Do you use buses

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by DaveinGermany

The arrival of the bills ? Exactly when you're skint !

Ya Dave you've got that one right, forgot about that, mind you they have to get their pound of flesh so they can pay Mossy and co

[lindsay ormerod]

Back to the original question I use buses every day to get to work in Blackburn and then home again, I don't drive and couldn't afford to if I wanted to. Parking causes daily rows near my place of work and cars damaged by irate residents who feel hard done to.

I pay £9.00 a week for a rover ticket on Pilkys, £4.50 cheaper than Transdev and staffed by humans!

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by lindsay ormerod

and staffed by humans![/B]

I hope you aren't suggesting the Transdev drivers haven't been to charm school

[Judith Addison]

I haven't been driving for almost two years due to a medical condition so sometimes make use of my Nowcard and travel on the buses. Buses are OK if where you are trying to get to is on a bus route and if you are travelling between breakfast time and late tea-time Monday to Friday. Sometimes I have to go to meetings at places only a mile or two from home and end up getting a taxi because it's either that or walk! After 30-odd years of driving it also strikes me how much time you waste when travelling by bus. For a journey that takes 20 minutes by car you might have to allow more than an hour, especially if two buses are involved or if you're travelling on a Sunday or in the evening. I always think what else I could be doing in the time I'm wasting hanging around for buses. I think public transport works well in London and other cities but not in smaller places.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Judith Addison

I haven't been driving for almost two years due to a medical condition so sometimes make use of my Nowcard and travel on the buses. Buses are OK if where you are trying to get to is on a bus route and if you are travelling between breakfast time and late tea-time Monday to Friday. Sometimes I have to go to meetings at places only a mile or two from home and end up getting a taxi because it's either that or walk! After 30-odd years of driving it also strikes me how much time you waste when travelling by bus. For a journey that takes 20 minutes by car you might have to allow more than an hour, especially if two buses are involved or if you're travelling on a Sunday or in the evening. I always think what else I could be doing in the time I'm wasting hanging around for buses. I think public transport works well in London and other cities but not in smaller places.

Think your right Judith, buses in big cities are fine, but in the sticks, well thats another story

[g jones]

Over last 12 months I have worked hard (very hard for the doubters!) on a full proposal to re regulate buses (bus franchising) and to bring them into the 21st century. GPS, better bus stop info including simplified route maps, smart phone and better real time info. I hope I have done enough to persuade Lancashire's Labour Group ahead of Mays elections. Being a county councillor has been a huge advantage.

Financially there are savings with the BSOG and other expenditure which can be reallocated in lower fares or more of peak or less commercial routes.

[Guinness]

Originally Posted by g jones

Over last 12 months I have worked hard (very hard for the doubters!) on a full proposal to re regulate buses (bus franchising) and to bring them into the 21st century. GPS, better bus stop info including simplified route maps, smart phone and better real time info. I hope I have done enough to persuade Lancashire's Labour Group ahead of Mays elections. Being a county councillor has been a huge advantage.

Financially there are savings with the BSOG and other expenditure which can be reallocated in lower fares or more of peak or less commercial routes.

Which is kind of a shame since there was very little wrong with the service in the 20th century until you politicians started screwing around with it.

[entwisi]

but lets be honest technology allows for far more efficient and usable service today that it did back then.

how useful would a smart phone app that shows exactly where the bus you want to catch is, that way you can set off to the stop knowing you will only be there a minute or two before it arrives.

Or how about a mechanism for registering for a bus journey in advance so the bus companies have a way of calculating what size of bus to use for most efficient operation.

I rarely use buses as they are expensive and not very convenient ( 3 quid from Manchester road near Haworth art gallery into town for Julie and Siobhan the other week is disgusting IMHO ) if this made them more convienient and cheaper then it can't be a bad thing.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by g jones

Over last 12 months I have worked hard (very hard for the doubters!) on a full proposal to re regulate buses (bus franchising) and to bring them into the 21st century. GPS, better bus stop info including simplified route maps, smart phone and better real time info. I hope I have done enough to persuade Lancashire's Labour Group ahead of Mays elections. Being a county councillor has been a huge advantage.

Financially there are savings with the BSOG and other expenditure which can be reallocated in lower fares or more of peak or less commercial routes.

Ah it must be the time for a reappearance of Labour mouth pieces on AccyWeb on a regular basis, its ELECTION TIME in three months.

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by g jones

Financially there are savings with the BSOG and other expenditure which can be reallocated in lower fares or more of peak or less commercial routes.

Haha if bus fares go down ( particularly on Transdev routes ), I'll show my backside in Burtons window, thats of course if we still have one in cloud cuckoo land

[Barrie Yates]

Originally Posted by g jones

Over last 12 months I have worked hard (very hard for the doubters!) on a full proposal to re regulate buses (bus franchising) and to bring them into the 21st century. GPS, better bus stop info including simplified route maps, smart phone and better real time info. I hope I have done enough to persuade Lancashire's Labour Group ahead of Mays elections. Being a county councillor has been a huge advantage.

Financially there are savings with the BSOG and other expenditure which can be reallocated in lower fares or more of peak or less commercial routes.

BSOG is an acronym for????????
Not everyone uses a smart phone.
What would be the cost of fitting GPS units to every bus and the provision of a control room to utilise the information gathered from the GPS units and controllers to man the control rooms?
Whilst this system works extremely well in London, they need it for the number of buses throughout the London transport system. I just cannot see the financial benefits of going for such a high tech system in Hyndburn. Perhaps better for one company providing the bus system - oh yes we did used to have that sort of system.

[Guinness]

Originally Posted by entwisi

but lets be honest technology allows for far more efficient and usable service today that it did back then.

how useful would a smart phone app that shows exactly where the bus you want to catch is, that way you can set off to the stop knowing you will only be there a minute or two before it arrives.

Or how about a mechanism for registering for a bus journey in advance so the bus companies have a way of calculating what size of bus to use for most efficient operation.

I rarely use buses as they are expensive and not very convenient ( 3 quid from Manchester road near Haworth art gallery into town for Julie and Siobhan the other week is disgusting IMHO ) if this made them more convienient and cheaper then it can't be a bad thing.

Back in the 20th century we had all this, a kind of mobile GPS system that made the buses run on time....they were called Inspectors

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by Barrie Yates

BSOG is an acronym for????????

Bus Service Operators Grant

[Barrie Yates]

Originally Posted by lancsdave

Bus Service Operators Grant

Thank you

[shillelagh]

Originally Posted by g jones

Over last 12 months I have worked hard (very hard for the doubters!) on a full proposal to re regulate buses (bus franchising) and to bring them into the 21st century. GPS, better bus stop info including simplified route maps, smart phone and better real time info. I hope I have done enough to persuade Lancashire's Labour Group ahead of Mays elections. Being a county councillor has been a huge advantage.

Financially there are savings with the BSOG and other expenditure which can be reallocated in lower fares or more of peak or less commercial routes.

Originally Posted by entwisi

but lets be honest technology allows for far more efficient and usable service today that it did back then.

how useful would a smart phone app that shows exactly where the bus you want to catch is, that way you can set off to the stop knowing you will only be there a minute or two before it arrives.

Or how about a mechanism for registering for a bus journey in advance so the bus companies have a way of calculating what size of bus to use for most efficient operation.

I rarely use buses as they are expensive and not very convenient ( 3 quid from Manchester road near Haworth art gallery into town for Julie and Siobhan the other week is disgusting IMHO ) if this made them more convienient and cheaper then it can't be a bad thing.

they already have that ...

Bus Services - Information To Your Mobile

its on the bus timetables they have in the bus stop .. you send that to a number and its supposed to tell you what time the next bus is from that stop ... and how long it will be ...