Behind the scenes of buses in the West.
Much of this post is based upon a press release issued to the local media on 4th December, which resulted in this article in the Weston Mercury. Text which is copied verbatim from the release will be coloured maroon and references (found at the bottom) in blue. Despite the date of publication, it was written… Continue reading The Barbie Dalek
Aside from the obvious drum beating by the hard left over the vulnerability of the private sector, the collapse of Carillion and concerns over the future of similar business Interserve raises some interesting issues over public sector procurement. The problem is that government only appears to be able to deal with big corporations (and charities)… Continue reading Failure of the Middlemen
In any other industry, the most important people to ascertain the views of would be the customer. Almost every chain restaurant these days offers you a discount or small freebie at your next visit after you've eaten with them in exchange for completing a survey afterwards. In the bus industry, some operators do such things;… Continue reading The Top Secret Consultation
One aspect of transport planning which i find unintelligible is the reluctance to attempt small solutions to a problem instead of the proverbial sledgehammer to crack a nut which seems most favoured by the British public sector. An example recently began construction nearby on the A39 at Marksbury (Google StreetView link / B&NES rationale). Due… Continue reading Small solutions
Bath and North East Somerset Council are currently surveying for opinions on their Transport Strategy for the Chew Valley area, which is Citistar's bread and butter. We're based there and carry a lot of passengers around there over the course of each week. If you fancy a read, the documents are here. Their proposals for… Continue reading Rip it up and start again
Modern technology has given us many benefits, such as being able to see where road issues are causing delays. The photo below shows the GoogleMaps Traffic results for the Monday afternoon traffic tailbacks due to a set of roadworks near the Banwell Road junction on the Wellsway in Bath. (Base image, copyright Google) You can… Continue reading Mis- (traffic) -management
One of my pet hates is the gravitas with which clueless commentators upon our industry are given. Sometimes self proclaimed campaigners, sometimes community groups, sometimes structured organisations; give them the opportunity to get a nonsensical press release to the local newsrag and the local media finds it irresistible. Compare this to the disinterest they will… Continue reading Fat Sparrows
Over the past decade, Dial-a-Ride schemes across Bath and North East Somerset have done extraordinary damage to the bus network. These parasitic "charities" are stealing revenue from tax paying, licenced businesses and we're supposed to think this is a good thing. Take a look at the supported bus network in B&NES. Passenger numbers on less… Continue reading Dial-a-Loss
A troubling situation at a local school has recently come to something of a head, which will hopefully lead to some enforcement action being taken. As there may well be legal action being taken, details in this post will be rather sketchy. Outside of the urban sprawl, regular drivers of school coaches get to recognise… Continue reading Black Market Procurement
Some bus services give themselves to a perfectly logical layout. Others evolve in to stability over time. Some just defy any logic and whatever you try to provide over the route ends up being a complete pudding. Yate and Bristol Yate is a dormitory town to Bristol which has grown since the second world war… Continue reading Puddings
