Is starting up a new bus company worth the risk?

It's a traumatic time for the bus industry at the moment and many of our great independents are finding themselves either in administration or closing down their bus services as they simply cannot afford to upgrade their fleet to the forthcoming regulations which apply to single-deck vehicles from the turn of the year.

The latest was Fishwicks, the Lancashire operator with the distinctive two-tone green livery which wound up its operations last month. Stagecoach stepped in to run their 111 service (Preston - Leyland) and the rest is now consigned to history.

It's a story repeated across the country thanks to cuts in local government which have meant areas with subsidised buses now don't see a passenger carrying vehicle any more. A sad state of affairs at a time when we look to public transport to reduce the impact of our crowded roads.

It's not all bad news though. Cardiff-based New Adventure Travel have done the complete opposite and grown a bus business with new vehicles for a cross-city service across the Welsh capital and are doing a similar initiative in Newport. NAT Group were recently criticised for advertising their tickets as "ride me all day for £3" with scantily-clad attractive people on the back of the bus, but it got people talking about it. Surely the advertising plan worked very well!

NAT Group are an exception in this case and it's sad that we don't have entrepreneurial people in the bus industry wanting to go it alone. Those that do often suffer from either the big boys drilling them into the ground (usually the only reason a new service is started is because said big boy isn't providing what they should anyway) and subsequently the big boy pulls their socks up until the new boy has taken his toys home with him and then go back to providing a lacklustre service as before.

So will we ever see any new bus business springing up into the service world? It is with a heavy heart that I say it is doubtful we will see this happen. Mainly due to the Partnerships springing up everywhere. Should a London-style bidding system take place, this may alter things and allow new entrants into the market and shake up the offering. The biggest problem being is the money that is required behind such a move and banks generally wouldn't want to or understand the rationale so we are back to square one.

Whilst I don't have a problem with the likes of First, Stagecoach and Arriva, we rarely see these days, perhaps with the exception in certain depots the flair that used to exist in the independents. Granted we have some bad companies who go on their own but that's not to say they don't provide a lifeline to the communities they serve who don't really demand such niceties as free Wifi and a charging point.

Has Magic Bus lost its er ...magic?

Low fares ... great value ... it's Magic Bus! That's what the branding used to be for Stagecoach's low-cost brand. Intended to look like another operator back in the day using low fares and "competing" against Stagecoach and whichever poor company had upset Souter and his merry men, the brand has come of age lately and has very little resemblance of the old Magic Bus.

Used in Manchester to attract students on the university corridor, Magic Bus makes no secret these days that it is part of Stagecoach. Branding proudly states that it is part of the Souter empire and specific 'magic' tickets are available for those who just use the blue buses.

But has the point been lost? It would appear so. Stagecoach only use this to get rid of the competition and after introducing the brand in various places (Glasgow and Rotherham/Barnsley spring to mind) it has never really left Manchester since its introduction 20 years ago when things were very much different.

So is it time to pack off the wizard that adorns the rear of the vehicles? Perhaps not as the idea is very good and maybe this is where some operators are missing a trick. You do have two different types of bus user. There's the ones who want Wifi, chargers for their phones, waitress service (okay maybe not that one!) but there are still a number of passengers who for them would happily have a slight reduction in frequency, vehicles that don't necessarily have such mod cons but are cheaper. This business model fits both.

Mainline in South Yorkshire flirted with Bargain Bus, which was Dennis Dominators painted in a horrendous pink livery in Sheffield to compete with what was Yorkshire Terrier and of course themselves, offering low fares running at peak times. It's not as daft as it sounds.

With the advent of Quality Contracts and the like, it's impossible to see how this would fit in now but we have to remember that passengers want different things. Phil Stockley writes a great write-up in this month's BUSES magazine highlighting a similar issue in Hucknall. Well worth a read if you get the chance.

Stagecoach would do well to keep Magic Bus as I think it has potential to work elsewhere, but don't make it too obvious what you're doing as it dilutes the point of the exercise.

Don't cover up your biggest asset

Branding your service can be a great thing. It's a great advertisement of your product and could, if done correctly, allow you to bring in new customers. That is of course the whole purpose of why we do it.

There's quite a bit of aluminium on a bus and it's a good idea to make use of it. Normally that's in the form of the bus livery but also this space can be used for route information, fares or to put it another way whatever you like.

What passengers also like to do is look out of the windows. It's a big selling point on a bus especially on double deckers. So why are operators so obsessed by using these to show off their information? 

It's even worse when it's not even contravision which for me makes me feel a touch bilious and claustrophobic anyway. Some operators are just slapping vinyls over them. This really isn't cricket.

There are some dreadful examples where buses have effectively been made to look like they have no windows at all although fortunately this is now a rare thing (we did go through a spate where buses looked more like a lorry than a bus because of the contravision covering every window excepting the windscreen and driver's window and door) but whilst the outside might look good, the inside certainly doesn't.

Let's not forget that whilst it's good to brand the bus up to get interest in, it's not a great idea to get that car-obsessed person in the bus and they can't see out! 

The oddity that is EYMS!

This week I made the trip into the East Riding of Yorkshire, specifically the capital of the county, Kingston-upon-Hull, or 'ull to give it its local name! The purpose was to visit East Yorkshire Motor Services (EYMS) or certainly the product that they offer.

I can remember back to a time when EYMS was part of the National Bus Company and with it had plenty of red vehicles and generally a lot of Bristol VRs. As time moved on, so did the fleet and it's pleasing to see on my journey today that Hull is littered with a mix of vehicle types from the operator but mostly are Volvo products.

Picking up a few timetables from the transport interchange which is sandwiched between the railway station and the shopping centre, my heart somewhat sinks to note that EYMS are still using the 12-hour clock for their timetables.

Admittedly the service I was using only operates for 12 hours of the day, but it's quite frustrating to see and it looks so antiquated against the Stagecoach timetables. We are fast approaching 2016 (year not time!) and we still have operators using the 12-hour clock. It does send out a bizarre message when even most shops now utilise the wonder that is the 24-hour system and is over 50 years behind the railways and airlines.

However, that aside, my vehicle, the new Volvo EvoSeti which EYMS have the huge number of one. The company are frequently taking in ex-demonstrators and then the interior is made Shipp-shape (the famous moquette which nods its head to Peter Shipp, EYMS king!) and away we go. It's an innovative way for smaller operators, and I mean that in the most kindest way, to upgrade their fleet especially with PRM-TSI just months away for single-deck vehicles.

Fortunately my bus passes the HQ on Anlaby Road so I took the opportunity to alight and have a quick look "around the back" and note that the Volvo B10M-Alexander PS single deckers, originally from Stagecoach are part of the training fleet. It would seem that this may be short lived as next to it were two Dennis Tridents in training livery. Sad to see this type disappearing even if they haven't carried a customer for a number of years in this part of the world.

What did strike me is the amount of vehicles that were in the paint shop. A quick chat with one of the engineering staff on a break revealed they have a policy that any vehicle with a visual defect is quickly rectified and back out on the road again. He beamed as he mentioned the pride he has in the fleet and noted other local operators being happy to send out what he classified as "an unfinished bus". I asked if this meant a risk to the fleet numbers and he stated that there are enough vehicles spare although as a last resort we would down tools and send the vehicle out, albeit with a heavy heart.

Back to the city centre and it was obvious to see that EYMS buses are well turned out. The livery of burgundy and cream although not striking is actually classy and despite wet roads the light colour of the skirt seemed relatively clean on nearly all vehicles. Drivers wear a uniform which is again classy and you get the feel of a nod back to the NBC in the way EYMS conducts itself both on the road and in the office.

My day in Hull draws to a close, but I can't resist another sample so I board a Volvo B7L towards the interchange. Not my favourite of vehicles but the interior is light and bright and the moquette certainly provides the cheery atmosphere. EYMS had a recent Big Bus Day and customers could purchase slippers and cushions with the Shipp-shape pattern similar to what Transport for London offer in their Transport Museum shop. I may be tempted!

All in all it's been a good day in Hull and noted an independent company which is battling on amid cuts to its rural service funding from ERoYC and HCC but still manages to offer a quality product for today's passenger. How long it can keep this up for is another matter but with good publicity, a decent looking fleet, reliable and friendly drivers it is hoped that EYMS will be around in its current form serving the good people of East Yorkshire for some time to come.

I was going to make the trip up to Scarborough and sample Scarborough & District (EYMS's brand for the North Yorkshire seaside town) but it's November. And it's cold. Sorry. Next year I think!

To route brand or not to route brand?

This is a matter that nearly all transport companies face. What is the best way to market your brand? Sainsbury's and Tesco think they have perishable items in the form of their apples and pears but in transport we have something much more perishable ... the seat.

Once you've set off from that stop, you can't re-sell that seat. The opportunity has gone. One way to increase revenue is to provide a good company-wide brand which then can be used for day tickets, weekly tickets and the like. Guaranteed money regardless of which bus they catch. You're already up whatever the passenger wishes to do. The big boys of First, Stagecoach and Arriva have been ruthless in the past at a standard livery across not only a depot but the UK (and in some cases abroad) providing uniformity which although boring to the enthusiasts does satisfy what these businesses require - bums on seats.

Then the issue of route branding rears its head. Interworking on buses is a major thing (buses working different route numbers) and it would be impossible in busy depots to allocate a route-branded bus on that service only. Some argue that route branding simply serves as free advertising but in reality passengers see this as confusion and don't read the destination display. So what is the way forward?

Fare information is very helpful, especially if it's a good deal. However some operators are using their destination indicators (if they are scrolling LEDs) to use this as the opportunity to display this information. No. By all means use vinyls but the route number and destination (and via points if required) should be the only thing on the indicator. As you may note, I haven't used the term 'destination blind' as this is incorrect for an LED display.

First have just taken delivery of new Streetdecks for their X78 Sheffield-Doncaster route which will not feature any branding but will be in a different colour scheme. Is this a change of policy from First who have been known to do some truly awful schemes which blacked out windows with pictures of people looking gormless and amazed by what the service has to offer.

We have to look to the good people (sorry the very good people) of TrentBarton for inspiration here who have batted away creating separate brands for services and have a very high success rate of allocating branded vehicles to routes along with a spare 'pool' of buses for when the full compliment is not available. 

Yes, by all means brand up a route but if you're going to, think about the wider implications of it. Just because you know your 83-branded bus is working a 14, don't assume your customers haven't noticed what's on your shiny LED. Passengers can be very stupid at times and we need to look through the eyes of that stupidity to help us provide the ultimate aim which is to get people out of the car.

It's no good spending a fortune on branding and then bugger it up by sticking it on the wrong route, or not taking into account the interworking.

Real-time bus information needs to be better

Real-time travel information used to be something that the industry wasn't brilliant at sharing, but thanks to advances in technology you can find out quite a lot where your public chariot is.

Railways

It's not that long ago that the only way you could find out if your train was either on time, delayed or cancelled was to go to the railway station and have it as a wonderful surprise at the start of your journey. Nowadays we have a myriad of websites and apps which can helpfully give you a feed of the live departure board for that station and in some cases (OpenTrainTimes) there's a map where you can see your train bobbing along through each signal section and decipher what platform your trusty steed will be at.

Other systems, such as Darwin feed from the train operators' information systems so we know when a train is cancelled, whether it will terminate short and even to the extent of smaller things such as 'no coach D on this service' or 'no reservations shown' for example. All very customer-friendly and although maybe a little disjointed in places, it does afford the passenger with much better information than in the old days of waiting on a cold platform waiting for Mick or John the announcer to give them the bad news that their train is actually stuck at London Waterloo with 'operating difficulties'.

Buses

It's taken a little more time, but buses are gradually moving towards the real-time information, none more so in London where the system is far more sophisticated and you can follow the bus on its route as well as a countdown in minutes as to its arrival. London travel information is quite unique so my comparisons here are based in more rural parts of England where customers are not blessed with a bus on a metro-style timetable. In short, it matters more in essence to know if your hourly bus is going to come.

An increasing number of bus stops are gaining LED displays which, like London, give either a countdown in minutes or the scheduled time of the bus at that stop. What it can't do is tell you if a bus is cancelled and herein lies the problem.

Railway systems which drive the real-time screens can be cancelled by an operator or a controller which will then relay this over the hundreds of outlets and stations and show this service as not running. Not so in the bus world which makes the point of real-time information a little useless.

So what does it do? I have downloaded an app which has a map with bus stops on and you can select said stop and up will pop a list of buses for that location and their destination. A version of it is below:

Regular users of this will be very confident using the 44 or 42 but the number 50 will give a mini-heart attack to the user. The time is scheduled which means two things: one is the bus does not have any way of projecting its real-time to the software or, it's cancelled. 

This then renders the whole process as useless. The passenger waiting for the 50 will now be doubting whether this bus will arrive. Should this be the former, the customer will be happy that the service is running but should it be cancelled, the frustration being that they could have, being outside Sheffield railway station, caught the train to Chesterfield should that be the customer's destination.

But the confusion doesn't end there. Let's assume number 44 running 2 minutes late has developed a problem leaving Sheffield Interchange just around the corner. The bus is to run light to Crystal Peaks because of a lighting issue onboard and a fitter will be in attendance at the shopping centre. That bus will still show as being expected in 2 minutes' time but will fantastically drive past the customer at the bus stop and only then disappear off the screen.

As bus operators, we know what we are running and not running and we need a way to make the real-time system to work and instill confidence in the poor passenger waiting at the bus stop. We don't need a half-hearted system in place which is what we have at the moment and the industry is doing little to improve it outside of London. A correspondent reports that incidentally since the new timetables in Sheffield, the real-time information isn't fully operational (why we don't know) so the system is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard.

Technology is there (and alive in the capital) so let's get on and start providing better information for people who don't have 100 buses an hour to choose from.

London's obsession with the destination blind

It doesn't seem that long ago that all buses had destination blinds, some had in excess of 200 names. South Yorkshire and the West Midlands were fortunate in having an upper and lower blind to help reduce the overall number that the poor driver had to wind through but this still led to a huge amount of names on linen or Tyvek as was later the case.

Nowadays of course, most buses are fitted with dot-matrix (admittedly being phased out thanks to PRM-TSI compliance) or LED displays which provide clear information and should be, as a minimum, on the front, nearside and rear, the latter two being that of route number at the very least.

The biggest issue for me with these displays is that many (and the picture above shows this beautifully) is that the descenders (featured on g, j, p, y) are squashed up which actually is against the regulations as partially-sighted passengers will struggle to make out what the letter is. Of course this never happened with destination blinds and it is something that operators - and software manufacturers - should solve.

But what about London? Well TfL haven't embraced the LED stating that the destination blind is still the best (and of course it shows off their New Johnston typeface!) and the specifications that they set change as much as Boris changes his knickers.

New blinds now have to be white on black (as opposed to dayglo yellow) and only show the ultimate destination and route number. As most routes cover a number of areas, this was an unusual step but is still in place now, although the goalposts have recently moved again with the news that operators now can specify a more exact location in small capitals. This is noted on the 16 to Cricklewood which displays 'BUS GARAGE' underneath.

There is a reason for this change though. TfL are currently trialling Kindle displays. Yes that little notebook comes to the front of a bus and Metroline have adopted this for some buses on the 16. In daylight, this looks little different to a destination blind and provides everything that TfL wants. At night though, it has this light blue tinge which makes reading far less legible than an LED display.

Plus there's the issue now of changing bus blinds. In the old days it was quite easy but these days with the blinds being electronically wound (in days gone by it was a handle!) the unit gets in the way and what used to be a five-minute job with one person ends up being a two-man job with an hour to spare.

LED displays are improving all the time and with the likes of McKenna Brothers providing some superb products (drop me a tenner off when you get the chance, lads!) we have to wonder whether it's time for TfL to finally give up on the blind and move forward to allowing LED use, so long as they remember about those descenders!

At what point is it prudent to say we've got it wrong?

Anyone who has ever been involved in the planning of public transport will know that it is a minefield from start to finish.

One very famous quotation is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" but as the world of transport continues to battle with the car, we are forced to look at new and innovative ways to improve our offering and also serve areas which are either new estates or to divert around a problematic area whether that be social or traffic.

Recently, the Sheffield Bus Partnership as good as ripped up the timetables and routes and started again. These were consulted to the good people of the city and the responses were overwhelming and also very upset at the PTE's plans who would "make a mess of their network".

The start of November saw the "revised" version hit the city's streets and just a few weeks into the new network, things don't seem to be getting any better with the local newspaper, Sheffield Star being full of letters, emails and editorial commenting on the state of the new bus services.

It was to be an improvement on the old setup with new numbers brought in and the big companies all coordinating to provide the best possible service. However the only thing that it has united is its passengers ... all getting together to social media and the local press and condemning what has to be one of the worst reorganisations of a transport network that the city has ever seen.

TAS is a consultancy who were drafted into review and implement the changes with First, Stagecoach, TM Travel and others all merging together with cross-company ticketing and a general Mary Poppins feel to travelling by bus. It's actually more Marilyn Manson.

Maybe not on such a grand scale, but all bus operators have in the past tried to reinvent routes and retimed services and it has sometimes failed. The question is though, how do you deal with it when it has gone wrong and also how long do you give it until you have to say, "it's great on paper, dreadful in reality".

This is the dilemma at the moment in Sheffield. Teething problems with any change follow and you have to be respectful to that before making the final call of going back to the drawing board. The worry is that SYPTE have used a consultancy and many of those people do not actually use the buses. In any good company, the key is your front-line staff. Their views are priceless and I suspect these people are the ones who haven't had the opportunity to say and suggest what they think needs to be done to the Sheffield network. Drivers and controllers are so valuable to a transport business and it's sad to note that this gets overlooked for a consultancy. Bad move.

In reality, nothing can change until around February at the earliest, not least to register any changes so you would expect that Sheffield has to put up with their new wonderful bus services until at least the summer of next year. I'm sure the big boys at First and Stagecoach are delighted with the exposure they are receiving from something that for a change isn't actually their fault.

In my opinion, it's a case of waiting another few weeks and try and iron out some of the recurring problems and if this is still the same after six weeks of running then we have to go back to that drawing board (or SYPTE in this case) and try again.

Although the next time they try again, talk to the people that make it happen every day. They are the most useful tool you have.