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Should The Public Take Back Control Of Buses In Our Region?

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45 minutes ago, busdriver1 said:

 

The failure of Sheffield Council to manage road traffic causing late running of buses is something you should take up with that council, not the operator that is suffering the consequences as you also are.

 

Rubbish....is it Sheffield Council that instructs First to cancel 95's in the afternoon so they can be used for school runs?

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What ever we do or think now will take years in planning for the ideas and plans to work. Some day all car drivers will have to surrender their licence and what will they do then?

It is worth thinking about and doing something about it now so when you do retire or have health problems there is a fit for purpose bus service to be used.

When I used to drive in the early morning and mid afternoon with the flow of work traffic it wasn't a flowing journey because everyone else is doing the exact same thing at the exact same time. 

Pollution levels are up and it wont be long before authorities have  got targets and that will means cutting crowded roads by drastic means.

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On 05/11/2019 at 14:20, Bilge said:

Under new powers that metro mayors now have Greater Manchester are trying to 'take back control' of bus services in their region. It seems to work OK in the capital. Unlike the plebs up North, people in Greater London never lost these powers :

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/oct/08/manchester-consult-bringing-buses-under-public-control

 

Should we do the same in Sheffield City Region?

 

I think we should and it's a basic thing that all the local Labour-run authorities should be backing.

Not at all convinced that Sheffield Council has the competence to run a complex transport infrastructure. Something definitely needs to change. 

A fleet of modern electric busses  complete with conductors to complement an expanded tram network could make public transport  irresistible and therefore affordable, self funding. 

A big job but essential for part of C. Zero city plan. 

Done properly it takes most urban cars off the roads, voluntarily. 

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1 hour ago, Chambo said:

Not at all convinced that Sheffield Council has the competence to run a complex transport infrastructure..

It’s not Sheffield City Council who could do this it’s Sheffield City Region, the combined authority which includes Barnsley, Rothm and Donny.

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2 hours ago, Chambo said:

A fleet of modern electric busses  complete with conductors to complement an expanded tram network could make public transport  irresistible and therefore affordable, self funding. 

A big job but essential for part of C. Zero city plan. 

Done properly it takes most urban cars off the roads, voluntarily. 

I like your optimism, but experience tells us that it won’t happen.

 

I’ve seen studies in which the majority of drivers said they would not use public transport even if it were free. I’ve personally heard lots of drivers say the same. Therefore it’s rather naive to expect car drivers to switch mode just because the buses are electric or there are a few more tram routes.

 

In my view, to make a huge amount of drivers switch modes, it will have to be done by price ( ie taxes and charges) or restricting their ability to make the trip by car ( Like restricted access or limiting the amount of parking available).

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On 05/11/2019 at 17:03, lottiecass said:

No, I don't see why folk who do not use buses help pay for council run buses.

Thought the idea of community was that you pay for services that are for the good of community not just personally used by you? I rarely use Libraries these day as I can afford to buy books and have internet at home but don't begrudge paying  towards Libraries for those they are a lifeline for. My partner and I are on over 40 grand a year but still use buses as we don't drive.  

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2 hours ago, Rivelin6 said:

Thought the idea of community was that you pay for services that are for the good of community not just personally used by you? I rarely use Libraries these day as I can afford to buy books and have internet at home but don't begrudge paying  towards Libraries for those they are a lifeline for. My partner and I are on over 40 grand a year but still use buses as we don't drive.  

I've nothing against bus users but think if there's any spare money let the social services have it. Council run buses are well down the list for funds.

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12 hours ago, lottiecass said:

I've nothing against bus users but think if there's any spare money let the social services have it. Council run buses are well down the list for funds.

A bus service is a social service.

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I'm still not convinced bus services would be any better. Who runs the buses isn't the core issue. It's the effect of road traffic congestion,  lack of investment in/enforcement of bus priority measures, lack of political will to promote/support public transport and public funding cuts to tendered services, bus stop maintenance,  travel shops along with concessionary travel schemes being underfunded. 

 

Alongside that in the last 10 years there has been investment in roads and new multi story car parks have opened.

 

In Sundays on run up to Christmas, including lights switch on, the council have provided free city centre car parking.  Many other initiatives to promote the City Centre have involved discount car parking. Compare this to Harrogate where the local BID has provided funding for all local town buses to be free on Sundays up to Christmas. 

 

Completely different attitude. 

 

Sheffield MPs and councillors seem more interested in bashing the bus companies than improving the services and encouraging bus use. They want to be seen as car friendly at election time.

 

 

Edited by Andy C

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38 minutes ago, Andy C said:

It's the effect of road traffic congestion,  lack of investment in/enforcement of bus priority measures, lack of political will to promote/support public transport and public funding cuts to tendered services, bus stop maintenance,  travel shops along with concessionary travel schemes being underfunded. 

 

Alongside that in the last 10 years there has been investment in roads and new multi story car parks have opened.

Aren’t you conveniently forgetting the many millions which have been spent in this city in recent years on quality bus corridor schemes and bus hotspot improvements?

 

There has also been investment in bus lane / gate enforcement. New bus lanes / gates tend to also get a camera installed.  Only last year all the older manually observed cameras were replaced by automatic ones which have vastly improved the number of contraventions detected. 
 

The most recent major road scheme was the Bus Rapid Transit scheme at Meadowhall. The only other major road scheme in recent years that I can think of which wasn’t directly bus related was the inner relief road, which speeded up journeys for all road users including buses. Last year there was a lot of money spent on Chesterfield Road, which was a bus route improvement if I recall correctly.

 

Also, the road / footway infrastructure at bus stops is covered by the Amey contract, so it gets maintained properly, which is an improvement on what used to happen before.

 

So, in actual fact, there has been no shortage of investment in bus related infrastructure and I think you might find that the majority of spend on highway work has been public transport related.

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54 minutes ago, Andy C said:

In Sundays on run up to Christmas, including lights switch on, the council have provided free city centre car parking.  Many other initiatives to promote the City Centre have involved discount car parking. Compare this to Harrogate where the local BID has provided funding for all local town buses to be free on Sundays up to Christmas. 

 

Completely different attitude. 

Completely different problem. 
 

In Harrogate, the locals apparently just want to drive their Merc / Chelsea Tractor into town  and dump it wherever they like. The free buses are the attempt to get them to consider another mode.

 

Which Sheffield BID initiatives have involved parking discounts? I am not aware of any.

 

The ones I have seen just advertised the already cheap parking in Sheffield in the evenings. There was no discount involved.

 

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Guest busdriver1
On 22/11/2019 at 06:16, taxman said:

Rubbish....is it Sheffield Council that instructs First to cancel 95's in the afternoon so they can be used for school runs?

Well done for totally missing the point. The point is - If the traffic was managed to a point where buses could run on time this would not happen in the first place.

But just keep on blaming the bus companies, it obviously suits your agenda

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