January 2020 Bus Service Changes

[RollingJ 2,042]

50 minutes ago, Retro Queen said:

Is that why they cut the service down to half an hour? Its not fair that some routes get a really good service and others don't.

 

Another bugbear is the 32 bus that is only one per hour, that's better than the 98 in that it takes about fifteen minutes to get to town and is very quick but one per hour, the service finishing at 7.00 pm and nothing on Sundays is beyond a joke. I was talking to a man at the bus stop going down Hillsborough last week,  he lives on Penrith Road and says the only bus they can get up there to town is the 32, if they want to go to town on Sundays they have to walk down for the 98 or walk up to Norwood for a bus there. I'm just glad I don't up Shirecliffe.

The fact that the 97/98 (and a number of other routes, to be fair) suffer from severe congestion means they don't have sufficient buses or drivers to maintain any better service on 'non-essential' routes, and even though the 97/98 go past NGH, because other services do, they are classed as non-essential'.

 

I don't know the services at that end of town very well now, but I do know the 97 used to go up to Southey via Shirecliffe - I'm talking 30+ years ago when my then girlfriend lived  opposite the Five Arches pub - and even then it was a nightmare getting round estate roads that were not designed for buses, so tbh, I'm not surprised they don't run many these days, the roads must be a nightmare with so many people having even one, and often two per household.

[Guest busdriver1]

12 hours ago, Retro Queen said:

Bring back bus conductors, that's what I say. We didn't have this issue then of buses being constantly held up by people paying the driver their fares.

So when operators are struggling to make services pay due to the very low fares you wanted your solution is to double the labour cost of providing the service? 

With the right attitude from passengers (ha ha) buses can be boarded fairly quickly by the driver.

[RollingJ 2,042]

3 minutes ago, busdriver1 said:

So when operators are struggling to make services pay due to the very low fares you wanted your solution is to double the labour cost of providing the service? 

With the right attitude from passengers (ha ha) buses can be boarded fairly quickly by the driver.

I totally agree with that comment - but sadly you just won't get it in SY.

[Fudbeer 12]

Am a huge fan of contactless it is incredibly slick and quick  in London but agree there are issues in Sheffield and in fairness don't think it is all the passengers fault sometimes the machines do not seem to read cards as they should. I think if they could get it sorted then there is an argument for making bus travel cashless or at least make it unattractive to pay that way as the cost and time savings must be considerable.

[Andy C 86]

23 hours ago, RollingJ said:

I agree, for some reason, FSY contactless seems to take longer than in some other areas I have used it, but not that much longer than cash - IF the passenger follows instructions.  I have been using it for the past month or so because I am not making enough journeys to warrant a weekly/monthly pass - but I will be back to the monthly come Feb/March. As you say, a large number of passengers seem totally ignorant - I just can't see that many as I experienced on the journey three weeks ago were on their first bus trip. Most of them were in the 30- early 60's age group as far as I could see - they must have been on a bus before! I also appreciate bus drivers frustration with roadworks/poor traffic management - and ignorant parking by private cars/some PHVs and delivery drivers. I could say more, but I need to answer Andy C's post below and then get on with my life.

I appreciate that the 52/52a route serves a busy area of Sheffield, but I have used the First 52a route quite frequently in the summer, and although it could be busy at peak times, there have been a number of occasions when the vehicle I have been on has carried <15 passengers between West St./Glossop Road and the terminus - and this is not at 'dead' times of the day. All routes in the city have traffic congestion so that is an accepted point.

 

I don't see the relevance of the service 81 quote, it is not mentioned and even if I did use it, I have a 20-25 minute walk from the terminus to home - not an option.

 

 

 

I can comment with a little more certainty on the 97/98 route as that is my 'local' one, at least the Totley/Totley Brook - city section, although I had reason earlier this year to also experience the journey to NGH - a nightmare for a number of reasons, which I'll not go into here. If the frequency of these two routes had to be cut due to extended journey times, should that also have not applied to the 52/52a service? Re: the initiative by First (and Stagecoach) - this is  network-wide, not just routes you seem to cherry-pick to try (and fail) to make a point, so is not applicable. I appreciate not everyone wants to use an app (I'm one) and I assume the vending machines you refer to are the ones for weekly/28 day tickets, which are only available in limited locations, although I do use those if buying a suitable ticket - much easier and quicker than getting the weekly on a bus.

 

I am also aware of the 218, but as I (in theory) have 15 minute daytime service on the 97/98 I see little point in paying for a Citywide ticket on the off chance that I might maybe twice a week catch a 218.

Derby Tup mentioned the Dore bus, hence the reference.

 

The 52/52a is much quieter in summer - there are no students at the Universities and many commuters are on holiday too. It is also worth noting that when high frequency routes suffer disruption from traffic congestion etc they can bunch, you a bus that looked quiet may have almost caught up a rather full one that is running late.

 

In terms of whether the service has been cut to provide for longer journey times on the 52/52a is harder to judge. The 52 has been cut back to just run to Crookes instead of Hillsborough which will save a couple of buses  and like other routes the frequency was reduced over the summer when demand is lower (however unlike the 97/98 it was reinstated in the autumn). The 52a however has seen some trips extended up to Loxley, replacing the withdrawn service 31.

Edited December 6, 2019 by Andy C

[Guest busdriver1]

19 hours ago, Fudbeer said:

Am a huge fan of contactless it is incredibly slick and quick  in London but agree there are issues in Sheffield and in fairness don't think it is all the passengers fault sometimes the machines do not seem to read cards as they should. I think if they could get it sorted then there is an argument for making bus travel cashless or at least make it unattractive to pay that way as the cost and time savings must be considerable.

Cashless is not legal so not going to happen, yes, it happens in London but only because the power to stop it has been delegated to TfL so they are not going to sanction themselves are they? As for quicker, it is not. There are issues with the collection of contactless fares that apparently go back to the old case raised on here regarding security in the back office area. As a guide, the quicker the payment goes through, the less secure it is. ( That has come from a chap who deals with this for a local bus company). 

One thing being suggested is a surcharge for contactless to: a) compensate for the loss of part of the revenue and b) compensate for the delays and go towards providing extra buses to mitigate delays to servies.

[Resident 1,193]

4 hours ago, busdriver1 said:

Cashless is not legal so not going to happen, yes, it happens in London but only because the power to stop it has been delegated to TfL so they are not going to sanction themselves are they? As for quicker, it is not. There are issues with the collection of contactless fares that apparently go back to the old case raised on here regarding security in the back office area. As a guide, the quicker the payment goes through, the less secure it is. ( That has come from a chap who deals with this for a local bus company). 

One thing being suggested is a surcharge for contactless to: a) compensate for the loss of part of the revenue and b) compensate for the delays and go towards providing extra buses to mitigate delays to servies.

As someone who has proper IT qualifications & not "Jeff who read half the manual and just wings it", that's not entirely true. 

 

Modern banking security protocols are designed for efficiency whilst still being very secure. Checks take a matter of milliseconds. The main point of slow down comes from the equipment & data connection speeds, however the data still remains secure. 

 

Companies, such as bus firms, look at the cost of equipment & buy the bare minimum spec so poor processor & connectivity systems. 

[Retro Queen 1]

My friend sent me a link to the First website where they are apologising for the crap bus service basically. They say its due to vehicles, workers etc and hope to get back to normal soon. No doubt they've had lots of complaints.

 

All this is fair enough but how come they always have enough staff and vehicles for the 52 route?

[bigburty 10]

you try using the number 56

Found myself stranded in town for more than hour on more than occasion 

No explanation

No reasoning offered

Asked various drivers of other routes what was happening

Asked if they could contact their control room

Simple response NO

Will avoid town now as no desire to die 

What do they want people with disabilities to do?

Rot at home in front of day time tv

Can't even get to ngh now unlike when it was number 3

Useless public transport system which will kill off the city centre revamp

[Annie Bynnol 612]

 

7 hours ago, Retro Queen said:

My friend sent me a link to the First website where they are apologising for the crap bus service basically. They say its due to vehicles, workers etc and hope to get back to normal soon. No doubt they've had lots of complaints.

 

All this is fair enough but how come they always have enough staff and vehicles for the 52 route?

Could it be because there are two private bus companies competing (most of the route) for the high number of  passengers and neither wants to lose the  battle by offering a poorer service?

All is fare(£2 00) in love and capitalism.

 

[Resident 1,193]

9 hours ago, Retro Queen said:

My friend sent me a link to the First website where they are apologising for the crap bus service basically. They say its due to vehicles, workers etc and hope to get back to normal soon. No doubt they've had lots of complaints.

 

All this is fair enough but how come they always have enough staff and vehicles for the 52 route?

There aren't enough vehicles and staff because the management is beyond incompetent. They blame everything & everyone but themselves and only look to cover their own backsides. 

[RollingJ 2,042]

6 hours ago, Resident said:

There aren't enough vehicles and staff because the management is beyond incompetent. They blame everything & everyone but themselves and only look to cover their own backsides. 

Strangely enough, I hear that sentiment on a certain forum a number of (mainly) First drivers contribute to.