Manchester Buses

Stagecoach launch smartcard ticket machines, summer timetable

If you've boarded a Stagecoach Manchester bus this week, chances are you've noticed the new ticket machines many of their vehicles now sport. The new machines currently spit out tiny tickets as it appears the company's logo is yet to be programmed into them. What's more interesting is that the top of the machines feature a contactless smartcard reader.

While there's no official word of Stagecoach launching a smartcard scheme, the fact that the readers are in place means it's likely we'll be seeing something soon. Indeed, Gradyn Thompson, General Manager of the Greater Manchester Bus Operators Association recently predicted a local operator would have the technology in use within three years, and he should know!

Meanwhile, Stagecoach have announced their summer timetable for Greater Manchester. From the 19th of July many services will have revised times during Monday to Friday peak periods. Most journey times will be shorter thanks to the quieter summer roads. Additionally some permanent changes have been announced.

50 (East Didsbury - Manchester) Evening frequency increased from every 20 minutes to every 15.

191 (Stockport - Manchester) Revised afternoon times

197 (Stockport - Manchester) Revised afternoon times

201 (Manchester- Hattersley) Revised Saturday timetable

203 (Manchester - Stockport) Revised Saturday timetable

231 (Manchester - Ashton-under-Lyne) Revised timetable to improve reliability

330 (Stockport - Ashton-under-Lyne) Revised timetable with extra early morning journeys and an additional Mon-Sat late journey from Stockport to Ashton.

377 (Woodford - Stockport) Now runs schooldays only.

X57 (Woodford - Manchester Limited Stop) Minor changes to improve reliability.

[Image credit: Coradia1000 on Flickr]

Manchester bus operators on Facebook

A post on Omnibuses yesterday discussed First Group's only foray into Social Media, a blog, Twitter account and Facebook page for Bath bus station, closing next week due to spending cuts. After we'd stopped laughing at the idea of closing down one of the most cost-effective forms of marketing and customer service during a recession, it got us wondering about use of Social Media amongst Manchester's bus operators. Was there anyone doing it?

It turns out we didn't have long to wait to find out. In the city centre yesterday we noticed that JPT have started painting a Facebook logo by the door of their buses, with text telling passengers to "Become a fan of Jpt Bus Company".

The JPT Facebook page, currently at 112 fans is quite lively for such a small operator. Only a few people (presumably mainly staff) contribute to the Wall, with photos of new vehicles and company related chat going on. What's more, they're operating a "Become a fan of our Facebook Page and receive a Complimentary £10.00 Weekly Ticket valid on ALL JPT Buses" offer.

JPT are certainly approaching Social Media the right way - open, relaxed, conversational. We'd love to see them on Twitter too. They're not the only Greater Manchester operator with a Facebook presence either. An unofficial Bluebird group, run by one of their drivers can be found by searching Facebook for "BlueBird Buses, Middleton". Similarly there's a semi-official "Jim Stones Coaches" group and an unofficial "South Lancs Travel" group, currently sitting at just 6 members. These can all be found by search ing Facebook.

It would be great to see more operators launch a Social Media presence and open an easy channel of communication with their passengers.

[Thanks to Ian Roberts for help compiling this list]

'Transport geek' councilor gets dream job, pledges to improve bus network

Regular readers of Manchester Buses will recognise Councilor Keith Whitmore. He's been a Councilor for 30 years and has popped up at pretty much every press photocall for GMPTE in recent memory. No matter where it is, Keith will be there grinning for the camera.

There's more to Keith though. He's a Director of Manchester Museum of Transport and Greater Manchester Accessible Transport and is Chair of Heaton Park Tramway Committee too. It's probably fair to say, in the nicest possible way, that Keith is a transport geek.

What's the dream job for a transport geek? Why, Chair of GMITA of course! This is the top job in Greater Manchester transport and today Keith stepped into the role. He replaces Trafford councilor Matt Colledge.

It's an exciting time to take the top post at GMITA. With Metrolink expansion currently underway and big plans for improving the region's transport network on the table, there's a lot to think about. Right now, Keith says, he's going to concentrate on dealing with overcrowding on the region's trains and, more importantly for us here at Manchester Buses, developing "a new way of working with bus operators – based on binding partnerships and a quality charter". 

These type of agreements have a rocky history. Similar agreements between First and SYPTE in South Yorkshire fell apart due to the transport equivalent of the 'musical differences' that break up rock bands. Keith is, however, upbeat. "We hope (this) will deliver significantly improved services across the county".

The future of Manchester's buses - the operators' view

We often hear about what the local authorities want for the future of the region's public transport but what about the bus operators? Gradyn Thompson, General Manager of the Greater Manchester Bus Operators Association (GMBOA) has been speaking to Bus & Coach about their ideas for improving our bus network.

Among the nuggets he imparted were:

• GMBOA is keen to improve the bus service for passengers but is realistic about the plans currently on the table. "Politicians want to see improvements... They want tangible evidence that things are moving forward on routes and frequencies. If these improvements focus on delivering tangible and affordable passenger benefits then the bus operators will be very supportive, but there isn’t a blank cheque from either the government or the operators to fund unrealistic political aspirations.”

• An Oyster-style single all-operator smartcard isn't likely in the near future due the number of differnet companies collecting revenue in deregulated bus market - a problem that doesn't affect London. Thompson does, however, predict that at least one operator will have their own smartcard system within the next three years. Seeing as First's Bradford operation has been using smartcards for payment for a decade there's no reason why this couldn't be realistic.

• GMBOA welcomes the idea of cross-city bus routes but Thompson points out that work may have to be done to ensure buses can get through the city centre quickly and easily.

• Despite the TIF bid failing, it improved relations between operators and policy makers. "“There's now a better spirit of partnership than there has ever been", he says.

You can read the full interview here.

[Thanks to James McCollom]

Bus punctuality down to 69%

Okay, we admit it - we used to look at things like bus punctuality figures in search of a story but they always stayed roughly the same so we gave up. Good job someone else has kept looking. The Manchester Evening News' David Ottewell has perused GMITA documents and found that in the first three months of this year bus punctuality fell by 15% to just 69%.

What's gone wrong? Nothing springs to mind from the start of the year that would have led to such a drop. The current water mains works that are causing big diversions in Manchester city centre must be affecting the current Quarter's punctuality but there was nothing of that scale earlier in the year.

Have you noticed buses being less punctual this year? In our experience punctuality feels to be better this year than last. It will be interesting to see how Q2's figures are affected by the water mains works.