South Yorkshire Bus Service Needs Improvement

[Resident 1,185]

2 minutes ago, Baron99 said:

My bold. 

 

The buses that generally serve the south side of the city, which used to have stops in the High St, Leopold St, Peace Gardens, (as you state, with proper bus shelters, etc), such as the 75; 76; 97; 98 and all the 80's, now have to stand on Arundel Gate, just after the O2 building with no coverings or bus information.  This has been like this since around June last year, plenty of time to provide such facilities.  Hardly conducive to the customer experience. 

 

In the meantime, on the other side of Arundel Gate, where the pavement ls were already a good 20 feet wide, whoever is responsible, has seen fit to basically remove one lane by adding red & white ballads & extend the pavement out into the road at most stops to meet buses at their stops.  Great idea, except when one bus pulls up, meaning that a second bus, trying to pulling into the stop after, then has to wait along with impatient passengers behind the first bus, because the driver can't let passengers off due to the ballads blocking their exit.   

 

Brilliant thought out planning all round.  In one fell swoop, managed to inconvenience both passengers, buses & add to the traffic congestion problems on Arundel Gate. 

 

I can understand that SCC are probably, purposely trying to discourage the motorist from driving through the city centre but to also seemingly wanting to discourage public transport operators & the vast majority of Sheffield citizens who rely on buses to get them to places where they actually want to be & on time, seems perverse? 

All part of the master plan. Now Arundel Gate will become a hotbed of pollution and as it's now the primary route through city centre SCC (or it's puppeteer) will use it as justification for introducing ULEZ charging. 

[RollingJ 2,002]

@Baron99, @Resident- couldn't agree more with both your comments. We have a City Council that couldn't plan its way out of paper bag, and bus users who think the PSV operators are a taxi service.

 

Does that 'lady' realise that if the driver did as she expected, he would be breaking the law - I doubt it, and I know the very odd driver will risk it in exceptional circumstances - but I don't think many would want a disciplinary if they were caught.

[Resident 1,185]

2 minutes ago, RollingJ said:

@Baron99, @Resident- couldn't agree more with both your comments. We have a City Council that couldn't plan its way out of paper bag, and bus users who think the PSV operators are a taxi service.

 

Does that 'lady' realise that if the driver did as she expected, he would be breaking the law - I doubt it, and I know the very odd driver will risk it in exceptional circumstances - but I don't think many would want a disciplinary if they were caught.

If it was the last bus at night & I was the driver then I would probably have taken the risk but middle of the day and more than one an hour. 

[RollingJ 2,002]

Exactly!!

[Planner1 428]

On 16/04/2021 at 14:47, Andy C said:

concern I have at the moment is people should be encouraged to use public transport for environmental reasons but it is being made less attractive - buses have gone from having a quality facility in an attractive location by the Peace Gardens (spacious pavement, well lit, large bus shelters with seats, electronic departure boards and timetable information on a road suitable for buses) to having to navigate difficultly around Carver Street, Division Street and Rockingham Street and serve temporary stops with no facilities in what feels almost like a dark, unsafe back alley away from anywhere at the bottom of Rockingham Street.

 

The council really should have had a plan to create proper route and facilities for buses when they decided to close off Pinstone Street and Leopold Street, it appears that regularly changing temporary facilities will be a feature for a few years until the new alleged "quality bus hub" is constructed at the top of Rockingham Street, all the time whilst the council and B.I.D. seem to enthusiastically promote discounted car parking in the many multi-storey car parks the council gave planning permission to.

 

This seems to confirm the findings in the bus report that the council was using the fact that SYPTE looks after public transport to shirk their own responsibility to consider the needs of bus users in their own planning in terms of infrastructure etc, which they committed to do as a member of the bus partnership yet councillors seem happy to publicly criticise the bus operators whose services have suffered.

Lets face it, all the available evidence points to the fact that car drivers won't switch to bus use unless you make them, either  by banning cars from areas or pricing them off the road, so unless the Council are prepared to grasp that nettle, efforts to "encourage" people to use the bus won't ever come to much. We've been trying to encourage people to use the bus for decades and have spent many millions doing it. Where has it got us? It's still a declining market.

 

Often when major changes are happening, the funding to do the necessary stuff doesn't arrive in the order you'd like it to.

 

I'm sure everyone concerned knows what needs to be done, but getting the money  and conditions in place to do it all in the right order is often nigh on impossible. Significant change brings with it turbulence and we often have to put up with some inconvenience along the way. 

 

As part of the pandemic response, the government gave Councils money to put in more  / better cycling and walking facilities, so as you'd expect, SCC grabbed their share. This seems to have meant that the cycling and walking stuff gets done first, before the  public transport facilities. What would you have them do? Turn down the walking / cycling funds?

 

Describing Rockingham St as a "dark, unsafe back alley" is a bit of a stretch. Personally I feel fine about walking  up there any time of day or night, but I'm not everyone of course. I also think its a bad idea having large vehicles like buses trundling along your main street in the city centre and on the occasions I use a bus, I'm happy enough to walk a bit further to make the centre of town a nicer place to be.

 

The bus operators are often a convenient whipping boy for politicians, who generally don't like the deregulated system. It will be interesting to see how things change if they go for franchising , as there won't be anyone else to blame after that.

 

 

[Resident 1,185]

2 hours ago, Planner1 said:

Lets face it, all the available evidence points to the fact that car drivers won't switch to bus use unless you make them, either  by banning cars from areas or pricing them off the road, so unless the Council are prepared to grasp that nettle, efforts to "encourage" people to use the bus won't ever come to much. We've been trying to encourage people to use the bus for decades and have spent many millions doing it. Where has it got us? It's still a declining market.

Yet other OpCos around the country report good user numbers and even make profits.

 

It's my personal belief that SY suffers because the fares have been kept down whilst other counties have raised prices & been able to reinvest in vehicles & infrastructure. SY loses money every year so there's nothing to invest with. 

 

Especially in Sheffield where the fares (before Doncaster's Tap & Cap trial) were a good amount cheaper than in Rotherham/Doncaster because god forbid someone from Sheffield pay a normal amount for a service.

 

2 hours ago, Planner1 said:

SCC grabbed their share. This seems to have meant that the cycling and walking stuff gets done first, before the  public transport facilities. What would you have them do? Turn down the walking / cycling funds?

And certain councillors & MPs more than likely grabbed a back-pocket share of the funding too.

 

Then they misspent what was given. Has any disciplinary action been taken for the Shalesmoor debacle? If SCC was a private company then the decision maker would have been fired over it.

2 hours ago, Planner1 said:

on the occasions I use a bus, I'm happy enough to walk a bit further to make the centre of town a nicer place to be.

You might be but what of the elderly or disabled who aren't able to make that extra distance, many of whom regularly frequented the businesses around Fargate, Peace Gardens etc. 

[Annie Bynnol 612]

1 hour ago, Resident said:

Yet other OpCos around the country report good user numbers and even make profits.

 

It's my personal belief that SY suffers because the fares have been kept down whilst other counties have raised prices & been able to reinvest in vehicles & infrastructure. SY loses money every year so there's nothing to invest with. 

 

Especially in Sheffield where the fares (before Doncaster's Tap & Cap trial) were a good amount cheaper than in Rotherham/Doncaster because god forbid someone from Sheffield pay a normal amount for a service.

 

And certain councillors & MPs more than likely grabbed a back-pocket share of the funding too.

 

Then they misspent what was given. Has any disciplinary action been taken for the Shalesmoor debacle? If SCC was a private company then the decision maker would have been fired over it.

You might be but what of the elderly or disabled who aren't able to make that extra distance, many of whom regularly frequented the businesses around Fargate, Peace Gardens etc. 

Which Councillor(s) are you accusing  to have "...grabbed a back-pocket share of the funding ...?

You have, I assume taken you evidence to the police.

 

Which MP(s) are you accusing  to have "...grabbed a back-pocket share of the funding ...?

You have, I assume taken you evidence to the police.

 

You are making very serious accusations. Justify your claims.

[Resident 1,185]

15 hours ago, Annie Bynnol said:

Which Councillor(s) are you accusing  to have "...grabbed a back-pocket share of the funding ...?

You have, I assume taken you evidence to the police.

 

Which MP(s) are you accusing  to have "...grabbed a back-pocket share of the funding ...?

You have, I assume taken you evidence to the police.

 

You are making very serious accusations. Justify your claims.

Oh poor niave child. 

[BigAl1 143]

19 hours ago, Planner1 said:

Lets face it, all the available evidence points to the fact that car drivers won't switch to bus use unless you make them, either  by banning cars from areas or pricing them off the road, so unless the Council are prepared to grasp that nettle, efforts to "encourage" people to use the bus won't ever come to much. We've been trying to encourage people to use the bus for decades and have spent many millions doing it. Where has it got us? It's still a declining market.

 

 

 

 

Not quite true. No they will not switch for all trips I agree but if there is a convenient (frequency and bus going where they want when they want) sensible price, there are not practical barriers such as lot of luggage /shopping/ several young kids and the like then SOME may well switch and use the bus for some trips . It is all about me and my journey and that is often the problem

 

yes there are some who would never be seen dead on a bus

[Annie Bynnol 612]

1 hour ago, Resident said:

Oh poor niave child. 

Which "...councillors & MPs..."are you accusing?

 

Do you have evidence to back up your statement that "... certain councillors & MPs more than likely grabbed a back-pocket share of the funding too."?

When did you share your evidence with the Police and other public bodies?

Listed HERE are some addresses if you haven't done it yet.

 

[Resident 1,185]

3 hours ago, Annie Bynnol said:

Which "...councillors & MPs..."are you accusing?

 

Do you have evidence to back up your statement that "... certain councillors & MPs more than likely grabbed a back-pocket share of the funding too."?

When did you share your evidence with the Police and other public bodies?

Listed HERE are some addresses if you haven't done it yet.

 

You know full well that I would not be able to confirm or deny the existence of evidence nor that of any ongoing investigation with definity. 

 

Back in your box. The adults are talking. 

[Guest busdriver1]

27 minutes ago, Resident said:

Back in your box. The adults are talking. 

LOL well said