First bus changes from 28th July along TransWilts corridor

[whole diary]

[Lee]

Frome Service 30 (Feltham Drive - Feltham Drive via Market Place, Clink, Market Place): The timetable for this service is changing from 28 July. Specifically while the Monday - Friday journeys will continue largely as they are, all journeys on Saturdays are being withdrawn. This change is being made to ensure that the Monday to Friday service, which is considered important as it provides much needed connections to local medical facilities as well as the town centre, remains commercially sustainable in the long run. At present the service costs First more to operate than is taken in revenue on the bus, so this change is necessary to re-balance things. It is worth noting those that another operator has registered a service which will act as a partial replacement for the Saturday journeys that are being lost. People who use buses on Saturdays are advised to contact the local council for more information about the alternative service.

Service 161 (Wells - Frome): A number of changes are being made to the timetable of this service. Specifically while the number and frequency of buses between Wells and Shepton Mallet will remain broadly the same, the frequency of buses between Shepton Mallet and Frome is being reduced to one bus every two hours (from hourly) from 28 July. The extended journeys to and from Frome will all be financially supported by Somerset County Council. As a company we understand that Somerset County Council has made some alternative provision for those people wishing to travel between Frome and Shepton Mallet at other times - customers seeking this information are advised to contact the Council's public transport team directly.

Frome Minibuses have registered a service 30 which acts as a partial replacement for the First version on Saturdays. It will run at roughly 2-hourly intervals up until early afternoon, starting on 3 August 2013.

Regarding the 161, I did as First suggested, and contacted Somerset County Council. They replied as follows:

The 161 is part commercial service, and part subsidised by Somerset County Council. The part of the service that is being withdrawn is the commercial part; we have kept our subsidy level the same. Unfortunately, we do not have any remaining funds left in our budget to increase the subsidy on this service. However, Frome Minibuses service 662 does run between Frome and Shepton Mallet once a day (Mon ^ Sat) at 0730, and we have negotiated with them to allow passengers to use their concessionary fares bus pass on this service should they own one.

Also, we have asked First to take another look at this service in September once the colleges are back, as they may have spare resources to consider reinstating part of the withdrawn service.

[Lee]

A number of changes are being made to Faresaver bus services along or near to the TransWilts corridor from 1 September 2013. Some of these may surprise you, others probably wont...

SERVICE X34 - forthcoming timetable link

- Service X34 will run every 30 minutes between Chippenham-Melksham-Trowbridge-Frome on Monday-Friday daytimes up until mid-afternoon.

- The half-hourly services will run via Frome Medical Centre from 23 September 2013.

- The X34 is retimed to run a few minutes in front of First Bus 234 in both directions during the daytime.

- A morning peak service in each direction between Trowbridge-Frome is withdrawn.

SERVICE X72 - forthcoming timetable link

- Very minor timetable changes overall, none of which I would be unduly concerned about. Faresaver timetablers join those who work on the First 231 timetable in being the latest to risk their bonuses, this time by missing what looked like a golden opportunity to have the X72 leave Melksham for Bath on the hour...

SERVICE X86 - forthcoming timetable link

- Service withdrawn from Broughton Gifford, Holt, Bradford-on-Avon, Monkton Farleigh and Kingsdown.

SERVICE 267 - forthcoming timetable link

- The Faresaver 267 is retimed to run a few minutes in front of First Bus 267 in both directions during the daytime.

- Timing and route variations to morning peak services in Bath.

- One out-of-pattern morning service between Frome-Bath is withdrawn.

The official Faresaver explanation of the forthcoming changes is as follows:

X34 - The half hourly service we introduced in January between Chippenham and Trowbridge is being extended through to Frome on the majority of trips. We are also serving the Frome Medical Centre from 23rd September. Some timing changes between 0900 - 1500 however most of the peak hour trips remain at the same times as the current timetable.

X72 - Minor timing changes to improve punctuality on some trips.

267 - Some timing changes. The 0750 off Frome has been moved back 10 minutes to improve punctuality into Bath before 0900. Peak hour trips from Bath in the afternoon remain unchanged.

X86 - Will start from Bathford, Dovers Park from 17th September and will go direct to Ralph Allen School without serving centre.

Equally surprising changes are also taking place to Faresaver X31 from 1 September 2013. Click here for details.

Does this mean we can expect a rapid follow-up to your recent blog post then, grahame?...

[grahame]

- The X34 is retimed to run a few minutes in front of First Bus 234 in both directions during the daytime.

I've had long discussions with commercial bus operators on this "pairing up" subject in the past.   Perhaps now's a good time to explain the maths of it - and I'll put in some sample numbers.

Let's say we have two bus operators - let's call them Mr Trout and Mr Herring - and they are both intent on runninng a commercial service hourly from Fishguard to Sharkhead Bay.   The number of passengers carried on the original hourly service, run by Mr Trout, is 50, and the bus leaves on the hour.   Mr Herring comes along - when should he time his bus?

Option 1. Mr Herring goes at 30 minutes after the hour.  In the first year, he gets 15 passengers on this bus, in the second year 25, and in the third year 35.  Mr Trout's bus takes 45 in the first year of Mr Herring's operation, and that drops to 40  in the second and subsequent years.   Because the service is half hourly, the overall passenger count has risen to 75 per hour as the service is much better.  Inertia, and good timing (Mr Trout was a bright fish when he originally chose to go on the hour) mean that the original operator remains the main operator.

Option 2. Mr Herring goes at 5 minutes to the hour. In the first year he gets 40 passengers on his bus. People will simply get on the first bus that comes along, and it's usually his as people are in the habit of arriving at the bus stop in good time for Mr Trout's bus.   Poor Mr Trout finds he's dropped from 50 passengers to just 15.  Mr Herring actually charges a higher fare, but as most travellers are on bus passes, the passengers don't mind that, as it's the local ratepayers who are paying for them via the local authority.

Numbers, names, places made up. Any similarity to the names of actual bus operators would be a complete co-incidnece.

The clever and very difficult bit in getting the best possible service for the community - which on most traffic flows would be option number 1 - is to come up with some sort of commercial background to do so under which both Mt Herring and Mr Trout are happy, and in addition that Miss Cod, a new entrant to the bus market, doesn't get legal against because she considers that the arrangement that's good for the community has been set up by a Cartel.

Does this mean we can expect a rapid follow-up to your recent blog post then, grahame?...

Undoubtedly ... with major changes tomorrow (first day with no buses at all from Well House Manor to Bath since the new year and a full hotel of tourists), we have had to draw up that fresh timetable to have available for our guests.   I think the X72 changes in another month are relatively minor, but it will still be an update ...

[Lee]

Well, I've dealt with my fair share of news releases in my time, and as a result it takes an awful lot for one to leave me gobsmacked.

Hearty congratulations then, to Faresaver for achieving just that with their latest offering.

I quote the material in its entirety as this is necessary for the purpose, and because I believe that Faresaver will want to get the message out as widely as possible:

Jul 2013 - First buses running in front of Faresaver

On 28th July 2013 First re-timetabled some of their bus services in such a way that the First buses are now running directly in front of Faresaver in many instances. Faresaver continue to operate to the same times and charging the same competitive fares. We trust that our loyal passengers will continue to support us, the local, independent bus company. As many of you know, in recent times we have re-invested our profits in newer vehicles, GPS tracking, state of the art ticket machines etc. We have seen ever increasing loadings and for this we are grateful. Please continue to support us and we will continue to improve the service we give to you. Thank you.

As an aside, I've recently been reviewing this report to Bristol City Council on Quality Contract Schemes (QCS).

A QCS is a franchise power under which the LTA^▸ (Local Transport Authority) can specify all aspects of the bus network, eg routes, frequencies and fares over the whole or part of its jurisdiction, and invite tenders to operate the network. The maximum time period for a QCS is 10 years, potentially renewable for up to a further 10. No local bus services may be provided within the area other than those specified in a quality contract, except where specific exclusions are specified in the scheme or where an operator applies to register a service and the LTA provides a clearance certificate. The powers are similar to those held by TfL^» (Transport for London - about).

The report goes on to note that, as yet, no QCS^s are in existence anywhere in the country. Perhaps they just haven't found the right area yet...

[thetrout]

I too was recently impressed with the announcement made by Faresaver regarding the September X34 service. They are also continuing their 'Kids for a Quid' Promotion which is any journey for Children and Students with a valid student card for ^1 Single, ^2 Return and ^7 for a 7 Day Pass.

With a pricing structure like this I can see Faresaver winning alot of brownie points with young people. I personally wouldn't suggest fares any lower than that.

It would appear though the the publication of these changes to the timetable have not been at all well publicised.

Recently there was the Frome Half Marathon on the Sunday. First were meant to publish the amended running of their services. They didn't. I have an e-mail from the marathon organisers that states they advised First of these road closures. Yet I saw no advertising material on the FirstGroup website or on the buses themselves. Perhaps because there wasn't any. It appears the organisers contacted First and then washed their hands of the matter as they had 'done their bit'. I may be being overally harsh there. But I personally didn't know the amendments and couldn't find them published anywhere. Now if I had wanted to catch a bus to Bath on the Sunday. To find the route had changed or been retimed and it had actually left, wouldn't have put me in the best of moods irrelevant of whether it was due to a charity event or non charity event.

However it gets even worse... I feel the timetable printers for Frome Market Place are also due to lose their bonuses this year. My first meeting with the new timetable was met with a "For Goodness Sake" reaction (Polite version )



The 161 is printed as running every hour. I thought we had well and truly established this is not the case

* Edit * Having just looked at the picture again, I've just spotted the 'hourly timings' are alternated between Saturdays and Monday - Fridays. Timings are different on Saturdays and Weekdays. They should have split the Saturday Buses into a new table like the Sunday Services at the bottom of the poster. I can see that catching alot of people out...

Numbers, names, places made up. Any similarity to the names of actual bus operators would be a complete co-incidnece.

I suspect that you know my opinion already as to which option is best We now have 2 buses at 17:18 and 17:21 to Bath. Complete nonsense.

Now despite First running a few minutes ahead, they will still not be getting my business based on the fact that the Faresaver service is much quicker and I am allowed to take a drink onboard. With the timings of the First 267 at xx:49 I used them a few times a week as the times were appropriate to my travel needs. So where I could leave for a bus at say 14:49. I now have to catch the 14:21, which wastes 30 minutes of what I call "dead time" where I cannot do anything useful. However it does act as a further buffer for delays. My journeys to Bath don't normally need this however

I note that the Frome Medical Practice have not appeared to change the bus times on their screens either...

[Phil]

However it gets even worse... I feel the timetable printers for Frome Market Place are also due to lose their bonuses this year.

Couldn't agree more! There is simply no way that Comic Sans is an appropriate typeface for anything other than an infant's school playbus timetable.

[thetrout]

Couldn't agree more! There is simply no way that Comic Sans is an appropriate typeface for anything other than an infant's school playbus timetable.

Indeed it would also appear that Fortune 500 companies disapprove of the use of comic sands

[JayMac]

comic sands?



 

[trainer]

Thank you BNM: the font of all knowledge 

(I know that's not the correct saying, but it works here. )

[stuving]

Thank you BNM: the font of all knowledge 

(I know that's not the correct saying, but it works here. )

Of course you could have equally well said "fount". That was the British printers' term when this jargon was hardly known outside the trade. Then
"desk-top publishing" (as it was called then) became common, with software mainly from America, and introduced a much wider public to their terminology.
I wonder if "fount" is still used by printers here, given that printing with real founts (letterpress) has virtually died out.

[trainer]

Another coffee shop educational insight for me. Thanks stuving. 

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

I do not know what the technical term is for the transport reforms introduced in Oxford about a year ago but now after time consuming negotiations, most bus services operating within the Oxford City area and which were provided under competition between Oxford Bus and Stagecoach now operate as a single service with tickets interchangeable. As a result instead of a 10 minute frequency service by each company on a busy route it is now nearer a 5 minute frequency. I understand that the change, to remove the competition element had been made possible by changes in legislation of a national nature but it does result in an improved service for bus users in Oxford.

[Lee]

The arrangement in Oxford is a Voluntary Quality Bus Partnership.

There are two kinds of QBP - Voluntary or Statutory.

Both versions allow the relevant local or transport authority and bus operators to co-operate with each other on a wide range of issues, including formal co-ordination of both timetables and fares. It is the responsibility of the relevant local or transport authority to formally certify the provisions of a QBP agreement as being in the public interest, in order to avoid problems with competition law.

The key difference between the two versions is that a Voluntary QBP is just that - voluntary. The provisions of a Voluntary QBP are not legally binding on the relevant local or transport authority & bus operators, and new entrants to the market do not have to adhere to them either.

The provisions of a Statutory QBP, however, are legally binding on the relevant local or transport authority and bus operators. Furthermore, new entrants to the market are also legally bound by the provisions of a Statutory QBP if they operate in the area that it covers, regardless of the fact they did not originally choose to sign up to it.

Obviously this means that signing up to a Statutory QBP is a big commitment for a bus operator, which is why they are usually proposed as part of a wider package of significant bus infrastructure upgrades that benefit the bus operator to the extent that they make signing up worthwhile.

This Transport Committee report expands further on the Oxford Voluntary QBP:

We visited Oxford to learn more about partnership working from the operators, local authority and bus users. Stagecoach and the Oxford Bus Company have registered a Voluntary Partnership Agreement which allows them to coordinate timetables and ticketing. We found the visit helpful and the results encouraging. The companies have jointly introduced a SmartZone smartcard that allows passengers to travel on any local bus in the Oxford area. In addition, bus services have been rationalised, in cooperation with Oxfordshire County Council, in order to reduce congestion and pollution in the historic city centre streets. Passenger numbers have increased and the city centre environment has improved. A clear message that we took away was that successful partnerships come from building long-term relationships and mutual respect. In the case of Oxford, the right legal framework was also crucial to enable coordination of services and ticketing.

The last point was not lost on the Competition Commission, which cites Oxford as a successful example of a partnership between the County Council and the two main bus operators which maintains competition between the bus operators.

A very recent precedent has been set right on the doorstep of the TransWilts in the form of the Salisbury Voluntary Quality Bus Partnership. This was agreed between and signed up to by Wiltshire Council, Salisbury Vision, Wilts & Dorset, Stagecoach and Hatts Travel on 25 July 2012, and the public version of the contract can be found here.

Whilst this stops short of formal co-ordination of timetables and fares, a number of the provisions do go some way towards this:

"12. In co-operation with the bus operators, to minimise the number of occasions on which major timetable changes take place and, where possible, provide as much advance notification to the council as possible where changes are likely to have an impact on current service provision (^Major timetable changes^ means changes to routes and changes to service frequency of more than a five minute reduction or increase during the period Monday-Saturday 7am-7pm)."

"22. In recognition that the true competitor to the bus is the car, to undertake, maintain and support initiatives marketing all bus services in Salisbury as a whole so that customers can easily find out about and use buses provided by all operators."

"27. To make amendments to services through timetable alterations, rescheduling, route changes, and number of buses, as necessary to meet any requirements agreed by appropriate members of the partnership, no operator member being able to influence the amendments that another operator is required to implement at any time."

"A working level commitment to regular and timely constructive dialogue on operational issues."

"Mutual sharing of information on operational issues so that areas for action can be identified, on the understanding that the information will only be shared with a third party in accordance with any data sharing agreement."

"To agree an implementation plan, reviewed annually, taking a corridor by corridor approach which will be incorporated into the council^s capital programme and informing investment and business plans of the relevant operators and groups."

"Maintenance and expansion of the bus priority, arrival prediction and information supply elements of the Real Time Information (RTI^▸ (Real Time Information (displays))) system, and extension where practicable to all operators through a service level agreement, utilising partners^ existing and emerging technologies and business management systems to reduce the overall operating costs of the system."

"Investigation and investment by the partners, where appropriate, to improve on-bus ticketing through the introduction of innovative ticket products and delivery systems, including smart ticketing applications, to reduce bus stop dwell times and achieve a reduction in the proportion of cash fare payers."

"Passengers have the option to buy tickets that can be used on the buses of more than one operator."

"Passengers and potential passengers are inspired to use the public transport services of all operators in Salisbury as an integrated system."

Its not all been plain sailing in Salisbury, though. One of the most trumpeted aspects of the QBP deal was a new waiting room and wall mural at the bus station, a pledge that became worthless a few months later when it was announced that the facility would be closed and sold.

By adapting grahame's ZigZag bus service proposals, I have put forward a proposal for a TransWilts area Quality Bus Partnership to Wiltshire Council, Bath & North East Somerset Council, First, Faresaver & Frome Minibuses, and I await their responses with great interest.

I also believe that the formation of a TransWilts area QBP would leave its partners well placed to benefit from future funding of a similar nature to the Better Bus Area Fund award that Wiltshire levered in for the Salisbury QBP, along with associated funding opportunities arising from BSOG^▸ (Bus Service Operators Grant ) reform, which they would be less likely to benefit as much from if they went down the more draconian, last resort approach of the Quality Contract Scheme.

[grahame]

Thanks, Lee ... that is hugely useful background. (those few words are heartfelt - there seem far to few of them to say "thank you" enough).

[Phil]

I wonder if "fount" is still used by printers here, given that printing with real founts (letterpress) has virtually died out.

It is. I am that near-dead beast; a letterpress printer. Fount is still used exclusively.