MetroBus

[whole diary]

[TonyK]

You can't - the only way is with a card, either Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) or contactless debit / credit. It's brilliant, IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion), with a flat fare so you don't have to tap out at the end of the journey, and a daily cap. It's what we should have in Bristol, instead of the monolithic ticket machines.

[rogerw]

Before the introduction of contactless payment, London buses were pay before you board within the central area and pay driver elsewhere

[Bmblbzzz]

You can't - the only way is with a card, either Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) or contactless debit / credit. It's brilliant, IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion), with a flat fare so you don't have to tap out at the end of the journey, and a daily cap. It's what we should have in Bristol, instead of the monolithic ticket machines.

I agree. I presume the reason we're stuck with ticket machines is because we don't have the funding available to set up an electronic system. And maybe because only TfL^» (Transport for London - about) is powerful enough to get multiple operators to use one system.

Before the introduction of contactless payment, London buses were pay before you board within the central area and pay driver elsewhere

Ok, so it does make sense then, albeit out of date.

[martyjon]

.... And maybe because only TfL^» (Transport for London - about) is powerful enough to get multiple operators to use one system.

What about the "Bristol Freedom Travelpass" ticket available for travel on most buses and trains within an area bounded in the west by Weston-S-M, in the east by Freshford and the north by both Pilning and Yate. The ticket is available in a combination of zones and for periods of 1 day, 7 days or a calendar month. My only gripe with this ticket is the map shows Cribbs Causeway to be north of Pilning in Zone C when the blob for Cribbs should be next to Patchway in Zone A.

[Bmblbzzz]

I hadn't heard of that. But it's clearly a bit of a "special ticket" rather than a unified payment system for all and every journey.

[TonyK]

I agree. I presume the reason we're stuck with ticket machines is because we don't have the funding available to set up an electronic system. And maybe because only TfL^» (Transport for London - about) is powerful enough to get multiple operators to use one system.

We are stuck with ticket machines because of a complete lack of vision. The "multiple operators" will be down by one soon, as Wessex goes the way of all flesh, and First aren't looking too secure. A loss of over £300 million has put the rat among the pigeons, and Stagecoach are rumoured to be looking at cherry picking. There are also Turners, Buglers, Eastville Coaches, ABus, and a lot of others, but most run one route somewhat irregularly. If the Western Super Mayor would stop worrying about MetroBust and concentrate on improvements to public transport instead, we could have a properly joined up network similar to how London works. We have the technology already - the bus machines are all ITSO compliant, and there has been a substantial "back office" to divvy up the fares for more years than there have been bus operators running the system. The totems could remain to give information about next buses, some of it accurate, but where is the sense in having to use a bank card to buy a ticket when you could use the card to board the bus?

[Bmblbzzz]

where is the sense in having to use a bank card to buy a ticket when you could use the card to board the bus?

Nicely put. I'll try to remember this and use it, if you don't mind! A fare has to be paid, a ticket represents this and we have become used to conflating the ticket with the fare.

[Red Squirrel]

As I watched one of those lovely new buses swish past earlier today with its single passenger, for some reason the old strapline of the Evening Post came to mind: The Paper all Bristol asked for and helped to create. Perhaps MetroBus could adopt that for its motto: MetroBus: The transport solution all Bristol opposed and tried to prevent...

[martyjon]

More negative press comment :-

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/new-metrobus-route-take-longer-1916133

Not at least a bit surprised.

[Red Squirrel]

Here's a piece of clickbait that ticks all the boxes for some forum members!

Looks like they've had the decorators in:

GRAFFITI REMOVAL ‘NOT A PRIORITY’ FOR METROBUS

Less than a fortnight before Bristol’s second MetroBus route is due to open, a new multimillion-pound bridge is already strewn with graffiti.

The tags are both on the ground level and high up on the crash barriers of the new skew bridge near Ashton Gate, which buses on the m2 service will use to avoid Winterstoke Road and the Cumberland Basin.

But despite the proliferation of tags, a MetroBus spokesman told Bristol24/7 that regular removal of graffiti on the route’s new infrastructure “is not something the council, or MetroBus project, has budgeted for as a priority”.

Read more at Bristol 24/7

[SandTEngineer]

That had me in stiches Red Squirrel......

[Phantom]

Here's a piece of clickbait that ticks all the boxes for some forum members!

Looks like they've had the decorators in:

GRAFFITI REMOVAL ‘NOT A PRIORITY’ FOR METROBUS

Less than a fortnight before Bristol’s second MetroBus route is due to open, a new multimillion-pound bridge is already strewn with graffiti.

The tags are both on the ground level and high up on the crash barriers of the new skew bridge near Ashton Gate, which buses on the m2 service will use to avoid Winterstoke Road and the Cumberland Basin.

But despite the proliferation of tags, a MetroBus spokesman told Bristol24/7 that regular removal of graffiti on the route’s new infrastructure “is not something the council, or MetroBus project, has budgeted for as a priority”.

Read more at Bristol 24/7

The easy answer would have been whilst the recent upfest was on in that area they let people put some proper artwork onto it and then it is not so bad

[Bmblbzzz]

And Calculus agreed: “Graffiti can look a mess. It can contain inappropriate messages. But good graffiti can be great. Council cannot afford a continuous clean-up, so find a way to engage with graffiti artists to make the whole thing positive…. and to ensure their safety should a bus hurtle round. Graffiti could put the ‘metro’ in ‘Metrobus’, ‘cos actually it’s just a bus.”

https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/tagging-is-like-a-dog-peeing-on-a-lamppost-to-define-its-territory/

[TonyK]

The best way is to paint something racially offensive on to, in 3ft high letters. They'll be round before the paint dries.

[Bmblbzzz]

My opinion of the graffiti on the metrobus bridges etc: I think that graffiti can be aesthetically pleasing and a benefit to its surroundings. Murals by another name. Two examples of this might be the work of Banksy (though I don't like his style personally) and Upfest. But what we see on the video ^^ is simply tagging, a larger, more colourful and perhaps sometimes more stylish version of "Kilroy was here." It's not aesthetically pleasing and it does not improve its environment. But if we stop and look at what is under the tags, it's just a blank, grey concrete wall. It's also not aesthetically pleasing. It's simply an unadorned structural element. Brunel (and his less-remembered collaborators and competitors) was an engineer out to make thinks work, not look pretty, but he did not neglect the aesthetic impact of his constructions. Obviously today's deadlines and profit-driven projects do not have the budget for fancy ironwork, but the simple and free answer would be to invite chosen graffiti artists to paint the concrete walls and embankments before the routes open. Free decoration and a deterrent to future tagging.