer would be 'anyone wanting to travel a distance they can't walk'?

 

I use them more now than ever - when two or more people are travelling its cheaper, and takes you door to door.

 

Less people are travelling by bus now in Sheffield. I'd be willing to wager a lot of them are using taxis instead. A better service - why wouldn't they use it?

 

If buses can't compete, price wise, with other methods of travelling, it's difficult to see a future for bus travel.

 

I understand your loyalty to buses.....but why would anyone want to put "thought and planning" into getting from A and B in a busy lifestyle if they they can do it more easily? History is littered with old institutions that have been replaced with solutions that are more convenient and require less effort, for better prices.

 

Perhaps it's time for the bus networks to recognise this, take a look at their dwindling usage numbers, and instead of reacting by hiking the fares again, look at why this is happening, what people are doing instead, and ways to bring back customers?

 

Ultimately no one has any loyalty to buses - they'll just go for the easiest and cheapest option. How do buses compete?

I do use my car frequently in South Yorkshire as the bus services there are very poor mainly due to the interference of SYPTE. Other areas that benefit from not having a PTE normally offer a better level of service and are often more joined up than locally. The winging whining locals who keep hailing back to the 80's when SYPTE ran the buses for peanuts and cut corners on maintenance are seen through rose tinted goggles forgetting that our lives were put in danger by these same people. Everything has a price and safety WAS compromised on a daily basis. (Remember when they had to hire in buses from all round the country because the traffic commissioners had put a couple of hundred off the road because they were death traps?). Its my guess that locals would welcome those days back because the fares were cheaper. Yes, bus use in South Yorkshire is in decline as it is in London.. There are plenty areas where it is increasing but they get overlooked as not suiting an agenda. Those areas in the main do not have a PTE bleeding operators dry at every opportunity. Easy to work out really isnt it?

[Resident 1,181]

SYPTE cut corners?

 

I remember at least FIVE bus fires within weeks of First taking over from Mainline.

 

Safety is STILL compromised on a daily basis with First/Stagecoach drivers. Both passengers and other road users!

[paula4sheff 10]

I do use my car frequently in South Yorkshire as the bus services there are very poor mainly due to the interference of SYPTE. Other areas that benefit from not having a PTE normally offer a better level of service and are often more joined up than locally. The winging whining locals who keep hailing back to the 80's when SYPTE ran the buses for peanuts and cut corners on maintenance are seen through rose tinted goggles forgetting that our lives were put in danger by these same people. Everything has a price and safety WAS compromised on a daily basis. (Remember when they had to hire in buses from all round the country because the traffic commissioners had put a couple of hundred off the road because they were death traps?). Its my guess that locals would welcome those days back because the fares were cheaper. Yes, bus use in South Yorkshire is in decline as it is in London.. There are plenty areas where it is increasing but they get overlooked as not suiting an agenda. Those areas in the main do not have a PTE bleeding operators dry at every opportunity. Easy to work out really isnt it?

 

That's all absolutely irrelevant to the average user in Sheffield though. They neither know, nor care, about things like PTEs.

 

They just want a cheap, reliable and easy way to get from A and B. If buses can't provide that, then they won't use them and will seek alternative arrangements. As many people seem to be doing - and I see no reason that that is a bad thing. If it's cheaper and more convenient for me, or anyone else, to use taxis.......then people aren't going to bother with taxis.

 

Also, let's not shed too much sympathy for the likes of First and Stagecoach. They're hardly local businesses operating on a shoestring budget and making little profit are they?!

 

Massive companies offering a poor service at ever-increasing prices? Consumer is always king and will always look elsewhere. The way of the world.

[Sheff2006 10]

Too many buses operating too many similar routes, clogging up the same roads and adding to existing traffic delays.

 

Think of the time and fuel that is wasted by the 120 stopping at so many city centre stops just to get to the bus station. Cross city routes don't work because the length of the routes just make more opportunities for delays. You then end up with at least 3 buses bunching up on the same route and a twenty minute wait for the next one, regularly.

 

I've said it before in similar threads, bring back limited stop routes like we used to have. Modern buses don't help either - look how slow the stagecoach hybrids are now. Even modern ticket machines are slower than the old wayfarer machines.

 

For a city who once had such a great public transport network, it's such a shame to see the depths it has sunk to these days.

[sulzer 10]

Going back to the beginning I can’t believe someone was moaning about the number 1 and 1A

I work along that route and they are literally minutes apart and all brand new buses both stagecoach and First you should try living on some of the other routes that aren’t every minute and see how bad it and the buses are then

[Guest busdriver1]

That's all absolutely irrelevant to the average user in Sheffield though. They neither know, nor care, about things like PTEs.

 

They just want a cheap, reliable and easy way to get from A and B. If buses can't provide that, then they won't use them and will seek alternative arrangements. As many people seem to be doing - and I see no reason that that is a bad thing. If it's cheaper and more convenient for me, or anyone else, to use taxis.......then people aren't going to bother with taxis.

 

Also, let's not shed too much sympathy for the likes of First and Stagecoach. They're hardly local businesses operating on a shoestring budget and making little profit are they?!

 

Massive companies offering a poor service at ever-increasing prices? Consumer is always king and will always look elsewhere. The way of the world.

Bury your head in the sand then.Cheap Cheap Cheap then what do you get? Cheap.

[paula4sheff 10]

Bury your head in the sand then.Cheap Cheap Cheap then what do you get? Cheap.

 

What is there to bury my head in the sand about exactly?!

 

I don't really understand your point - you're criticizing people for wanting the cheapest way of getting from A to B they can? Of course they would. No one wants to pay more for something that's worse.

 

Why would anyone want to get a bus if a taxi was cheaper? Taxis are more comfortable, direct and convenient. If they're also more cost effective....then people will use them more.

 

You act like the people of Sheffield should be in some way grateful and loyal to buses, which is very strange!

 

If buses can't keep up with competition in terms of pricing and convenience, then their decline will be terminal.

 

I'd suggest it's probably First and Stagecoach who are "burying their heads in the sand" by not recognizing that rising fares and declining usage numbers is a deadly combination in terms of their long-term future.

[Guest busdriver1]

What is there to bury my head in the sand about exactly?!

 

I don't really understand your point - you're criticizing people for wanting the cheapest way of getting from A to B they can? Of course they would. No one wants to pay more for something that's worse.

 

Why would anyone want to get a bus if a taxi was cheaper? Taxis are more comfortable, direct and convenient. If they're also more cost effective....then people will use them more.

 

You act like the people of Sheffield should be in some way grateful and loyal to buses, which is very strange!

 

If buses can't keep up with competition in terms of pricing and convenience, then their decline will be terminal.

 

I'd suggest it's probably First and Stagecoach who are "burying their heads in the sand" by not recognizing that rising fares and declining usage numbers is a deadly combination in terms of their long-term future.

 

Yet again you totally miss a point that suits you to miss. The problem is not the operators, it is SYPTE but since your agenda says they are not relevant you are ignoring facts.

[paula4sheff 10]

Yet again you totally miss a point that suits you to miss. The problem is not the operators, it is SYPTE but since your agenda says they are not relevant you are ignoring facts.

 

I understand that point....but why do bus users care about that? They just want a cheap and easy service. Stagecoach and First are huge companies making a fortune- no traveller has any sympathy for them.

 

Bus users don't care about how things run- if the service is bad and too expensive they'll go elsewhere. Surely that's just logical?

[mad-dad 28]

@ nightrider

 

Who inferred bus drivers don't have access to change? It's the counting out of that change that is a contributing factor for a bus's lateness. That is the point I was making.

 

As for getting from the rear of the upper deck to the exit …. maybe they should try the old fashioned method of making their way to the top of the stairs and wait till bus stops. I do this and I arrive at the exit just as the doors have opened, and I'm in my late sixties.

[The Moon 10]

@ nightrider

 

Who inferred bus drivers don't have access to change? It's the counting out of that change that is a contributing factor for a bus's lateness. That is the point I was making.

 

As for getting from the rear of the upper deck to the exit …. maybe they should try the old fashioned method of making their way to the top of the stairs and wait till bus stops. I do this and I arrive at the exit just as the doors have opened, and I'm in my late sixties.

 

There are notices on the inside of buses for passengers advising that after pressing the bell, stay seated until the bus stops.

[mad-dad 28]

There are notices on the inside of buses for passengers advising that after pressing the bell, stay seated until the bus stops.

For 'disclaimer' purposes only I should imagine ….. otherwise they wouldn't allow 20 standing passengers.