Transdev Blazefield shout about it ... First South Yorkshire says little!

Look around the country and we see some of the big groups trying their hardest to get people onto their buses and out of their biggest competitor ... the car. The results can be somewhat mixed as the last few months can explain very well.

In the red corner, we have Transdev Blazefield. Headed by one of the best busmen in the country, Alex Hornby, the group have gone from strength to strength and have spent the last six weeks teasing their customers who have the pleasure of the 36 (Leeds - Harrogate - Ripon) that they will be receiving swanky StreetDecks on their flagship route. The usual offering as is the case these days is WiFi on board but these vehicles feature cushioned leather seats, a more generous seat pitch at that, laminate flooring (I kid you not!) and branding from the excellent Ray Stenning of Creating Desire. Some people in the transport world feel that Ray is just about curvy lines and substance but this rebrand definitely doesn't include anything bendy. It's all about the lines!

A huge launch will take place in Harrogate and Ripon tonight with one to follow tomorrow in Leeds before the buses make their debut. The 36 has always been the one that provides that little bit extra and it's pleasing to note that they are one of the few bus routes that dwarfs the railway offering. Northern Rail offer a half-hourly service on a train which is 25-years-old at the youngest and of course is useless if you want to go to Ripon - a town which hasn't seen a train for decades. 

It's likely to continue the success story that is the route 36. Investment of this kind is bound to bring in the necessary revenue to pay for these expensive vehicles. Buses also run much later than the trains and overnight buses will exist for Friday and Saturday nights, again not provided by any nodding donkeys.

The StreetDeck is a bus that has divided opinion within the industry and I have to say I'm more a fan of the new ADL Enviro 400 MMC rather than this offering from Wright, but it is more personal preference than anything else. The type is proving popular across the UK so they quite clearly are doing something right, or should that be Wright. I'll move on!

I'm looking forward to sampling the new and improved 36. There's some interesting pictures by following the hashtags on Twitter of #RidingRedefined and #The36 which will offer any enthusiast of the industry with a good insight as to what I mean. The launch will provide a much needed boost of awareness to customers old and new with the new vehicles. I wish the team well. A wonderful example of how to advertise the most perishable product, the bus seat.

Transdev aren't the only ones who've purchased the StreetDeck. Over in South Yorkshire, or the blue corner in our case, FirstGroup who are the biggest operator in the metropolitan borough. They too have a flagship route, the X78 which over the years - 90 of them to be exact - has existed to link Sheffield with Rotherham and Doncaster. It's not always been the X78, it started life as the 77 before gaining a prefix 2 and then the 2 became an X and the X77 gave way to become the X78. Anyway, I'm digressing a little here. Let's just say if you haven't heard of the X78 and you live in South Yorkshire, that's probably because you're from Barnsley.

In recent years, First have invested in new vehicles for this route. It's not an easy one either. Almost two hours from end to end on some peak journeys, the terrain of Sheffield (although to be fair it gets the easier half of the city), the bumpy roads of Rotherham and the long-distance running towards Conanby and eventually into Doncaster. First have been testing the new EvoSeti (which looks awful in the group's colours!) as well as having a StreetDeck on test which eventually resulted in an order for 22. Below is a picture of the EvoSeti. If you're easily offended, don't click!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/east_lancs/22341616466

These buses are in a dark blue version of the First 'olympia' livery, the blue actually looking as if it is a nod to the old Rotherham Corporation colour but I'm assured that's not the case. On board you're greeted with e-leather seating and USB charging points. No WiFi as yet but I'm sure that's on the cards, although it's questionable these days with 4G how beneficial this can be at times but that's another blog completely.

On board the headrests proudly state 'STEEL LINK' along with 'X78' underneath. But bizarrely, this isn't mentioned on the exterior. In fact, apart from First South Yorkshire, there's no branding at all. Previous vehicles on the route, B9TLs to be exact, had a 'skyline' X78 emblazoned on both sides and branding for the route.

This time, there's nothing. I understand there are a handful of journeys that utilise X78 vehicles for interworking but that goes against the logic that onboard it's branded for the X78. Confused? Me too.

Such a vast investment should be shouted about. Massively. I understand the X78 isn't doing bad but does the average passenger know that because that's a blue bus, it's going to have (e-)leather seats, power points, air cooling and improved ride quality? No. Quite the opposite. What was also evident is that First put these into revenue service instantly with some vehicles providing disastrous results as they decided to sit down in a few places. Modifications are occurring which has led to the old order stepping in at times (and in some cases, very old orders!).

To be fair to First, they did have a launch ... last week in Rotherham town centre. The team asked you to send them selfies with the StreetDeck in the background. Not really the sort of launch I would have had in mind having spent £x million on a fleet of new buses for the flagship route.

So who's right? The blue corner or the red corner? For me, it's the red corner. Shout and scream to people your product and get that bus with as much branding on as it can (but don't cover up the windows!). In the blue corner, it might be a slow burner but you've got to tell people. Remember what the First branding used to be on buses? Something to shout about. Maybe the X78 needs a yell.

Is it time concessionary travel stopped being like Club Tropicana drinks?

Since 2008, the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) has been in force. For those who qualify, and I won't bore you with what you are already aware of, it entitles the user to free bus, and in some cases other forms of public transport, use across England.

Drinks are free here, like travel for ENCTS holders on buses

Operators are reimbursed by the council, or PTE as applicable for every passenger that uses them. However, funding is decreasing and in an increasing number of cases we have a situation where the operator is running these services at a loss despite having a bus full of passengers who haven't put a penny in the till.

The long-awaited Buses Bill is just a matter of weeks away and we don't know as yet how this will affect the industry. What is becoming more apparent is that local councils will perhaps end up having to find the money to subsidise operators for carrying customers who own such a pass. With costs being driven down every day by local authorities, it's inevitable that bus companies will end up with fewer pence per passenger carried and the end product being no buses on more lighter used routes and services.

For me, there is now only one suitable answer to this mess and that's to axe free travel. It's not so long ago that customers who required it enjoyed half fare or in some PTE areas it was a set fare, vastly reduced from the full price. Operators in some areas have been very clever to have offers where ENCTS pass holders can pay £1.00 for example to travel prior to 09:30 to take advantage of the timed restriction these passes currently hold. Innovative, but it just isn't enough.

Our rural bus services are struggling to make ends meet. Lower passenger numbers means fewer applications through the ENCTS process and also the good old fare-paying customer. Services end up being reduced so again fewer passengers on board and the cycle only ends when the service is withdrawn. A disaster for all concerned in this case. It's pleasing to note that some operators, namely Transdev up in North Yorkshire with their DalesBus which works with the local community and TM Travel in Derbyshire who are turning once funded routes into commercial operations, but the problem still exists and relies heavily on other services supporting the rural offer.

The problem just doesn't end there. Post 09:30 on some busy routes sees a large amount of ENCTS holders filling up buses who are now getting close to worthless to the operator. When I use the word worthless, I mean strictly in a financial term and this is the fault of local and national government who have created such a mess with this system. The issue with a bus being filled with these customers, or 'twirlies' as they were better known in the good old days, is that fare-paying passengers actually can't get on. They see the issue and then find another way of getting to town. Further revenue is lost once more.

We are now at a point where the best things in life aren't actually free and none more so than free bus travel. Operators are doing their best in most cases to keep these lifelines going but there's a limit and I feel that we are now there. The ENCTS pass needs to go, or rather stay and provide the holder with half-price travel. The benefit here is that the operator can offer some excellent ticketing offers whilst reducing the burden on the councils and actually gets a decent return on carrying people from A to B. This really is now the only solution.

I'm pretty certain that Club Tropicana was just a very expensive all-inclusive hotel. The problem is that in the bus world, it's the everyday customer who is paying the all-inclusive for the ENCTS holders to drink the cocktails. Action is needed now before the bus leaves the countryside forever.

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Editorial

By the way, many thanks for the four who enjoyed my daily blogs. My health is not what it was and at times I will have to take breaks away from the blogging but I will try and offer as much as I can in the future. Many thanks for the kind words once more and a happy new year to you and yours!