The dreaded FIRST BUS!

[BLAKEY]

Just briefly, I think there a couple of misunderstandings about here.Firstly David Alexander has surely been with FirstBus for a good while now ??, and the latest senior chap to make the Transdev - FirstBus move is the superbly skilled and dedicated Giles Fearnley.The reason for other Transdev Group double deckers appearing on the 36 is only temporary while the original luxury vehicles are away for extensive refurbishment. Consequently the local liveries of these vehicles are not being changed as they will soon be "returning home."My praise for the 110 Arriva route was not aimed specifically at the quality of the vehicles, but was in defence of the perfectly adequate capacity which has been provided continuously since the tramway days - and just to say that there is no justification for the likes of "Yorkshire Line" to muscle in - pre 1986 the Commissioners would quite rightly not have granted a licence in such circumstances.    

[Uno Hoo]

Mrs Hoo and I had a "bus pass" day out last Wednesday. Local bus to Bradford Interchange, X6 to Leeds, TransDev 770 to Harrogate via Wetherby, shopping, then 36 to Ripley, mooch around, then 36 back to Leeds for the X6 to Bradford and local bus home. Total cost? Nil. Except for the shopping! Worstbus seats are the worst - OK, I don't expect a Bradford local bus to have coach appointment, but the X6 distance deserves something better than the bum-numbing experience it is. TransDev can't make up its mind about livery, but its seats are much more comfortable. The 36 wins hands down for sheer comfort; soft leather seats with generous legroom. And I was most impressed that every TransDev driver I saw was wearing the blue I.A.M. badge (LGV & PCV category) and the standard showed, particularly on the difficult 770. Worst drivers in Bradford (on the whole) show no concept of providing a smooth passenger-friendly ride - many's the time jerky brake application or harsh acceleration send passengers (customers?) flying down the aisles.Transdev's little Optare saloons on the 880 Leeds-York Coastliner corridor fly along, but always use speed appropriately. The company seems to have invested heavily in staff training, and boy, does it show! Worst is certainly worst in that category.

[BLAKEY]

Another evening of Hell with FirstBus yesterday. I arrived by train from Hull at 1955 and decided not to wait for the 2033 train to Headingley (station quite a walk from home) but to catch the 19 bus in Infirmary Street at 2028. I began to fear the worst as the time approached and, when the 2028 display never changed to "Due" I knew what was coming - and it wasn't the bus !! The evening service on this route is now only hourly and so as the rest of the queue dwindled away I made my way to the Town Hall for a 49/50 - nothing due, and a collossal queue. Walked up to Albion Street for a 56 - just gone one minute ago, and can you believe that on a key service like the 56 the Saturday evening service is every thirty minutes !! Walked down to the Headrow and joined a huge queue and got on the 50 which was along shortly. That was already packed and when we got to the Town Hall the huge queue I'd seen previously, even bigger now, were still waiting and struggled on with the usual remarks to the driver "thought you'd stopped running" etc etc. With no-one alighting we pulled up at Park Lane College and even more (very unusual there off peak) struggled on. By now they were standing upstairs on on the staircase and the last guy in the queue (well oiled but alarmed by the spectacle stepped back and waved the bus away shouting "Drive carefully mate." He did drive carefully and cautiously because the vehicle by then was seriously overloaded and leaning and rolling on the bends.So the slogan "First - Transforming travel" goes down very badly with me and many more.Aside from this particular ordeal I was again aware and uneasy, as I always am, about the potentially dangerous number of passengers, buggies etc which are permitted legally. These modern double deckers are allowed to carry well over 90 passengers if required and, when doing so, there is absolutely no chance of safe evacuation in the event of a front end collision or a rear engine compartment fire. Access to the front door from the lower saloon is dangerously restricted around the staircase/luggage area and this automatically prevents anyone else coming down the stairs to join the confused (and possibly panicking) scrum. The only "emergency" exit in the lower saloon is a very narrow door by the engine and back seats and is further restricted in its lower half by the hard armrest for the seat. This of course is not confined to any particular operator and I'm just aghast at such slack legislation.Apart from emergencies there is also the operational shambles caused by having only one entrance, restricted staicase/buggie area, and huge passenger capacity. In my own personal experience, while I'm usually happy to debate an issue, I will never be budged from the view that separate entrances and exits are essential on busy bus services. Much is made of the "danger" of centre doorways but frankly I won't wear this - its a case of doing the job carefully and conscientiously. Oh for the good old days, when a large number of alighting passengers can leave in comfort whil anything up to ten or so can be on board, paid, and on their way into the saloon with no delay at all to timekeeping. As for the self righteous advice to passengers to "ring the bell once and remain seated until the bus has stopped", operators know full well that such a practice would bring services to a virtual standstill and, is this the real reason??, make a huge dent in the profits when more vehicles per route have to provided and scheduled in !!

[Riponian]

Blakey, this has been your longest so far it seems.Modern buses do have what's described as fire suppression aboard, ie what we'd call extinquishers. They've also got much better fire protection, so giving a lot longer evacuation times.The "ring the bell and stay in your seat" is the way of getting out of paying up if you fall over when the driver stamps of the brakes. Yeah, no quite the experience last winter where coming down through Wormald Green in the snow, the 36 tried to stop for the stop halfway down the hill. It stopped 50 yards past the stop, the ABS fought him all the way.As for the lack of services after 1800 hours, well they must be encouraging us all to walk. I have however noted that the Hoos have taken the long way round service to Harrogate, the 770. If they are a little more ambitious, they could get to Hawes on the vintage bus service from Ripon or even get ride on the Wensleydale line.

[Uno Hoo]

I have however noted that the Hoos have taken the long way round service to Harrogate, the 770. If they are a little more ambitious, they could get to Hawes on the vintage bus service from Ripon or even get ride on the Wensleydale line.A quite conscious decision, Ripo, as we were out for scenic rides rather than shortest journeys. The 770 passes through very pleasant places once the urban sprawl is left behind. As for Hawes, the Samuel Ledgard Society has got an outing organised for July, altho' Mrs Hoo may well pass on that rather than spend the day amidst bus conversation. She's a Bradfordian with no experience of Ledgard operation, not having needed to travel to either Pudsey or Harrogate during the relevant period - she did work in Harrogate briefly during the 60s, but since WYRCC 51 via Rawdon stopped close to her home, that was the logical choice. If I do get chance to go to Hawes with SLS, I'll drive to Ripon, as bus enthusiast that I am, to reach Ripon by 09.20 from Bradford by bus would be challenging, to say the least! (Or I'll cadge a lift on Blakey's pillion, altho' if it's still the BSA Bantam 175 that could prove even more of a challenge LOL). I'll make the confession at this point that I'm an enthusiast for vintage buses with engines at the front. I couldn't care less about modern vehicles - altho' you will have already noted my appreciative comments about the comforts of the 36. As for our being a bit more ambitious, we've got our eyes on the TransDev Coastliner to Scarborough or Brid, having not gone further than York to date. Then there's the Stagecoach to Hull, or TransDev from Keighley into Lancashire. The good old bus pass opens up all sorts of possibilities (if we have the stamina).

[BLAKEY]

Uno Hoo wrote: If I do get chance to go to Hawes with SLS, I'll drive to Ripon, as bus enthusiast that I am, to reach Ripon by 09.20 from Bradford by bus would be challenging, to say the least! (Or I'll cadge a lift on Blakey's pillion, altho' if it's still the BSA Bantam 175 that could prove even more of a challenge LOL). I was an ardent admirer of the "original" 125 and 150 Bantams, and traded in my faithful 125 for a new 175 "Super." The latter brute didn't reign long, refusing to start at the Dealer's and frequently ever after - I'm sure I pushed it farther than I rode it before getting rid!!The bus pass does indeed open up a whole new world and I wish I had more spare time to exploit the endless possibilities.    

[tyke bhoy]

BLAKEY wrote: I began to fear the worst as the time approached and, when the 2028 display never changed to "Due" I knew what was coming - and it wasn't the bus !! With the MyNextBus technology 20:28 was never going to change to "Due" only a countdown of "x mins" ends in "Due". If rather than a number of minute an actual time appears then this is the scheduled arrival/departure time which is displayed because the bus is not fitted with a GPS tracker or more likely these days because it isn't switched on, with not running being pretty much the extreme reason for it not being switched on. It would be nice if METRO could come up with someway of indicating the difference between "not running" and "not switched on" but that would require communication/input from the bus operators.As for lack of evening service, I am struggling to think of any service which is more regular than every 30 minutes after 7.00pm. The 110 isn't, the 1 doesn't and the 36 was dropped, not such a short while ago now, to hourly.

[BLAKEY]

tyke bhoy wrote: BLAKEY wrote: I began to fear the worst as the time approached and, when the 2028 display never changed to "Due" I knew what was coming - and it wasn't the bus !! With the MyNextBus technology 20:28 was never going to change to "Due" only a countdown of "x mins" ends in "Due". If rather than a number of minute an actual time appears then this is the scheduled arrival/departure time which is displayed because the bus is not fitted with a GPS tracker or more likely these days because it isn't switched on, with not running being pretty much the extreme reason for it not being switched on. Thanks for that clarification tyke bhoy - I must confess I'd never been fully aware of that angle and have therefore "been had" many times in the past.

[patter]

Well, Yorkshire Line's no morehttp://twitpic.com/5bc3yn53, 105, 106 & X10 services closed, nice of Metro to tell us that "similar routes operated by arriva or first are not unaffected"

[tyke bhoy]

Already covered on page 8 Patter. Geldards have already taken over the 53 route. The X10 doesn't need replacing as it was never going to be a serious challenger to the 110 and from what I saw of it was only an express service becuase it rarely had to stop to pick up or set down any passengers. The 105 and 106 are OT because they are entirely in Wakefield but I'm not sure they are too badly affected due to Arriva's services