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Sheffield Bus Network Changes - September 2019

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An advance summary of changes is now available on the Travel South Yorkshire website - use link below

 

https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/servicechanges/

 

to summarise:

 

withdrawn routes:

1a (replaced by 11/11a)

3/3a (replaced by 56/95)

4/4a (replaced by 181/218)

19 (part replaced by 76a)

31/31a/31b (part replaced by 52a/135/135a)

35 (replaced by 32/135/135a)

38/38a (replaced by 18)

57a (replaced by 57)

268 (replaced by 58)

 

change of operator for all or some journeys

5 (Powells)

6/6a (First to Darnall, TM Travel still to Millhouses)

10/10a (Powells)

25 (First evenings, still Stagecoach daytime)

32 (First)

35a (Powells)

57 (First evenings, still Stagecoach daytime)

61/62 (Powells)

86 (First evenings and Sundays, still Stagecoach Mon-Sat daytime)

135a (First)

201 (Powells)

M92 (Stagecoach)

 

new routes

11/11a Herdings-Chapeltown

58 Hillsborough-Wharncliffe Side

76a Shiregreen-Chancet Wood

M57 Deepcar-Fox Valley

 

change of route

18

32

52a

56

95

135/135a

181

M17

M92

 

change of timetable

1

7

25

26/26a

36

43/44 (Sheffield-Dronfield-Chesterfield)

44 (Chapeltown-Rotherham)

50

52

57

71

72

73/74

75

76

83a

86

97/98

120

257

X2

X6

X7

X78

Edited by Andy C

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Even more changes?I can remember when bus routes stayed the same for decades .Do they change them every 6 months just to confuse the passengers?Is it some type of amusing game the high ups play to pass the time away watching the passengers getting on the wrong bus?No wonder they run around empty no one knows where they are going.

              Yes those were the days when you got on buses knowing just where they were going and at a price people could afford.Some routes were running a service that had a bus every 6 mins like the 95 and every one of them were packed .It was a route that never altered from one decade to the other.People knew exactly where they were going .It was not just the 95 route but most cross city routes were the same always really busy like the 81,82,83.and many more that never changed and were always affordable.Even though the fares were cheaper then I am sure they took more money than the empty buses do today.

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The majority of the changes are tendered services where the contracts have come up for renewal. Tendered services are ones where the demand from fare paying passengers isn't enough to be financially viable but the local authority deem them socially neccessary so offer funding to the lowest bidder to operate them. In some cases route changes have been made to cover areas at lower cost to the taxpayer or the contract has passed to a different operator.

 

Other changes are to react to changes in demand or where punctuality is suffering from increased traffic congestion.

 

On a side note, buses in Sheffield in general are struggling financially due to a mix of keeping ticket prices cheap (commuter ticket prices are amongst the lowest in the country - still priced at similar levels to 9 years ago) and increasing traffic congestion that isn't being tackled by politicians that want to be seen to be car friendly - if a bus is taking longer to make its journey due to being stuck in a traffic jam, then the bus company has to pay for more buses, fuel and drivers just to provide the same level of service - significant increases in operating costs yet lower customer satisfaction caused by longer and inconsistent journey times! Then throw in underfunded concessionary fares schemes, increased car ownership and a wobbling British economy and it isn't a good time to be in the bus business - no wonder First is selling most of their bus operations off around the country!

Edited by Andy C

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@Andy CThanks for that response - I had composed something very similar, and was jus t about to post

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3/3a (replaced by 56/95)

- but that's not the full story 😕

Quote


Services 3 and 3a between Sheffield and Meadowhall will be replaced by services 95 and 95a (see below), which will be extended to run through from Walkley.  Services 3 and 3a between Sheffield and Nether Edge will be replaced by service 56 (see below), which will be extended to run through from Wybourn with the frequency reduced from every 10 to every 15 minutes.  The fare between Sheffield and Nether Edge will be reduced from £3 to £2.
 

 


Reducing from every 10 mins to 15 mins - they were never on time any way, so does this mean A) no difference, or B) even worse?

and what the hell are they doing switching it around that much, changing it to two separate busses and different routes... the 3/3a was only introduced a few years back, it was previously 47/48, that then changed to 1/1a, route was changed, and 3/3a was added as it currently is - now they are changing it again!!! 🤬

 

Edited by Ghozer

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Could it be?... Are they actually going to introduce a route change for Wincobank that actually benefits me? Wait... wait... don't jinx it Funky... they could still route the damn things to only go on the far side of the hill or make the pre 7:20am buses avoid the area for no logical reason whatsoever just like last time.

Edited by Funky_Gibbon

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Such a shame to see the decline of our once great bus service.With more and more using cars and the roads getting ridiculously congested there seems no end to it.Its a sad fact that many times when using the bus in the early evening there are often only a few passengers on or even just me sometimes.Clearly not worth them running these services.

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13 hours ago, Andy C said:

The majority of the changes are tendered services where the contracts have come up for renewal. Tendered services are ones where the demand from fare paying passengers isn't enough to be financially viable but the local authority deem them socially neccessary so offer funding to the lowest bidder to operate them. In some cases route changes have been made to cover areas at lower cost to the taxpayer or the contract has passed to a different operator.

 

Other changes are to react to changes in demand or where punctuality is suffering from increased traffic congestion.

 

On a side note, buses in Sheffield in general are struggling financially due to a mix of keeping ticket prices cheap (commuter ticket prices are amongst the lowest in the country - still priced at similar levels to 9 years ago) and increasing traffic congestion that isn't being tackled by politicians that want to be seen to be car friendly - if a bus is taking longer to make its journey due to being stuck in a traffic jam, then the bus company has to pay for more buses, fuel and drivers just to provide the same level of service - significant increases in operating costs yet lower customer satisfaction caused by longer and inconsistent journey times! Then throw in underfunded concessionary fares schemes, increased car ownership and a wobbling British economy and it isn't a good time to be in the bus business - no wonder First is selling most of their bus operations off around the country!

Andy C You do not have to explain all the in's and outs to me I drove buses for 20 years in Sheffield and went on to work for the P.T.E.for another 8 years in Exchange St but just talking to passengers it is clear they are getting so confused at changes that happen so frequently and the fares might be cheaper than other parts of the country but if you have a couple of kids and the parents you are talking of a lot of cash in fares by the time you arrive back home.I realise Thatcher and the transport minister who was called Wrigley ruined our once fabulous transport system and I am not having a go at the P.T.E but I am telling it the way the public see it.The then Government who consisted of people who never used a bus knew exactly what they were doing ruining the Norths transport service because London was allowed to carry on running their service without interference from central Government and the result is they are making money because all their buses are running around full by running them on a similar basis to how we used to run ours.

                 With out customers (PASSENGERS)they are always going to struggle you have to make the product you are supplying affordable and consistent or as before run it as a service as it was years ago .You never know you might get some passengers on the buses unlike now where you see them with no one on them.I do realise it would take a major shift in national government thinking but surely even the government are not thick enough to understand that at present it is not working.They just have to look at how the London transport example who run things the old fashion way works and the rest of the country's way of working is not the example we should adopt.In this day and age of trying to cut pollution it is vital we have a good transport policy which is a proper alternative to the car and that means affordable and regular service with out all the confusion of altering services and amalgamating routes every six months.Humans are a creature of habit and like consistency .

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Probably worth noting this is a national trend as even London bus use is falling at an alarming rate. There are many factors at play but the main one is congestion.

 

Sheffield and South Yorkshire’s bus fares are among some of the cheapest offered in the country and if people took their rose tinted spectacles off and did their research into other areas - either similar or rural they would soon see. 

 

It’s interesting to note that places that are seeing a turn around in bus use are areas where there is a proactive council trying to combat traffic congestion (West Midlands, Nottingham, Reading, Edinburgh etc).

 

Hopefully the frequency reduction to the revised 56 and new 11/11A might help in providing it extra running time with the same resources to provided a more reliable service...

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of course communication is a major problem with bus changes and this is particularly true for the infrequent users and the PTE could do far more if they were to have a customer focus.

 

Quote

Reducing from every 10 mins to 15 mins - they were never on time any way, so does this mean A) no difference, or B) even worse?

The answer depends on why they were never on time and if the buses and drivers that failed to deliver the 10 minute frequency are used in a proactive way to try and ensure a better timetable (unlikely) or are simply transferred elsewhere leaving the fundamental problem unaddressed (more likely)

 

However I would say that tweaking the service in response to consumer demand and operational issues is a valid exercise BUT only if properly managed and communicated


 

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6 hours ago, petcharlie said:

Andy C You do not have to explain all the in's and outs to me I drove buses for 20 years in Sheffield and went on to work for the P.T.E.for another 8 years in Exchange St but just talking to passengers it is clear they are getting so confused at changes that happen so frequently and the fares might be cheaper than other parts of the country but if you have a couple of kids and the parents you are talking of a lot of cash in fares by the time you arrive back home.I realise Thatcher and the transport minister who was called Wrigley ruined our once fabulous transport system and I am not having a go at the P.T.E but I am telling it the way the public see it.The then Government who consisted of people who never used a bus knew exactly what they were doing ruining the Norths transport service because London was allowed to carry on running their service without interference from central Government and the result is they are making money because all their buses are running around full by running them on a similar basis to how we used to run ours.

                 With out customers (PASSENGERS)they are always going to struggle you have to make the product you are supplying affordable and consistent or as before run it as a service as it was years ago .You never know you might get some passengers on the buses unlike now where you see them with no one on them.I do realise it would take a major shift in national government thinking but surely even the government are not thick enough to understand that at present it is not working.They just have to look at how the London transport example who run things the old fashion way works and the rest of the country's way of working is not the example we should adopt.In this day and age of trying to cut pollution it is vital we have a good transport policy which is a proper alternative to the car and that means affordable and regular service with out all the confusion of altering services and amalgamating routes every six months.Humans are a creature of habit and like consistency .

London's buses required a HUGE taxpayer subsidy to operate the way it does, the government have cut off much of the funding and cuts are being forced now.

 

In the rest of the country including Sheffield the majority of services are run commercially at the operators risk, it is just buses like evening/rural/community services that operate with public funding.

 

What is really missing is the public sector (ie council) fully playing their part in the bus partnership - providing and enforcing priority measures for buses and trams, encouraging use of park & ride or other public transport facilities rather than allowing and encouraging numerous City Centre car parks to be built, promoting the bus and tram network etc etc.  

 

If the buses weren't getting stuck in the same traffic jams as the cars and were able to offer consistent, reliable and competitive journey times then not only would the service be more attractive but the same number of buses could be used to provide a more frequent service and other improvements rather than having to reduce the frequency to allow for all the buses being stuck in traffic jams.

 

Unfortunately the poltiticans are vocal and keen for the private businesses providing the services to invest millions in new buses with greener engines, free Wi-Fi and comfy seats AND offer very reasonable ticket prices but they don't seem so keen on matching that by investing in public transport infrastructure themselves such as more bus friendly roads, better bus stops and funding for improved non commercial routes.

 

High operating costs, low fares and public funding cuts from a government with an austerity policy - the sums don't add up.

 

to remind, details of all the changes are on this link: https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/servicechanges/

 

Additionally information on routes operated by First: https://www.firstgroup.com/south-yorkshire/news-and-service-updates/planned-changes/september-service-changes

 

And Stagecoach: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/service-updates/serviceupdatesarticle?SituationId=ID-14/08/2018-14:37:16:953

 

10 hours ago, Funky_Gibbon said:

Could it be?... Are they actually going to introduce a route change for Wincobank that actually benefits me? Wait... wait... don't jinx it Funky... they could still route the damn things to only go on the far side of the hill or make the pre 7:20am buses avoid the area for no logical reason whatsoever just like last time.

looking at routes that currently serve Wincobank:

 

3/3a - to become 95/95a and run cross city to Walkley instead of Nether Edge.

36 - evening and Sunday service withdrawn between Sheffield Centre and Meadowhall due to insufficient demand.

Edited by Andy C

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