Today (Tuesday 6th April 2021) saw the launch of another four North Somerset Council supported bus services. Service 56 (Clevedon - Walton Bay) had been supposed to start last Thursday, but belatedly made it's debut today after somebody copied and pasted the wrong bit of supporting text to Facebook. Source: North Somerset Public Transport Facebook… Continue reading One way or another, we’ll make you wait.
Secret Squirrels
Foreword: I apologise for breaking the promise to try and divert my attention elsewhere from the start of the last post on this blog. I am trying my hardest to move on, but the source material is too rich to pass up. Bus operators are expected to begin the registration process for bus services at… Continue reading Secret Squirrels
Borders and Behaviour: How Not to Procure Bus Services.
I realise a lot of my recent ramblings have centred around North Somerset and the council that governs the place, but i'll try to divert my attention elsewhere after this post. North Somerset Council have recently undertaken a tendering round which sees every one of their existing four bus contracts replaced by a different service,… Continue reading Borders and Behaviour: How Not to Procure Bus Services.
FreeBus: A lot of publicity, but not much else
The start of the 2010 decade was a tumultuous time on Bristol's public transport. Rotala Wessex were keen to make their presence felt in the city. Bristol City Council's lead on Transport, Gary Hopkins was trying to entice other major group operators in to the city by mass tendering every supported service at once (spoiler,… Continue reading FreeBus: A lot of publicity, but not much else
Empire!
It would appear that some of the structure for providing local transport after Covid is starting to take shape. It seems that Transport Authorities have been given some indications of the form which the long awaited National Bus Strategy will take. Regardless of any ongoing issues, attempting to discuss longer term issues is currently met… Continue reading Empire!
We(ca) choose a Dictatorship
I have written extensively in the past regarding my frustrations with all operator ticketing in WECA. All operator ticketing would give operators other than First the opportunity to provide services which are complementary the greater network rather than combative (something which barely exists in WECAvon now anyway). First's local dominance of Mobile Ticketing and the… Continue reading We(ca) choose a Dictatorship
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… Continue reading The Big Crunch
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… Continue reading The Loneliness of the Long Distance Scheduler
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… Continue reading Corona Chronicle 2: Marginalised
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… Continue reading Involved and Informed?
The Citistar Column 