Manchester Buses

What Stagecoach is telling its overweight employees

An article in the Manchester Evening News last week reported that Stagecoach Manchester drivers have been given a 23 stone weight limit for health and safety reasons.

From the article:

"(Stagecoach) says it would be extremely rare for any of the drivers in its fleet to exceed the limits.

But the ruling has been described as blatant discrimination by one driver, who claims he was ordered to 'go to Tesco' and get weighed.

The driver, who has asked not to be named, claims he was also told he could not get behind the wheel until he had shed some pounds. He said the letter advised drivers who are 20 stone to see their doctor and those over 23 stone not to drive the buses.

He said: "I've been a driver for years. It's so embarrassing to be called into the office and to be told to go to the local supermarket to get weighed. Then to be told I am too fat to drive a bus is ridiculous. They are just discriminating against people who are overweight."

We've managed to get hold of a scan of Stagecoach's letter which reveals that the driver seats on Optare Solos and Optare Versas is 20 stone, while Alexander Dennis vehicles have a 23 stone limit.

As you'll see, Stagecoach is actually dealing with the issue quite sensitively, offer drivers to be allocated vehicles they are safe to drive while the get in shape. That said, if drivers feel they are being treated badly there could be a problem with some of the company's line managers' approach to the issue.

Stagecoach Manchester up for UK Bus Award

The UK Bus Awards nominees were announced today and Greater Manchester's operators are virtually nowhere to be found. The one local name representing the region is Stagecoach Manchester.

Stagecoach Manchester is up for City Operator of the Year and faces stiff competition from First Glasgow, Nottingham City Transport and Stagecoach North East. Elsewhere, nearly-local operator Transdev Burnley & Pendle (who run into Manchester city centre with the X43/X44 services) is in the running for Shire Operator of the Year.

Over on the 'People' shortlist, Stagecoach Manchester Engineering Manager Mike Brinicombe is nominated for Engineer of the Year. Meanwhile, Arriva North West's EcoManager, helping to control costs and reduce environmental impact, is up for the Innovation Award.

We wish all local nominees the best of luck. The winners will be announced on 12th November.

[Thanks, JimmyMac]

Speedwellbus - what's really happening

Yesterday we speculated on what was behind news that Tameside independent operator Speedwellbus was de-registering a large number of services in October.

Speedwellbus have been in touch with details about their future. We incorrectly stated yesterday that all their services were being de-registered. They are in fact reorganising their business to reflect the present harsh economic climate. Also, some of the de-registrations that appeared on VOSA's website will no longer be happening thanks to a deal with GMPTE over reimbursement levels. Some commercial services are still to be withdrawn. The recently launched S50 (Manchester - Hey Farm) service is to be scaled back to run between Ashton-under-Lyne and Mossley only.

Responding to our request for comment, the company's Managing Director Jack Hampson sent us this statement which we're reproducing in full.

Over recent months as the recession has worsened Speedwellbus has seen a decline in revenues across all of our services. This has led to some of our routes falling into a marginal position, and the decision was recently taken to address this by de-registering those routes. Contrary to the perception that some may have formed from the VOSA website, we have not de-registered all of our services. The core of our business has always been our Glossop-area cross boundary services which operate into Tameside and Stockport. These routes form no part of the changes we are making, and will all continue as at present.

 

Since the changes to concessionary reimbursement were made in 2006, we have been struggling to maintain the profitability of our Greater Manchester services. The reimbursement per passenger trip which we receive from GMPTE is quite low. As we carry a relatively high number of concessionary passengers due to the nature of the routes which we operate, the move to free travel for the elderly has hit our income stream hard. We have attempted several changes to our network over the years to try to address this shortfall, but the general fall in revenue as the economy has worsened meant that we had to take more widespread action to protect the financial position of the company.

 

The de-registrations which have appeared on the VOSA website are those of our Greater Manchester contracted services, together with the 41/337 (Dukinfield/Ashton/Crowhill) and 343 (Hyde-Oldham) routes which we operate commercially. In the past few days we have reached an agreement with GMPTE whereby they will increase the subsidy rates of the contracted services to a level which will allow us to continue to operate them. As such there will not now be any on-road change to these services. The commercial routes, at the discretion of GMPTE, will presumably be put out to tender. 

 

We have also had to make some changes to our recently-introduced S50 service. The project had a difficult launch as Swan Street - the only practicable means of access to Shudehill Interchange - was closed on the very day the service commenced. We had not been given any advance notice of this closure and therefore were completely un-prepared for it. This, coupled with the other roadworks at Ancoats and the Metrolink works at Droylsden, has meant that the SpeedwellValue project has had probably the worst possible start. We have decided therefore to withdraw from the Ashton to Manchester section of the route until the roadworks and closures have finished. This will allow us to concentrate on delivering the value service we have promised on the Ashton to Mossley section of the route. Passenger numbers are already strong on this section, despite the reliability issues caused by the roadworks, and we are confident that this scaled-down S50 service can be a success for us.

Is Speedwellbus disappearing from our roads in October?

It appears that Hyde-based independent operator Speedwellbus may be disappearing from our roads come early October. As multiple Manchester Buses readers have pointed out to us, a search of the VOSA website reveals that the company has de-registered all its bus services from the 3rd and 5th of October.

The operator has had a number of problems recently. In July we covered a report that the Traffic Commissioner had cut 9 vehicles from the company's license. We've been hearing multiple reports that their recently launched commercial S50 (Manchester - Hey Farm) service has been suffering low passenger loads. What future for the company now all services are being de-registered?

We've approached Speedwellbus for a comment. We'll let you know what we find.

Traffic Commissioner "cuts 9 from Speedwellbus fleet"

According to a brief note on Glossop.com's front page at present, Tameside operator Speedwellbus has got into a spot of bother with the Traffic Commissioner. The note reads:

The Traffic Commissioners held a public enquiry (sic) into the school bus provision at Glossopdale Community College at Golborne, Warrington on Tuesday (June 30). The Deputy Traffic Commissioner decided against the company (Speedwellbus), and curtailed the fleet to 28 vehicles (from 37). He also issued a formal warning with various undertakings. These will be disclosed by the Deputy Traffic Commissioner "at a later date". The Vehicle Operator Services Agency had conducted an investigation and a vehicle examiner carried out a visit to the service provider in December 2008 and marked his report "unsatisfactory".

If true, this will be a blow to the operator, due to start a new commercial service between Hey Farm and Manchester next month. It will be interesting to see what offenses Speedwellbus are accused of. We'll bring you more when we get it.

[Thanks to Anthony E. McKeown]

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]

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]

First's tickets go a bit Quackers

Board a First Manchester bus and you expect the driver to have a northern dialect - but your ticket?

When Tom Browning bought his First Week ticket today he was amused to see the text "This ticket is not transferrable duck" printed at the bottom.Take a look at the text right at the bottom of the photo here to see the odd turn of phrase.

For those not familiar with Manchester dialect, "Duck" is often used as a term of endearment but you wouldn't expect your bus ticket to be quite so familiar!

Has anyone else seen this rather odd phenomenon? Are First now taking a more lighthearted approach, has someone in charge of printing tickets had a bit of fun on the job or is it just an innocent printing error?

UPDATE: As commenters have pointed out - First use a different word every week to counter ticket fraud. Apparently there have been some occasional rude ones too. Being based in south Manchester we've never experienced this phenomenon - just First's exorbitant single fare prices :)

Fare inspections lead to driver sackings at Stagecoach

There we were thinking our fare inspection on a Finglands bus the other day was a rare occurrence. It turns out that they're more common than you'd think, especially at Stagecoach who have been running 'Revenue and Gateway Checks' in conjunction with Greater Manchester Police for at least the past year.

A Stagecoach Manchester staff member sent us this photo of a poster currently on display at one of the company's depots. It reveals some interesting information about just how huge the problem of lost revenue on buses is. Across the 5,787 buses and 94,221 passengers checked between April 2008 and March 2009 a total of £23,892 in lost revenue was detected. That's an average of 25p per passenger searched. That a huge amount a fare dodging, and far more than we'd thought likely.

74 arrests of members of the public were made during the inspections, although whether they were for ticket forgeries and other fare evasion isn't noted.

The bottom part of the poster seems a little sinister though. It reads: "These checks are focused on deterring antisocial behaviour and ticket fraud by passengers, but it is both disappointing and embarrassing to note that during these operations 61 drivers were relieved from duty for ticket irregularities, most of which have now lost their jobs and some have a criminal record".

This makes us wonder why these drivers lost their jobs. After all, driving a bus, handling money and dealing (sometimes pretty antisocial) members of the public can be a difficult. If someone sneaks on without paying, especially someone who might appear, shall we say, 'dangerous to deal with' can't drivers be forgiven for turning a blind eye occasionally?

Likewise, forged tickets can be a little difficult to spot at first glance. We know - we used to live with someone who made almost perfect Megarider forgeries. We never used one of them, we hasten to add. If we knew we were looking at a forgery and couldn't tell the difference, how difficult would it be for a driver with a big queue of passengers and a timetable to keep to be expected to tell the difference?