The Big Crunch

As if we haven't spent the last six months thinking that we're living in strange times, the past month has seen things take an even more concerning turn. At the end of July, Stagecoach announced they were forming a new "Stagecoach Solutions" unit for corporate travel, education and contract services. This bears a striking resemblance…

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Scheduler

Quite by chance earlier this week, i met up with a friend of mine who i hadn't spoken to in a while. As neither of us were required for further labouring for a good half hour, we found a cafe and spent a while chattering. A thankless task My friend showed me a thread on…

Corona Chronicle 2: Marginalised

I concluded my first Corona Chronicle post by wondering when the message regarding public transport usage would change and now it appears that we might have eventually reached that juncture. Major operators are moving from quarter capacity to half capacity on vehicles which will reduce the likelihood of duplicate vehicles being needed and perhaps the…

Involved and Informed?

This post was originally written last year, then shelved because i wasn't happy with it. Whilst looking through subjects i had previously written about, i found a new enthusiasm to improve and present it, so here it is. Ask the Audience A common criticism aimed at bus operators in the aftermath of service changes is…

A Blueprint for Commercial Progress

Several pressure groups are using the current situation and funding to call for greater long term regulation to be brought in to the bus industry. Knee-jerk reactions to such an opportunity to make sweeping changes would almost certainly deliver disasterous results as such things need careful consideration to ensure they are fit for purpose. In…

X5 Countdown

Saturday 13th June 2020 will see Stagecoach West depart from North Somerset for the final time of the current era as their stint operating the X5 service between Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon, Portishead and Cribbs Causeway will come to an end. The previously hourly service has been on a two-hourly schedule since the beginning of the Covid-19…

The Balancing Act

Apologies for this eventually being published after the event. A problem with some bus services is the act of balancing out the bits that work commercially with the less renumerative social and political demands. Sometimes a balance can be struck, sometimes it doesn't work. As an example, i'll point to our Friday shopper's bus diagram.…

Corona Chronicle

We live in peculiar times. Many people have been documenting the social aspects of this period, so i'll attempt to look at this from predominantly a business point of view. Closing Times The school which is the focus of our activities at the start and end of each day closed as part of the national…

Part of a story

This Monday, the BBC aired a Panorama documentary on Britain's Bus Crisis (their words, not mine). It is available to watch on iPlayer here. Richard Bilton followed a number of journeys across the North from Redcar to Blackpool and (spoiler alert) came to the disappointing conclusion that the system isn't working. Lets look at some…

WECA’s Final Solution: A Response

As promised in Ask a Stupid Question, here is our full response to the WECA Bus Strategy Consultation. The consultation (open until Sunday 15/03/20) is still available at TravelWest. Just in case it disappears, the consultation document can also be found here: West-of-England-Bus-Strategy FYI: Consultation headings in bold, direct quotations in italics, responses in plain…