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South Yorkshire Bus Service Needs Improvement

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34 minutes ago, driver151 said:

why am i lacking customer service skills i answer any question to the best of my abilty, tell people if we have a wait, i am open to suggestions really, also remeber we as the drivers are told what to do alot of things we have no choice,  again its seem like dunt matter what we do we are always in the bad books lol  and you have to remember its a bus service not a chauffeur service, 

personally I would not have bothered replying

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Guest busdriver1
10 hours ago, catmiss said:

Driver 151 your posts make me think that you may be a good bus driver but a bit lacking in customer service skills. Perfect for the remit of the city’s bus companies 

 

Thankyou for giving a good example of why bus driving jobs in Sheffield are hard to fill. 

 

I used to work in Rotherham many years ago and like the rest of my colleagues used to hate coming over to Sheffield. The attitude of many of the public there was disgraceful and we could not wait to get back to Rotherham where we were spoken to in a civil manner.

I know this will rattle a few cages particularly amongst those who think butt kissing is part of a bus drivers role, but we never experienced this in Rotherham where we spoke to people in the same way ( politely)  and saw no need for it in Sheffield. I felt so sorry for the poor souls that worked there all the time. 

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2 hours ago, driver151 said:

why am i lacking customer service skills i answer any question to the best of my abilty, tell people if we have a wait, i am open to suggestions really, also remeber we as the drivers are told what to do alot of things we have no choice,  again its seem like dunt matter what we do we are always in the bad books lol  and you have to remember its a bus service not a chauffeur service

And this is the root problem in Sheffield. The general public want a vehicle that picks them up at their door at the time of their choosing and goes direct to their destination without interuption. 

 

The interchange is barely used these days because the general public are unwilling to change to connecting services which is why we have cross-city routes that are often delayed due to congestion and other issues.

People clamour for 'improvments' but get angry when the companies make improvements and raise prices to cover the cost of them.

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22 hours ago, Resident said:

And this is the root problem in Sheffield. The general public want a vehicle that picks them up at their door at the time of their choosing and goes direct to their destination without interuption. 

 

The interchange is barely used these days because the general public are unwilling to change to connecting services which is why we have cross-city routes that are often delayed due to congestion and other issues.

People clamour for 'improvments' but get angry when the companies make improvements and raise prices to cover the cost of them.

No I do not agree. What people want is an efficient bus service that they can rely upon to turn up at the scheduled times and in some cases at greater frequency than is the case today. 

 

As for the Arundel Gate interchange (as oppose to the bus station) or trying to find the right stop in town then I am sorry unless you are a regular user and already know where to go then trying to find where to go to catch the bus you want is a nightmare (true I do not have an app and carry my mobile around with me)

 

Sure we could add to that things like cheap fares or a degree of logic as to where the buses go in the town center and so on

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8 minutes ago, Bigal1 said:

No I do not agree. What people want is an efficient bus service that they can rely upon to turn up at the scheduled times and in some cases at greater frequency than is the case today. 

 

As for the Arundel Gate interchange (as oppose to the bus station) or trying to find the right stop in town then I am sorry unless you are a regular user and already know where to go then trying to find where to go to catch the bus you want is a nightmare (true I do not have an app and carry my mobile around with me)

 

Sure we could add to that things like cheap fares or a degree of logic as to where the buses go in the town center and so on

The problem with reliability - in terms of turning up on time - is that the buses are not the only vehicles on the road, and some of the drivers/owners of these other vehicles think that they have priority/can dump them where they like - thus making life difficult for everyone, including themselves.

 

The Interchange/stops problem is PTE/SCC induced, they have a tendency to change their minds/priorities on a whim without consideration for the effects of their bright ideas.

 

Personally, having used buses in many town/cities over time, I don't think our fares are that bad, and where the buses go in the city centre is greatly influenced by council 'traffic management' and the geography of the city.

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3 hours ago, Bigal1 said:

No I do not agree. What people want is an efficient bus service that they can rely upon to turn up at the scheduled times and in some cases at greater frequency than is the case today. 

 

As for the Arundel Gate interchange (as oppose to the bus station) or trying to find the right stop in town then I am sorry unless you are a regular user and already know where to go then trying to find where to go to catch the bus you want is a nightmare (true I do not have an app and carry my mobile around with me)

 

Sure we could add to that things like cheap fares or a degree of logic as to where the buses go in the town center and so on

Greater frequency means more vehicles, more drivers, more fuel, more maintainence & more space to store everything. 

The basic single deck bus costs in excess of £270,000, double deckers start from around £325,000 just to purchase alone. 

MORE = greater costs so means larger fares and given that most Sheffielders have an aneurism when the fares go up by 10p that's not going to happen

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20 hours ago, Resident said:

Greater frequency means more vehicles, more drivers, more fuel, more maintainence & more space to store everything. 

The basic single deck bus costs in excess of £270,000, double deckers start from around £325,000 just to purchase alone. 

MORE = greater costs so means larger fares and given that most Sheffielders have an aneurism when the fares go up by 10p that's not going to happen

Of course that is the case - this was about what the customer wants from a bus service not about the practicality of delivering it

 

 

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Guest busdriver1
12 minutes ago, Bigal1 said:

Of course that is the case - this was about what the customer wants from a bus service not about the practicality of delivering it

 

 

On Oh so many occasions there have been consultations with the public over what they want. On a great many occasions tis was then provided only to be withdrawn a short while later because the public who said they wanted and needed the service did not materialise. One such example was when over 200 people signed a petition saying they wanted and would use a service from High Green to Rotherham. The service was provided and soon after withdrawn with average passenger loadings of 5 per day. Just one example of the gulf between what the passenger wants and what they will use.

 

Any customer will claim they want this that and the other but they need to remember that a bus service ( Omnibus - for all) is not a personal taxi but a public service that is run reaching compromises.

The bus companies pay large sums of money to the PTE in return for them disseminating information to the public and maintaining bus stops and shelters. Any comments or complaints about inadequate public information should be directed at them. 

 

I find it tiresome that the constant desire for cheaper bus fares and more frequent buses keeps coming up, often with suggestions that drivers should be paid more. The basic maths of that argument seems to get lost on the way. Both major operators in Sheffield are not making money as it is so how would massively increasing their costs improve things? 

Then we get people who want the council to take over. They have said they would do all of the above ( remember councils always carry out their promises) SO guess who is going to pay for it if that happens. US

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Once again, @busdriver1, you are the voice of reason, and for that you will probably get vilified - but not by me.

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7 minutes ago, busdriver1 said:

On Oh so many occasions there have been consultations with the public over what they want. On a great many occasions tis was then provided only to be withdrawn a short while later because the public who said they wanted and needed the service did not materialise. One such example was when over 200 people signed a petition saying they wanted and would use a service from High Green to Rotherham. The service was provided and soon after withdrawn with average passenger loadings of 5 per day. Just one example of the gulf between what the passenger wants and what they will use.

 

Any customer will claim they want this that and the other but they need to remember that a bus service ( Omnibus - for all) is not a personal taxi but a public service that is run reaching compromises.

The bus companies pay large sums of money to the PTE in return for them disseminating information to the public and maintaining bus stops and shelters. Any comments or complaints about inadequate public information should be directed at them. 

 

I find it tiresome that the constant desire for cheaper bus fares and more frequent buses keeps coming up, often with suggestions that drivers should be paid more. The basic maths of that argument seems to get lost on the way. Both major operators in Sheffield are not making money as it is so how would massively increasing their costs improve things? 

Then we get people who want the council to take over. They have said they would do all of the above ( remember councils always carry out their promises) SO guess who is going to pay for it if that happens. US

having seen many "consultations"  I long ago concluded that often they were well intentioned but carried and or used out by people who did not know what they were doing.(not always)

 

It is a complex task to translate what the consumer may ask for into actual usage because there are any number of variables that will affect the decision to use. When you ask questions like "how likely are you to use" then only a %age of those who say very likely will infact use and an even lower % of those who say fairly likely will use and the error can vary enormously depending how well they understand what may be provided and then of course is how frequently they might use it if they do use it. The problem is of course that the error is not constant and there is not simple correction figure that can be used and it take a lot of skill and expertise to interpret and provide accurate estimates. 

 

take the petition you refer to sure 200 may have signed it but that does not mean that there were going to use it themselves, would be very useful for my elderly neighbors,  it might be a good idea for the odd time my partner has the car and even those who might use it would not use it every day  when the service was provided then the times may not have been convenient or the fare not worth it and the service did not match up to their expectations. using a petition is the surest way to make the wrong decision - fine to start the conversation 

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1 hour ago, Bigal1 said:

having seen many "consultations"  I long ago concluded that often they were well intentioned but carried and or used out by people who did not know what they were doing.(not always)

 

It is a complex task to translate what the consumer may ask for into actual usage because there are any number of variables that will affect the decision to use. When you ask questions like "how likely are you to use" then only a %age of those who say very likely will infact use and an even lower % of those who say fairly likely will use and the error can vary enormously depending how well they understand what may be provided and then of course is how frequently they might use it if they do use it. The problem is of course that the error is not constant and there is not simple correction figure that can be used and it take a lot of skill and expertise to interpret and provide accurate estimates. 

 

take the petition you refer to sure 200 may have signed it but that does not mean that there were going to use it themselves, would be very useful for my elderly neighbors,  it might be a good idea for the odd time my partner has the car and even those who might use it would not use it every day  when the service was provided then the times may not have been convenient or the fare not worth it and the service did not match up to their expectations. using a petition is the surest way to make the wrong decision - fine to start the conversation 

You've also got to consider that many 'consultations' are also just a PR, box ticking exercise that are non-binding & carried out when decisions have in fact, already been made between large organisations & local authorities. 

 

The last thing such groups want is the general public offering their views.

Edited by Baron99

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