South Yorkshire Bus Service Needs Improvement

[Andy C 86]

In other news....

 

From May 17th there are changes to Hulley's X57 bus from Sheffield to Manchester including the return of evening services and most services being extended to Manchester Airport.  New timetable can be downloaded from the Derbyshire timetable library http://www.derbysbus.info/times/tt_A_Z.htm

 

Not a bus but also from 17th May the evening timetable on the Tram Train to Rotherham Central and Parkgate is improved to run a roughly half hourly service right through to the last departures, which are 23:27 from Cathedral to Parkgate and 23:59 from Parkgate to Cathedral. https://www.stagecoachbus.com/news/yorkshire/2021/may-2021/changes-to-tram-train-from-16-may

 

Looking further ahead and introduction of a new "Flexi5" ticket deal is planned in the summer, this is aimed at those only commuting part time (perhaps working from home some days) and offers 5 day tickets for the price of 4 and a month to use them. Choice of Flexi5 tickets will be:

• CityBus - all buses in Sheffield (sold online, fulfilled via smartcard)
• CityWide - all buses and Supertram in Sheffield (sold online, fulfilled via smartcard)
• SY Connect - all buses and Supertram in South Yorkshire (sold online, fulfilled via smartcard)
• Tram Only - Tram and Tram Train services operated by Supertram (sold via the Stagecoach bus app, already available https://www.stagecoachbus.com/regionaltickets/yorkshire/sheffield/mobile)

https://www.sytravelmaster.com/flexi5

All the above tickets are also already available as 1 day, 7 day and 28 day passes.

 

Also from 17th May there is a partial removal of social distancing requirements on buses which will increase capacity significantly. 

- You may now sit next to other passengers, even if not part of your own household, if neccessary

- a limited number of standing passengers will also be permitted

- only forward facing seats will be available to use

- face coverings must be worn by law, unless exempt

- windows will remain open for ventilation

- you are asked not to eat or drink on board or leave litter behind

- where possible you are encouraged to buy tickets online in advance or to use contactless payments on board rather than cash (contactless is accepted by First, Stagecoach, Hulleys and Powells).

Edited May 14, 2021 by Andy C

[Andy C 86]

I see the Star is not only still campaigning for tax payers money to be spent on a free City Centre bus but now also to pay for pensioners to travel free on the trains as well as buses and trams.

 

If there is some more funding to be found for public transport is this really the priority to spend it on?

 

- The City Centre bus stops, particularly the ones replacing those on Pinstone Street/Leopold Street, need bringing up to standard. The old stops had shelters, seats, lighting, real time information and were in locations people felt safe waiting. The new stops do not tick any of those boxes.

- There are some bus links completely missing that are much missed by some (for example the 31 around Lower Walkley, 64 down the Rivelin Valley and 293 via Bradway to Dronfield. There are also villages like Ringinglow that technically have buses are so limited they are useless other than for the school run.

- Journey times to the City Centre from many areas are unattractive, often due to timetables having to allow for traffic congestion (where bus priority measures exist they aren't properly enforced).

 

If there is a little bit of public funding for City Centre public transport available, lets make the journey to/from the City Centre attractive by getting the basic infrastructure right first. Get the bus stops sorted. Fill the gaps in the network. Improve the bus priority measures to get them running quicker and more punctual.

 

Once more people are choosing to use the buses and trams into town then is the time to start talking about travelling around within the City Centre - after all if the passengers aren't coming to town they don't need to get around town! Perhaps in the meantime some posters/leaflets could be produced that promote the high frequency buses that already provide the key links within the City Centre.

 

In fact, with the government announced "bus back better" idea as Covid restrictions ease, perhaps do a mail drop to every home in the City with a  public transport guide featuring a map of all the bus, tram and train routes and list of all the unlimited travel passes so people are aware of what is already available.

 

The City Centre B.I.D. could do with getting involved with championing public transport access too - all their promotions encouraging people to come into town to shop, eat and drink so far seems to focus on discounts at multi storey car parks!

 

Edited May 15, 2021 by Andy C

[BigAl1 143]

The Star has not got a clue (just like the PTE) and just as you suggest there are far better options for the money to improve public transport.

 

I would agree if they were saying pensioners should get free business class air travel to the far east

[RollingJ 2,041]

Who reads 'The Star'? 😂

[Mr Allen 0]

38 minutes ago, Andy C said:

I see the Star is not only still campaigning for tax payers money to be spent on a free City Centre bus but now also to pay for pensioners to travel free on the trains as well as buses and trams.

 

If there is some more funding to be found for public transport is this really the priority to spend it on?

 

- The City Centre bus stops, particularly the ones replacing those on Pinstone Street/Leopold Street, need bringing up to standard. The old stops had shelters, seats, lighting, real time information and were in locations people felt safe waiting. The new stops do not tick any of those boxes.

- There are some bus links completely missing that are much missed by some (for example the 31 around Lower Walkley, 64 down the Rivelin Valley and 293 via Bradway to Dronfield. There are also villages like Ringinglow that technically have buses are so limited they are useless other than for the school run.

- Journey times to the City Centre from many areas are unattractive, often due to timetables having to allow for traffic congestion (where bus priority measures exist they aren't properly enforced).

 

If there is a little bit of public funding for City Centre public transport available, lets make the journey to/from the City Centre attractive by getting the basic infrastructure right first. Get the bus stops sorted. Fill the gaps in the network. Improve the bus priority measures to get them running quicker and more punctual.

 

Once more people are choosing to use the buses and trams into town then is the time to start talking about travelling around within the City Centre - after all if the passengers aren't coming to town they don't need to get around town! Perhaps in the meantime some posters/leaflets could be produced that promote the high frequency buses that already provide the key links within the City Centre.

 

In fact, with the government announced "bus back better" idea as Covid restrictions ease, perhaps do a mail drop to every home in the City with a  public transport guide featuring a map of all the bus, tram and train routes and list of all the unlimited travel passes so people are aware of what is already available.

 

The City Centre B.I.D. could do with getting involved with championing public transport access too - all their promotions encouraging people to come into town to shop, eat and drink so far seems to focus on discounts at multi storey car parks!

 

Meh, most people over the age of 60 get free Bus and Tram travel anyway because they have free Bus passes  

 

1 minute ago, RollingJ said:

Who reads 'The Star'? 😂

People with more money than sense IMO... About 5 years ago I bought a copy from Tesco for the jobs pages, waste of a quid IMO, yep, a pound for "news" that can be gained freely online such as on here!  

 

 

[RollingJ 2,041]

3 minutes ago, Mr Allen said:

Meh, most people over the age of 60 get free Bus and Tram travel anyway because they have free Bus passes  

 

People with more money than sense IMO... About 5 years ago I bought a copy from Tesco for the jobs pages, waste of a quid IMO, yep, a pound for "news" that can be gained freely online such as on here!  

 

 

Over 66 if you have only got it recently, or not yet at that age.

 

I haven't bought a newspaper of any title for the past five or six years - as you say, usually a total waste of cash.

[Planner1 438]

1 hour ago, Andy C said:

Improve the bus priority measures to get them running quicker and more punctual.

They've been spending millions doing just that for decades.

 

Will spending a few bob more now make any real difference?

[Resident 1,193]

What it needs is for the whole transport system to be stripped back and plan all the timetables and frequency of buses from scratch. 

Pre-covid I would regularly see 3 to 6 120s travelling within 2 minutes of each other, mostly empty & double deckers. There are a fair few other high frequency routes, 52 for instance, that are the same. 

I would assume since they couldn't possibly be a financial viability for such then these services must be tendered, wasting public cash.

Personally I don't think 15mins is an unreasonable to wait, assuming you've just missed one. If services are filling to capacity at 15 min intervals then add more buses to the route and reduce it to 10mins at peak times.

Electronically tag all the buses and set all traffic lights on bus routes to prioritise buses traversing those junctions. 
 

Make bus lanes/gates for buses ONLY (except emergency services) & place cameras on them all to generate income from those that think that rules don't apply to them. 

[butlers 261]

Big piece in Guardian over day about Manchester having more control over services rather like the old Met.county days.

Buses are the ugly duckling of  public transport

[Planner1 438]

49 minutes ago, butlers said:

Buses are the ugly duckling of  public transport

But still carry the lions share of the passengers

56 minutes ago, Resident said:

What it needs is for the whole transport system to be stripped back and plan all the timetables and frequency of buses from scratch. 

Can't be done unless you have a system like in London where Transport for London decide what services will run where and when (and pay for them)

 

The majority of daytime bus services here are provide by an operator on a commercial basis, so they decide frequency and timings

[butlers 261]

Thats  true.

 

[Planner1 438]

59 minutes ago, Resident said:

Pre-covid I would regularly see 3 to 6 120s travelling within 2 minutes of each other, mostly empty & double deckers. There are a fair few other high frequency routes, 52 for instance, that are the same. 

I would assume since they couldn't possibly be a financial viability for such then these services must be tendered, wasting public cash.
 

If these are weekday / daytime services they are commercial services provided by the operator.  First and Stagecoach compete on the 52 route, so it's very financially viable.

 

The tendered services tend to be evening and weekend ones, which are less frequent

1 hour ago, Resident said:

Electronically tag all the buses and set all traffic lights on bus routes to prioritise buses traversing those junctions. 
 

Already happens

1 hour ago, Resident said:

Make bus lanes/gates for buses ONLY (except emergency services) & place cameras on them all to generate income from those that think that rules don't apply to them. 

Why ONLY buses? The other users of bus lanes / gates do not hold the buses up, studies have been done to prove this. SCC did one.

 

There are already plenty of cameras on bus lanes and bus gates. They are only placed at locations where there actually are contraventions that hold buses up. It is also actually unlawful to place cameras and enforce just to generate income.